Category Archives: Coming Soon

Everyone wants to stream!

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Suddenly, almost all TV broadcasters want to get into the streaming game.

HBO is launching a standalone offering in January 2015 so you won’t need to subscribe to the cable channel to stream. Said Richard Plepler, Time Warner CEO:

“That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped. It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO.”

 ‘CBS All Access’ is $5.99 per month for 6,500 episodes and next day episodes of current shows.

In Canada,  Rogers and Shaw are teaming up to launch Shomi, at $8.99 per month this month.

My take: good luck, guys! As standalone content sources, each of these is priced at least double what the market will pay. Once you bundle them all up, you might as well just stay with cable. Which is their hope. What would they do if everyone actually cut their cable and just streamed? They’d freak! I see this as me-too attempts to look cool and offer streaming services. But individually, they can’t take on an SVOD aggregator like Netflix. Only Hulu (or possibly Amazon Prime) has a chance. And maybe Shomi in Canada — if they can show Canadians that they offer more movies and TV than Netflix Canada.

Feature costs no longer matter

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The Wrap has a fascinating guest blog from Joshua Caldwell about his first feature, ‘Layover.’

The angle is that they made it for $6,000.

Having worked on bigger budget films, Joshua relates how he decided he could make his film for much less.

“…my thinking flipped from ‘I need a lot of money’ to ‘How little can I get away with?’ I had everything I needed to make a film: actors, cameras, locations, editing systems, and so on. I thought back to an idea I had about a young woman stuck in Los Angeles on a layover and thought it might be a concept easily executed for very little money.”

He goes on to reveal his approach:

A. Modular Storytelling. Craft a story that can be scaled up or down depending on your budget.

B. An Appropriate Camera. Sometimes a DSLR makes more sense than a RED.

C. Great Sound. Record clear sound. Get good music. Mix them well.

Joshua concludes:

I believe that we have to think more like YouTubers. We have to:

1) Cultivate an audience by creating and delivering consistent content. Doesn’t have to be every day but say bye-bye to spending four years focused on making and selling only one movie. Your audience won’t remember you.

2) Make that content at a responsible budget level so that a ROI is possible through direct-to-customer distribution on a network you’ve built by building and rewarding your audience.

The current state of indie film is in flux and there are new and every growing opportunities available if you’re willing to move beyond the traditional approach and think differently.”

My take: At this point, the financial cost of movies should not be news. Everyone should know you can make a film for next-to-nothing or for millions. (Count the number of people in the credits to get a good idea of the size of the budget.) Beyond cost, insiders can readily calculate the value of the film. This attaches dollar amounts to all the donated services and equipment, multiplied by the evident quality of the film (what it looks like and, more importantly, what it sounds like.) Nevertheless a film is only worth what it can be sold for. This is the territory this blog covers; who is your audience today? Once upon a time it was a distributor in each of many well-defined windows. Today, who knows? We’re still coming up with a new model, even as the old model clings on. ‘Layover’ is going the direct-to-viewer route, using Vimeo On Demand and Gumroad. Lots of other models exist. What’s working for you?

Superheroes to hog big screen

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As summer draws to a close, major studios have announced upcoming release dates for their future superhero blockbusters.

For many, many summers to come.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that in 2016:

“In order to avoid a direct confrontation with Captain America 3, Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is moving up from May 6, 2016, to March 25, the beginning of Easter weekend.”

And:

“New dates announced by Warners are Aug. 8, 2016; June 23, 2017; Nov. 17, 2017; March 23, 2018; July 27, 2018; April 5, 2019; June 14, 2019; April 3, 2020; and June 19, 2020. The batch of films is likely to include multiple Justice League titles and a Wonder Woman spinoff.”

The Independent says:

“The first few films in that plan are a mix of sequels such as Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and new titles including Ant-Man (also 2015). Those mapped out beyond 2017 are yet to be identified – but that hasn’t stopped Marvel and its rivals jockeying for future release dates.”

Even Wikipedia lists upcoming films.

My take: as exciting as these films might be, I’m disheartened that they’re laying claim to so much financing and so many theatre weeks. Do people really want to watch so much escapist fare?

Disney posits computer-aided editing

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Disney researchers are working on an editing algorithm that edits footage from multiple cameras into coherent narratives.

It maps the common attention point in space for all the cameras as a proxy for the common subject. It then applies editing rules such as the 180 degree rule, jump cut avoidance and cutting on action — things your editor does now.

Their video is convincing.

See their take on interactive synchronization as well.

My take: this would be fascinating to see applied to news or documentary footage. It might also be applied to down-and-dirty multi-camera narrative work. The editor of the future’s job might evolve into finessing these cuts, choosing appropriate cutaways and organizing the order of scenes.

Hyperlapse solves shaky time-lapse footage

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Fascinating news from Microsoft Research: we can fix your shaky GoPro time-lapse footage.

The technique is called Hyperlapse and they say an application is coming soon, perhaps in a few months.

Better yet, they show you how it’s done.

