OT: Soderbergh's new approach to distribution
Jay Gladwell
wrote on 1/21/2006, 3:27 PM
Comments
Coursedesign
wrote on 1/21/2006, 6:11 PM
This is the established guy's version of the DVD before theatrical release...
Fire both barrels at the same time. I think that's going to work for quite a few titles, too.
Why? Because people think differently about movies today compared to even a couple of years ago.
So many people look at a movie ad/review/article etc. and think "That's one I really want to see in a theater!," or "This one seems not worth the cost and hassle, I'll just get it on DVD," or "This stinker isn't even worth a DVD rental."
The old studio thinking was that "first we'll get them to see it in a theater, then they'll rent it on DVD, then we'll feed cable TV, and finally we'll get some bucks from network TV for showing a bastardized version cut up to make room for inane commercials."
People are seeing through that, and if the movie isn't worth a true big screen presentation, they won't go to a theater no matter what. So the studio might as well get some DVD moola (where 80% of the profits are today, remember) earlier rather than later.
And increasingly, they all need some serious help with the cash flow. And that ain't gonna come from theater sales.
Fire both barrels at the same time. I think that's going to work for quite a few titles, too.
Why? Because people think differently about movies today compared to even a couple of years ago.
So many people look at a movie ad/review/article etc. and think "That's one I really want to see in a theater!," or "This one seems not worth the cost and hassle, I'll just get it on DVD," or "This stinker isn't even worth a DVD rental."
The old studio thinking was that "first we'll get them to see it in a theater, then they'll rent it on DVD, then we'll feed cable TV, and finally we'll get some bucks from network TV for showing a bastardized version cut up to make room for inane commercials."
People are seeing through that, and if the movie isn't worth a true big screen presentation, they won't go to a theater no matter what. So the studio might as well get some DVD moola (where 80% of the profits are today, remember) earlier rather than later.
And increasingly, they all need some serious help with the cash flow. And that ain't gonna come from theater sales.
p@mast3rs
wrote on 1/21/2006, 7:30 PM
I read about this about a month ago adn thought it was a brilliant idea. However, I dont see as much success for this trial run because it is NOT a big name production. Were it Shrek 3 or Toy Story 3, you coudl bet your bottom dollar it would be a MAJOR success as most parents would much rather opt for a home viewing with a bunch of kids rather than the aggravating trip to the theatres for over priced refreshments.
More importantly, this film will give people a chance to get something for the price they paid for their inital viewing (a DVD to keep) rather than the over priced memory from a theatre viewing.
I truly expect many more people to follow the same suit. What I dont like is that some theatres are refusing to show his film. Theatres have had it way too easy for way too long and are acting like whiny little pricks because they dont want to compete with other avenues. NEWSFLASH. Theatres are better off competing this way than they are with piracy.
More importantly, this film will give people a chance to get something for the price they paid for their inital viewing (a DVD to keep) rather than the over priced memory from a theatre viewing.
I truly expect many more people to follow the same suit. What I dont like is that some theatres are refusing to show his film. Theatres have had it way too easy for way too long and are acting like whiny little pricks because they dont want to compete with other avenues. NEWSFLASH. Theatres are better off competing this way than they are with piracy.
filmy
wrote on 1/21/2006, 7:44 PM
Just linking to Coursedesign's Thread on the topic - well, the 'lead in' to the topic anyway. ;)
Many many years ago there used to be a Pay TV station - not really cable, not really satellite - out in Hollywood, Ca. You paid a monthly fee fee and you got this microwave attena that pointed into the Hollywood Hills and a little decoder box. It was a great idea, for sure a bit of a forrunner to PPV and such, and when a few films opened I remember they aired it the same day as it hit theatres. One of them was Pirates of Penzance: On February 18, 1983, film and television history, millions of dollars, and several enemies will be made with the release of the film Pirates of Penzance. Universal Pictures will present the movie in exclusive runs in selected markets. That's nothing new. But on that same evening, the film will be shown, through pay-per-view television, in upwards of 2 million households at $10 a pop. That's where the history, the millions, and the enemies come in.
Actually - LOL! I am re-reading an article about it - pretty funny considering this whole topic. here is some of it, and remember - this was 1983:
"Pay-per-view television is something that the film industry has talked about for a long time now," said Jerry Hartman, vice president and marketing director at Universal Pay Television. "People were talking about it two years ago. It was something that was coming, and it had to happen sooner or later. We decided- early last year that we wanted to do it, and in looking at our lineup of pictures, we decided that Pirates of Penzance had the best chance of succeeding.
[SNIP]
Whatever business Pirates does, it's at the expense of the movie theater owners. At least that's what Richard O'Rear, former president of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), claimed.
Food for thought. :)
And from April 22, 2005 -
Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner will take the first small step tonight in a plan to reinvent the movie industry.
