Category: Item of Interest

Something I found interesting written by someone else.

Categories
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!

Categories
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?”

Categories
Item of Interest New Media

Why Google Should Buy The Record Industry

Why Google Should Buy The Recording Industry http://tinyurl.com/3r2xmaz

Since the music industry seems to want to stifle every innovation, why wouldn’t Google, or Amazon, or Apple, just simply buy them!  I’ve explored this idea before focused on visual content but it makes perfect sense here.

Another article I read today pointed out that the old industries – Record Labels, Studios, Networks – see themselves as gatekeepers so their immediate response is to say “no” until they can have ultimate control. Instead they should be seeing themselves as the enablers of any service that makes money for them, and more importantly, for the artists they represent. (Yeh, right!)

The fact that this is literally true tells us something that is often overlooked: the music industry is economically quite small and unimportant compared to the computer industry. And yet somehow — through honed lobbying and old boy networks — it wields a disproportionate power that enables it to block innovative ideas that the online world wants to try.

Why not fight the cartel with another cartel?

But that throwaway comment also raises another interesting idea: how about if Google *did* buy the music industry? That would solve its licensing problems at a stroke. Of course, the anti-trust authorities around the world would definitely have something to say about this, so it might be necessary to tweak the idea a little. 
How about if a consortium of leading Internet companies — Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Baidu, Amazon etc. — jointly bought the entire music industry, and promised to license its content to anyone on a non-discriminatory basis?

However, as Chris Adamson said in response to my Twitter post of this link:

Hard to imagine a Google or Apple takeover of the music industry passing antitrust review, though.

And that’s a very fair point.

Categories
Apple Pro Apps Item of Interest Presentations

Preparing for Final Cut Pro X

Preparing for Final Cut Pro X http://tinyurl.com/3dwkorr My first (and only??) FCP X seminar. Get in quickly because it’s filling very fast.

Because it’s before Final Cut Pro X ships, I’ll be drawing from my last year of fairly accurate researching and writing about Final Cut Pro X and merging it with the recent preview to give you the best preparation for the upcoming release.

While you’re there, check out the rest of the other upcoming Final Cut Pro X webinars at Final Cut Pro X Webinar Central.

Working with Effects Inside Final Cut Pro X
Presented by Kevin McAuliffe

Media Management Inside Final Cut Pro X
Presented by Brent Altomare

Color Correcting Inside Final Cut Pro X
Presented by Ben Brownlee

Categories
Apple Pro Apps Item of Interest

Terence and Philip examine the new Final Cut Pro X “sneak peek”

Terence and Philip examine the FCP X preview. http://tinyurl.com/43skvaz Episode 25 of the Terence and Philip Show.

In this Episode – recorded while Philip was still in Las Vegas before the show ended – Terence and Philip share their thoughts on the preview of Final Cut Pro X. The good, the bad and the questions.

Categories
Apple Pro Apps Item of Interest

On 9/27/10 I said “Apple, have the right tools to really rethink the interface…”

On 9/27/10 I said “Apple, have the right tools to really rethink the interface and leapfrog the competition with a whole new application.“

Come Wednesday I think I’m going to be quite happy with my predictive track record.

Categories
Item of Interest The Technology of Production Video Technology

Doesn’t anyone shoot video on video cameras any more?

The project is not mine, but that of a client where I was called in to see if the “crew” (mostly just one guy) was going to be able to shoot content that will integrate with the existing project.

The thing is that  the rest of the project is HDV, XDCAM, DVCPRO HD, AVC-I, AVCCAM, some SD – so today we add DSLR!

This is not an art project so there’s no big advantage of a “shallow depth of field”. Most of the b-roll is coming from achieve SD video of varying quality, but because it was shot over a long period, without anyone keeping track of formats we end up with this sort of mess. A young and reasonably competent “editor” was on the job but totally unaware of the complications of having every known frame rate and format in the project (except DSLR until today).

Every different format complicates the project and adds additional processing time to bring everything to a common format before starting the edit, including mixing 23.98 and 29.97 frame rates.

And while Premiere Pro and Media Composer (and probably Final Cut Pro X) can deal with all these formats natively, I hope no-one would recommend that as a workflow for a large documentary project. Certainly AMA for Media Composer is a great way to choose selects from the native format and then transcode to DNxHD for the edit.

This is simply madness. Every one of us needs to educate producers and directors that mixing frame rates and formats is going to cost them a lot of money in post production. And then make sure the message communicates by charging what it costs.

Categories
Item of Interest The Business of Production

Why Brands Are The New Labels (And Publishers, And Producers)

Why Brands Are The New Labels (And Publishers, And Producers…) http://tinyurl.com/3knt8xf

I have been a long time proponent of branded media because I find branded content to be much less intrusive than advertising. Branded media integrates with the program, hopefully in a relevant way, while advertising intrudes on a program with something likely to be irrelevant to me and my interests.

So I think this is yet another step along the way toward replacing intrusive advertising to models that are less viewer antagonistic.

Gone are the days of artists hoping and praying for that major studio deal  — which later they learn isn’t really that major. Instead they can take a paycheck from a brand and get pretty much the same thing as what they would get from your typical 360 deal offering.

But it’s not only music that is benefiting from having a brand as its studio.

Brands are positioning themselves as the new labels, no doubt, but they are also evolving into the content creators. There is, naturally, criticism of branded entertainment – it is necessarily the opposite of arms-length, unbiased reporting – but as the digital landscape has changed media integration, it has also increased consumer tolerance for brands looking for new ways to market. And if you want high quality content — whether that is music or print or video — someone needs to pay.  So, brands are stepping up as the new content publishers.

More changes coming of course…

At the March 2011 Shorty Awards, Foursquare Founder Dennis Crowley pointed out that he saw an ad on TV encouraging people to discover the song in the Old Navy ad using Shazam. The call-to-action is then obvious: Purchase on iTunes.  Old Navy, Apple, a digital startup and an emerging artist all working together as one? That’s some epic progress – over some pretty blurry lines.  Expect more of this going forward.

Add in the extra news that Capital One is producing content and it’s a whole new world.

Categories
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.

Categories
Item of Interest

7 Things “Dexter” Taught Me About the Future of TV

7 Things “Dexter” Taught Me About the Future of TV http://tinyurl.com/4pmhfds

I think the seven trends Will Richmond identified  through his experience with catching Dexter seasons 1 & 2 on iPad, are truly indicative. He explains each in detail, but here they are:

  1. The term “reruns” is obsolete – as is thinking Netflix is just for reruns;
  2. Data is king (real data about consumption way beyond Nielsen)
  3. The bar for advertisers is getting higher. More alternatives that are not advertising supported. (Again, see Netflix!)
  4. TV is personal and portable. Perhaps the biggest change of all along with:
  5. The concept of “scheduling” is upside down – count me as one of the “binge consumers”.
  6. Packaged media is dead.
  7. TV Everywhere is absolutely essential for pat-TV operator’s success, but they’ll manage to find a way to make it not work, and get beaten by, yes again, Netflix!