Are Independent DVDs Running Into Trouble? Where Did Netflix And Amazon Go?
from the something's-not-right dept
There's a very odd article in the NY Times about how the DVDs of lesser known moviemakers, mainly independent film makers, may be running into trouble -- though the actual reasons are not at all clear. It starts out by suggesting that the DVD market is simply overcrowded, that there's a "glut" of content, and that means the companies releasing these DVDs have to compete much more heavily with other, more popular, DVDs. It then notes that with the demise of stores like Tower Records and Warehouse Music (and some Mom & Pop shops), what remains are mainly the big box stores, like Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy, who stock a very small selection of hits.However, as you read through the article, there should be something clawing at the back of your brain, not fully making sense -- and, certainly, a few people noticed it. The article doesn't mention things like Netflix or Amazon at all. The crowd of folks who tend to like these more independent films are also the type of folks more likely to know about Netflix and Amazon -- and, you would actually think that this would help, not hurt, the independent movie distributors. After all, they can now send those movies to a single source who can market nationally (or, in some cases, internationally) to a very interested target audience, without having to establish relationships with each and every local retailer. More importantly, a big part of the benefit of both Netflix and Amazon is that they help cut through that glut in supply to better recommend what you might want to see. If anything, they should be talked about as helping build the independent DVD distribution market. You would think that the NY Times would look to explain why this isn't so (if it isn't so), but the article doesn't even mention it. If it's true that sites like Netflix and Amazon aren't helping the sale of independent videos that would completely go against the concept of "The Long Tail," which would make a very interesting case study to examine -- but without further information, it's tough to figure out what's happening here.
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NY Times Research Department
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" If it's true that sites like Netflix and Amazon aren't helping the sale of independent videos that would completely go against the concept of "The Long Tail," which would make a very interesting case study to examine -- but without further information, it's tough to figure out what's happening here."
Perhaps they were going for subliminal advertising, since Netflix has a massive banner ad on the page. As for whether Netflix helps the so-called "long-tail" - it actively does so, as it even gotten into active indie film distribution: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/12/08/AM200612081.html
To me, this read like a Netflix ad that doesn't mention Netflix (might have been too ad-like for the NYT), but everybody knows what they,re talking about. Especially with the subliminal banner ads. ;)
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Re:
To me, this read like a Netflix ad that doesn't mention Netflix (might have been too ad-like for the NYT), but everybody knows what they,re talking about. Especially with the subliminal banner ads. ;)
AC, that was just dumb. Today it's a banner ad for Monster. Are you going to tell me that since the article implies indie movies are osing, the subliminal ad suggests that the artists/directors/etc of those movies should go look for a job on Monster?
Oh wait, if you reload, it's a classmates.com ad, I guess now it hints that you should look for a couch to sleep on at one of your classmates' since you are a poor indie film maker.
If you can't figure out how a banner ad works on a website, may be you should chill with opinion pieces there.
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I understand Amazon but not Netflix
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Re: I understand Amazon but not Netflix
Kind of hard to finance a major independent production for just a grand in sales.
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Re: Re: I understand Amazon but not Netflix
Someone quoted a Netflix exec as saying "Send me 500 DVDs. Every time it rents, we'll pay you something."
So apparently they don't use a standard rental model here, but even if they did use a standard model, they would be paying far more than $10 per DVD.
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Re: Re: Re: I understand Amazon but not Netflix
I'm not sure what you mean. Anything that you legally buy, you can legally rent. I can buy movies at wholesale prices and rent them out all day long.
As far at the "Send me 500 DVDs. Every time it rents, we'll pay you something" quote, I'll point out that, under this model, if I've got some tiny little indie film and I send Netflix 10 copies and it rents a hundred times over the next year, I'm a lot better off than if I send them 500 copies and it still rents a hundred times.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: I understand Amazon but not Netfli
What you CAN buy is a license to watch, under a very limited set of circumstances, the movie recorded on the piece of plastic you take out of the store. Violating that license is a Federal offense. Sure you CAN rent out a DVD that you bought at Walmart but you can also go to jail for doing so. Video rental companies obviously pay a much higher price than retail for the DVDs they rent out.