[SNIP]
Studios have had to adjust to change before. The movie industry once viewed television and video recording technology as enemies. Today, DVD sales often bring in more studio income than theatrical releases.
[SNIP]
Studios have begun shortening the time between theatrical runs and DVD releases, capitalizing on their movies' box office buzz. Some movies, such as Fox Searchlight's Napoleon Dynamite and Universal's Ray , continued to perform well in theaters after they came out on DVD.
[SNIP]
Mr. Cuban and Mr. Wagner's media holdings include the two HDNet networks, the Landmark Theatres chain, Magnolia Pictures Distribution and two movie studios, HDNet Films and 2929 Productions. They also have an investment in Lions Gate Films.
Many many years ago there used to be a Pay TV station - not really cable, not really satellite - out in Hollywood, Ca. You paid a monthly fee fee and you got this microwave attena that pointed into the Hollywood Hills and a little decoder box. It was a great idea, for sure a bit of a forrunner to PPV and such, and when a few films opened I remember they aired it the same day as it hit theatres. One of them was Pirates of Penzance: On February 18, 1983, film and television history, millions of dollars, and several enemies will be made with the release of the film Pirates of Penzance. Universal Pictures will present the movie in exclusive runs in selected markets. That's nothing new. But on that same evening, the film will be shown, through pay-per-view television, in upwards of 2 million households at $10 a pop. That's where the history, the millions, and the enemies come in.
Actually - LOL! I am re-reading an article about it - pretty funny considering this whole topic. here is some of it, and remember - this was 1983:
"Pay-per-view television is something that the film industry has talked about for a long time now," said Jerry Hartman, vice president and marketing director at Universal Pay Television. "People were talking about it two years ago. It was something that was coming, and it had to happen sooner or later. We decided- early last year that we wanted to do it, and in looking at our lineup of pictures, we decided that Pirates of Penzance had the best chance of succeeding.
[SNIP]
Whatever business Pirates does, it's at the expense of the movie theater owners. At least that's what Richard O'Rear, former president of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), claimed.
Food for thought. :)
And from April 22, 2005 -
Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner will take the first small step tonight in a plan to reinvent the movie industry.
[SNIP]
Studios have had to adjust to change before. The movie industry once viewed television and video recording technology as enemies. Today, DVD sales often bring in more studio income than theatrical releases.
[SNIP]
Studios have begun shortening the time between theatrical runs and DVD releases, capitalizing on their movies' box office buzz. Some movies, such as Fox Searchlight's Napoleon Dynamite and Universal's Ray , continued to perform well in theaters after they came out on DVD.
[SNIP]
Mr. Cuban and Mr. Wagner's media holdings include the two HDNet networks, the Landmark Theatres chain, Magnolia Pictures Distribution and two movie studios, HDNet Films and 2929 Productions. They also have an investment in Lions Gate Films.
farss
wrote on 1/21/2006, 11:54 PM
Patrick,
I can only speak for the local cinema business. If you think they've "had it way too easy for way too long" you're way off track. The big three local cinema chains have had to roll into one to try and stay afloat and for years before they were barely viable. Candy bar sales were the only thing turning a buck, ticket sales (whats left after the distributer gets his very large slice of the pie) barely cover costs such as rent, wages and maintainance. Even the rent they get cheap because they're inside a shopping centre and the centre operators hope that the cinemas bring them extra business.
Staff levels have been cut to the bone as well, everyone has to multitask, even the projectionists have to help out in the candy bar.
It's not just the big cinema chains that are doing it tough, the number of art house cinemas is in free fall and I think once digital projection starts to bite their plight will get even worse.
Bob.
I can only speak for the local cinema business. If you think they've "had it way too easy for way too long" you're way off track. The big three local cinema chains have had to roll into one to try and stay afloat and for years before they were barely viable. Candy bar sales were the only thing turning a buck, ticket sales (whats left after the distributer gets his very large slice of the pie) barely cover costs such as rent, wages and maintainance. Even the rent they get cheap because they're inside a shopping centre and the centre operators hope that the cinemas bring them extra business.
Staff levels have been cut to the bone as well, everyone has to multitask, even the projectionists have to help out in the candy bar.
It's not just the big cinema chains that are doing it tough, the number of art house cinemas is in free fall and I think once digital projection starts to bite their plight will get even worse.
Bob.
Coursedesign
wrote on 1/22/2006, 9:08 AM
The 1983 "microwave antenna pointing into the Hollywood Hills" concept survives in two ways:
1) USDTV is broadcasting a whole bunch of channels digitally over the air on ATSC 99-1, 99-2, etc. If you have an ATSC tuner, you can see that they're there even if you don't have a decoder. The L.A. broadcasts are still on a test basis I think, but they are fully up in some other cities.
