Category: Distribution

Digital Distribution issues

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Distribution HTML5 Item of Interest Media Consumption

The HTML5 boom is coming. Fast!

The HTML5 boom is coming. Fast. http://tinyurl.com/3w8xz3p Aided by Adobe Edge http://tinyurl.com/3djpdyn

After a slow start – and still controversy over exactly what format video will be supported in “HTML5” – is the Flash era finally over?

writing for GigOm discusses recent data on HTML5 and how Apple’s position on HTML5 and Flash has – as I predicted several years back – pushed the adoption of HTML5.

As is often the case in business, where there’s a winner, there’s usually a loser. HTML5 could largely replace Abobe’s proprietary Flash technology. And HTML5′s swift ascent could render Flash irrelevant in short order. “I think the disappearance of Flash is closer than people think,” ABI senior analyst Mark Beccue said in a press release accompanying the data.

HTML5′s projected growth is all the more impressive considering that the actual standard is not officially expected to be completed until 2020 2014, according to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards body. But that won’t stop companies and independent engineers from developing and deploying HTML5 features now, ABI said.

Full HTML5 interoperability isn’t expected until 2014 but we’re already a long way in, and will get further thanks to, somewhat ironically, Adobe.  I’ve long advocated that Adobe were in the best position to create an HTML5 authoring tool, and indeed they have now shown one in Adobe Labs – Edge. AppleInsider has a first look at Edge.

[Update] One day later Flixmaster launched another HTML5 authoring tool

Categories
Distribution Item of Interest Media Consumption

Who Do You Trust On Whether or Not PROTECT IP will Break the Internet?

Who Do You Trust On Whether Or Not PROTECT IP Will Break The Internet? The Guys Who Built It… Or The MPAA? http://tinyurl.com/3v7x4cg

PROTECT IP is a badly worded, very vague Bill being bought and paid for by the MPAA and RIAA that many think will break the INternet and criminalize normal behavior like embedding a video. The problem with vague Bills is that they tend to be interpreted to suit the enforcer of the day.

Trouble is, those that are supposed to balance all the needs of society before passing laws seem to not even have any idea what PROTET IP is actually about!

When these serious questions are raised, the MPAA puts its fingers in its ears and goes “nah, nah, nah, won’t happen, nah, nah” and never addresses the actual issues. Sadly, the Representatives have been bought and paid for and unless all voting Americans get to their Representative, it could pass and really, really screw up the Internet, and your life.

However, the guys who wrote the white paper have been speaking up lately trying to get our elected officials to recognize the consequences of passing PROTECT IP as is. But the really funny part is watching the technically clueless MPAA try to brush off these concerns. It’s almost laughable. Basically, the MPAA stamps its collective foot, and insists that it couldn’t possibly break the internet, and then suggests that “America’s technology community” can fix any problems:

As for the clueless Repreentatives: half of them have no idea what the Legislation is even about, thinking it has something to do with “immigration” or “the Internet Kill Switch” (it is neither).

Last week, we wrote about how Rep. Anna Eshoo (whose district covers much of Silicon Valley) is apparently so incredibly out of touch on what PROTECT IP is about (despite it having a huge impact on the economy of her district) that she thought it was really about immigration. We were willing to chalk it up to a busy staffer sending out the wrong form letter, but there’s growing evidence that our elected officials simply don’t know what PROTECT IP is about at all. 

David Segal from Demand Progress was kind enough to pass on that they’ve been watching the responses from elected officials to letters sent via their form about PROTECT IP and nearly 50% of them seem to be about things totally unrelated to PROTECT IP. Are Congressional staffers really that busy or are our elected officials just clueless? 

As an example, they sent over this letter, sent in response to someone who wrote to Senator Kristen Gillibrand protesting PROTECT IP, which, you’ll note, has nothing to do with PROTECT IP, but is instead about the “internet kill switch.”

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Distribution Item of Interest Monetizing

Artists Don’t Think Piracy Hurts Them Financially.

Artists Don’t Think Piracy Hurts Them Financially, Study Shows http://tinyurl.com/3dtm7kk

Big Media pretends to speak for artists but in reality they are only in the business for themselves and frequently take money out of artists pockets, quite deliberately.

Continue reading “Artists Don’t Think Piracy Hurts Them Financially.”

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Distribution Item of Interest

Author Paulo Coelho Explains Why He “Loves Pirates”

Author Paulo Coelho Explains Why He ‘Loves Pirates’ http://tinyurl.com/6hmhczu

TorrentFreak alerts us to the news that he’s posted yet another blog post on the subject about howhe “loves pirates” and how people underestimate that artists can and do get paid, even when their work is being shared in an unauthorized fashion. In fact, he’s selling more books now that he’s actively offering up more “pirated” copies of his own work than ever before.

That parallels my own experience. While I know there are unauthorized copies of most of my books available, I’ve made sufficient from each work to be happy with the results.

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Business & Marketing Distribution Item of Interest Monetizing

Kevin Smith’s Red State Experiment has already Paid for Itself.

