Illegal Streaming Is Shaping The Future Of Film Distribution

Amazon.com are offering a new feature which allows you to to listen to any CD you've ever bought from them, via streaming.

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"Variations on this have existed before, but they have often met resistance, if not litigation."

This is how modern distribution works. A few kids figure a way to bring music to the masses and the distributors panic and rush to court.

But years later, they follow the paradigm set by the youngsters. The youngsters who were catering to a future that the distributors were too reluctant and narrow-minded to see.

They thought Napster would literally kill music, but the evolution of distribution needed to happen. Any of you volunteering to give up your mp3s and iPods?

The same thing is happening with film right now. The distributors are trying to keep us in the dark ages. For example, the USA get cinema releases before the rest of the world, then gradually they come to places like the UK. Previously, there were various reasons for this, mostly to do with profit margins; but the key reason: the film prints! When you distributed movies the old way, the costs were huge!

Yesterday the Academy Award nominations came out. In the UK, we still haven't seen 'Zero Dark Thirty' or 'Lincoln', but there are perfect viewable copies online, available illegally.

It's about supply and demand. WE LOVE MOVIES AND WANT TO SEE THEM! People don't sit down and watch a film illegally because of criminal intent, it's because they want the joy of film for two hours. On Facebook, all my American friends and colleagues have seen 'Lincoln', they have strong opinions about it. I'm desperate to see it! Why are you making me wait? For every ticket buyer they win by holding a film back, they lose two more who will view it online. 

I wrote something like this before and a bunch of the comments criticised my viewpoint, saying I'm selfish and want my own way, basically that I'm just a greedy consumer. But that's not the point ----- the point is that distribution is still modelled on a structure that doesn't even exist anymore. Home Video is dying (in 2012 in the USA the rental market took $400million less than 2011). And disc sales are falling by 6% a year (that percentage will steeply rise in coming years). Videos spread online like wildfire in a way that the old formats never did and never will. 

Piracy via streaming is rife. Studios are trying to crack down and get sites closed. It's the same nonsense they tried with Napster, Limewire, Kazaa, iMesh, etc. These changes to distribution are happening for a reason.

You want us to spend two hours wages on a cinema ticket, and three hours worth on the popcorn. Then you want us to rent the DVD, then buy the DVD, then buy the Special Edition, then the Blu-Ray limited edition, then the bonus version and after that the anniversary disc.

But times are changing. The music industry thought YouTube would end music, but then they figured out how to monetize it. And Spotify seems revolutionary, yet Napster did it fifteen years ago!

We are actively partaking in the most exciting shift in distribution since the birth of cinema. Without question, we must pay for the art we consume; but the Studios and distributors need to get on board with the changes. The digital revolution puts power back in the hands of the people. You can no longer sell us formats that will quickly become obsolete. 

Yes, I love the cinema experience. Nearly everyone reading this does too. But the statistics and the rate of privacy prove that people want to stream from the comfort of their own home just as much, if not more. It's ridiculous to try and deny this simple fact. 

DISTRIBUTORS & FILM STUDIOS: Stop suing the innovators. In the future, all of our films will be streamed -- and, ironically, you'll be stealing all your ideas from the very people you took to court. 

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Tea For Sarah

Sarah lives on the other side of the world, so went don't get to spend much time together.

She asked me to make up a story about us going for tea. I wrote this today on the tube between Stratford and Waterloo.

He smashed the device against the wall. "Fuck the iPad!" he declared. "Fuck the iPad" he screamed again, into air, because he was not currently able to tweet it.

He bolted from the room and turned up at Sarah's door a moment later.

She opened the door. "We're going to walk the fields," he told her. "I have work to do," she lied. "I only have an hour."

He was all pumped up on something, whatever it was, maybe dislodged neurons firing all crazy by mistake. "We're going for four days," he said. "I'm bringing my laptop", she replied. "Fuck the laptop!", he screamed, as he pelted it deep into her living room wall.

They left for an adventure, wondering how they would explain it or market it or rationalize it to friends later. It would be two days before they realised all that stuff didn't matter. This was between them and Mother Earth as they darted across endless fields, debating the world and its rules until they realised eventually that it has no rules.