2) A local internet provider uses a "microwave antenna pointing into the hills" from their base to offer high speed internet access (low megabits rate) to people in the hills of L.A. especially who live too far from a phone company CO to use DSL, and where cable internet is not available or not reliable or not considered secure enough.
I don't envy the theater owners, as it is not going to be business as usual.
This is not incurable however, but as usual it will be the largest multiplexes that have the advantage. "Those that have much, shall be given more, and those that have little, even that will be taken away from them." Words of fact from a long time ago. No change today, even if the wording has been more elegant, I don't have time to look it up.
As TV gets digital transmission; better sound; larger screens at home, etc., theater owners will have to provide a better cure for cabin fever, and a better experience overall:
3D will come for sure, this time in a more artistically tasteful way, and initially produced synthetically as was done with a few movies in the last year.
Better seating (stadium seating and more).
More than yucky mall grub for the "dinner and a movie" seekers.
Digital projection based on the Digital Cinema Initiative, hopefully with a mandate for the theater owners to buy the actually decent $155 projector lens this time instead of the $128 Coke-bottle-bottom so many of them picked before (these used to be the two lenses to choose from in the most popular catalog for theater owners ordering gear).
And better popcorn than you can make at home (my wife excluded, she seems to have special powers over these :O).
And a hot date. Umm, maybe not. A true cineast with a hot date will be focused on the screen anyway :O).
And what can YOU think of to make it a better experience?
1) USDTV is broadcasting a whole bunch of channels digitally over the air on ATSC 99-1, 99-2, etc. If you have an ATSC tuner, you can see that they're there even if you don't have a decoder. The L.A. broadcasts are still on a test basis I think, but they are fully up in some other cities.
2) A local internet provider uses a "microwave antenna pointing into the hills" from their base to offer high speed internet access (low megabits rate) to people in the hills of L.A. especially who live too far from a phone company CO to use DSL, and where cable internet is not available or not reliable or not considered secure enough.
I don't envy the theater owners, as it is not going to be business as usual.
This is not incurable however, but as usual it will be the largest multiplexes that have the advantage. "Those that have much, shall be given more, and those that have little, even that will be taken away from them." Words of fact from a long time ago. No change today, even if the wording has been more elegant, I don't have time to look it up.
As TV gets digital transmission; better sound; larger screens at home, etc., theater owners will have to provide a better cure for cabin fever, and a better experience overall:
3D will come for sure, this time in a more artistically tasteful way, and initially produced synthetically as was done with a few movies in the last year.
Better seating (stadium seating and more).
More than yucky mall grub for the "dinner and a movie" seekers.
Digital projection based on the Digital Cinema Initiative, hopefully with a mandate for the theater owners to buy the actually decent $155 projector lens this time instead of the $128 Coke-bottle-bottom so many of them picked before (these used to be the two lenses to choose from in the most popular catalog for theater owners ordering gear).
And better popcorn than you can make at home (my wife excluded, she seems to have special powers over these :O).
And a hot date. Umm, maybe not. A true cineast with a hot date will be focused on the screen anyway :O).
And what can YOU think of to make it a better experience?
p@mast3rs
wrote on 1/22/2006, 9:19 AM
Heres my opinion. If theatres want the business, they will need to find a way to draw viewers without having to rely on the films themeselves but to find added bonuses. Whether it be giveaways, promotions, character face paints (for kids flicks), or live bands, there is a way for chains to still retain more viewers than if they did nothing.
Make it an event to attend the theatre. Hell, everyone wants to attend Hollywood premieres so why not have a "Premiere Night" for a big film where people are encourage to get dressed up and walk the "red carpet"? I know it sounds silly but imagine the hype and hoopla. Everyone gets to feel important and you definitely dont get that at home.
Partner up with local unsigned bands and have them play music that people can dance to why they are waiting the 20-30 minutes for seating to begin. Whil it all sounds meanial, it will help some chains stay in business.
Try offering different refreshments. Hell, offer dinners. Complete with table seating and a comfortable chair. Imagine eating Subway or a steak dinner while watching your favorite flick. Not only does it provide for a romantic evening for a couple or a place two friends can hang and grub while being entertained. Concert Halls do this now, why not theatres?
Hell, try getting the actors in the film to show up for special events. What better way to have a ton of teenagers eagerly forking out their dollars to meet Napolean Dynamite. They do it on talk shows to promote the film, why not add something extra for the viewer?
Just a couple ideas that only took seconds to think of. Imagine if the theatres really put their minds to it.
Make it an event to attend the theatre. Hell, everyone wants to attend Hollywood premieres so why not have a "Premiere Night" for a big film where people are encourage to get dressed up and walk the "red carpet"? I know it sounds silly but imagine the hype and hoopla. Everyone gets to feel important and you definitely dont get that at home.
