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Amazon Launches Online Movie Studio
angry tapir writes "Amazon.com is getting into the movie business by opening Amazon Studios, with the goal of using the Internet to put fresh movies on the big screen. The new Internet movie studio will allow writers to upload screenplays to its website where the global Internet audience can read them and offer feedback, or producers/directors can use them to make test movies. The test movies, which must be at least 70 minutes in length, can also be uploaded."
I'm working on my screenplay.
In it, a man is forced to eat his own beard.
Thinking of calling it Razor.
Feedback is always important with any product. This is a great new way to critique movies, perhaps before they even come out on the big screen :)
My Hardcastle & McCormick reboot will live!
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
It's a prequel to Star Wars that doesn't suck.
Amazon is known for a lot more then books nowadays, and I'm really excited to see what they do with this. The more amazon dips competition into different markets (video game sales for instance) we've seen a lot of good things come out of it. Let's hope this project is just as successful. Also, wow, $100k a MONTH!
This is dumb. Maybe people can express constructive criticism, but I don't think it will be very successful in the long run.
Disregard that, this idea is public domain.
This could be a really good initiative, pretty interactive and user-generated too, since people don't really know about YouTube Movies, if Amazon takes off we could expect a better content in movies, because to be honest movies are horrible these days.
http://www.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/index
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
Max Keiser http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Keiser, a film-maker, broadcaster and former broker and options trader offers a vision of what this could really be like.
http://www.piratemyfilm.com/pages/how_it_works shows how funding could work..
"The system automatically creates enough shares to match the funds request and then makes those shares available for PMF members to reserve."
Why just read and offer feedback when you could support a work from day one and perhaps share in some value.
Great funding for a tech movie, drama, historical documentary, extreme sports, romance, cars ect.
Get a forum or core supporters on any topic. No need for some grant, arts council or one person funding.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
i love amazon
Disregard that, this idea is public domain.
No it's not. It's actually a Disney property and Pixar is making a movie to be released 2012. The title is "PIG-E" pronounced 'piggy'.
RIP America
July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001
Pfft. That's just a ripoff of Pocahantas.
My debut novel AMITY now available: http://jeremydbrooks.c
So you can read screenplays of other people? Are you allowed to moderate them up or down? If so, Hollywood could just buy the highest moderated screenplay :P What could possibly go wrong?
God spoke to me.
I see in the article that Warner Bros. would have right of first refusal for any script on the site, but does Amazon own the rights to the script or does the author?
flektor.com already did this and for free
http://www.crunchbase.com/company/flektor
Sounds similar and that was a real trainwreck. There are plenty of fresh scripts out there they just never get read. They don't need a gimick they need to have people with talent reading the bloody scripts that get submitted. They are after sure things and the sure hit is basically a myth. I remember one of these type deals winning because the writer basically boasted of how great his script was. The script was unoriginal crap but the people behind it believed the hype. They want some one to tell them what's good because they haven't a clue what's good and bad.
We already know movie studios steal for a living. They steal from the consumer, the taxpayer, the director, the actors and anyone else involved. The term - Hollywood Accounting. Would Amazon be any different? Should we be making it easier for them to steal ideas now?
Starbucks, Harbuckle of Breath.
According to the rules page of the Amazon writing contest, scripts are supposed to be uploaded in RTF format. This is a massive fail in my book, since scripts (unlike novels and stories) require strict formatting, something which RTF (as a least common denominator file format) isn't capable of. This is a job for a fixed layout format like PDF (or maybe TeX). From the rules:
i can see Todd Solondz slated to direct an internet effort: The Adventures Of Pedobear In A Series Of Tubes
seriously, this has far more potential to go bad than do good.
that said, Snakes On A Plane was pretty cool for what it was.
I'm noticing that recently there has been a growing trend towards independent publication of books, music, movies, and other creative works.
I really hope this continues to take off (with enthusiastic support from our wallets and voices) because it weakens the influence of the *IAAs and various copyright consortia that have an annoying habit of lobbying governments for legislation in no one's favour (not even the artists) but their own.
You know you all thunk it.
# No pornography. Movies like Risky Business are OK. Movies like Deep Throat are definitely not OK. You know what we mean.
Not like getting porn out there is difficult, but at least they're trying to cut down on those submissions.
Wonder what happens if you get a tasteful pornographic movie though.
Is there a +1 - Insanely cynical mod? Or would that be a -1?
"Exploitation"
Having read through the terms and conditions here, it looks like basically Amazon will pay you a token amount if the movie is made, whilst keeping all the millions for themselves.
Just another parasitic middleman in the movie industry. The very last thing the movie industry needs is more middlemen. If you work in the movie industry you will already be very familiar with this type of scam run by all sorts of people and all sorts of websites. As well as many other similar scams run for actors, directors and other movie professionals, or hopefuls.
Having Amazon now join in, adds an air of legitimacy to what is nothing more than a way of scamming writers. It may result in a break for a few amateur screenwriters. However with a bit of research, perseverance, and hard work, those same screenwriters could get a MUCH better deal for a viable screenplay.
That funding scheme would sound a lot more interesting if the industry being funded actually had a reputation for paying a fair return on its profits.
So now when I post/upload some poor screenplay I can now sue any studio as they MIGHT have see my screenplay and used (or altered it and used it). I seem to recall something about studios not accepting unsolicited screenplays and material just to avoid such legal traps.
I sign the rights to my script away to Warner Bros. for the *chance* of winning a lousy $20,000? I don't think so. The only writers this will attract are really shitty ones, really dumb ones, and really desperate ones.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
The consequences could be dire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gpjk_MaCGM
I was going to reply that it gives an indication of whether it could make a good film. And then I realised it's more likely to tell you that it couldn't.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
This actually sounds a lot like an idea I've had for a different way the film industry could work: moving to a model where screenwriters publish their screenplays, much as playwrights publish their plays, and then anyone who wants to is free to making movies from them (paying appropriate royalties, of course), just as anyone who wants to is free to put on a production of a play. This seems to me like a better match for the internet age, where the equipment needed to make professional quality movies is inexpensive and widely available, and distribution is no longer a major obstacle.
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
I don't think Amazon thought through this very well. They could have created a real opportunity to fund films, instead it's just a social and pr stunt. This is not something that is good for filmmakers or will be helpful for film. Here's my full take on it: http://nffty.org/explore/your-say/amazon-the-movie-studio-yeah-right