» Posts Tagged ‘distribution’
Is 'House of Cards' the Future of Television, or Simply a Forgettable Netflix Experiment?
On February 1st, Netflix released the first 13 episodes of the first season of House of Cards, marking a potentially monumental shift in the way we watch content. By now it’s very likely a number of you have seen the entirety of the series starring Kevin Spacey. While it’s not the first original series for Netflix (that would be Lilyhammer), House of Cards is one of the most (if not the most) expensive television shows in history, and has attracted some of the biggest names in Hollywood — like director David Fincher. But will the experiment work, or will binge-viewing ultimately hurt those who produce content? More »
Another year of Sundance is coming to a close, with the awards ceremony taking place on Saturday night. We’ve featured interviews with a number of creatives who have films playing at the festival, including two that were recently acquired, Austenland and Concussion. There were quite a few distribution deals made at the festival, some for very large sums of money, and it certainly looks like it’s going to be an even better year than last for the independent film market. Click through for a list of all of the movies that have received deals. More »
Could an Equation Determine Whether a Movie Will Be Successful?
The movie industry is no stranger to equations and analytics, and many of the decisions they make are based on such numbers. It’s very often a gamble, however, because no system is perfect in its predictions, and there is no guaranteed way to anticipate many of the other factors that go into these releases. But what if you could develop a mathematical model that could accurately predict how successful a movie would be? That’s what the Tottori University Department of Engineering in Japan is attempting to do with their own equation. Check out the video below: More »
Ever wondered what format, camera model, lens type, finishing format, lens manufacturer, etc. was used to create a certain film? You may have found yourself punching in IMDb as your default movie trivia database, and you may have found some or all such information in the film’s technical specs page — or you may not have. While IMDb has a lot of other coverage to keep itself occupied logging (particularly cast and crew lists), you may find yourself wanting a more detailed and dedicated technical breakdown — enter ‘ShotOnWhat?‘ More »
By this point, you probably know about what VHX has been doing for direct-release cases and various self-promoted media start-ups. It’s clear the project will continue to bring us a lot of great films directly — and a lot of success stories along the way. You may not, however, be totally in tune to the things the project is trying to do for video on the internet in general. There’s something to be said for socializing a video-based browsing experience — in a lot of cases, you may never easily find videos that captivate or interest you on YouTube or Vimeo, because unless they’re being shared on Facebook or Twitter by people whose tastes you trust, how would you come across them? This is just one example of why you may find yourself living in a very VHX future. More »
VHX Meets VHS, Taekwondo, and Ninja Bloodshed: The Triumphant Re-Release of 'Miami Connection'
If you were previously unconvinced that VHX is out to remodel the internet cinema landscape for the better, a recent announcement just may do the trick. The self-distribution provider — already instrumental in the release of such direct-to-audience success stories as Indie Game: The Movie (a key tale to be told for independent filmmakers) and a proponent of a revolutionary new model of self-release philosophy — is now offering another first. As of today, December 11, the joint Drafthouse Films and VHX-powered re-release of midnight movie/underground martial arts film Miami Connection (with physical media such as VHS, a first and maybe only for a VHX release) is now underway — and any non-enthusiasts of Taekwondo, ninjas, B-movie swagger, and what appears to be among the greatest films ever made, need not apply. More »
There’s been a lot to say regarding self distribution recently, and that’s a very good thing. We’re in the midst of what could be a renaissance of decentralized creative efforts, with film at its forefront. You can now, more than ever, literally do everything yourself — and that’s very important to us. We’ve heard from the creators of Indie Game: The Movie, and there’s a lot to learn from their success. Now, VHX co-founder Jamie Wilkinson has presented the common misconceptions of internet-based self-distribution, why the old studio ways of thinking are obsolete, and what powers the new media ecosystem puts directly into your hands. More »
Hot of the presses, RED has just announced — as they said they would — their REDRAY 4K playback system, a 6-pound, DVD Player-sized playback device for $1,450. It has built-in 3D capabilities, offers 802.11N wireless connectivity/playback, is DCI-compliant, and debuts with it new security and file formats to make 4K distribution a reality — along with a brand new delivery network to debut at Sundance in January. The player itself is scheduled to ship in December ”early 2013.” More »
In just a matter of hours, RED should be unveiling the final shipping model of REDRAY, its compressed 4K playback machine, as well as a brand new 4K distribution network. While details on that have been scarce at best, Sony has been planning their own delivery method for 4K, which coincides with the release of their flagship $25,000 84″ Bravia TV — that also features an advanced upscaler to get your 1080p interpolated up to 4K. Click through to read what the company has up their sleeves. More »
Sometimes it seems like the numbers of services allowing for film self-distribution are expanding so rapidly it’s a bit overwhelming, or at least a little difficult to keep up with. This type of flooding can really only benefit the filmmaker, though, seeing as each project’s release vector can be paired with the most appropriate service instead of being stuck choosing between a mere few. It may be time to add another notch to your list of options, because now — with the help of film-centric audience builder-organizer Crowdstarter — a service called PUMit is looking to get your film out into the world, get ticket revenue straight to your wallet, and provide you with all the tools to do so successfully along the way. More »
We’re all, I’m sure, very familiar with the phrase “Film is Dead” and the like by this point. And that very well seems to be true, because of a perfect storm of emergent technologies — between the high-quality digital acquisition now possible and the the distribution possibilities offered by the internet, celluloid may finally be uttering its climactic guttural death-rattle. What some of us (including myself) may not think about as much, though, is how many times cinema itself has supposedly been finished in the past. An article by The Village Voice highlights how many times over each decade since its inception film has been declared deceased, and why. More »
Larry Clark's 'Marfa Girl' Streaming Online Only Beginning Today
Distribution is changing. Sure, Hollywood is still trying to keep the status quo, and at the same time slowly branch out into VOD and streaming, but the indies have been forging ahead with new and ever-changing methods of distribution — many times circling all of the above when it comes to getting their movie out there. Larry Clark, best known for the film Kids, is releasing his new film Marfa Girl (which just won Best Film at the 7th Rome Film Festival) in a rather peculiar way: streaming online tonight only for 24 hours, and then he says you’ll never be able to see it again in any other format. [Update: I misunderstood the wording on his site. The film will be available online indefinitely, but the rental will give you access for 24 hours.] More »
We’ve talked about a number of success stories involving self-distribution on this site, from Louie C.K. to Aziz Ansari (who both also happen to already be famous and successful). What if you’re not famous, however, and your name isn’t already plastered on billboards? That’s exactly the case with a film we’ve featured on this site before, Indie Game: The Movie. The filmmakers, Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, self-distributed their film and chronicled their success in a case study (part of which we’re featuring below), wherein they discuss what it takes to get yourself and your movie out there.