They stumbled across farmers, walkers and dreamers. They had lunch with George and Anne who were exactly like them but thirty years their senior. Lunch was finished and off they screamed into the falling night.

They tiptoed across a silent mountain somewhere out there in the grand outdoors of the world when he turned sweetly to Sarah and said, "I want a tea". Her imagination sparkled at the thought and their minds became one, with all their neurons pointed directly towards the vague sense of a town ahead where maybe there was a tea waiting.

They stumbled down the darkened edges of the world, desperately in search of the magical tea. It was 3am and nobody would usually be drinking tea but life in these random days was proving anything was possible.

They landed in a sleeping town of pre-war housing and unexplainable floating auras and felt the tea was in reach.

They looked for clues of lights and laughter but nothing was to be found. The waves of tiredness crashed into them just as daylight rose and the cafe at the end of the world opened.

Marian welcomed them with open arms like they were the first visitors ever and maybe they were. When they asked for tea in quiet desperation, Marian, the Queen of Nowhere, nodded knowingly and quietly slipped away into the basement where the magical tea surely waited.

He looked at Sarah, wondering what all this meant. She looked at him, wondering where the tea was. His eyes danced across the window view, relaxed and dreaming of moving in to the tiny brown house that sat stubbornly outside like the soul survivor of a day all gone.

"Two teas", said Marian, as if it was the simplest sentence in the world.

They looked at her and smiled. And still there was one more day of endless adventure before they'd climb back into life, which eventually they did, but it was always different after that.

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Is GERALDINE CHAPLIN Talking About CHARLIE In 'The Impossible'?

I found Geraldine Chaplin's cameo in 'The Impossible' incredibly profound., and probably not for the reasons the filmmakers intended. 

Firstly, wow. She looked just like him. 

He left our world nearly 40 years ago, and he left our screens even further back than that. 

But here was Geraldine Chaplin in a disaster movie. And she's always, of course, had a similarity to her father. But in this scene, in her close up, it sent a chill down my spine. And then there was the dialogue. It's like he was with us, and she was talking about him. 

GERALDINE: Some of those stars, have been burnt out for a long long time. Did you know that? 

BOY: They're dead aren't they?

They're dead, but once they were so bright that their light is still travelling through space, we can still see them. 

How can you tell which ones are dead and which ones are not? 

Oh you can't, it's impossible. It's a beautiful mystery isn't it. 

And when she delivers that line, 'it's a beautiful mystery isn't it', she shakes her head and gets a little glimmer of light and wonder in her eyes which is so CHARLIE CHAPLIN. Wow. I sat there, in the midst of a movie which I didn't love - yet this moment, wow, it knocked my socks off. Charlie Chaplin, my biggest hero in the world; came alive once again, just for a moment, somehow, like some magical piece of alchemy --- Geraldine's face, the stars, the setting, the moment. 

Charlie came back for the tiniest moment, and it was wonderful.

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Recent Movie Playbook: Thoughts on Stuff I've Seen

Just saw 'Pitch Perfect' and loved it. For two hours I was able to believe acappella singing is the centre of the universe.

A good film does that, draws you into its world. You shut down the majority of your brain and body and let the cinema magicians take you on a magic ride.

I didn't get that ride with 'The Impossible'. I somehow didn't read the opening credit which mentioned that it was a 'true story'. So I spent the whole film in a liberal-idiot-rage, wondering why we were telling somebody else's story with white English people? 

And then at the end, I realised it was a true story.

That being said, it was still way too white and western. English people, Americans and a couple of Germans. The only moment when the locals got involved was to drag Naomi Watts across the broken town in a helpful yet scary way, with the camera lingering on Naomi to show her fear as this strange person from a land unknown dragged her around.

Helen Hunt has always been one of my favourite actresses, so it's delightful to see her in 'The Sessions' where she plays a sexual surrogate who comes across an unusual case; a man with polio who spends his time in an iron lung to keep him alive.

The film does things at its own pace, slowly gliding you into the story, keeping you glued with strong performances and the slow burning entanglements of the characters. And it's quietly funny, too.

