Tag Archives: digital distribution

Observations on film art : Pandora’s digital box: Art house, smart house

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Another fascinating, lengthy article about the impact the move towards digital projection is having on independent and arthouse cinemas. As larger cinemas move towards digital-only projection systems, fewer films will be released on 35mm. Whilst chains can afford to convert to the latest tech, it’s often prohibitively expensive for arthouse cinemas which may be forced to project from Blu-Ray or even DVD:

Theatres’ conversion from 35mm film to digital presentation was designed by and for an industry that deals in mass output, saturation releases, and quick turnover. A movie comes out on Friday, fills as many as 4,000 screens around the country, makes most of its money within a month or less, and then shows up on VoD, PPV, DVD, or some other acronym. The ancillary outlets yield much more revenue to the studios, but the theatrical release is crucial in establishing awareness of the film.

Given this shock-and-awe business plan, movies on film stock look wasteful. You make, ship, and store several thousand 35mm prints that will be worthless in a few months. (I’ve seen trash bags stuffed with Harry Potter reels destined for destruction.) Pushing a movie in and out of multiplexes on digital files makes more sense.

And on the subject of Video on Demand:

Ancillary income from DVD has declined steeply, and VoD pays well. According to Josh Dickey’s Variety article and Daniel Miller’s Hollywood Reporter piece on the rise of VoD deals, Margin Call, which attracted $5.3 million theatrically, took in an estimated $4-$5 million on VoD. Another advantage is that streaming provides fast returns, while any DVD income won’t show up for many months. Moreover, VoD can reach audiences in areas of the country that don’t have art houses. And some distributors believe that the theatrical and VoD audiences don’t significantly overlap. For Margin Call, it’s claimed, most people who saw it in the theatre didn’t know that it was on VoD, and many who caught it on VoD would not have gone to a theatre.

There don’t seem to be any firm conclusions about how much day-and-date or early release on VoD can harm a film’s theatrical release. In the absence of detailed evidence about VoD grosses, exhibitors are understandably nervous.

via Observations on film art : Pandora’s digital box: Art house, smart house.

Piracy is part of the digital ecosystem | Technology | guardian.co.uk

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More on piracy from The Guardian:

At the last Consumer Electronic Show, the British market intelligence firm Envisional presented its remarkable State of Digital Piracy Study. Here are some highlights:

• Pirated contents accounts for 24% of the worldwide internet bandwidth consumption.

• The biggest chunk is carried by bittorrent (the protocol used for file sharing); it weighs about 40% of the illegitimate content in Europe and 20% in the US (including downstream and upstream). Worldwide, bittorrent gets 250 million UVs per month.

• The second tier is made by the so-called cyberlockers (5% of the global bandwidth), among them the infamous Megaupload, raided a few days ago by the FBI and the New Zealand police. On the 500 million uniques visitors per month to cyberlockers, Megaupload drained 93 million UVs. (To put things in perspective, the entire US newspaper industry gets about 110 million UVs per month). The Cyberlockers segment has twice the users but consumes eight times less bandwidth than bittorrent simply because files are much bigger on the peer-to-peer system.

• The third significant segment in piracy is illegal video streaming (1.4% of the global bandwidth.)

There are three ways to fight piracy: endless legal actions, legally blocking access, or creating alternative legit offers.

I think this is the interesting point – creating alternative legitimate ways of getting digital content cuts piracy.

Compare the difference in US and EU internet traffic:

US – Netflix takes the largest chunk

EU – Bittorrent takes the largest chunk

via Piracy is part of the digital ecosystem | Technology | guardian.co.uk.

Downloads: Not the salvation film studios might have hoped for | Media | guardian.co.uk

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More Guardian coverage of film industry concerns about falling DVD revenue, suggesting that downloads are not going to be such a lucrative replacement:

There’s little solace for film studios in digital download sales, though they might have hoped those would go some way towards offsetting tanking DVD sales. Screen Digest’s research, in the FT, explains that DVDs have generated more than $20bn every year for Hollywood but have been falling 25% since 2006. Downloads, despite a promising start with iTunes, have not filled the gap.

via Downloads: Not the salvation film studios might have hoped for | Media | guardian.co.uk.

BBC News – Is cinema facing its final curtain?

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This article looks at how the film industry is responding to falling cinema attendance (despite rising revenues) and the collapse of DVD sales:

The film industry is worried.

Despite box office revenues growing, fewer people are going to the cinema.

In the US – since a peak in 2002 when 1.58 billion tickets were sold – numbers have fallen to a projected 1.22 billion for 2011, a drop of more than 20% according to market analyst The Numbers.

Hollywood’s cash cow – and often its safety net – over recent years has been the DVD. Avatar alone sold four million DVDs in the first four days of its release. Before the digital transition, VHS provided healthy incomes, but streaming services seem to be changing everything.

via BBC News – Is cinema facing its final curtain?.

Netflix Passes Piracy in U.S. Net Traffic | Epicenter | Wired.com

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For the first time, legal streaming of entertainment is consuming more internet bandwidth than illegal downloading in the US.

