lol...
Well now that I've missed these movies, and there is no video market for them, how do I see them?
Well now that I've missed these movies, and there is no video market for them, how do I see them?
One thing I hate about film festivals.
- Thread starter harmonica44
- Start date
That totally depends on the distribution deal. The feature I wrote, for example, was simply purchased outright by the direct-to-video distributor for amount that basically covered the budget. "Units sold" has no impact on the filmmaker's profit. The print run was a finite amount, and they stopped printing it after that. But even if they printed more, the filmmaker would not get more money.
Go ahead and steal it, I say! I'm not getting a penny, either way.
In your case, I stand corrected because you don't care. However, you don't speak for everyone and illegal downloading is illegal for a reason. You've chosen to justify it because it doesn't affect you personally. Wow, talk about ethics or lack thereof.
No hard feelings; I'm just stating my opinion as you did.
I was only justifying downloading one film, not all films. Nowhere have I ever said that here, so it's a stretch for you to claim that I have.
I will say that the economics of the situation are not as black and white as many here make it out to be. Film studios are famous for creative accounting practices that deny rightful profits to those who worked on films by claiming false losses. It's well-documented theft on their part. So when you illegally download movies, you are rarely impacting the filmmakers, unless they are lucky enough to own their film, or a percentage thereof, and have a decent deal with the distributor -- a rare situation indeed. So basically you're stealing from corporations that steal from creators for a living. The music industry is notorious for the same thing (see Courtney Love's open letter to the music industry for details). Also, if a studio owns a movie, they can monetize it forever, and the people who worked on the film rarely get paid more than once.
I do not shed a tear for Sony, or Paramount, or Disney, or Fox if somebody takes their product. They are merely professional exploiters of talent. These media companies have made great strides in perverting and extending copyright law to their own benefit and to the detriment of the public, and have fought against Fair Use practices tooth and nail. Disney, for one example, is a notorious idea thief, going all the way back to stealing patented rotoscoping technology from the Fleischer Brothers, up to ripping off Tezuza's "Jungle King Leo" (aka "Kimba") for the plot and characters of "The Lion King." Funny how easily the word "theft" gets applied to downloaders, but if Disney does it, it's just business.
In short, there's no balance in this equation, and media companies are held to differing standards than consumers of their products.
Most directors and leads (above the line crew) keep a percentage of their work. Below the line people, gaffers, grips, etc don't, but that's ok. They usually clock in for production, are paid really well, and clock out. At least in the hollywood system your shredding, many independents don't pay those people anything, or at least a very very discounted rate.
I disagree with this too. Without the studios, nobody would be seeing their movies. Studios put in tens to hundreds of millions not in just the production costs, but advertising and getting the films out in front of an audience. If someone is investing $30+ million in my project AND paying me a hefty director's or producer's fee while doing it, I'm pretty ok with them keeping a lion's share of the returns.
Yes, there's dishonesty everywhere and greed abounds on both side of the line. Just because someone's somewhat of a thief in your eyes doesn't make it ok to steal from them. Is it ok to steal from Wal-Mart when they pay their employees next to minimum wage with almost no benefits and 90% of their products are most likely from a sweatshop in China?
If you disagree with the way a product is made, sold, distributed, paid for, etc... Don't buy it. That's completely fair and if enough people stop buying it then the system will eventually change, because all of those "greedy, money hungry cheating corporations" will start to starve and figure out a new way to make and sell movies. Piracy sends another message. When there's millions of downloads of a movie, it shows that people still want to see it so the studios then focus their efforts on DRM and all those other things that are a pain to consumers, because as noble as a few people are even if the system did change over night and you could buy movie tickets for $5 and Blu-rays for $10 and all that money went to the "creators" most pirates would STILL continue to download the crap for free.
There is no, God-given inalienable birthright to free media, if someone overcharges you and underpays their employees it's still not ok to steal.
I disagree with this too. Without the studios, nobody would be seeing their movies. Studios put in tens to hundreds of millions not in just the production costs, but advertising and getting the films out in front of an audience. If someone is investing $30+ million in my project AND paying me a hefty director's or producer's fee while doing it, I'm pretty ok with them keeping a lion's share of the returns.
Yes, there's dishonesty everywhere and greed abounds on both side of the line. Just because someone's somewhat of a thief in your eyes doesn't make it ok to steal from them. Is it ok to steal from Wal-Mart when they pay their employees next to minimum wage with almost no benefits and 90% of their products are most likely from a sweatshop in China?
If you disagree with the way a product is made, sold, distributed, paid for, etc... Don't buy it. That's completely fair and if enough people stop buying it then the system will eventually change, because all of those "greedy, money hungry cheating corporations" will start to starve and figure out a new way to make and sell movies. Piracy sends another message. When there's millions of downloads of a movie, it shows that people still want to see it so the studios then focus their efforts on DRM and all those other things that are a pain to consumers, because as noble as a few people are even if the system did change over night and you could buy movie tickets for $5 and Blu-rays for $10 and all that money went to the "creators" most pirates would STILL continue to download the crap for free.
There is no, God-given inalienable birthright to free media, if someone overcharges you and underpays their employees it's still not ok to steal.
Just about everyone who makes a film these days (if we're talking small indie projects) has a website/facebook/twitter/something. Find the creators of the films you are interested in (google is your friend and rarely bites), follow them and be patient. If they get a distribution deal, they'll mention it. If they self-release dvds, they'll mention it. If they're cool with you torrenting their film, they'll mention it.
Did I mention be patient? Sometimes it takes ages. I caught "Travellers and Magicians" here in Pittsburgh, LOVED it and waited 5 years before it came out on DVD.