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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Film Priates and 670-million dollars
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 04-03-2008 01:26 PM
quote: Dennis Benjamin
What has happened, is that it has already gotten OUT OF CONTROL. Neither the people in the government or the NATO/MPAA people can really do anything about it.
Oh, those guys can damned sure do something about it and get very reliable, effective results.
My suggestion: stop making DVD screener discs.
Really. It is that easy. THAT is the solution.
I've mentioned this before in film piracy discussions. I find it very strange this idea hasn't gained any traction. If Hollywood is really losing hundreds of millions to billions of dollars every year due to film piracy simple, plain logic would suggest they would plug the hole most responsible for the losses: those damned DVD screener discs.
The DVD screener discs are made solely for the convenience of film critics, snobby actors and other snots who can't bother with watching a movie in an actual movie theater or private screening room. They want to be able to watch the movie, in a reduced state of quality on DVD, whenever or wherever they feel like watching it. That probably means sitting on their couch at 2:00am dressed only in their underwear and stained tee shirt, munching on a bag of Doritos™ and belting straight shots of Crown.
The price of the convenience extended by those DVD screener discs is the vast majority of losses due to film piracy. Since Hollywood keeping making lots of screener discs for each new movie, obviously Hollywood thinks those losses due to piracy are acceptable.
I clearly identified the problem. Hollywood is doing nothing about it. So their continued wailing about this problem must have ulterior motives -like fucking up the various ways we can watch and record movies at home.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 04-03-2008 02:16 PM
Maybe the DVD screeners do more good than harm. I saw George Clooney on Letterman last night, talking about "Leatherheads." Letterman said he'd seen the movie last week and really enjoyed it. Since the film wasn't even out at that time, he can't go to a theatre to see it, and he probably doesn't have a movie theatre in his house, so they probably sent him a screener disk which he probably watched at home or in his office. (Granted, he could have seen an advance screening at a theatre, but schedules for that kind of thing can't always be worked out.)
Anyway, for that one screener disk, the film company got an endorsement to Letterman's millions of viewers and a minutes-long promotional spot on the show, with a clip aired. Of course, if not for the disk, Letterman still could have talked up the movie, but anyone in marketing knows that an endorsement is much more effective if the endorser has used the product.
So if they stopped making screeners, they could lose untold millions of dollars worth of publicity. And they'd still have the problem of theatre camcords and post-release bootlegs.
I'm sure (well, I hope!) that there aren't stacks of these screeners sitting around film company offices. They are probably only sent to people they perceive as "trustworthy." That distribution list is probably where the REAL problem lies!
When estimating the cost to the industry, they are not talking so much about actual DOLLARS lost as they are about VALUE. If a guy watches a movie he downloaded, then by golly, to the suits, he's gotten $9 worth of value because he's seen the movie, quality notwithstanding. This is flawed logic at best, but what else is there, when they ignore the REAL problem of the screener disks.
It's definitely an unsolvable problem when you consider all the angles.
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 04-03-2008 03:51 PM
I've never bought into the "piracy is the root of all of the problems in the movie industry" position. Every industry has its black market, grey market, and used market. Most industries are glad that there's a market at all, because it represents potential sales.
If people are buying bootlegs and/or downloading movies for free, it at least means that they're interested in watching movies. The "first posters" wouldn't have anything to brag about if they were uploading content no one wanted.
The trick for the studios is to figure out how to tap the market that they're not currently profiting from. Take for an example Leatherheads, which is opening this week. Say that it's already on the popular download sites, and one could go down to Times Square and buy a copy for $4.
How can the movie industry capitalize on this? Might it build buzz that could result in theater attendance by those not wishing to see it in a compromised format? Could it increase sales in merchandise, such as the movie soundtrack, games, or other tie-ins?
Instead of whining about it, they should either cut it off at the source, or figure out how to capitalize on the activity that they can't seem to stop no matter how many years they've tried.
I don't think the real issue for movie theaters is piracy. It's not a witty movie quote or reference, but Fithian could have, and should have, started his speech by referencing Pogo:
quote:
"we have met the enemy and he is us"
Most movie theaters are their own worst enemy. Whether caused by apathy, ignorance, incompetence, or greed, most movie theaters have sucked the fun out of going to the movies. Customers react by not going, waiting until the home video release, or getting it via other means.
Still not a movie quote, but an entertainment icon at least, comes this from Madonna in the recent Variety magazine:
quote:
"There's one thing you can't download and that's a live performance. And I know how to put on a show."
I love this quote! People spend thousands of dollars trying to replicate a movie-going experience at home. From a couple grand for a plasma on the wall to tens of thousands to create a full home theater environment with all the fun touches, people want to enjoy watching movies.
Every theater should ask themselves the question: "It is fun to see a movie here?"
If not, they are contributing to their own demise, and encouraging piracy and downloads.
Movie theaters should give people an experience they can't get at home. If the experience is poor or not special in some way, no rational theater owner can blame audiences for staying away.
Fix that problem, and I'll bet piracy isn't as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be.
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