Seagate pre-loading Paramount films on select hard drives

As the digital medium becomes a more important one for film studios, Paramount Pictures and Seagate Technologies are teaming up to offer film lovers a new way to access entertainment.  

Starting today, Seagate is pre-loading 21 unlockable films on selected 2.5-inch, 500 GB FreeAgent Go portable hard drives, letting buyers transport the digital media wherever they go. One film – “Star Trek” – will be free to buyers.

Users create an account on a Paramount website and will typically pay between $10 and $15 for additional films they unlock. Additional titles will be available via the Website moving forward.

The remaining films are a catalog-heavy collection (with a couple of recent titles included). Owners of the portable hard drive can easily delete films they have no interest in.

“We wanted to give consumers the ability to pick and choose instead of force feeding them a specific catalog,” says Malik Ducard, senior vice president of Digital Distribution, The Americas, Paramount Digital Entertainment.

The films are licensed for multiple devices, letting owners watch them on their PC or, if they own one of Seagate’s FreeAgent Theater+ HD media players, on their home television.

While digital distribution is nothing new, the bundling of digital films on hard drives is a first.

“We want to be where the consumers are at,” says Ducard. “This category really seemed like a natural where you have these hard drives that have a healthy amount of storage. There are consumers who hunger for this and we were happy to bring the content to the table.”

For Seagate, the partnership keeps physical media top of mind as cloud computing begins to encroach into the world of digital distribution.

“There is a consumer need for people who want to use and interact with their hard drive wherever they want,” says Darcy Clarkson, vice president of sales and marketing for Seagate. “Right now that solution is kind of tough. … We think there’s a great opportunity here.” 

The full list of pre-loaded films is after the break: