John August

Film Industry

Redbox, video and economics

Film Industry, Video

Dawn C. Chmielewski of the LA Times today has [an article about Redbox](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cotown-redbox30-2009mar30,0,3496501.story), the company that operates automated kiosks renting DVDs for a dollar a day. The company was originally part of McDonald’s, but has since been bought out by Coinstar — a great fit, since they already have a business running change kiosks in supermarkets.

Dave Poland thinks the story marks [The Day The Movies Died](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2009/03/the_day_the_mov.html). As usual, he makes some good points. But he also over-reacts:

> I keep hoping that the sky isn’t actually falling… that it will not all be television… that there is an answer in technologies that I think are overhyped (though sometimes excellent), like 3D or IMAX… but this $1 rental kiosk and the industry’s failure to stop it is exactly the kind of thing that makes me despair.

I grew up in Boulder, Colorado. I had $1 video rentals at my grocery store (King Soopers) since the late 1980s. Sure, you can adjust for inflation, ((Adjusted for inflation, $1 is $1.65.)) but one dollar is mostly a psychological price point. Videocassettes and DVDs have been available at that figure for a long time.

I’m not dismissing Redbox. I’ve always admired Coinstar, and these kiosks seem to have the potential to finish off the remaining brick-and-mortar video rental stores like Blockbuster. ((That said, Blockbuster has been the subject of obituaries for at least a decade.)) No kiosk is going to have the depth of Netflix, the expertise of a genre video store, or the immediacy of pay-per-view. But for the casual video consumer who doesn’t want to register for Netflix, it’s slightly more convenient and attractively priced.

My friend Jeff has made his fortune finding money in dying industries. He sold clip art packs for home publishing programs and CD-ROM backups of programs people had already downloaded. He kept his prices low and his costs even lower. Redbox is doing the same thing. It won’t kill DVD. In fact, it may keep it viable a few years longer as we transition to digital various forms of intangible digital delivery.

I don’t think Redbox is going to convert DVD buyers into DVD renters. But then, I don’t really understand why people buy DVDs at all, except for kids’ movies that get played 200 times.

Shiny discs are becoming less important and less profitable. That’s changing the industry, but I don’t see Redbox as a specific harbinger of doom.

Should I write a straight-to-DVD knockoff?

Film Industry, Genres, QandA

questionmarkI have a friend who is high up in a production company that specializes in straight-to-DVD low-budget versions of blockbuster movies. As a joke I pitched him a few ideas. Well, he loved them and asked me to write up the scripts.

On the one hand, this could be a great step in the right direction for my career in writing. It would mean getting some real credits to my name. On the other hand, I am afraid I would be labeled as a hack for writing this type of knock-off movie.

So my question is: Which is better? Getting my foot in the door with a bad movie, or hold on to my integrity and look the gift horse in the mouth? Could a bad movie credit hurt your chances in the future?

— Rob
Wilmington, Delaware

James Cameron directed Piranha Part Two: The Spawning. Everyone starts somewhere.

Yes, sure, it would be great if your first paid writing job was a quality movie at a reputable studio, complete with WGA coverage. But don’t turn up your nose at actual paid writing for a company that makes movies. You probably don’t want to make schlock for a living, but you can learn a lot even while making less-than-awesome movies.

Do it. Make it as good as possible for the genre. Then use it as a foothold to reach higher.

Why do LA people suck?

Film Industry, Los Angeles, Psych 101, QandA

questionmarkI’ve noticed no matter how close you are to someone in LA, they seem to stab you in the back. I feel like I give them my all, and never want to ask them for “help,” and they end up screwing you over.

I know some people in the industry… and the lifelong question of when to ask someone to read your work, or help you out comes to mind. I am very shy about when to ask, and never want them to think I am “using them.” But, it seems like if you don’t go out every night, and drink and party with them, they lose sight of who you are. Some [pull the Kevin Williamson](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/nice-to-meet-you-again-maybe), and you will be introduced to them 100 times, and they still cannot remember your name…

How do you know when to ask for help, or a reference, or both, or even a foot in the door? If you don’t party with them every night is that going to hurt my chances in the long run? And when should you ask?

I don’t want to come off as a user, but it seems like everyone else is. Do I need to sink down to that level to succeed?

I know there is such thing as a missed opportunity….but..?

Thanks in advance,

— “Anonymous.”

What’s not clear from your question — if it really is a question, rather than an extended harrumph — is exactly how people are using you and/or stabbing you in the back. Let’s look at some scenarios.

