Morning finger lickin’ fans! First up, an apology, I didn’t post yesterday because I was re-installing my Macbook. This, I realise is no excuse, but it’s all I got. This is also the reason for the limited imagery at the top of this post, I’ve still got to install CS3. Anyway, in other news, I really want an iPhone and while drooling over YouTube videos and coverflow prettiness in the O2 shop today, I got to thinking about Digital Film Distribution and decided it was about time that I gave you folks a run down of the current lay of the land in this particular area.

So, earlier this week I read that Lionsgate have struck a deal with Apple to make a digital copy of their flicks available at the same time as their DVD releases. This would mean that when their latest film hit the shelves in your local HMV you would also be able to buy the movie on iTunes. If this were to take off, which I suspect it will, it will not only do great things for lazy people who like to “click and download” rather than trudge through the rain to buy a DVD but will also go some way to reducing the film industries current impact on the planet. Less crazy plastic consumption, less packaging, no dirty aviation fuel and/or diesel pumping into the atmosphere from delivery vehicles. It sounds like good stuff but is it feasible to deliver the same range of choice and are consumers actually ready for this new development?

This move by Lionsgate, who already have digital versions of 3:10 to Yuma, Good Luck Chuck and War on iTunes as well as classics Dirty Dancing and Reservoir Dogs, is really good news for the future of digital distribution. These titles, together with their 12,000+ catalogue titles, will presumably be available via iTunes USA in the near future. However, as yet nothing has been said regarding a UK release for such digital products.

The types of devices that these products are available on is also a huge topic of debate. It’s great being able to watch a feature film on your mobile phone or handheld device, but are these really viable viewing mediums? It is one thing checking out a flick on your widescreen iMac or Macbook Pro. It’s a completely different thing watching Die Hard 4.0 on a 4″ screen. People still view the majority of their films on their television in their home. With this in mind Apple have created Apple TV a wireless device that allows you to access the iTunes film and TV show catalogue on your television. Not only can you download films and your favourite shows you can also rent films via this little silver box. However, to date, rental titles have been limited and growth has not matched Apple’s promises. So we’ll have to wait and see how that one pans out.

Finally, this expansion of iTunes and investment by Lionsgate actually bodes very well for the future for Indie film distribution. Should digital film follow the same trajectory as digital music, the major distribution companies should come on board and then based on the success of unsigned music artists on iTunes, Indie filmmakers will no doubt be able to submit their films for iTunes distribution.

If you’re looking for more information about digital film distribution or self distribution check out the links below:

Digital Film Distribution Guru Arin Crumley - http://www.arincrumley.com

Lance Weiler’s Workbook Project - http://www.workbookproject.com

From Here to Awesome - http://fromheretoawesome.com

That’s it from me,

K

[digg=http://digg.com/movies/It_isn_t_easy_being_green_3]Afternoon finger lickers! The following is, without a shadow of a doubt, gross conjecture offered without any solid research or factual foundation, but when did that ever stop me…

I always felt kinda smug about the whole environmental issue. Growing up I always figured that Britain was a far greener nation than the United States. What with the media who-ha over Kyoto and everything. So in my dealings with Americans, my wife being a notable example, I was always suitably pompous in the “it isn’t easy being green” debate. Yes, that’s right, our local town council collects glass, paper, plastic, garden and food waste separately and no, we’re not all driving huge petrol guzzling vehicles that could be used to invade Iraq. But, as I’ve grown older and more socially aware the realisation that I don’t really do anything personally to reduce my environmental impact hit home and I began to think more about green issues in relation to filmmaking. From the miles of celluloid consumed every year to the electricity used in powering countless square feet of studio and post production space, the impact must be colossal.

Recently, after a couple of weeks of reading Hank Green’s ecogeek.org blog, I began to think about the environmental impact of not just Hollywood, who were evil to start with in my book, but also indie filmmakers. Are indie filmmakers intrinsically greener than Hollywood? Is it not just a matter of economic circumstance that forces us to consume less? I believe that we should be continually mindful of environmental issues in our filmmaking rather than resting on our laurels because we’re not as bad as the very bad man on the west coast of north America! Being virtuous only in comparison to the worse offender is nothing to be proud of in my opinion. I instantly thought of the efforts of Robert Redford and the Sundance Institute to encourage us all to be greener. However, I do not believe that having Lexus sponsor the “Lexus Hybrid Living Lounge” at this years festival is the way forward in the fight to reduce global warming… Lexus for god sake! It is however the way forward in advertising really huge unnecessary vehicles.

It seems to me, that if we want to encourage true green credentials for Indies then what is really important here is the epistemological and ideological imperatives behind the two groups. These are of course hugely diverse in the indie world. While Hollywood is contained both physically and demographically Indie filmmakers are undoubtably heterogeneous in nature. This is not just middle-class white america we’re dealing with. This is a gigantic spectrum of artists working all over the globe. However, in comparison to “the industry” the ideology marking the foundations of indie film is still in its relative infancy. So, I believe that while epistemologically Indie filmmakers are naturally disparate it is at the heart of their shared ideology that we need to inject environmental sound underpinnings.

This realisation in turn got me to thinking about the indie dream. Digital self-production and digital self-distribution. We have an extremely viable and successful model for self-production using digital platforms, however, what the environmental impact of this model is, I have no idea. I would hazard an uneducated guess that given the economically frugal nature of our productions means our footprint must be massively smaller than the beached whale that is Hollywood. However, as I said earlier this ‘only in comparison to’ thinking is flawed. What we need to do is inject green values into the progress of the indie take-over. With the likes of From Here to Awesome making the dream of self-distribution an ever growing reality the indies will undoubtably garner far more control over the market. Should this model grow as I know Lance, Arin and M dot Strange are keen for it to do I believe that the market can be truly flattened creating an almost seamless connection between filmmaker and viewer. It is with this “indie take-over” that could come the collapse of Hollywood and the democratization of the art form. With indie filling the Hollywood void it should therefore have progressively green values and it this I want to encourage.

I believe it is more important to encourage the indies, who I am certain will ultimately replace or grow to be a serious threat to Hollywood to undertake green practices than to attempt to retroactively impose these values on an industry that evidently doesn’t care. If we can introduce these imperatives at this relatively early stage we have a fighting chance of educating the world through one the most powerful entertainment mediums on the planet and reducing the impact of an industry that is no doubt a huge contributor to global warming. What are these imperatives and practices I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. Anyone with more knowledge of these issues please get in contact and maybe I can get Hank Green to write a guest Finger Lickin’ blog to highlight some of the most important issues.

I need to go away and get facts and figures to back up my assertions so for now… watch this space….

K