Is Digital Distribution Useless?
The recent South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, TX saw quite the gathering of filmmakers discuss the contentious issue of making money by way of digital distribution. Although the common belief is that DVDs will be obsolete sooner rather than later and that online video sharing sites are the future the truth is that the Digital Distribution doesnt provide the same reliable numbers as film and television does.
According to panelist Morgan Spurlock ( “Super Size Me” and “Where In The World Is Osama bin Laden?,”) “The reason numbers aren’t released (for digital distribution revenues) is because the numbers are pathetic,” he said. “The numbers are sadly low in comparison to what we expect from film and television. If you’re looking to pay your rent, not so much, if you’re looking to pay your phone bill, you have a great chance. It’s getting to a point where it’s down the road from being profitable, but we’re just not at that point yet.”
The panelists had many different ideas concerning what the best method to digital distribution is. Whether or not filmmakers should try to get the content out everywhere, or be much more selective was the main question that the panel couldn’t come to terms on. According to president of distributor New Video, Steve Savage, “It’s good to be agnostic, and I think it’s a good way to put everything out there and see what sticks but there’s also other ways to do it,” he asserted, “to be really strategic, to find where the money is.”
Discovering where that money lies may be the biggest challenge, what do you guys think? Let us know.
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:25 am
I think the problem with why digital distribution does not retain the same sales figures as DVD or even VHS sales is the simple fact there is no physical format. When you pay for a movie on itunes you then get to download a file. You just payed $9 for a bunch of 1’s and 0’s. I remember back when I was a kid that whenever I bought a VHS tape I felt like I had actually “bought something” because It had solid form. The money I spent I could then “see” in a solid form. With digital music or movie files there is no solid tangible form so as a consumer I feel like I’m being taken when I pay $9 for a Disney movie on itunes. Why should I pay for a bunch of 1’s and 0’s? Mix magazine did a poll a while back online and found that the overwhelming majority did not believe they should pay for online music. LP sales have shot up because they are a physical manifestation. Someone walks in my room, sees a bunch of LP’s and knows I’m a music lover. Downloading movies onto a hard drive leaves no huge collection to show off or be proud of. I’m not against making money online through digital downloads but I’m concerned that I don’t see many making money with it.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I think it’s a matter of time and innovation as this technological paradyne shift ripples through mass communication. For example, we see the newspaper world morphing into online news with major shifts in logistics and cost. No more printing presses with dedicated operators and maintenance, No more of the infrastructure of cutting trees, making giant paper rolls, slicing, dicing of ink filled pages, cut and folded into compact, rectangular stacks. No more delivery by trucks, cars and people, with its intrinsic cost of distribution, to the doors and steps of homes and offices.
Now on the Internet we have instant news from a plethora of interpretations and points of view. The days of believing what you read in the newspaper is history! Now we are in a brave new world where we are required to think for ourselves using critical thinking to really comprehend the real truth of reality we live instead of someone else’s interpretation.
So the same goes for the visual mass media. What I have noticed is a coming together of media types which in the pass were separate entities or businesses. For example the digital still and video cameras are merging into one device. We are witnesses the revolution in personal digital assistants that fit in our pockets incorporating all media types we once knew as newspapers, books, broadcast TV and movie theatres. Even here, the technical production cost of content and distribution will continue to fall due to ever expanding technological changes. A cost/benefit point of value will eventually be reached for media communications or the product or service will simple not exist as a profitable communication medium. Maybe we are witnessing a true democracy among people taking place, where everyone can speak in any format they choose. Maybe we are witnessing the pyramid of power of broadcasting down to the masses being transformed into a greater conscious of mankind on the planet; freeing us from the machinations of the few who want to control and dominate to the detriment of us all. Maybe, instead of looking at the MASSES to make a fast buck; just maybe, instead of using money to buy things, we use our resources to create better ideas that benefit the planet we live on for future generations. Just maybe…
March 25th, 2009 at 7:51 am
It is true that not having something solid, to be able to hold in your hand makes things feel like they hold less value. And it’s also true that when technologies change, so does society. For instance, I cant remember the last time that I wrote a letter… however, I write 30 emails a day! And may be you’re right concerning the MASSES…
April 9th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
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April 10th, 2009 at 9:44 am
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