Movie Director Flattered That Someone Camcorded And Uploaded His Movie

from the that's-the-spirit dept

Fri, Apr 4th 2008 10:18am — Mike Masnick

While the folks back in Hollywood have been acting as though people with camcorders were a huge threat to the movie business, it appears that some folks outside of the Hollywood machine recognize that it's not such a bad thing at all. TorrentFreak has the story of a popular Norwegian director who seems flattered that people camcorded his movie and put it online:

"I think it's perfectly fine that some people choose to post the movie online. It shows that people are interested in it.... In the IT society of today it's naive to think that this wouldn't happen. We consider it a huge compliment."

In fact, it appears his only real problem is that the quality of recording isn't so great, though he notes that hopefully this will drive more people to the theater to see a better quality version. It's nice to see more folks in the movie business recognizing that unauthorized copies aren't the end of the world.

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Filed Under: bittorrent, camcording, director, file sharing, movies, norway

16 Comments

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Freedom, 4 Apr 2008 @ 12:57pm

You can't stop it...
This is probably common sense to the folks that follow TD, but it just hit me today.

You can't stop people from sharing their media in the new digital age. Since you can't stop it, work on ways to make money at it.

For instance, in this case, why should theaters have a monopoly over the movie for x months. Make it available in all formats/venues and those that want the social experience can have it, those that want to watch it on the PC, iPod, whatever can have it as well.

Make the cost and quality such that it easier to go to an official website than alternative means and then go after any one that tries to distribute your product in any major commercial way as you'll never stop the casual sharing process.

The change won't be seamless for either the consumer or producer, but it is time for a change.

Freedom
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koresho, 4 Apr 2008 @ 12:58pm

finally.
Maybe, finally, people are starting to realize that things like recording movies don't mean that their goods will not get bought.
Case in point: Before buying 300, I downloaded the DVD. Before buying Sony's Acid Pro 6, I downloaded the application and decided that it was what I needed. The trial did not allow me the same functionality, so how was I to know for sure?
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Ragaboo, 4 Apr 2008 @ 1:02pm

Re: finally.
Agree completely, I used Acid Pro for a year to make music, and I decided that it was definitely a worthwhile product, so I bought software. There is a 0% chance that I would have purchased the software without trying it unrestricted first.
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Norwegian, 4 Apr 2008 @ 1:34pm

This is Hollywood!
The "popular Norwegian director" is actually also a Hollywood director. Harlad Zwart has directed several Hollywood movies, and his next movie is the sequel to Pink Panther starring Steve Martin and Jean Reno.
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CJMPE, 4 Apr 2008 @ 2:06pm

Lawyers????
You don't suppose that it is at all a coincedence that there are 850 people per lawyer in Norway and 330 per lawyer in the US???????
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Sonny Crockett, 4 Apr 2008 @ 2:14pm

Re: This is Hollywood!
... and Don Johnson is part of the lineup in this Norwegian movie!
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Bill, 4 Apr 2008 @ 4:52pm

Try before you buy
I buy everything I actually use. I like paying people for good work. I don't like paying before I know if it is good work. I don't pay for meals before I taste them. I don't tip for service before they serve me. So, even though I was a software developer for many years, I can understand why a lot of folks prefer to download something and use it before deciding it is worth the money to buy.

I think the day is coming where movie theatres as we now know them will no longer exist. There won't be big theatrical releases months before consumer media releases. Movies will be released straight to consumers in some digital form, be it DVD, high-def, streamed, transmitted, or whatever. The movie studios need to start working toward this now before it is too late. Granted, they already release some films straight to DVD, but they are usually throw-away sequels and such.

One example they need to look at is music. In this digital age, music appears on iTunes the day the CD is released, not 6 months after the CD's hit shelves. Soon, movies will be the same way. The release of the movie may include a theatrical release as one form of distribution, but it will be released to consumers simultaneously in all digital forms. We will watch it on our home theatres at the same time others go to watch it on bigger screens in theatres. Because of this, theatres will need to change the focus of the experience they provide. They will need to become more flexible and customizable in order to survive in our "have it your way" society. I talk in more detail about what they can do to achieve that in a post I made in response to the luxury theatres article.

The bottom line is we are in a new era and the old way of releasing and distributing media no longer works.
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PaulT (profile), 5 Apr 2008 @ 12:40am

Just the director?
It's nice to hear this sentiment and a little bit of realism from a movie director. However, the director is part of the creative talent behind a movie. It would be more interesting if the people paying for the movie - the producers and financers - would say something like this.
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illegalprelude, 5 Apr 2008 @ 2:00am

I hate to say this Mike, but why is it everytime TechDirst finds article about a director who supports pirating his own movies and camcordering them and putting them on a torrent site, they also happen to be "nobody" directors that nobody has heard of, has no real funding to worry about and has no contracts to uphold?
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Wikipedia, 5 Apr 2008 @ 12:19pm

Re:
You are wrong, buddy. Harald Zwart is a household name in Hollywood. He has directed stars like Micheael Douglas, John Goodman, Liv Tyler, Andrew Dice Clay, Mark Hamill, Steve Martin, Andy Garcia and John Cleese. Check your facts (or the previous posts) before you post.
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Mike (profile), 5 Apr 2008 @ 1:21pm

Re:
I hate to say this Mike, but why is it everytime TechDirst finds article about a director who supports pirating his own movies and camcordering them and putting them on a torrent site, they also happen to be "nobody" directors that nobody has heard of, has no real funding to worry about and has no contracts to uphold?

As a few others have noted, that's not the case at all. He actually has done a bunch of Hollywood movies.
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Jake, 6 Apr 2008 @ 9:49am

For that matter, I defy anyone to try and sit through a camcorded copy of any film and not agree that it wasn't worth saving the price of a cinema ticket or DVD rental, if only because you've lost less money than you would if you'd tossed your cookies all over your keyboard.
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Iron Chef, 6 Apr 2008 @ 11:24am

Re: You can't stop it...
Since you can't stop it, work on ways to make money at It.

So I was recently took a trip to Tampa Florida. We decided to head to a neighboring district called "Ybor City". Not only did I have the best Cuban food ever at Columbia Restaurant, but we also stopped at the Muvico Theater. I guess they are a new chain, but one to keep an eye on-- At Muvico, they have full sized leather seats, a supervised place to drop off the kids, cocktail bar, and a real restaurant.

If the AMCs and United Artists theaters of the world started to emulate a Muvico's "Experience", well, I may find myself patronizing the theaters more often.

Until then, I'll wait for the movies to come on DVD/Bluray so I can play it on the investment I have at home. After all, the whole idea that camcorded videos are displacing ticket revenue is absurd and short sided. I don't know anyone who watches camcorded videos. I sometimes watch the first five minutes of a DirecTV movie to figure out if we want to watch it, but that's as bad as it gets for us.

I'll have a smile when Muvico expands to my area. I plan to visit the Muvico in Chicagoland next time I'm out there...
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Apr 2008 @ 2:21pm

Re: Re: You can't stop it...
Found this slide deck about Muvico on their corporate website. Muvico- please expand faster!

http://www.muvico.com/pdf/Muvico_Corporate_About_Us.pdf
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Apr 2008 @ 3:39pm

Re: Re:
You actaully list "Andrew Dice Clay" as a star? Oh my fricking god!
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Koala, 8 Apr 2008 @ 3:30pm

Re: Re: Re:
Andrew Dice Clay secured his cred forever in Ford Fairlane. NUFF SAID!
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