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Revamping the Movie Distribution Chain
ianscot writes "Steve Soderberg's latest film will be released in a manner that directly challenges the traditional Hollywood distribution chain. Soderberg's been influenced by Mark Cuban, the dot-com billionaire who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and Todd Wagner, another dot-commer whose ideas about the movie business are radical departures. Wagner's financing this one. The movie, Bubble, is the first of six that Soderberg will film in HD video; all will be released simultaneously in theaters, as HDNet movies, and on DVDs." From the article: "As independents, Soderbergh and Wagner are willing to talk openly about subjects that are being hotly debated behind closed doors elsewhere in Hollywood. When Disney chief Robert Iger recently brought up the concept of shortening the window between theatrical release and DVD, he was fiercely criticised by the National Association of Theatre Owners."
I'm glad that someone is taking a logical look at the distribution system again. From what I understand this article to mean, the movie would be released as a DVD on the internet and simultaneously in theaters. WONDERFULL! I'm sick of paying $7 + $5 for movie popcorn and a drink when I could buy (to own forever) the movie later for $20 (provided I don't get it through another means before then). Two words are all it takes to describe my emotion... THANK YOU!!! I hope that this does well and others follow the example.
Just so that you don't have to do it, "I for one hail our new movie overlords" (or something to that effect)
Sincerely,
Andrew Allen
In two years, it will read:
"all will be released simultaneously in theaters, as HDNet movies, on DVDs, and for download on iTunesVideo"
When Disney chief Robert Iger recently brought up the concept of shortening the window between theatrical release and DVD, he was fiercely criticised by the National Association of Theatre Owners.
:-)
The cycle is WAY shorter than it used to be. I remember back in the Bad Old Days(TM) when you would have to wait until a year after the movie left the theaters to see in on VHS. And that was only if the movie studio felt that the movie would do well resold on tape.
Now we barely have to wait 3-4 months after its initial release before it appears in stores on DVD! It's so quick anymore, that sometimes it feels like it's on DVD as soon as it's out of the theater. I realize that for some people that may seem slow, but for those of us who remember, that's one hell of a fast turnaround!
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he was fiercely criticised by the National Association of Theatre Owners.
:-P
You know, he should be really careful about pissing off NATO. Otherwise he may find a nuke landing square on his doorstep!
(Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all night. Wait, no I won't. I'm going to bed.)
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... is because generally it's higher resolution than DVDs and their sound system is usually better than what I have at home. Other reasons would be a social gathering or something. It's hardly ever the case that I go to watch movies because I can't wait for the DVDs to come out.
Having a home theater at home, the only reason I go to theaters is just so I can brag about seeing it before everyone else
Oh, so you're that guy.
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This would also be a very good opportunity to get rid of the irritating DVD release zones. I think these zones are ment to align the DVD releases in all countries with the movie releases, which are also shifted around the world (what's actually wrong with one world-wide release date?).
But what they actually do is just give you lots of trouble when anyone outside the US or Japan wants to order a DVD that's only available there (no matter how long ago it was released!), and then has to find a zone-free DVD-player, or heck their existing one, etc.
Just stop with this crap, and you'll have a world-wide market for all your DVD's! Doesn't that sound nice?
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What do you think will be the most popular format for purchase? I think either DVD or download by a bit. This is a nice idea and I hope others follow suit.
Mark Cuban, the dot-com billionaire who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and Todd Wagner
At least people in the movie business are coming to grips with the reality that people have access to the movie via the internet as soon as it hits theaters anyway. At least this way they can make some money off of it.
The sooner these content producers realize that change in their distribution sceme (and copyright in general) is inevitable and is a Good Thing(R) the sooner we can start seeing more people making more stuff, and more money flowing.
I'm sure there were a few monks who weren't happy about the advent of the Luther bible, but they adapted and the bible is still a number one best seller. The film industry was terrified of the VCR, but now we see more movies getting made by more people and more money flowing. The Internet and "piracy" are just harbingers of another change in progress. Personally, I'm pretty excited for it to finally get here so I don't have to put up with being called a thief for downloading movies that I could legitimately get through my netflix subscription but don't feel like waiting for.
I really hope the movies they make are good ones, and good sellers, or else this little experiment will lengthen the time it takes before this is common practice.