Netflix streaming movies now fill more of the U.S.’s internet tubes than any other service, including peer-to-peer file sharing, which long held the top spot — to the consternation of Hollywood.

That means for the first time perhaps in the internet’s history, the largest percentage of the net’s traffic is content that is paid for…Netflix accounts for 22.2% of all U.S. broadband traffic compared to BitTorrent’s 21.6% share. And at peak times, Netflix hits 30% of all traffic, a bounce of 44% over results from the fall.

The full report contains some data on Europe, including the statistic that 6.6% of peak downstream traffic in the UK is people watching BBC iPlayer.

via Netflix Passes Piracy in U.S. Net Traffic | Epicenter | Wired.com.

Top Hollywood directors protest over home downloads | Film | The Guardian

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The plans for early VOD releases of films are continuing to prove controversial:

More than 20 leading film-makers, including James Cameron, Peter Jackson and Robert Zemeckis, have written a protest letter to Hollywood studios over their decision to allow films to be downloaded into people’s homes while they are still being screened in cinemas, rather than once they have completed their theatrical run, will take its toll on the box-office and film-making.

and

They have joined cinema owners to warn that reducing the exclusive release window traditionally given to cinema chains will lead to dwindling audiences and increased piracy with pristine digital copies being made available so early.

Cameron, who was showered with Oscars for Titanic and Avatar, said: “The cinema experience is the wellspring. If the exhibitors are worried, I’m worried. Why on earth would you give audiences an incentive to skip the highest and best form of your film?”

via Top Hollywood directors protest over home downloads | Film | The Guardian.

US cinemas threaten not to show films in video-on-demand dispute | Media | guardian.co.uk

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This row between film studios and cinema chains is useful material for AS Film students for FM2 section A.

US cinema chains are threatening to banish some films from their screens in response to a contentious video-on-demand plan by several Hollywood studios to allow new releases into living rooms within weeks of their big screen debuts.

Four of the six major film studios – Universal, Sony, Warner Bros and Fox – plan to make new releases available to rent online just two months after their cinema debut. New releases will be available to rent for $30 (£18) under the premium VoD proposals, set to be introduced in the US later this month.

Cinema owners have reacted angrily to the plans, which could significantly reduce the box office potential of new releases . The National Association of Theatre Owners (Nato), which represents the largest cinema chains in the US including Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Theatres, said it will fight the move.

via US cinemas threaten not to show films in video-on-demand dispute | Media | guardian.co.uk.

Has The Tunnel uncovered a way around the BitTorrent threat? | Film | guardian.co.uk

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Forthcoming horror film The Tunnel has raised some of the budget by crowdsourcing via social networks, and plans to release the film for free via BitTorrent, in an attempt to boost DVD sales:

The portion of the modest budget ($AU435,000) that would otherwise have had to come from government-funding bodies ($AU135,000) was raised online via social-networking donations. Users were invited to purchase a frame for $1, one of which will be selected to receive a 1% share of any profits. So far, nearly 30,000 of the 135,000 frames have been sold.

Of seemingly greater consequence for the industry is the film-makers’ decision to embrace BitTorrent, which would once have been viewed as sacrilegious. Come 19 May, The Tunnel will be available as a free download – a legal one – with users offered the chance to purchase the special edition DVD after viewing.

via Has The Tunnel uncovered a way around the BitTorrent threat? | Film | guardian.co.uk.

Movie downloads: Are you sitting comfortably (and legally)? | Money | The Guardian

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This article looks at the current position for legal film (and some TV) streaming, online rental and downloads in the UK.

According to the British Video Association, the market for legal downloads of films more than doubled from £35m to £78m in 2010, while rental-style digital services grew in value by £5m to £205m last year

The film industry’s hope is that the growing number of legal sites offering affordable (and even free) downloading and streaming of movies will mean consumers will abandon dodgy filesharing sources, which still account for the vast majority of downloads.

“While there are many websites that allow consumers to download and stream films illegally, the internet is full of cheap (and free) legal film and TV if you just know where to look,” says a spokesperson for the Industry Trust for Intellectual Property Awareness, the body set up to tackle film and television copyright infringement in the UK.

 

Movie download price tablevia Movie downloads: Are you sitting comfortably (and legally)? | Money | The Guardian.

Hollywood video on demand plans anger cinema owners | Media | guardian.co.uk

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US cinema owners are angry about plans by major film studios to allow early on-demand rentals of new releases:

Four of the six Hollywood film studios – Universal, Sony, Warner Bros and Fox – will offer films to rent for $30 £18, for a period of two to three days through the US satellite TV service Direct TV, according to reports.

However, cinema owners, which usually get an exclusive period of four months to show films, reacted with shock at the news of the premium VoD plans, which could significantly reduce the box-office potential of new releases.

Useful for AS Film FM2. Frankly, I’m amazed that Sony think anyone would pay £18 to rent an Adam Sandler / Jennifer Aniston film…

via Hollywood video on demand plans anger cinema owners | Media | guardian.co.uk.