All Aboard the Piracy Bandwagon

Times are tough, but it seems that there is a growing trend amongst indie filmmakers to blame much of their ill times on internet piracy.  While the studios have long asserted that the internet and file sharing is to blame for millions in lost revenue we are no seeing a trend amongst indie filmmakers who place blame on internet pirates for their film's lack of success.

The latest case to crop up comes from the LA Times profile piece on filmmaker Greg Carter.

Greg Carter spent the last three years scraping together $250,000 to write, direct and produce "A Gangland Love Story," a gritty, urban retelling of "Romeo and Juliet."

Since its DVD release in July, audiences have embraced it: More than 60,000 viewers have watched the movie on the Internet, giving the independent filmmaker a coveted public following.

Unfortunately, winning an audience has come at a steep price. The viewers of Carter's film watched if from pirate movie sites and never paid for it. Carter figures the unauthorized viewing has cost him as much as $100,000 in lost revenue, dashing hope that he'll ever see a profit.

Now on the surface this seems pretty straight forward: Piracy = Bad.  However if the film community is to make sense of the next decade of entertainment media and engaging the audience we MUST dig deeper than that and get to the roots. We can't assume anything.

In reading this story there are some pretty bold assumptions set forth that I would like to question...

[Full disclosure. I have met and discussed business with Greg Carter many years ago when I was with York Entertainment.  I admire his business savvy and entrepreneurism, and have no axe to grind here. I have also done work for Maverick Entertainment as a freelancer]

1. I would like to know how he arrives at the $100,000 estimate he says he's lost to piracy.

2. I would like to know where the movie has been sold.  Has the # of downloads of the movie ever been used as a marketing sell point?

3. Beyond this article, Greg has never had an interview with the LA Times for one of his movies.  What is the value of this article toward people looking for the movie now that they've read about it?

4. What has he done to reach out to all of the people who watched his movie to see if they would be willing to pay money for a DVD of it?  Has he attempted to sell the soundtrack to the movie as an ancillary product?

5. What is the line item budget of the picture?  I ask this because budget is often used as a press ploy in these articles.  I want to look at the actual ROI for this film.

6. Has he done any events to promote the film and tie it to the urban audience?

Piracy IS going to happen, but we need to analyze these stories very closely to determine the truth of whether or not piracy was a factor in the film's profit or loss.  This is tricky business and there's too many unclear assertions in this article without any actual facts being presented.

Speaking of Piracy...

From the Wall Street Journal:

After years of suing thousands of people for allegedly stealing music via the Internet, the recording industry is set to drop its legal assault as it searches for more effective ways to combat online music piracy.

The decision represents an abrupt shift of strategy for the industry, which has opened legal proceedings against about 35,000 people since 2003. Critics say the legal offensive ultimately did little to stem the tide of illegally downloaded music. And it created a public-relations disaster for the industry, whose lawsuits targeted, among others, several single mothers, a dead person and a 13-year-old girl.

Full story here.

Corsairs, Ho!

In my last post, Jon Molly commented that:

" Your comment regarding moving content from one media to another deserves more than being buried in a footnote. I wonder if finding ways to spread content out over a variety isn't just as much a valid defense against piracy. Any version that gets pirated just winds up serving as a commercial for the other media."

Fair enough then, because he's right, and it addresses a concern Mike Curtis has regarding piracy in his rant. So here's the situation kids:

There are always going to be pirates. Period. End of story.

The trick is to turn the pirates into corsairs.

Here's one way.

And there are several others to be sure. The point is to turn the pirates to your side, and make sure that while they are getting the word out on your film, you are utilizing that P2P distribution / promotion machine to sell not only your movie on DVD, but the behind-the-scenes book, your ability to come to groups to speak about your movie for a small fee, the DVD which is loaded with extras and yes, the t-shirt.

The following is going to surprise some of you but here it is:

The movie you make is not what makes you money.
It's all the other stuff tied to it that puts you into profit.

That includes advertising, merchandising, IP licensing and subsequent media. Studios today DON'T make money off their theatrical releases - those are just advertising for the DVD and other revenue streams. Why do you think Hollywood is so in love with superhero movies right now? Do they LOVE the material? The development executives do to be sure - they grew up with comics. BUT it's the top tier guys who understand they CAN SELL A LOT OF STUFF tied to that superhero(or horror or scifi or action) movie.

So why not do it for yourself?

P2P allows you the opportunity to sell ads on your movie as it streams or downloads. Hulu has a great thing going with their ad streams because they have been classed as "unobtrusive" by the industry and consumers. So why not take that as your mantra and apply it to your media?

Why not shop for ad partners to finance your film? It's the same model that local indie television producers have been using for years. I've done Holiday parade shows, car racing shows, local football shows AND THEN gone out and contracted the advertisers so we could make a profit after we bought the airtime from the local station.

So why not do that on the internet? The more viewers/down loaders the more the advertisers pay. Turn piracy around to work for you.

But Bill, you are condoning piracy!

No, I am turning a negative around to work for me instead of against me. I am making those pirates my marketing staff and I'm taking the tools, nay the weapons that technology has given me. It's not a new way of thinking guys. It's a way of turning the tide of the war.

But back to Jon's comment: Yes, placing your content across a variety of media IS advertising, and making it easily, conveniently available to your audience is one of the best ways to "combat" piracy. After all, why steal it when you can get the cooler version from your "local" website?

Piracy exists when people can't get goods and services through normal channels. Expand your channels and allow people to pay for your media. Use the pirates for what they are good for - distribution of content to promote your work. Use the free weapons to help you sell other goods and services you can make the real money on.

Ask yourself, "WWJWD (What would Joss Whedon Do)?

Corsairs Ho!