The reality is that the whole process of seeing a movie in a theater continues to lose its luster. It is too expensive. The food and drinks keep getting more and more outrageous in price. It is too inconvenient. Even in pure performance, the theater is losing out - more and more people have equal or superior sound and visual quality in their home theaters.
Also, it is better to sell copies of your movie immediately and eliminate one of the biggest reasons people pirate movies over the internet.
This is a huge boon to people with children. Going to see a movie is a pretty tough task when you have kids (not to mention, the expense is astronomical).
-Michael
Threshold RPG
Steven Soderbergh's "3-pronged attack" is being watched closely by Hollywood. This Theater-Cable-DVD simultaneous release of a new movie to the public is actually one of the counter measures against privacy movie people have thought about but never really dared to try. So, give Mr. Soderbergh a chance, and maybe years down the line they might even use words like "pioneer" to describe him.
h tml).
"Bubble", shot for $1.6 million, may be a cheapo in Hollywood standard, but Soderbergh was serious enough to use the same high-definition camera George Lucas used for two "Star Wars" movies, as described in a New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/22/movies/22bubb.
Sun and Fun
Primarily because the Theatres only get a tiny fraction of any box office recipts when a movie first opens, then as the weeks pass, their percentage goes up. Sure, they make a ton of money off of popcorn and candy, But when you're paying 7 or 8 bucks to see a movie, 95 - 99 percent of that goes straight to the Movie Companies. So, if the Movie Companies continue to shorten the life of a first run movie, those Theatre owners are going to have to adapt or die.
So they're fighting to maintain some sort of status quo. It's not right or wrong, it's just why they will fight this so hard.
I suppose the next question is, At what point will major, non sucky, movies get released straight to DVD (or whatever media is in vogue)? Currently straight to video is a pretty strong indication that a movie is sucky. How much longer before that will not be true?
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What we really need is open content movies (commercial or community projects) that are available with source materials, have no DRM, and can be freely edited, redistributed, etc.
It'd be a perfect project for theatre students, film students, etc. Write their own script, produce their own movie, and release it online. If small companies and community groups don't have the resources to create the next Hollywood blockbuster then surely they do have the resources to create something of the quality we may have seen from the 80's or before (pre-CGI). Possibly even explore ideas that Hollywood has ignored. This kind of grassroots movie is what independent films should be.
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I agree, it's about time that we see some changes in the Hollywood world, but I think it's a bit ironic that Steven Soderbergh is the one pushing ahead.
I think many/most of us would agree that Hollywood movies generally suck, and the experience is even worse when you factor in inflated ticket prices, bad (and expensive) movie food/snacks, noisy kids/cellphones, parking nightmares, etc. So it's interesting to me that it would be Soderbergh would leads the charge for us to leave that all behind. Because it's Soderbergh himself who has produced or directed some really great films, including Pleasantville, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Ocean's Eleven (and Twelve), Erin Brokovich, and one of my favorite movies of all time, Traffic.
The irony is that it's the work of guys like Soderbergh who keep me going to the otherwise shithole movie theaters.
Who goes to the movies by themselves?
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Make no mistake. This is not about customer's movie watching lives. Its about profits.
Band routinely sell merchandise and CD's after concerts. You've seen the band and as a souvenir you can buy the album for usually less than retail prices.
For films something similar could be done: You have seen the movie, and you were -no doubt- very impressed. A very good mindset for the merchant that is offering the DVD right at the exit(at a less then retail price). Instead of complaining, theatre owners should grasp this golden opportunity.
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While I think some small, niche, indie films would do fine with a big screen, net, and DVD release at the same time, it is not going to be the next big thing. The main reason has to do with the role nationwide movie theater showings have. If you look at it for a minute, by doing a national release you get a level of publicity above and beyond anything you could ever pay for. Every newspaper in the country runs film reviews for new movies that open. Coming Attraction shows promote films. And there are the theater ran ads and plain show listings that customers look at several times a month. This high level of promotion is also over a period of time, which is very effective at driving the interest in something. Even if the consumer doesn't go to the theater when it is released, when that DVD shows up in stores he has already been exposed to it. Add in the paid promotional events and you end up with (ideally) a profitable big screen run, followed by a profitable DVD run -- not to mention pay-per-view, paid cable, cable, and finally broadcast TV. All of these events launch off that wide scale roll out, it provides a vast amount of unpurchasable publicity.