This is a guest post from Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, the Directors/Producers of the film. More »
We knew monetization on Vimeo was coming sooner or later, and after they introduced Tip Jar back in September, they also discussed some early plans for a Pay-to-View/online VOD service sometime in the near future. Today they introduced that service in a strictly test run format: Vimeo Movies. While it will not be open to the public until next year, they currently have six films available, and will release more before the service launches in full. If you’re a Vimeo PRO member, you’ll already be on your way to selling your film when the service comes out of private beta, but what about the rest of Vimeo’s users? More »
Depending on how much time you spend on or around YouTube, you may already be aware of the site’s original channels venture – which is not to be confused with its partnering program, a far easier monetization leap to make for the everyday user with a high-traffic upload. Interchangeably called ‘YouTube original’ or ‘premium’ channels (but not like cable TV premium channels — they mean quality of content, not ticket price), the venture was announced about a year ago and launched just this past January. Unfortunately, the returns so far have been pretty lackluster. Now, YouTube is certainly not giving up on what seems to have been an overall rough turnout — they are, however, seriously cutting back numbers on partner renewals. More »
RED seems to be on a roll lately. First it’s massive price drops, which include a $4,000 RED ONE MX body — you know — a camera that has shot many high-end feature films, and it costs only a little more than DSLR after the price drop. Now it’s looking like their REDRAY player, which plays highly compressed 4K material at lower-than-Blu Ray bitrates (but with almost indistinguishable quality), will begin shipping soon. The biggest news, however, is that RED is partnering with another company to introduce a 4K content distribution network built right into REDRAY. Slowly but surely 4K is arriving, and the only thing left is displays and affordable projectors – and RED is working on the latter. Click through for more details on both pre-announcements. More »
Quit Clinging to the Past and Just Cleeng Already! Or, How You Could Already Be Making Money on Vimeo
Content creators have a few ways they can choose to monetize their media. And while some manner of high profile and hype are needed to make a true self-distribution success story (the major caveat inherent to self-distro), the possibility is there for any of us. After about 20,000 years, Vimeo is finally putting the power to get paid into the hands of Plus/Pro subscribers (just kidding Vimeo, we love you), though it isn’t entirely clear whether their upcoming Direct-to-Audience system will be available for Vimeo Pro users only. This is a likelihood, because it adds considerable incentive to opt for Pro’s $200 annual plan over Plus’s $60/year subscription. Until recently, we were under the impression we would have to wait for the “early 2013″ release of their native services to sell/rent on Vimeo — as it turns out, the ability to monetize content beyond discretionary donations (tip-jar) is not only available to us at this very moment, but actually has been for several months. It’s called Cleeng PLAY and the details are below. More »
Project Specific, DRM-Free, Directly to Your Audience: Why VHX Could Be Your Next Distribution Platform
Slowly but surely outlets for online media distribution are blossoming — with some major players finally rolling out monetization options and others already in place. We’re starting to not only have the ability to self-distribute, but also pick what’s best for us from among some healthy competition. One of the more recent developments in pro-creator content delivery systems (that’s PCCDSs — can that be a thing from now on?) is VHX distribution, not to be confused with VHS distribution, which is completely different. VHX originally began as a video sharing social media platform, which is very functional but still largely in its infancy. In addition to this service, however, VHX has already proven its potential for media monetization with its first two web releases — both tailor-made for the client and DRM-free. Click through for the full low-down. More »
Just because you attempt to launch something on Kickstarter, does not automatically mean the project will be approved. In response to this, the development team for the Lockitron project (whose original startup was indeed rejected by Kickstarter) has released a new donation-based funding system, called Selfstarter — and since then has raised $1 million in pre-order sales using it. Selfstarter is fully customizable, clearly effective (compare that $1 million to the team’s original $150,000 goal), and — most importantly — free for everyone to use for their own projects. More details after the jump. More »
A year ago I called monetization the elephant in the room for Vimeo, writing, “if you really want to empower independent content creators, you must give them a way to make a living.” I’ve been wondering for quite some time if and how Vimeo was going to enable independent filmmakers to make money from their videos, since Vimeo is really the elephant in the independent filmmaking room: with 13 million registered users and 75 million monthly unique visitors, they’re almost certainly the largest community of independent filmmakers in the world. Today Vimeo is launching a donation feature called Tip Jar, and coming down the line is a much bigger deal: direct-to-audience video sales. More »
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