There is little doubt that digital technology - in the form of the Internet, computers and digital cameras - has created huge changes. Both enabling filmmakers to create more and reach more people and yet simultaneously undermining the copyright business model that much of media has been based on for many years.  In the 2004 book 'Plugin & Turn On ' we began to talk about this change;

"In 2002, plugincinema spoke at the UK based 9th Sheffield International Documentary Festivali, alongside representatives from the Discovery Channel and Channel 4. Both representatives from the television industries echoed this position.  The advice given by film-tv.co.uk to those wishing to make their own films using traditional media structures is equally as bleak; "How many [films] folded during production. Find out how many were released. How many were released and disappeared without trace within a week. How many went straight to video. How many have made any money. How many production companies were formed and went to the wall within a year. Be realistic, the chances of success are very slim."

It is reasonable, therefore, to suggest that it is as difficult to make it within traditional media structures, as it is in web filmmaking.  If there is indeed such a thing as parity, in terms of difficulty, then why not consider web filmmaking?  The main difficulty for web films lies in their newness, the lack of a previously trodden path.  This is also their lure!  Those who take to the waters of web filmmaking are the pioneers of not only new technologies, but of new ways of organising an entire new industry....

We have been looking at these very issues in a four part series on our blog, highlights of which are presented here;

Show Me the Money

The end of January 2008 saw the expanding of YouTube's partnership scheme to the UK , which was designed to share ad-revenue with producers.  The scheme only targets a few of the tens of thousands of filmmakers' who use the site to share content, but YouTube claims that some are now earning several thousand dollars a month from videos on the site.  Nice work if you can get it.  And that's the key - how do you get it? you have to be picked by YouTube.  This scheme has not been without its critics ;

"So basically what YouTube are saying is, go away and work hard to create great content AND build an audience to win the grand prize which is an ad-revenue deal with us....Sounds a lot like a record company to me where bands slog it out for years, usually at a loss, hoping to appear on the industry's radar...So why not open the scheme to everybody..."

The key issue does not seem to be so much 'what can technology do?', but 'how can it pay?'...So what are the revenue models that are breaking though?  We looked at this a while ago in the plugincinema book, and much of what we said stills holds true, so for the next couple of blog entries, we are going to look at the ideas and practices being talked about and used at the moment.  Full links & full article...

DRM

DRM aka Digital Rights Management is arguably the digital extension of the existing 'physical commodity' model of media. By this, we mean that media is financed by selling a copy of the media artefact. For example, when you buy a DVD you are buying the limited rights to use a copy of the media artefact in a legally prescribed way; you can watch it at home on your TV but you can't screen it in your local cinema and charge for entry. When media started going digital it became apparent that there was an issue with this model. If I have a VHS video you are interested in, I can loan it to you. If I have a digital file of a film you are interested in, I can give you a copy. With the first there is still only one copy involved. With the second we get two copies. So DRM was developed to stop people using digital files in ways they were not supposed to; so echoing the existing 'physical commodity' model of media. Full links & full article...

Sponsorship & Advertising

Using the audience gathered by a media event and offering space to other companies to either tell the audience about their products (advertising) or associating the media event with the company (sponsorship) are ubiquitous methods of financing media.  Indeed, the very term 'soap opera' comes from the original sponsors of content aimed at selling housewives washing powder.  You might have noticed that recently this was taken up a level when dance outfit, Groove Armada 'signed' to drinks company Bacardi.  Bacardi already promote their products via music events, so this fits well and unlike the music-selling model of media, when the band put out an MP3, the more sharing the better, from the point-of-view of their sponsors.  Some might ask, so what about creative freedom?  It is now unlikely that Groove Armada willbe playing a gig for the Boycott Bacardi campaign any time soon, but then would they have anyway? Full links & full article...

Old Ways, New Ways

Following on from Part 1, 2 and 3; So, if the old method of sponsorship and advertising (see this great example of a viral ad by Spike Jonze) is back, has the new digital revolution created any new ideas? Yes it has - and it will continue to to. We have seen the term 'Prosumer' develop - a producer-consumer, people who make and consume. Sites like Zipidee.com are hoping to take this vibe and run with it, creating an eBay-type environment for buying and selling digital goods online. Cultural institutions, such as the comic 2000AD (home to Judge Dredd) have also been getting in on the act of digital distribution via the hub clickwheel - where users can subscribe to get their comic fix. Of course subscription is nothing new, but the 'push' or 'cast' technologies we now have make this process easier and more seductive. Clickwheel offers lots of comics in one place, but I have to pay for each bit, a piecemeal approach that some have speculated won't work - especially when your 'shadow' competition on ThePirateBay is offering a one-stop-shop for free.. Full links & full article...