» Posts Tagged ‘selfdistribution’
Introducing BitTorrent Bundle: Pioneering Decentralized Digital Distribution & Marketing
BitTorrent, a tech company whose name is commonly and incorrectly associated with pirating, has been running a legitimate business since 2004 with over 2 million pieces of licensed content in the BitTorrent download manager, which serves more than 170 million people monthly. The company is now beginning to launch a new endeavor to empower those in the content creation business. BitTorrent Bundle provide a way for creators large and small to have all the advantages of the peer-to-peer protocol while also maintaining control over their content by creating ‘gates’ that must be unlocked by the consumer. We had a chance to chat with Matt Mason, VP of Marketing at BitTorrent, who is very impassioned about what this new publishing platform could potentially mean for creators. Read on for the interview and get the full scoop: More »
Oscar-Winning Roger Corman's Drive-In YouTube Channel Offers 400 B-Movie Essentials for $4 a Month
Of all the filmmakers of all time, few can claim the sheer volume of titles to their name as Roger Corman — never mind his other accomplishments. The 87-year-old director, producer, writer, and occasional actor is still active in his 60 year film career, during which he has coached countless high-profile auteurs, fostered the careers of several notable actors, and earned a 2009 Honorary Academy Award. He has also already denied services such as Hulu streaming rights to his extensive ~400 film canon even for an offered $5-6,000 per film (to be paid to him) — but has agreed to launch “Corman’s Drive-In” as a $4/mo paid YouTube channel in the summer. Read on for more details. More »
The film industry has changed dramatically over the past decade, and trying to make a living from movies is getting more difficult as independent films (and films in general) fight for a smaller piece of the viewership pie. That’s where people like Ted Hope come in. He has been working tirelessly to make sustainable filmmaking careers a reality, and he’s written a tremendous post that should be an eye-opener for anyone trying to survive as a filmmaker.
This is a guest post by Producer Ted Hope. More »
Though it was requested that Steven Soderbergh’s recent “last appearance ever talking film” at the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival was not to be recorded, a clip has made its way to the surface. The prolific filmmaker discusses the state of things and the difference between ‘movies’ and ‘cinema’ with the anecdotal prowess you would expect from the veteran. Hit the jump for the full video, and read on for the latest on his Twitter endeavors. More »
Steven Soderbergh has been making movies at a rapid pace over the last few years, likely trying to get everything out of his system before his “retirement” from filmmaking. We’re not sure if the new Liberace film will truly be his last, or if he’ll ever direct anything else again, but one thing is sure: he still has a lot of strong feelings about the film industry and many of the problems facing filmmakers today. He recently spoke at the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival, and got into some of the major issues that affect filmmaking — and filmmakers — today. [Update]: you can now watch the full speech online. More »
After Three Years of Distribution Pioneering, Online VOD Platform Dynamo Shuts Its Doors
DynamoPlayer, one of the first the to market in terms of the ‘direct-to-consumer‘ paradigm, has officially bit the dust. They will spend the next few months closing out accounts and letting users collect their remaining balances before they shut down existing video players in mid-June. By the end of June, the platform will be shut down completely. Read on for the press release from Dynamo. More »
Reelhouse Paves the Way for the Future of Self-Distribution
Each new day that passes it seems the world of distribution for filmmakers is being turned on its head. With so many new content destinations popping up all the time, it’s hard to know what’s what. Reelhouse is a company who seems to be breaking through the mold, as a recent partnership with Sundance would suggest. Reelhouse is planning a big launch on April 22nd — read on for our interview with Bill Mainguy, CEO and Founder of Reelhouse and get to know the platform: More »
While it’s been in private beta since November, Vimeo has finally unveiled details of their pay-to-view service, which they are now officially calling Vimeo On Demand. This is a big move for the video streaming website, which up until now has only offered the option to tip users. There are plenty of options for creators to sell their content online, but it’s far more convenient to sell through a service that’s already familiar with millions of users. Check out more details of the new service below. More »
Bringing 'HENRi' to Life: a Filmmaker's Arduous Low-Budget Animated Journey
Do you love underdog stories? How about underdog stories about independent filmmaking? If the answer is yes, there’s a lot to love about HENRi, a low-budget science fiction short film, written and directed by Eli Sasich, starring Margot Kidder and Keir Dullea of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame. HENRi tells of the poetic journey of its titular character, a self-evolving robot who wishes for nothing more than to become human. The film is a unique blend of traditional miniature and puppetry effects alongside more modern motion-reference animation, and the results are simply stunning. Check out the trailer below. More »
Disrupt and Distribute: VHX Helps 'Internet Revolutionaries' Self-Release Their Films
As promised, the team behind VHX is steadily working to change the independent film distribution landscape. Veteran experience in populist collaboration and the building of Vimeo means VHX understands web video, audience interaction, and tracking social trends. Can it really work? The likes of NPR and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl (as director) think so, joining the ranks of non-fiction VHX-powered releases like Indie Game: The Movie. VHX has also empowered documentary filmmakers spotlighting the ‘hacker’ community Anonymous, and the creators of the controversial BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay — even with the latter doc’s simultaneous free release through YouTube and BitTorrent. 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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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