Tag: orphan works

The Really Good Things In FilmBiz 2014

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date December 5, 2014
393 Comments on The Really Good Things In FilmBiz 2014

Let's look at the bright side! — Let’s look at the bright side!

Some rituals help keep us focused throughout the year. This marks the 4th time I have looked back at all the good things that occurred in the film biz and listed them out for all of us. Tracking them through year, keeps me from abandoning hope. Sometimes they may just be the silver lining in the storm cloud, but nonetheless they keep me going, keep me convinced that in fact we truly are: building it better together. I hope they do something close to that for you. It’s been a good year, and I have thirty two morsels to tempt you with. And of course the year’s not through yet, so perhaps you have some to add to this too.

If you’ve encountered elements of this list earlier on my postings in Film Comment and on Keyframe, pay careful attention as I have weaved some new points into all for your reading pleasure. And if you like a little of the bitter to wash down the sweet, don’t forget the list of 30 Bad Things In 2014’s Film Biz here.

Truly Free Film

30 Really Bad Things In FilmBiz 2014

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date December 4, 2014
52 Comments on 30 Really Bad Things In FilmBiz 2014

It is now time for my complete list of The Suck In Today’s Film Biz. Earlier this week, I’ve dropped some bits on Keyframe and Filmmaker Mag. IndieWire picked it up. There’s so much that is wrong, it is easy to share the wealth. But here is all of those combined lists plus many more. Can’t you hear everyone screaming “OMG, there is so much too fix! It is time we made this really work for ambitious and diverse film once and for all!”? We wish, right?

I have been chronicling the negative in our film industry for sometime now — six years in these type of posts, but my original rant goes back to 1995 for Filmmaker Magazine. Much of what I have stated in years’ passed remains still in need of getting done. Dig in to my past lists and when you combine them you will have well over 100 things that we could be doing better. You’d think with so much wrong, more people would stand up and say “this has got to change!”. Where is the film industry’s national leadership? For the first time I believe we are capable of conceptualizing what an entire systems reboot could be — and one that looks out for ALL the stakeholders. Isn’t it time for a international summit on this?

I have been also chronicling the good too, but today that’s for another day. Come back tomorrow for my comprehensive list of 30 Good Things In The Film Biz 2014.

By detailing what we have failed to do, done wrong, or continue to ignore, we build a road map of how we can improve things for the future. Here’s my contribution to that map for 2014. Let’s build this better together.

The “Winners Take All” Blockbuster Model Has Stomped “The Long Tail” Flat (in Hollywood). And as much as I hoped people would try to resist
Continue reading “30 Really Bad Things In FilmBiz 2014”

Truly Free Film

Influence The Rules That Will Influence You

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date August 7, 2014

Copyright law, net neutrality, media consolidation, fair use, antitrust, DMCA — you have to not just know these, but know how you can influence the rules that influence you. Ultimately, it’s not just the laws that set the rules; it’s also the technology. The good news is that history has shown that the community, particularly when they find the right leaders, can truly make change happen.

This episode of ReInvent Hollywood has it all:

Tags antitrust, copyright law, DMCA, Fair Use, media consolidation, Net Neutrality, orphan works, Reinvent Hollywood

Truly Free Film

What Issues Do Filmmakers Need To Track?

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date April 16, 2014
125 Comments on What Issues Do Filmmakers Need To Track?

A creative life is a precarious thing. Actions occur that could profoundly effect your ability to earn a living doing what you love. We get blindsided again and again, sometimes not recognizing things until they are too late to alter them. It’s one of the reasons I have tried to meticulously track for you what are the good thing and bad things happening in indie film these days. Yet, it seems to me we all need to do a better job of tracking them if we don’t want to get trapped in a future we won’t be part of..

My thought is that we should be able to define a series of issues in which we can put events, ideas, and articles into as they occur, helping each other stay on top of them.

The first step is to define the issues. That is what I am doing today .