We need a Bigger Pie: Is it the Internet?
Written on October 22, 2008 by clare
I came across a great interview with Scott Kirsner with Liz Gannes on NewTeeVee. Kirsner’s a journalist with Variety, Fast Company and his own blog, Cinema Tech; his new book is “Inventing the Movies”, an analysis of how movies have survived, thrived or adapted to technology over time.
The pie just gets bigger for the movie industry as technology expands distribution networks: theatrical, TV, DVD, airlines, hotels, iTunes… the internet. Online video portals like Super U and YouTube, Kirsner contends, have had a bigger impact than TV or any other distribution model: The shift is huge because it’s free to get content out. Francis Ford Coppola says that “cinema is escaping being controlled by the financier.”
While this is exciting for producers, it’s scary for movie studios who look at the internet as piracy, not a fertile, creative, experimental ground. Kirsner admits that the industry, established or independent, is still searching for the business model. We’ll continue to see big budget shows (movie or TV) because they function as a shared cultural experience. At the same time, we’ll see a productive environment with lots of niche content created at different budget levels as online content moves away from Evolution of Dance or Kittens on a Treadmill. Get your fork ready for that bigger pie.
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Great clip! I believe it’s an excellent way to find some enormous pool of great talent out there. Nothing will die over the turning of the night, everything is a just a different media, another choice, a different experience.