Tag Archives: digital distribution

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.

LSE economists: file sharing isn’t killing music industry, but copyright enforcement will – Boing Boing

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Whilst the music industry are blaming lost sales purely on piracy, a couple of LSE economists have some quite different conclusions to draw:

Creative Destruction and Copyright Protection, a paper by the London School of Economics’ Bart Cammaerts and Bingchun Meng, is an eye-opening look at the economics of file-sharing and music. The authors argue that an overall decline in consumer entertainment spending is to blame for the music industry’s downturn, supporting their assertion with (for example), research showing that entertainment spending declined by 40 percent in households that didn’t own computers (who probably weren’t downloading!) over the period of overall decline for the industry.

Their conclusion is that copyright enforcement won’t bring back consumer spending on music — but it will strangle new business models built on file-sharing, robbing the next generation of musicians without paying the current generation.

via LSE economists: file sharing isn’t killing music industry, but copyright enforcement will – Boing Boing.

Global recorded music sales fall almost $1.5bn amid increased piracy | Business | guardian.co.uk

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Figures show a significant decline in music sales, with the music industry blaming this on piracy.

Global recorded music sales fell by almost $1.5bn (£930m) last year as digital piracy continued to take its toll on the industry, with the UK losing its mantle as the third-largest music market after “physical” sales of CDs collapsed by almost a fifth.

However, other sources are not so quick to claim that a decline in such sales can be solely attributed to piracy.

via Global recorded music sales fall almost $1.5bn amid increased piracy | Business | guardian.co.uk.

Warner Brothers First Studio To Offer Full Movies on Facebook | /Film

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Warner Brothers has just announced that it is to start offering movies through Facebook:

“Facebook has become a daily destination for hundreds of millions of people,” said Thomas Gewecke, President of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution in a press release “Making our films available through Facebook is a natural extension of our digital distribution efforts. It gives consumers a simple, convenient way to access and enjoy our films through the world’s largest social network.”

via Warner Brothers First Studio To Offer Full Movies on Facebook | /Film.

Warner Bros launches Inception and The Dark Knight movie apps | Technology | guardian.co.uk

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This is an interesting development in digital distribution – iOS apps for a film containing the movie and DVD-style extras updated for the Web 2.0 world with obligatory social network features. Free to download and then £5.99 in-app payment to unlock the film, they are also cheaper than the download equivalents from the iTunes store.

The advantage of using apps as a distribution mechanism for movies is the ability to wrap DVD-style extras and interactivity around them. The Dark Knight includes a trivia game, a soundboard and art gallery, while Inception bundles in five music tracks from composer Hans Zimmer. Both apps tap into social networks too, allowing fans to post quotes on Twitter and Facebook, while seeing a feed of what people are saying about the films.

This is particularly relevant for AS Film FM2 section A.

via Warner Bros launches Inception and The Dark Knight movie apps | Technology | guardian.co.uk.

Amazon’s ebook sales eclipse paperbacks for the first time | World news | guardian.co.uk

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In the US at least, the rise of the ebook appears to be continuing. It would be interesting to see how the UK market for digital books compares.

In what could be a landmark moment in the struggle between old versus new technology, Amazon has announced that it now sells more copies of its Kindle ebooks than traditional paperbacks.

The online retailer, in posting its latest financial results, revealed that paid-for sales of the electronic format outstrip its total sales of paperbacks – although combined sales of paperbacks and hardbacks still seem to maintain print’s number one spot overall.

via Amazon’s ebook sales eclipse paperbacks for the first time | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Curzon launches video on demand service | Media | guardian.co.uk

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Very interesting article about Arthouse cinema chain Curzon’s new plans to digitally distribute a few films a year at the same time as they get a cinema release. This is exactly the kind of thing that is relevant to FM2 section A, and is a great way of getting arthouse films to people who live in places where there is no arthouse cinema. London has excellent film choices but in many other places it is easy to see blockbusters but much harder to see arthouse, independent and foreign films.

In Our Name producer Michelle Eastwood said she was “elated” that her film had been chosen. “It opens it up to people who wouldn’t make it to an arthouse cinema or don’t live near one,” she said.

“We have been waiting for someone to work out how to use the internet not just for marketing films but for releasing them as well.

“I am a complete traditionalist and I love to see a film on a big screen, but as a filmmaker you want your film to be seen by as many people as possible.”

via Curzon launches video on demand service | Media | guardian.co.uk.