Fighting Against VOD

Yesterday, 23 directors and producers spoke out against VOD.

Not AIDS. But Premium VOD Services.

The group which includes directors/producers like Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Michael Bay, and more big-name filmmakers sent an open letter opposing the new DirecTV VOD service that provides movies from Warner Bros, Sony, Universal, and 20^th Century Fox in home televisions only 60 days after a film’s theatrical release.

The letter states:

“…We ask that our studio partners do not rashly undermine the current – and successful – system of releasing films in a sequential distribution window that encourages movie lovers to see films in the optimum, and most profitable, exhibition arena: the movie theaters of America.”

Such protest against VOD services is largely due to the fact that the distribution window of movies are significantly becoming shorter than before, concerning many theater owners. Yet analysts speculate that such services will have little impact on the theater industry.

Personally, I think this is an interesting twist of the VOD service from the previous services. Yes, we have streaming videos and things like that, but releasing a film in such a short period of time after its theatrical release is definitely an experimental attempt for both the television and film industry. I don’t blame the filmmakers or the theater owners for their concerns.

You never know how people will take advantage of this system.

Someone with a plasma TV might call few of his or her friends and collect a couple of dollars for the viewing of a $29.99 freshly released-movie. With the movie prices ranging from $11-$20, it definitely saves a few bucks in the midst of this economic turmoil. (Save a few dollars on gas, too. Especially with the gas prices flying through the roof right now!)

But on the other hand, I really don’t believe that the VOD services are going to take the place of the theater experience. Since NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) has been meeting with various segments of the film industry over the past several months to discuss the problems of the premium VOD, it will be interesting to see how the VOD services will turn out in the future.

Coming of Live Streaming Videos

Online streaming videos are really becoming a thing right now.

I’m personally not a big fan of streaming videos, but it apparently has become a popular trend for their fast and accessible characteristics for today’s tech-generation.

YouTubeannounced its live streaming page last Friday on April 8^th, so I’ve tried watching some of the videos available, as of today. The content and the variety of the videos are quite limited and there seems to be a lot of lagging and some bad quality videos in general. (Or it may be just my computer…It’s been driving me crazy!) I’m not a big YouTube watcher, but I guess there was live streaming before this which led to such outcome…

One definite eye-catcher is the Live Webcast of Coachella, which will start broadcasting tomorrow at 11:00 PDT. Having such a huge event streamed-live online can be a great promotion for YouTube. The goal of this webpage was to “stream a number of popular concerts, sporting events, and interviews, but primarily on a one-off basis.” If the results are good, it will probably receive much more offers from sponsors. Who knows? We might even decide to get rid of our TVs in the future.

To think of it, I’m curious as to how YouTube and its sponsors profit from this. Are they planning to flood the video with advertisements when it becomes popular? Will they change it to a paid-per-view type of thing in the future? Or are they really that generous to deliver the best concerts and shows to the mass audience for free??? Now I’m just lost…

Microbudget Films?

Yesterday, Lionsgate announced that it will produce upto 10 microbudget films every year to as a new strategic planning and operations. Microbudget films means that it has a a $2 million dollar budget. Joe Drake,the president of the motion picture group of the company stated that,

“Microbudget films involve minimal overhead and very little risk, but a potentially high reward. This initiative allows us to add another layer to our slate of movies that work both financially and creatively."

 I thought this was an interesting attempt in producing movies.

I did say low-budget movies would be the thing for a couple more years but,  $2 million?? Microbudget???

I don't know... It does seem risk-free like Drake suggests, yet still risky.

Let's face it. What can you do with a $2 million dollar budget?

Pay for the staffs' lunches? Borrow equipments?

Recent low-budget films had a production cost of $10 million minimum, and cutting 80% from the already tiny budget can be an extreme choice in movie making.

With little money to spend on casting and special effects, I'm guessing Lionsgate has an incredible director and script to really pull this off. 

Matt Kaplan, who will oversee all of the productions, commented that:

“It’s clear that movie-goers are hungry for fresh stories told in bold ways. That means big, distinctive concepts, but it also means focusing on the humanity of the story. All the movies we greenlight will push the envelope of what we've seen on screen. The low-budget aspect definitely imposes some constraints, but also forces us to find our value in great characters, explosive situations and excellent writing. And we’re excited that some of the best in the creative community are eager to jump in with us.”

 It's a relief that Kaplan realizes the constraints in the microbudget films. He seems to have a plan or certain standards for the greenlight films, which shows what he wants.

I agree that this attempt to produce more low-budget movies will allow for much more diversity and fresh faces. Starting from writers and actors, there will definitely be a burst of newbies in Hollywood, which will be interesting to see. However, focusing on the "humanity of the story," as Kaplan stated, would be risky in some ways. There has been several films recently that focused on such aspects of the film and have been successful. Yet if the trend continues on for a number of movies, it's soon enough going to be boring.

I'm in no place to judge or jump to conclusions on Lionsgate's decisions.

I'm actually for it in many ways. It's a fresh new attempt to really introduce new concepts and ideas to the public, especially in this time of depression and hardships. It would be amazing to see how these movies breakthrough.

So let us sit back and see the magic happen!