Thursday, September 11, 2008

Whedon@ TechCrunch50: “I don’t think any of them get it.”

(Dateline: San Francisco)

Hollywood was well repped at the TechCrunch50 conference in SF this week. I have pulled some quotes from current internet fave Joss Whedon regarding his work- Dr. Horrible - and the intersection between the internet and traditional "Hollywood."

But when asked point-blank which of the big Hollywood studios understand the Internet, Whedon said, “I don’t think any of them get it.”

“They’re trying to recreate the model of a successful television show — you pour in millions and you get back many more millions,” Whedon said. “It’s a huge priority, but they’re coming at it from a very ossified point of view.”

Whedon seems to have found a model worth replicating — he produced the equivalent of an hour-long drama for a cost in the “low six figures” rather than millions or ten of millions of dollars. It became a top-seller on iTunes, and is now making more money on ad-supported Internet TV site Hulu. Interestingly, Whedon also released the show for free for a week.**

“The idea was not just to get people to see it and to give something for the fans,” Whedon said. “[It was also] to make a statement about the Internet — this is a place where you can have an event.”

** and he's selling the soundtrack on itunes. This demonstrates what I've said before - you're not just selling the film (or tv show) you are selling the property, the brand.