On the Double Down Film Show, we recently introduced a segment entitled "Startin' Some Sh*t" where we do weekly anonymous "man-on-the-street" audio segments on some controversial debate in filmmaking such as "film vs. video" or "the future of 3-D cinema".
Last night during the show we posed the sh*t startin' question:
Are DVD's Dead?
Click below to hear the man-on-the-street response:
...My co-host, Pete Chatmon, and the majority of our interviewees felt like DVD's are mostly still alive and well and going nowhere soon. I see it differently.
As you know I already declared DVD's to be dead (at least on life-support, anyway) on this blog earlier this summer. And now it appears that Netflix may be doing it part's to pull the cord on DVD life support and speed up the process. (Good thing too, I've got a lot of bets riding on DVD's imminent demise.)
I just got an email from my favorite video hosting platform, Vimeo.com that listed some pretty cool new features for filmmakers.
Most notably, Vimeo videos to now have the ability to play on mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads and Vimeo videos are now available on TV via a Roku black box.
Anyway, I'm too busy today to paraphase beyond that today so, here's their copy cut word for word...
New Vimeo Feature Updates:
Universal Player
Your videos should be seen in as many places as possible. That's why we've introduced a Universal Player that makes it possible to view embedded videos on iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, and Android devices. The ability to convert your videos to mobile format is still a Plus feature, so if you haven't already, don't you think it's time you upgraded to Plus?!
Watch Later
But Vimeo is about more than just your work. In order to make it easier for you to see everything you want to see, we've created a new feature called "Watch Later." Simply click the new "Later" button on any Vimeo player, and the video will be added to a special album in your account. You may never watch TV again.
Vimeo on Roku
Ok, we lied; you will watch TV again, because we've made it possible to watch Vimeo on your TV with your Roku box. All you have to do is add the Vimeo channel to your Roku, and you can stream videos you made and everything else cool from Vimeo. You can even watch videos from your "Watch Later" queue for the ultimate couch potato experience. Fun stuff! If you don't know Roku, learn more about it.
Are full episodes of current hit HBO shows and movies coming to cell phones and iPads near you?...Engadget thinks so.
The new media landscape (earthquake?) continues to shift beneath our feet and only the sure-footed may still be on their feet when all the shaking stops. Based on past moves, I'll bet HBO will come out the other side better than most, but I'm still mad that we can't get HBO shows on Netflix.
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about Apple's reported move to revamp Apple TV to bring streaming content to our living rooms. Well, yesterday the diligent reporters at Engadget dug up some new details.
Most prominent are the price point - reportedly now $99.00 and the revelation that it will only offer 720p HD not full 1080i or 1080p HD video.
(Personally, I've noticed little noticeable difference between the quality of the 2 reigning flavors of HD and people forget that other factors apart from 720 vs. 1080 pixels can greatly affect image quality, but that's another post/debate for another day.)
This week Netflix announced a new $1 Billion deal to further cement their leading role in the rapidly changing new media landscape. They signed a deal with a company called Epix that will allow them to add new movies from Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate and MGM to its online subscription service.
As much as the streaming service is being embraced by Netflix users, it's big limitation has been the limited number of movies, especially new ones, in it's streaming service.
For the record I never really believed in Blu-Ray DVD's. Not that I don't think they are a superior and valid disc format, I just think they missed the window in all the years they spent bickering over a unified High-Definition DVD format (not unlike the 80's BETA vs. VHS tape wars). Had they have settled their war earlier (or never fought it in the first place), I think they'd have a better hold of the marketplace and would last awhile longer. In my opinion, they didn't miss with the technology per se, they missed with the timing.
Basically while the big technology players like Sony and Toshiba battled it out to push their two different formats, Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD, even smarter visionaries were looking past discs and physical media altogether and instead focusing on the future viability of pure digital delivery- downloading and streaming flicks and video content straight to your tv, phone, computer (or any other screen you want to consume it on).
I know there are plenty of filmmakers that will see this as some sort of heresy to dump the physical media, but it really is no different than the natural switch from CD-players to iPods and MP3 players- or from shooting on Mini-DV tapes to solid-state P2 and SxS cards for that matter. Yes, we lost the album liner notes (and in the case of this debate, the DVD back cover), but let's catalog the 3 Big C's we gain with this switch to all-digital delivery:
The 3 Big C's of All-Digital Delivery
1) CONVENIENCE: It's way easier to transport and manage a digital collection of videos, better yet, with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, we now have vast catalogs of content at our fingertips that live in "The Cloud" of the Internet and we don't have to carry a thing or even decide what movies we want to watch before we go on a trip. (I'm also one of those people who often ends up with the wrong DVD in the case or missing altogether, so for the unorganized DVD collector, streaming and downloads are a Godsend.) And best of all I can now watch a movie on the device and at the place of my choosing- TV, computer, iPad, videogame system or phone.
