In the fast moving digital age indie film world 2002 was a looong time ago, but as I was researching the topic of straight-to-DVD and its possible new & underdeveloped uses for real indie filmmakers, I came upon this '02 article by David "GreenCine Daily" Hudson aka everyone's favorite film blogger. Though some of the things he mentions are no longer questions or possibilities, the following observation caught my eye:
"Some argue that without theatrical release, a film won't get reviewed and that without that free but vital publicity, it doesn't stand a chance. But very, very few electronic games are ever reviewed by the New York Times. And yet the gaming industry is bigger than the movie industry. Gamers know where to go for their new[*] and reviews. What's more: games don't get theatrical release."
[*david probably meant "news" there]
Read the rest of David's article here.
Yes, it would make sense to look at the electronic gaming industry for new ideas that might be useful for indie filmmakers, specially when we are discussing the delivery of content in a home-use type packaging (whether DVDs now or through internet VOD tomorrow).
Even though theatrically self-distributing a feature, even if just to a handful of cities, is almost too much work & too much of an expense for most individual indie filmmakers, perhaps a DVD distribution campaign can be sustained with greater ease and would have greater geographical range with use of mail-order, retail shops, etc. Will have to look further into this.
I know many people are banking on DVD becoming obsolete in a couple of years. But a couple of years can be a looong time in the indie film industry. Plus, it might be easy to adapt any DVD wisdom to internet VOD or whatever else we come up with for future distribution of films.
- Sujewa
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