Kevin Smith’s Red State Experiment Has Already Paid for Itself http://tinyurl.com/4ybp2ql

Kevin Smith announced that he would auction off the rights to Red State after a Sundance screening and then infamously sold them to himself, leading to a rant about the state of distribution for independent movies.

He planned on doing a series of screenings-with-director events leading up to an October theatrical release.  Well, according to reports he’s already close to, or achieved, payback of the $4 million budget.

Kevin Smith’s latest passion project Red State has already paid for itself, six months before it actually sees full theatrical release. Thanks to an ambitious multi-city road trip in which Smith traveled to screenings of the movie and spoke with audiences afterward, Red Statehas already made back the $4 million budget production company SMODcast Pictures invested in the film.

Now Kevin Smith comes with a built-in fan base that he’s cultivated over the years (and that is indeed part of any success in this new paradigm – first Connect with your Fans) but it’s not only working for Smith:

That said, Smith isn’t the only filmmaker experimenting with new types of distribution. Edward Burns, for instance, distributed his latest feature film, Nice Guy Johnny, direct to iTunes, VOD and DVD last year, skipping theatrical release altogether. Indie filmmaker Sebastian Gutierrez distributed his Girl Walks Into a Bar directly to YouTube. And Pixar CTO and independent film producer Oren Jacob used a mix of social media and food banksto boost the profile of his documentary Ready, Set, Bag!

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Distribution Item of Interest The Business of Production

How Could Documentary Cinema Change for the Better?

How Could Documentary Cinema Change for the Better? http://tinyurl.com/4qtk6cb

I’ve been sitting on this article for a while, waiting for a gap in the Final Cut Pro X “noise” to post it.

Yes, it is true that we’ve just had one of the best years for documentary ever. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t also more negative issues for the mode than ever before. The thing is, there are so many kinds of non-fiction films and so many kinds of doc enthusiasts that we all have very different answers for the following question: what one thing could change for the better for documentaries?

Continue reading “How Could Documentary Cinema Change for the Better?”

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Distribution Item of Interest The Business of Production

The Terence and Philip Show Episode 24: The Netflix Advantage

Episode 24: The Netflix Advantage http://tinyurl.com/3urdxts

Terence and Philip consider the changes to the financial dynamics caused by Netflix’s funding ofHouse of Cards. Is Netflix a new studio model?  Where’s the opportunity for innovation in programming if everything is data driven?

Philip’ NAB session on “Growing and Monetizing an Audience” is mentioned. If you want to go and haven’t yet registered register at http://bit.ly/NABSM08 to get the discount automatically, or at http://www.nabshow/register using the code SM08.

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Distribution Item of Interest

Death to the Shiny Disc

Death to the Shiny Disc http://tinyurl.com/686q9gl

Ethan Kaplan was recently heading up Warner Music’s technology efforts, particularly their digital side. His insider take is hard to set aside, despite its bottom line that the highly profitable monopolies have gone away, and that’s a good thing. Ethan puts it exceptionally well, so I’m only going to make one quote. Read the whole article if you care about the future of media.

Continue reading “Death to the Shiny Disc”

Categories
Distribution Item of Interest Media Consumption New Media

Why ‘Big Media’ Was Just a Historical Blip!

Why ‘Big Media’ Was Just a Historical Blip http://tinyurl.com/68wq5o7

The question isn’t so much that Big Media is giving way to New Media, but rather that the era of Big Media – i.e. mass media, is a historical anomaly.

Before mass media all media was small, serving local audiences or (with books) very slowly distributed over wider territories. Then came an era of mass capital and limited airwaves that allowed broadcasters to build mass audiences, up to the 130 million Americans that saw “Roots” during its first broadcast.

The movie studios once owned all the production technology, talent and distribution channel – the movie theaters. That structure was forcibly broken apart, but the broadcast industry has fragmented due to the proliferation of cable channels, and now direct Internet distribution.

Continue reading “Why ‘Big Media’ Was Just a Historical Blip!”

Categories
Distribution Item of Interest The Business of Production

Netflix To Enter Original Programming

Netflix To Enter Original Programming With Mega Deal For David Fincher-Kevin Spacey Series ‘House Of Cards’ http://bit.ly/ewSQgH

In yet another sign that modern distributors don’t feel like waiting around for the legacy industry (with the good content) any more. In a move that presages what could happen more widely, particularly if Apple and Google started into production.

There’s zero reason why any of the new content aggregators or distributors couldn’t go to the exact same producers and production companies that produce for the network and cable outlets, for exclusive content for their distribution.

EXCLUSIVE: Video streaming juggernaut Netflix is becoming an original programming player. In what is probably the biggest gamble in its 14-year history, I hear Netflix has outbid several major cable networks, including HBO and AMC, for  Media Rights Capital’s drama series House of Cards, executive produced and directed by David Fincher and exec produced by and starring Kevin Spacey.

Negotiations are still going on, but I hear Netflix landed the drama project by offering a staggering commitment of two seasons, or 26 episodes. Given that the price tag for a high-end drama is in the $4 million-$6 million an episode range and that a launch of a big original series commands tens of millions of dollars for promotion, the deal is believed to be worth more than $100 million.