Respectfully...scobb
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"My Big Fat Homeless Berkeley Movie"
My name's Johnny Allen Shaw. I made a movie while homeless in Berkeley, CA., USA from 2005-2006. People like it. Its on the shelves at our big record stores and is available on IndieFlix.com. I'm still homeless, but the movie is picking up and leading me on.
The trailer for "MBFHBM" is on YouTube.com:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j3loxu4MG8c
My website:
http://www.freewebs.com/transitionsvideo
My first review:
http://roguecinema.com/article-931--0-0.html
To order ($10):
http://indieflix.com/FilmDetail.aspx?tid=7831&name=My%20Big%20Fat%20Homeless%20Berkele y%20Movie
I thought you might like to know.
Thanks,
Johnny Allen Shaw
CEO and ED
Transitions Video
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"My Big Fat Homeless Berkeley Movie"
My name's Johnny Allen Shaw. I made a movie while homeless in Berkeley, CA., USA from 2005-2006. People like it. Its on the shelves at our big record stores and is available on IndieFlix.com. I'm still homeless, but the movie is picking up and leading me on.
The trailer for "MBFHBM" is on YouTube.com:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j3loxu4MG8c
My website:
http://www.freewebs.com/transitionsvideo
My first review:
http://roguecinema.com/article-931--0-0.html
To order ($10):
http://indieflix.com/FilmDetail.aspx?tid=7831&name=My%20Big%20Fat%20Homeless%20Berkele y%20Movie
I thought you might like to know.
Thanks,
Johnny Allen Shaw
CEO and ED
Transitions Video
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Crap in a box is still crap...
those movies arnt good... and you can wrap them any way you want, they still stink...
If the independant movies was actually good walmart would stock it cause it would sell...
this article is more liberal crap about how I'm ment to feel guilty for the little guy who cant do anything right...
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Re: Crap in a box is still crap...
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Re: Crap in a box is still crap...
Maybe so, but most conservatives are educated so that when they rant, it's at least readable by the liberals......
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Kind of hard to finance a major independent production for just a grand in sales."
Netflix has actually gotten into indie film production and distribution. Not just rental. See: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.09/netflix.html
So they do seem to be putting their money where their mouth is.
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pay per view
MrPaladin - Your logic is as poor as your English, please go rant somewhere else.
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Re: Re: I understand Amazon but not Netflix
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If I go to blockbuster, and see that there are only 3 new releases and one is an independant movie, I might rent that independant movie. This is especially true if I saw the other 2 in the theater.
Some of the movies were great, some really were terrible. If the movie was great, we might even buy it. The fact is, many of us watch them because of the limited supply.
Movie companies got smart and started releasing their own terrible crap straight to DVD. Now the competition for the movies is starting to normalize.
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First Raw Footage Completed
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RE: Crap in a box...
uh huh, go back to listening to Britney and watching Schwarzenegger movies, you hack.
Indie films have emotional depth, character development, storylines that aren't schlock and actual ACTING. Don't believe me? Try 'my own private idaho' or 'spanking the monkey' or anything else on the Netflix indie list or hey, if you can read well enough (which i doubt you can judging from the spelling errors in your post) you could even try a foreign film with (GASP) subtitles. Indies aren't often heard of because they don't have the huge marketing budget that the major studios have, but trust me, their films are just as good and some are even better.
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Uh....
Just because a movie is "indy" doesn't automatically mean it's better than the crap produced by Hollywood.
Jesus knows how many crappy, horrible, boring "indy" movies there are.
Like I said earlier, most of the DVDs I actually buy are indy.
If it's good, I'll buy a copy. If it's not, I won't. No matter who produced / directed / wrote the script in crayon, how much they spent, etc. :-D
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IN HAND IMPULSE RENT
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First Sale Doctrine
The First Sale Doctrine of US Copyright Law allows for the sale or rental of DVDs or video games without the prior consent of the copyright holder. This doctrine is exactly what allows Blockbuster, video stores, then eventually NetFlix to exist. The law is VERY clear here.
iLetYou ( http://www.iletyou.com ) allows you to rent out the DVDs and Games you legally own by creating your own rental store or rent from other stores in the community.
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IS NETFLIX THINKING ABOUT THE INDY/INDIE FILMMAKERS
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plagerism is illegal
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