2) COST: It's cheaper to deliver and consume digital content. For less than the cost of a single DVD purchase, I watch dozens of movies from Netflix for $8.99 a month from anywhere in the world. Add on Hulu consumption (Free-cheap), iTunes Video downloads (reasonably priced), and On-Demand cable movies (plenty for free and included with premium channel subscriptions) and it really doesn't make much sense anymore to drop $30+ on a fancy Blu-Ray DVD or even $10 for a regular DVD.
3) CHOICE: The cost of Blu-Ray DVD's naturally means that we buy less of them and are more careful in our purchases. However, there's plenty of room in "The Cloud", so there is a growing (and soon to be endless) supply of movie, tv and video content available to stream or download. Watching an unknown indie movie is not such a commitment anymore since we don't have to go back to the video store or wait for our next DVD in the mail, we can just click on the next one if the flick's not for us. As a result, this newfound freedom of choice online allows us to discover and watch many more movies without fear of making a bad choice. And to top it all off, companies like Netflix and Apple have invested millions in honing systems that recommend new movies that we are more likely to like based on our previous choices.
So for all those reasons, plus a few I haven't mentioned here, I think DVD's - Blu-Ray included are dead. I give them 2-5 more years of meaningful life as video sales and consumption shift to the all-digital realm and don't think it's a bad thing for consumers or filmmakers.
That's my prediction and if you scroll back to the first years of this blog, I've been pretty on the money so far. Of course, I welcome a spirited debate with the Blu-Ray fans.
I admit that I am a "Mac-head". I am Mac-ed out with an MacBookPro, iPhone and most recently iPad and I love and use all of them daily. I think Steve Jobs should be nominated for Sainthood for the technological innovations he's spearheaded that have changed so many people's lives and our industry.
My love of Apple is based purely on the simple fact that their products actually work as advertised and do what they are supposed to do consistently with simplicity and elegance. (Albeit, having a little Apple stock in the portfolio has also not hurt my love of the company - it's increased a whopping 5x since I first got it a prior to the release of the first video iPod.)
Those 3 traits- consistency, simplicity and elegance - have been sorely missing from many other tech products/software I've bought from other companies, most of which are gathering dust in my basement.
So with today'sarticle in the New York Timestouting a rumor that Apple appears be revamping it's Apple TV product and making a strong push into our living rooms, I see one of the final pieces in the puzzle of the evolving new media landscape I've been talking about on this blog for more than 3 years now...Digital convergence of our computers/tv/web into one unit which I believe will very shortly offer the ability for filmmakers to distribute their products direct to an audience with no middleman or gatekeepers and even charge $$$ for it.
Purportedly, the new Apple TV may run on the same OS as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch which would allow you to run Apps on your TV (Think Netflix, Skype, iTunes, etc.). Similarly, several TV manufacturers are already shipping new TV's with web-connectivity and the ability to run apps (although I suspect Apples new effort will ultimately work better and be the most elegant, based on recent history).
So once again, I'm telling y'all to study these developments and really think about how we as filmmakers can be first-movers to take advantage of this shifting media landscape. Down and Dirty DV will most definitely be somewhere in the early fray.
Hollywood gatekeepers, dust off your resumes. Time's are a changing!
Another little blurb from Film News Briefs. If you didn't know about ustream.tv, this is a service which allows you to stream live videos in real time via Facebook, iPhone, Twitter etc. It also allows you to watch live events, sometimes for free and sometimes for a small fee. Read this article for some ideas on how Ustream can come in handy, for entertainment of for your own projects. Anyone want to make their own version of SNL or Whose Line is it Anyway? Live Jackass? And charge for it? Read on....
The September 18 issue of Entertainment Weekly will include an unusual advertisement--the first ever video ad in print! Americhip developed the video technology, which plays the ads on a screen only 2.7 millimeters thick. The battery-powered ads can last for approximately 65 minutes and are actually rechargeable. Amazingly, each chip can hold up to 40 minutes of video.
Only subscribers in Los Angeles and New York City will receive magazines with the video advertisement; all other subscribers will receive a traditional print ad.
