Not fighting piracy, but obscurity

This bold statement was raised at the recent Northern Lights Film Festival Industry Day dedicated to crowd sourcing and digital frontiers.

A keynote speech delivered by Liz Rosenthal of Power to the Pixel raised questions on how storytelling will evolve in the digital age that is no longer restricted by format. And how filmmakers, working across platforms can extend audiences and increase finance. This blog will share some of the success stories raised during the speech and also take a side step and look at how cinemas can learn from/join forces with filmmakers in opening up new ways of engaging audiences.

In the traditional model of filmmaking, the storyteller is not in control of how the story is told – this is managed through the distribution and exhibition network and arguably, this model has little connection with the audience. Now fragmented platforms are appearing for moving image work and audiences are watching film and experiencing stories in many different ways. All of which are giving audiences more choice and more control.

Examples cited include documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald and his Brave New Films who have built up a large database of email subscribers who receive information about films as they are being made and often even make donations to ensure that the films are financed. Therefore when the films are produced, there is already a large audience who know about the film, want to see it and are stakeholders in it. In addition, under the banner of Brave New Theaters, Brave New Films is promoting a people powered movie revolution. When you buy a DVD from Brave New Theater you also get the rights to screen it wherever you like and they will even give you tips on how to plan a successful screening.

Wreck a Movie is the world’s first internet film studio. Anyone can join and contribute to films that are already being made or upload their own film idea and invite people to join in. This way of working completely turns around the usual model of passive fans who are marketed to once a distributor has picked up the film. This model offer fans the chance to be part of the life of the film.

Indie GoGo is another organisation using collaborative working to fund ideas and encourage innovation. While Four Eyed Monsters develop a community around their films and then mobilise fans to ask cinemas to screen their work. Thus cinema turns into a social event online as well as in a physical cinema.

Another example worth a mention is filmmaker Nina Paley who rejected an offer from a distributor to buy the UK rights for her film Sita Sings the Blues and instead gives them out for free through a Creative Commons license and encourages anyone to screen her film. Nina sells a range of collectable merchandise related to the film from which she makes a profit – a bit like the way multi plexes make money through popcorn sales. By keeping control over her film, and not selling the rights to a distributor, Nina has made more money and the film has been seen by many more people than if she had gone down the traditional route.

So what has this got to do with cinema? Lots! Firstly we can learn much from the possibilities of a film having a life beyond a screening and an engaged fan base. Many filmmakers have found that folk online spend 30% of their time watching the film and 70% engaged in conversation about it. Cinemas and festivals need to join in the conversation and not just passively wait for its release date before giving a film any marketing attention or spend.

Filmmakers and cinemas both complain about the amount of control distributors have and the dominance of major studios. So we should be seeking ways of joining forces. Offering more than monthly film clubs for a few local filmmakers to get together and chat and read each other scripts. Let’s really start working with filmmakers and engaging with their fan base, negotiating screen time for them, make time for conversation, investigate new models, get involved with the life of their work and in doing so refresh cinema.

With the huge capitol outlay of converting to digital which threatens to cripple independent exhibitors, or lock them into rigid VPF deals, it's time to seize the day and dip our toes in the waters of shared culture. Filmmakers are making inroads into developing new models and so should cinemas, because we too are not fighting piracy, but obscurity.