Technology tipping points – when something goes from the unusual to the commonplace – can happen with unexpected rapidity. Has 4K reached a tipping point, and if so what aspect of 4K? Acquisition, production, distribution, or all three? If you’re shooting a film today, should you be shooting in 4K? The answer to these questions is complicated by cost, complexity and the long-term shelf-life of your project. Today, a convincing argument can be made for shooting in either 4K (future proof) or HD (cost effective and most people won’t see the difference). One thing seems for certain; we will be […]
When Netflix announced this past July that they wanted to expand their original programming beyond wildly successful TV serials to documentaries, I figured an Alex Gibney commission wasn’t far off. Instead, the Internet was met with the puzzling news earlier today that the streaming giant acquired the very much completed, newly edited, festival-circuit debutant The Square. “Original,” it seems, lends itself to a different definition when Netflix is doing the talking. Though The Square is currently making a self-financed, Oscar-qualifying theatrical run in New York and Los Angeles, Netflix said in a statement that they will exclusively “premiere” the documentary […]
After I premiered my personal documentary feature i hate myself :) at Rooftop Films this summer, filmmaker Kentucker Audley kindly invited me to show the film on his online screening venue, NoBudge. I hesitated, though. I’m still taking the film through the festival circuit and working on its release, so I wasn’t sure whether even a one-day online preview would be kosher at this point. But after spending quite some time on festival regulation research without reaching a decision, I realized I wasn’t admitting to myself the real reason for my hesitation. I was actually nervous about an online screening […]
As the first in what is to become a weekly, unprecedented occurrence, Cinetic Media released the VOD and theatrical gross of Escape From Tomorrow over at its sister site, Film Buff. Utilizing the Producers Distribution Agency catalogue, John Sloss and company will post an aggregate number every Monday that represents revenues from the divergent platforms, before hopefully moving on to films outside their network. “We call upon those distributors who have been pioneers of the day-and-date evolution to supply Cinetic with their cable and broadband VOD gross numbers so we can post a comprehensive snapshot of the distribution industry each week,” Sloss said in a […]
Not long after he founded Dogfish Pictures in 2009, producer James Belfer sensed an industry-wide disconnect between content creation and return on investment. Filmmakers, he gleaned, were concerned with short-term assets, agreeing to sell their film to distributors for a fixed sum that was a mere fraction of the eventual profit. In order to capture the full value of their content, filmmakers would need a new set of marketing tools and a fair bit of elbow grease. Belfer felt that any of these strategies would not be found in the traditional film industry at all, but rather, in the tangential […]
This past Sunday, artists Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark gave me the honor of curating an evening of live cinema at their month-long experiential installation Empire Drive-In at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens. Composer Michael Krassner and Boxhead Ensemble accompanied Artavazd Pelechian’s experimental masterpiece Our Century, which was preceded by Kelly Sears’ absolutely stunning short, The Drift and additional shorts and music. We were excited to take part in the series but none of us were fully prepared for the amazing experience that Todd, Jeff and their collaborators have created in the shadow of […]
In the past, films that don’t have a large distributor behind them had only a couple of distribution options: they could go straight to the internet and DVD, or the filmmakers could travel around the country arranging screenings at festivals. Now Gather Films offers a third option: on-demand theatrical performance. With Gathr, a screening of a film can be requested at a local theater, and if enough people buy tickets the screening happens. Gathr handles independent movies, as well as larger movies that are being distributed and promoted, but may only have organized theater runs in a few cities. Richard […]
The Film, TV & Digital Session at the recent Hacking Arts event focused on film distribution, with panelists Richard Matson from Gathr Films, Adam Mosam from Pivotshare and Albert Reinhardt from Fandor. The panel was moderated by Elle Schneider of Digital Bolex. All three firms are involved with distribution. Pivotshare offers tools to help the filmmaker sell their videos online. Fandor is an online subscription platform that pays its filmmakers a share of its subscription fees. Gathr Films provides an on-demand theatrical experience; a screening of a film can be requested at a local theater, and if enough people buy […]
Yesterday’s sad news that James Schamus is leaving Focus Features, the company he co-founded 11 years ago, and that the New York office is being shut down is a blow — a blow to not only the filmmakers supported by Focus and the company’s employees but also our broader independent film community. Schamus is unique and irreplaceable, and his particular strengths are ones we have needed and relied upon. These strengths include his defining concept of what a 21st-century specialty distributor could be, one that demonstrated smart-minded business practices while cracking its door open to allow outsider voices, subversive points […]
Hacking Arts, a two-day event to “explore the intersection of arts and entertainment, technology and entrepreneurship” was held this last weekend at MIT’s Media Lab. The first day consisted of panels and product demos, while the rest of the event was devoted to participants working together to come up with new ideas in various topic areas, from mobile to art education. The panel sessions of the first day had a strong tilt towards art distribution and finding and interacting with your audience in the connected world. The music panel, titled “Social Sound: Music Fans Get Involved,” featured Kristen Bender from […]