No word yet on the cost of producing these ads. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the public responds to this form of advertising. You gotta wonder if readers will be impressed by this technology, or if they'll simply look at it as a gimmick.
Their series, Like So Many Things, is not your typical web series – it looks good, sounds good, is well written, directed and acted and doesn’t have any high concept gags. In fact, IFC decided to put it on TV. They’ll be joined by ThisThing member Ben Insler. The series debuts on IFC May 26th.
Apparently some of the major media outlets have taken note of my recent rants about how old media needs to transform itself into new media and retool their models or perish.
No doubt due in large part to this blog's massive influence on Hollywood taste and decision-makers, HBO has fired off a bold new shot in the old vs. new media wars.
Never shy to blaze a new trail, the smart people at HBO have switched up their game again, to debut the season 2 premiere of their hot new comedy series, "Flight of the Conchords" a full month early on the comedy website FunnyOrDie.com. The series premiere will show on HBO starting January 18th.
The very laws of nature are such that all things, mass media included, must eventually evolve or die. HBO has wisely chosen evolution.
Bold and well done, HBO. Maybe your colleagues will take note as the pink slips continue to roll in.
Watch the full season 2 premiere episode of "Flight of the Conchords" right now, right here!:
Photo: Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times
Only several hours after I posted yet another sermon on the coming changes in the media landscape and how we all need to be exploiting them, I just read this New York Times article on how Michael Buckley along with a small group of saavy new-age media makers are making real money through YouTube's partner program which pairs advertising with original content.
And when I say "real money" I'm talking up to 6 figures. $100,000 generated entirely online with nothing more than a clear thought out WELL-EXECUTED vision carried out with "a $2,000 Canon camera, a $6 piece of fabric for a backdrop and a pair of work lights from Home Depot".
I don't know what you are making at your current place of employment, but I bet it's not close to that. ( And if it is, I bet it involves a lot more hassle, long hours and considerably less fun.)
Read the Article for yourself. This isn't some far off fantasy just in MY head. This is a new reality right here and now, baby. Ladies and gentleman, the game has indeed changed.
The only question is will YOU be a player in the NEW game or are you gonna let the Golden Age of New Media just pass you by? There's only one answer if you're Down and Dirty...
Back during the writer's strike, bored TV wonder boy, Joss Whedon (creator of such modern cult classics as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and "Firefly") created a whole new show while he waited for the writers, producers, and studios to get their acts together. The end result is the quirky new property known as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a 3-part mini-series musical. See clip below:
While the show starring a singing Neal Patrick Harris (you know the guy from "Dougie Howser, M.D.") as a wacky evil doctor is a matter of taste, what I find most notable about it is the primary means of distribution...online via Hulu.com and iTunes which grew an audience for surprise - A new DVD release!
I said it years ago when I started this blog and wrote my book and I'll say it again...the media landscape is changing. The power is shifting in our (content creators) direction little by little.
The big media companies are still in a little denial, but the gatekeepers of traditional media are slowly (dare I say quickly) loosing their iron grip on distribution. Via web 2.0 sites like Hulu.com, iTunes, and others, everyday filmmaking Joes can find and grow a receptive audience...and sooner than you realize there will be more viable options to actually turn a buck on our own work without any approval or involvement at all from the major media outlets.
As I write this there a number of devices and services in action and being developed that will be able to pipe your content direct to viewers computers an yes, now, even directly to their televisions. (See our previous blog post on the new generation of "black boxes".) Look around you. Pick up a paper. Traditional media dismissed the Internet for a little too long and now they are getting their asses spanked for it.
My strong advice is to start studying and experimenting with these new services and online distribution models and building your own devoted audience now before the majors get their act together and find a way to box you out. (Most of these services are still free, believe it or not.) The old excuses of gatekeepers blocking your project no longer stands up.
Now it's up to us to research, be saavy, and move first to seize these incredible opportunities to skip all the middle men and take our filmmaking careers into our own hands. And God-willing, if we do really start building large audiences and making money, the big media conglomerates will come to us...or better yet the big media conglomerates will BE us. It's already happening, people. It's just gonna take awhile for the mainstream to realize it.
Again, all you need to do for evidence is to look back at the record labels vs. digital downloading, newspapers vs. websites, network tv vs. cable...They all laughed at "the new kid on the block" and now that new kid is eating their supper. It's real simple- get with the new, or go out with the old. This time it's our turn, baby. And you can tell 'em I said it.
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