The Future of Film

[DDK]

The internet is only going to get bigger and faster. More people will be downloading, not less. The greater the penetration of the internet into society, the less money a film will ultimately make. At least that's if you believe the MPAA.

Regardless of whether or not this is true, I'd like to assume for the sake of argument that it is and hear from people what the future of film will be in the face of it.

My personal opinion is that the film industry will eventually get wise and we'll actually have far more product placement and actor sponsorship of products in films. In turn, the industry will embrace the internet rather than fight against it and films will be free or very cheap to download or watch on demand because the primary revenue won't be from sales, but rather these product endorsements and placements in films.

What do you think will happen?

 

[directorik]

That's an excellent prediction. And it's already happening. Right
now with TV and some of the bigger films. But the practice of
more product placement and cheaper download prices is happing
on an ever growing scale.

 

[Tinalera]

That's an excellent prediction. And it's already happening. Right
now with TV and some of the bigger films. But the practice of
more product placement and cheaper download prices is happing
on an ever growing scale.

Yes product placement IS pretty prevalent now-starting to me think of calling Coca Cola, see how much they'll pay me for use of their product in my film

Film IS changing though (hard even to call it "film" now with modern technologies). While I have recanted my views on theatre going (Big Screen, Big Sound), as far as releases, as more people get on the internet-I AM wondering how far we are from DVD's effectively disappearing and everything turning to direct download to computers. With sources like Netflix for renting and for purchasing at a lower amount than physical DVDs-I don't prediction is far off.

 

[directorik]

Yes product placement IS pretty prevalent now-starting to me think of calling Coca Cola, see how much they'll pay me for use of their product in my film

As soon as your films are seen by hundreds of thousands they
will pay you to use their product. When your movies are seen
by millions....

Film IS changing though (hard even to call it "film" now with modern technologies). While I have recanted my views on theatre going (Big Screen, Big Sound), as far as releases, as more people get on the internet-I AM wondering how far we are from DVD's effectively disappearing and everything turning to direct download to computers. With sources like Netflix for renting and for purchasing at a lower amount than physical DVDs-I don't prediction is far off.

I agree. DVD's are on their way out just like CD's.

 

[Rob B]

The prediction model is what has happened to most music artists..
Movies will be distributed at will, like Mp3's. Now music artists have to tour to cover expenses. Movie makers will have to rely on delivering unique content on a personal basis to survive.

Old school advertising budgets will be cut and promotion will happen through twitter and facebook and movie rating pages. People will not fall for commercials. Advertisers will pay people to flood facebook and rating sites with faux information.

We will see more directors taking Kevin Smiths recent approach. In the future we will be attending the theater to see the director, cast and crew.. Not only can we see the traditional theater experience, but we will be able to see premium experiences with the Director, or producer for 50-75 a ticket.

First night movies releases will be streamed directly to the living room for $25.

Theaters themselves, will suffer. As home theaters compete to have better sound and clarity, They will start offering more services, food, giftshops, and theaters designed with stages will make a surge. We will see the Movie theater evolve into a film based event center.

 

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

Although I don't think either the physical media or the theatre will ever totally disappear. Collectors and cinephiles will always want the physical object with the cover art, the liner notes, the special features, etc...
There will also always be a niche market for the movie theatre.

Some of it may be generational, but I am pretty tech savvy, and I have never streamed a movie in my life. I only recently started using Netflix. I still mostly go to the brick and mortar video store in my town.

 

[sonnyboo]

The internet is only going to get bigger and faster.

And if they get rid of Net Neutrality, this will be skewed greatly towards the Internet of big corporations not individuals with sites.....

The greater the penetration of the internet into society, the less money a film will ultimately make. At least that's if you believe the MPAA.

This is very true, and the MPAA is correct, but illegal downloads is not the only thing on the web destroying the business model of filmmaking. Legitimate online retail and rental have contributed most likely moreso than the illegal downloads, but that doesn't make them less illegitimate.

 

[DDK]

I still mostly go to the brick and mortar video store in my town.

You, sir, are the exception to the rule unfortunately. I lost my shirt trying to run my own DVD rental store. Despite growing the business from a few measly regulars to hundreds of loyal customers, I still couldn't make it profitable in the face of the industry's decline.

I used to have customers say to my face that they're only renting X, Y, Z because they couldn't afford the ISP quota (in Australia we pay for internet with quota plans) to pay for a DVD-level quality download.

A big part of the decline of the rental industry, though, was the greed of the distributors. I had to pay a premium for DVD's that would sell in K-Mart a week later at half the price. After a month, I couldn't even sell my excess stock for $5 each, let alone rent it out for $2.

 

[Josiah]

I still mostly go to the brick and mortar video store in my town.

I do the same thing. I think I'm stubbornly fighting using Netflix, as long as it lasts, mainly because I like to go into the video store, talk to the girls who work there (all of whom I know), and look at all the movies, physically there on display. Nothing beats that for me. I feel sympathetic for movie stores, and how the internet has started to drag them down.