If you change the model and ship the film just once in several formats, your faced with having to sell the DVD and net versions without all that exposure over the nationwide release. And if the movie theater owners don't keep your movie around (because everyone is just buying the DVD) or they don't buy local newspaper/net ads, you may get less publicity than you might have if you had stuck to the normal schedule. Even if the publicity is identical and no one scales back because it is on DVD too, you still will lose the timed exposure. Like cooking by turning up the heat really high, it may not be as good a meal even if it is cooked the same amount.
The comic book industry has this same problem. Everyone wants to buy the trade paperbacks and skip the monthly issues. Which is fine, but it means giving up six months of exposure and advertising. Since it is going to take six months to make the six issues of the trade paperback anyway, if the monthly floppies can sell well enough to warrant shipping them, them being on shelves is more than worth having. Skipping right to the trade means giving up a whole lot of promotion.
For smaller indie films however it may make a lot of sense. They don't get as much out of the big screen roll out (usually because they only hit limited cities and play on screens that don't do much advertising). A combination DVD and big screen release might actually make the film more money, since mail order DVD's can cover the whole country. But once you cross over to the major studio film, I think the total revenue isn't going to be as much.
To survive the movie theatres have to take a leaf out of the book of the stage theatres and make the total experience something that is worthwhile - something that you can't get at home. There are a few approaches they could take:
- 3D on large immersive screens, to put you in the middle of the action in a way that home cinema can't. We can already see that on the starting blocks.
- lower cost and closer. Reduce the barriers to attendance by making it easier to attend.
- improve the total experience. Turn some of the space over to dining, include discussions and explainations, competitions, free DVD copies - making the film part of a larger event that people are more likely to stump up for. This is akin to the way the stage theatre has become an 'event' rather than a norm.
Whichever direction is taken, its obvious that the status quo has no hope of continuing. Within five years the distribution model will have switched, and with it will go a blurring of the line between TV and movie. Smart theatre owners will be starting to shift now.
Unless you have been going to some very "out-of-the-norm" cinema, DVD cannot compare to what you'll see on the 'big screen.' Now, i'm not going to say that sitting on your couch in your underwear isn't more comfy than sitting in a folding chair with gum stuck to it and one of the armrests missing, but at least from a technical standpoint, the bigscreen still trumps the dvdplayer.
Simply put, when film is scanned for digital manipulation (color correction, digital effects, etc), it's scanned at either "2k" or "4k" depending on what will be done with it. 4k is 4096px wide, and 2k is 2048 px wide. Current estimates put the theoretical [effective] maximum width of 35mm scanning between 6k and 8k. For the sake of argument, let's just assume 4k is the max. Current estimates put the theater release-prints somehwere between 1k and 1.5k, which is an abomination really, if you consider that is around 25% of the original "inherent" film resolution; but nontheless it's still considerably better than DVD (which is equiv to ".6k"). Now, if you're fortunate enough to be watching HD content at home, then you're watching the equivalent of 1.3k*, which is prettymuch onpar with what you'll get in a theater, but not better. And, since you said, "it's not like I spent thousands and thousands on it," one might assume you're just watching DVD's on a standard definition tvset, which i promise you, will be far inferior to your local theater.
(Disclaimer: a 720p frame is equiv to 1.3k, a 1080i frame is equiv to 2k; however 1080i is interlaced, and thus displayed in half fields, so each half-frame displayed is actually equiv to 1k. Even if you still want to pretend that 1080i frames are "2k," which they aren't (unless you're adding both halfframes together in some sort of weirdo math), you still have to watch an interlaced source, which is inferior to progressive film source a la your local theater.)
I realize this may seem odd, but to many of us who are regulars here on slash dot, the 'social experience' is about as foreign as being an alien grey. But, it should not be forgotten that going to the movies is 'an event'. Far far cheaper than going to see a play or attend opera or a concert. Much more easy to schedule on the fly. And the world is full of folks who do not have the paragon of home entertainment systems.
Sure, we can stay home, watch the DVD and have pizza delivered. But it is not the same as seeing a film after a meal in a nice restaurant, with friends away from the house.
So, will some theaters fail and close ? Heck, theaters are always failing and closing. AND new ones are always opening up too. The business model will change. Some will live, some will die, and life will go on.
Meanwhile, the movie industry will short circuit the bootleg business. Why buy a bootleg of uncertain quality, when you can have the real thing now ? Maybe a plea of poverty. Fine, for those who cry poverty there will remain bootleg. For the rest of us, the official release.
YAY !