Matt Smith (who?), age 26 is the eleventh.
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Day: January 3, 2009
Filmmaker has a post on Lance Weiler’s upcoming article on data portability. I have been hungering for this one for a long time now. Data portability’s a key issue for all of us. It would have been on my list of what I want our film culture to be but I thought it was an issue or practicality more than a way of being. Open source practices and general transparency in actions and practices is something though that is essential to a truly free film culture and it definitely should have been on my list (I have now added it). What else did I forget?
Scott’s post goes on to discuss Facebook’s policy of dropping the accounts of those who have grown too large. It’s an irksome situation and something to be aware of. Check it out.
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I Never Want My Cable Back
It’s been about five years now since I swore off cable TV. It all felt like the same with one or two distinctions. I have always preferred my news in print form, and of course the WWW provides the opportunity to always find what I missed.
I have to admit that I expected there to be much more interesting programing produced for the web than I have found. Maybe I am not looking hard enough. I would appreciate some more tips.
I did have the pleasure of finding Doctor Steel though. He is a wonderful whack job, blending Pee Wee Herman with a fascist mad scientist in bondage gear vibe. He’s got quite a few episodes up on YouTube now and I recommend checking them out when you’ve decided you have some time to kill. They are nice work all around: great performance, art direction, archive sourcing, and overall directing.
This is episode 2 to give you a taste:
22. Financiers are collaborating with each other. Groups like Impact Partners that provide regular deal flow, vetting, and producerial oversight for investors with common interests lowers the threshold number for investors interested in entering the film business. IndieVest is another model based on subscription, deal flow, and perqs. The high amount of capital needed to enter the film business has limited its participants. The film business has its own vernacular, and mysterious business practices. It is an industry of relationships. Collaborative ventures like this help to solve many of these threshold issues.
23. The US Government, at the city, state, and federal levels, recognize the positive economic impact of film production and have created a highly competitive market for tax subsidies and credits. The vast amount of experimentation in this field has allowed for it to grow forever more efficient. Although these benefits are designed to attract the highest amount of spend, and are thus most beneficial to Hollywood style models, the steady employment these credits have helped to deliver, develop a crew and talent base more able to also take risks on projects of more limited means. The “soft” money they provide a project is often key to getting the green light.
24. A greater acceptance of a variety of windows in terms of release platforms is emerging. Filmmakers were once the greatest roadblock to a pre-theatrical release DVD. Filmmakers are experimenting with everything from free streaming to the filmic equivalent to a roadshow tour. It is only through such endeavors that we will find a new model that works.
25. Industry leaders have said publicly that they will share the meta-data that a VOD release generates with the filmmakers. Although license fees have dropped considerably, filmmakers have new options on what to ask for in return. I spoke on a panel with two notable industry leaders who said they would put it in their contracts that filmmakers can receive and share the data the VOD screenings of their films generate. This information will become important the more filmmakers seek to maintain direct communication with their audiences.