Partner up with local unsigned bands and have them play music that people can dance to why they are waiting the 20-30 minutes for seating to begin. Whil it all sounds meanial, it will help some chains stay in business.
Try offering different refreshments. Hell, offer dinners. Complete with table seating and a comfortable chair. Imagine eating Subway or a steak dinner while watching your favorite flick. Not only does it provide for a romantic evening for a couple or a place two friends can hang and grub while being entertained. Concert Halls do this now, why not theatres?
Hell, try getting the actors in the film to show up for special events. What better way to have a ton of teenagers eagerly forking out their dollars to meet Napolean Dynamite. They do it on talk shows to promote the film, why not add something extra for the viewer?
Just a couple ideas that only took seconds to think of. Imagine if the theatres really put their minds to it.
filmy
wrote on 1/22/2006, 11:31 AM
>>>Try offering different refreshments. Hell, offer dinners. Complete with table seating and a comfortable chair. Imagine eating Subway or a steak dinner while watching your favorite flick. Not only does it provide for a romantic evening for a couple or a place two friends can hang and grub while being entertained. Concert Halls do this now, why not theatres?<<<
Already being done - not sure in how many theatres are but I know one in Saratoga, NY that has been doing this for several years now. Used to be called broadway Joes - let see what i can find....(time passes)...ok here: Reel Meal, Dinner and a Movie.
Already being done - not sure in how many theatres are but I know one in Saratoga, NY that has been doing this for several years now. Used to be called broadway Joes - let see what i can find....(time passes)...ok here: Reel Meal, Dinner and a Movie.
p@mast3rs
wrote on 1/22/2006, 11:37 AM
Cool. Now why dont more theatres go that route? It can be successful as long as the quality of food is decent and priced accordingly. Instead of the theatres crying about having been reduced to second run status or competition with a street product, try giving the customer something they cant get at home to draw them in. If the theatres cant do that then they already lost and might as well close up shop.
rstein
wrote on 1/22/2006, 12:25 PM
One theater chain that's big in my area of Southern California has explicitly refused to screen any production that is released in other media simultaneously.
That theater chain controls virtually 100% of screens in South Orange County (pop 2mil). One must drive 10-20 miles to find a theater not operated by this chain.
So much for consumer choice. Although not paying $6 for popcorn and seeing the movie in the comfort of my home theater seems to reduce my desire to use this chain's theaters (now up to $10 per person for a movie). I can have unlimited views, unlimited guests watching, and very inexpesive popcorn and snacks. Good riddance to Regal Cinemas.
Bob.
That theater chain controls virtually 100% of screens in South Orange County (pop 2mil). One must drive 10-20 miles to find a theater not operated by this chain.
So much for consumer choice. Although not paying $6 for popcorn and seeing the movie in the comfort of my home theater seems to reduce my desire to use this chain's theaters (now up to $10 per person for a movie). I can have unlimited views, unlimited guests watching, and very inexpesive popcorn and snacks. Good riddance to Regal Cinemas.
Bob.
Coursedesign
wrote on 1/22/2006, 1:07 PM
There a remore bright spots. Arclight Cinema in Hollywood is the best theater in L.A. possibly the best in the country.
Good real restaurant, great bar&lounge, and you can even bring a martini, etc. into your screening (not all of them obviously).
Real ushers showing you to your seat, seats are really great and the stadium layouts promise to not have a single "bad seat" in the house, and for once I accept that. Still reserved seating that you can reserve online with no surcharge and print out tickets for at home so you don't have to stand inline when you arrive.
Nobody let in after the film has started, thank you!
Only the best projectors, lenses, sound systems, with regular audits by film industry pros...
The Bridge Cinema DeLux is second best in L.A. imho, and they also have a few other locations nationwide. Online ticket reservations and printing (with assigned seats in the Director's Hall theaters), but with a surcharge. Good bar & lounge, medium food, although a very good selection of different restaurants literally just outside the door.
Both of the above have very inexpensive and convenient parking, too.
These two are at least part of the future for movie theaters.
Good real restaurant, great bar&lounge, and you can even bring a martini, etc. into your screening (not all of them obviously).
Real ushers showing you to your seat, seats are really great and the stadium layouts promise to not have a single "bad seat" in the house, and for once I accept that. Still reserved seating that you can reserve online with no surcharge and print out tickets for at home so you don't have to stand inline when you arrive.
Nobody let in after the film has started, thank you!
Only the best projectors, lenses, sound systems, with regular audits by film industry pros...
The Bridge Cinema DeLux is second best in L.A. imho, and they also have a few other locations nationwide. Online ticket reservations and printing (with assigned seats in the Director's Hall theaters), but with a surcharge. Good bar & lounge, medium food, although a very good selection of different restaurants literally just outside the door.
Both of the above have very inexpensive and convenient parking, too.
These two are at least part of the future for movie theaters.