'Silver Linings Playbook': I loved the performances. When was the last time you saw De Niro this good? Sure, a large part of it is the material -- but let's credit the man himself. His performance was full of vulnerability, it was almost scary to see our beloved De Niro like this. That's why it's easier to sell out and keep making 'Meet The Parents', because when you do roles with real depth, you put your legacy on the line, because there's every chance you'll be terrible and people will see the fraud that you are.

But De Niro is no fraud, he's the best there is. And Jennifer Lawrence is utterly compelling. Bradley Cooper is the perfect modern leading man. He's at his peak, and his next few films are crucial. 

I had big hopes for 'Hitchcock', but it's average at best. The icons of cinema are so intriguing to us all; that's why they make films like 'Chaplin' and 'My Week With Marilyn'. When these films are good, they get us a little bit closer to our cinematic heroes, whereas 'Hitchcock' plods along without having much of a point of view. Dare I say it's all a wee bit bland. 

I loved 'Argo'. Riveting! Who'd have ever predicted that Ben Affleck would turn out to be such a great director. 'Gone Baby Gone', 'The Town' and now 'Argo'; all fantastic!

Still haven't seen 'Beasts of the Southern Wild', and I was meant to see 'Life Of Pi' a few days back but the girl I was going with cancelled. Chances are she'll probably recover from the flu and then drag me to see it, so I'll let you know what I think. 

Final Thoughts:

•  Glad to see Helen Hunt with lots of upcoming projects. Seems she went quiet for a few years, I'm excited to see where her career takes her. 
•  Although I wasn't overly taken with 'Hitchcock', there is one masterful scene when the cinema audience are watching the first screening of 'Psycho', and he's waiting just outside the auditorium. I won't say no more, because I want you to see it, because it's a magical moment. I have no idea if it really happened, I sure hope it did!
•  Naomi Watts is a fantastic actress. 

• Is 'Silver Linings Playbook' really Best Picture worthy? For me, the performances are an A*, but the film overall is not quite up to that level. 
•  I'm taken with 'Pitch Perfect'. It was a blast! Just pure fun and silliness. My experience with it in the cinema was great! I was three rows from the front -- there were maybe twenty people in the cinema. Anyway, the things that I found hilarious were the exact things that three or four guys towards the back on the right hand side also found hilarious. Don't you love that, when only part of the audience loves the same stuff you do? It would be boring if we all laughed at the exact same moments. 

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How Many Special People Change?

We were all Oasis fans back then. It's not because they were great -- at least not on a technical level. It's because 'Wonderwall' was on the radio, and Liam had attitude, and we needed a soundtrack to our endless summers.

Right now, it feels like 'Gangnam Style' is viral just because it's viral, like it happened in a vacuum. But one day we'll look back and we'll see how beautifully it fit in with the moment, the culture, the experiences we were collectively going through at the time -- we just can't see it yet.

And to be young and English in the 90's, Oasis were your band. And sure, maybe you were one of those who preferred Blur, or was adamant that Liam couldn't sing. But if you were like that, you missed the point, we didn't care that Liam couldn't sing. It was about more than that.

Go visit an English pub and throw 'Don't Look Back In Anger' on the jukebox, we'll sing along to every word. And we'll have a little tear in our eye; we'll feel alive again, because that song is who we were.

'Champagne Supernova' was gibberish. What were they singing about? Nobody knows, but we all related to it.

When you're a kid, you don't realise you're a kid. You don't realise the feelings will pass. You don't realise that the daily dramas are not the be all. You think that Jenny not returning your phone call is the end of the world, you think falling out with Bradley because he wouldn't lend you a fiver is the biggest disaster in history.

And then you grow up.

But years later, you hear the records again. And the fall-out with Bradley still cuts deep. And Jenny was the most beautiful girl who ever existed and would it have been so hard for her to give you the time of day?

When you're young and stupid, you think every moment matters, until someone straightens you out and tells you to focus on doing something with your life. 

So you do something with your life. 

But you feel a little dead inside, because so much is gone. One day you're at a restaurant or a pub or you're walking past and old record store, and you hear it---- you hear who you were, where you've come from. You hear the voices of the people you haven't heard from in fifteen years. It hits you that those days were everything. We were kids and we loved Oasis, not for any reason other than because we just did.

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