 

[2001 Productions]

I do the same thing. I think I'm stubbornly fighting using Netflix, as long as it lasts, mainly because I like to go into the video store, talk to the girls who work there (all of whom I know), and look at all the movies, physically there on display. Nothing beats that for me. I feel sympathetic for movie stores, and how the internet has started to drag them down.

Darn tootin'! My friend started the first video rental store in town back in the mid-80s, and he's outlasted all of the chains that have come and gone since. We rent all our movies from him. The major distributors seem to have gotten behind the rental stores by making new releases available at stores before you can see them on cable or get them from NetFlix/RedBox.

 

[Tinalera]

I still use Brick and Motar stores to buy and rent my DVD's-though it's getting harder to do.

Eventually I will probably succumb to Itunes for DVD (already buy music from them) or Netflix when it gets to the point that I'm going to HAVE to.

 

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

You, sir, are the exception to the rule unfortunately. I lost my shirt trying to run my own DVD rental store. Despite growing the business from a few measly regulars to hundreds of loyal customers, I still couldn't make it profitable in the face of the industry's decline.

I used to have customers say to my face that they're only renting X, Y, Z because they couldn't afford the ISP quota (in Australia we pay for internet with quota plans) to pay for a DVD-level quality download.

A big part of the decline of the rental industry, though, was the greed of the distributors. I had to pay a premium for DVD's that would sell in K-Mart a week later at half the price. After a month, I couldn't even sell my excess stock for $5 each, let alone rent it out for $2.

I work for a distributor and Walmart has seriously hurt us. They use DVDs as a loss leader product. That $14.95 New Release DVD is less than our cost to buy it from the studio. We lost all our mom and pop store new release business to Walmart. We still sell them catalog (old) titles we have in stock, but the bulk of our business is now "rack jobbing" those little kiosks of DVDs you see in grocery stores, drug stores, truck stops, etc...

A major reason the mom and pop in my town has survived is porn. They have the little room in the back with XXX titles. The only place in town you can rent them. It's probably 40% of her business.

 

[DDK]

A major reason the mom and pop in my town has survived is porn. They have the little room in the back with XXX titles. The only place in town you can rent them. It's probably 40% of her business.

Wow. I guess this was my big mistake, then. The small shopping area I had my store in was very clean and upmarket with a tight-knit community. I had the thought that getting rid of the porn titles in my store altogether and focusing on family-friendly titles and atmosphere was the best way to go. Guess I was wrong :/

 

[2001 Productions]

Not necessarily. My friend's place doesn't stock porn. Not because he's a prude - he used to carry it in the 80s and still stocks NC17 and unrated titles - but hasn't needed to for many years now.

One of the chain rental places (before they went belly-up) had a similar small room in the back of the store for XXX titles. You had to go through a closed door which set off a loud buzzer. Anytime someone went in, the whole store turned to look. My wife and I learned that the hard way.

 

[Falsk]

I've watched all the mom-and-pop video rentals in my neighborhood disappear and it's definitely disappointing... a part of my childhood--gone!!

But here's a thought. I just watched the trailer for Spike Jonze's short "Scenes from the Suburbs" and was totally stoked until the words "coming soon to DVD" came up on screen. What? DVD? With this rush to get everything streaming instantly (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon's new thing) it'd be interesting to see the 'short film' format make a come back. Not that it's not accessible now with things like Vimeo and YouTube, but I'd be way more inclined to sit down and watch a polished, well-produced short if there was a section for them on the Netflix Instant Queue...

 

[directorik]

Consider yourself fortunate, 2001. But don’t for a second think
that your experience is anything but a wonderful exception. Brick
and mortar video stores are currently one of the fastest declining
business in the US.

 

[Tinalera]

I posted in another thread (the Blockbuster one) about how even my local Walmart (a bigger sized-not a "Sams Club") the DVD section has essentially shrunk to 2 Aisles: If it's not a release within the past 6 months, or a "newer" Television series release- it's either in the 2 for 10 or related bargain bins, or just NOT THERE. I asked a worker about it, and she said "this is what we have-the only "new" shipments we get in now are new releases, that's it."

 

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

The only new chain I have seen open here locally in the past couple of years is a "Family Video", so that market is there as well. The grandma taking the little ones to the video store is still hanging on. barely. It's all about niche now.

 

[2001 Productions]

Consider yourself fortunate, 2001. But don’t for a second think
that your experience is anything but a wonderful exception.

Sorry, didn't mean to be inappropriately optimistic. Thanks for the reality check.

Seriously, though, I do realize that my friend's store is bucking the trend. Inexplicably enough, he just opened a second store last year, only a few yards away from an empty storefront where the chain rental place was. Not sure how he's doing it, but I hope folks continue to support him.

 

[directorik]

but I hope folks continue to support him.

Me too. I wish there were success stories like that here in
Los Angeles. My all time favorite video store had to move
to a smaller store, but it's still open - barely. However, most
are gone.

I do see that smaller stores are hanging in there as the chains
fail so there is some hope. It rests with "we the people", doesn't
it. We all need to go to a store and rent some DVD's. Ween
ourselves from, "I'll add it to my queue."