My take: thanks for sharing, Microsoft. I love that you’ve released the technical know-how as well. I predict a Google Street View-style multiple camera rig capturing overlapping footage to generate a rich ‘picture-scape’ combined with this software to create immersive, real-time, viewer-defined camera movement. Movies, meet video games.

Super 8 is about to make a comeback

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The consumer film format called Super 8 was dominant in the sixties, seventies and eighties until the upstart technology called ‘video’ challenged it in the nineties and vanquished it from the marketplace in the new millenium. HD video now rules. With the right lens use and lighting, we can shoot economical, cinematic images.

Nevertheless, are you nostalgic for the real film look? It’s too expensive to actually shoot on film, right? 35mm, even 16mm, is out of reach. But what about Super 8? Is it possible to shoot on Super 8 and transfer to video for post?

My memory of the look of Super 8 is slightly soft, jittery Kodak Kodachrome, with it’s very warm tone and super-saturated reds. I shot my first films on Super 8, physically splicing the shots together and projecting the original reversal stock which would jump slightly as the cuts chattered through the projector gate.

One of Super 8’s strengths was also one of its weaknesses. The cartridges were extremely user-friendly but their design meant that the film was held steady during exposure by a simple pressure plate. Jitter, therefore, was built into all Super 8 cameras.

Now, a Danish company called Logmar plans to re-engineer the Super 8 camera. Their idea is to pull the film out of the cartridge and pin register it during exposure. The footage is rock-steady.

What about Super 8 film and developing? North American rights, film and processing will be handled by Pro8mm of Burbank, California.

My take: at 5 grand, this will be an expensive camera. I love the modern technology Logmar is brining to a mid-century medium, like the digital monitor and SD sound recording. Neat that they can scale this up to 16mm and 35mm as well. And I love the discipline of film versus video. But film! I thought it was dead! That sample footage does look more like 16mm than the Super 8 I remember. Perhaps if they address the dust on the negative and the dirt in the gate by the frame lines….

Rooster Teeth sets new high on Indiegogo

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Rooster Teeth just concluded the campaign for their first feature-length live action movie, Lazer Team, on Indiegogo, raising almost four times their initial goal.

At less than $20K short of $2,500,000, they’ve set a new record for crowd-funding on Indiegogo.

Over 37,000 contributors pledged an average of $66.15. The most popular perk was the $35 Blu Ray/DVD, claimed by 8,115 contributors. Twenty-seven funders earned various producer credits, donating $172,000.

Ever confident, Rooster Teeth is estimating delivery in March 2015.

Of note, only two film projects on Kickstarter have crowd-funded more: the Veronica Mars Movie Project and Zach Braff’s ‘Wish I Was Here.’

My take: way to go, Rooster Teeth! I remember the first episode of Red vs Blue as very engaging machinima.

UPDATE: Lazer Team still breaking records!

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With less than a week to go, Rooster Teeth’s Lazer Team Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign continues to smash records.

They are closing in on $2,000,000 and 300% of their original goal.

This represents over 28,000 backers and an average contribution of approximately $68.

Of note, RT has raised over $142K from 23 people who have earned various producer credits in return.

My take: Rooster Teeth initially decided to make this a Flexible Funding campaign (9% fees,) rather than the riskier Fixed Funding gamble (0%.) No matter, now that they’ve surpassed their goal, the fee for both models is 4%, and Indiegogo stands to make $80K!

Rooster Teeth breaks crowd-funding records!

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Rooster Teeth, the creative team behind Red vs Blue, has just set crowd-funding history.

Here’s the scenario:

“In the late 1970’s, the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence project received a one time signal from outer space. It looked exactly as theorists thought a communication from an alien civilization would — unfortunately it has never been decoded. Or so we were told. Unbeknownst to the general public the signal was translated and told us two things: 1. We are not alone. 2. The galaxy is a dangerous place. Our story is live action sci-fi comedy that takes place decades later in the aftermath of this event.”

Not bowled over? Well, these numbers certainly are impressive:

The ask: $650K. The project: a theatrical feature production.

The results:

  • $1,000,000 in two days.
  • Over 25,000 contributors.
  • $123,000 from 20 backers, rewarded with producer credits.
  • To date, over $1.7 million with more than 10 days to go!

See their campaign on Indiegogo.

My take: a popular franchise appeals to their fans to finance a very different product, with wildly successful results. Of course, it helps to have over 7.5 million subscribers on your Youtube channel.

Women are bankable

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A recent study refutes the common belief in Hollywood that women are not bankable.

By cross-referencing box office numbers with the Bechdel Test, Walt Hickey at FiveThirtyEight has proven that films with two women that talk to each other about something other than men make more money than those that don’t.

“The total median gross return on investment for a film that passed the Bechdel test was $2.68 for each dollar spent. The total median gross return on investment for films that failed was only $2.45 for each dollar spent. And while this might be a side effect of films with lower budgets tending to have higher returns on investment than films with higher budgets, it’s still a strong indicator that films with women in somewhat prominent roles are performing well.”

Although the article is long, it makes very interesting reading.

My take: Why consistently ignore half your audience?