* Are you reading their scripts, offering helpful notes, while they can’t be bothered to do the same for you?

* Are they repeating your ideas as their own?

* Are they talking behind your back? Stealing your beer? Making love to your girlfriend?

* Are you helping them move, without receiving reciprocal futon-hauling?

All of these are clear offenses. But my hunch is that nothing so egregious is actually occurring. You’re just finding it difficult to make headway personally or professionally. So you wonder: Is this indicative of the Hollywood culture, or specific to you?

It’s both.

Let’s divide it into more distinct questions.

__Does the entertainment industry, and Los Angeles in general, tend to generate a lot of shallow friendships?__

In my experience, yes. You end up knowing a lot of people, but not knowing them very well. The boundaries between “someone you know” and “friend” are indistinct. People flake out on you more, offering only half-hearted rsvps (“I’ll try to make it.”) or after-the-fact explanations-cum-apologies (“Traffic was insane.”) Keep in mind that you work in an industry in which people genuinely don’t know when they’ll be permitted to go home. An assistant working at a busy agent’s desk might be there until midnight.

Can you form real friendships in the industry? Absolutely. One of my best friends is the woman who was hired to replace me when I left my last assistant job. I got to know her through the hundred follow-up phone calls asking where a certain file was, or how to handle Crazy Person #32. But you don’t form real friendships when you approach people with the worry that they may stab you in the back.

Here’s the thing to remember: Friends are for your personal happiness. Colleagues are part of your career. You may go to drinks with both, but don’t confuse them.

__When do you ask a colleague for help, or a reference, or both, or even a foot in the door?__

At whatever moment you think there’s a pretty good chance they would help you. And a lot of that depends on your level of chutzpah. Some of the most successful people in the industry are the most shameless about asking people for things. Brett Ratner wrote to Spielberg, who sent him a check. Does Spielberg feel “used?” Pretty unlikely.

I was never that ballsy, but I did a good job keeping up with my peers, helping them whenever I could. When it came time to move to a larger agency, I asked their opinions and got them to call on my behalf. I’ll call a writer I’ve met once to ask about a project, or an executive, or director with a questionable reputation. That’s how it works.

And don’t assume you have nothing to offer someone who has more experience in the industry. When I have coffee with younger writers, I’m asking them as many questions as they ask me.

__How do you ask for help?__

By doing so directly, while giving the person an out.

* “I’m applying for a reader job at New Regency. You said you know Ethan Someguy. Would you feel comfortable calling him on my behalf?”

* “I wrote a short that I want to shoot next month, and I’d really like your feedback if you’d be willing to look at it.”

You then follow up nicely.

* “Just wanted to check whether you were able to connect with Ethan Someguy.”

* “I wanted to see if you’d had a chance to read my short.”

__Is it just me?__

No, Anon, it’s not. At many points in my career I’ve wanted to throw someone through a wall. But the situation you’re describing seems at least partly attributable to your attitude.

You’re not in the happiest place right now, which could be situational or could be a bigger deal. Disappointment is not depression. But if your overall mood is consistently needling downward, getting the advice of an actual psychology professional would seem to be in order. All the career advice in the world isn’t going to make you happy if larger obstacles stand in the way.

Cams, rips and release dates

Film Industry, Follow Up, Video

Following up on [last week’s post](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/fansubbing) about international release dates and subtitles, I’ve been asking around to find more information about studios’ anti-piracy efforts. I didn’t get into any specific numbers — and I wouldn’t know how seriously to take the numbers anyway.

But based on these conversations, I came across a few broad bullet points worth sharing:

* Studios have gotten more sophisticated about putting tracking marks in individual prints, often localized by country, to help them determine the source of a leak. It’s not just the ugly brown dots anymore.

* For almost every movie, they can trace back bootlegs to one or two “cams” (in-theater camcorder recordings) and just a handful of subsequent DVD rips. They assign letter grades to these bootlegs based on quality. And quality matters: a cam which rates a “C” won’t be nearly as much a factor as a “B.”

* For certain countries, studios will delay theatrical release because of a history of cams originating there. They’ll then release the DVD as soon as possible thereafter.

* The subtitles issue becomes important because a cam or rip in the wrong language isn’t especially appealing.

* In Italy, where custom greatly favors dubbing over subtitles, you don’t see much piracy until the local language DVD rip leaks.

Obviously, this is only talking about feature films. American television is at least as important to many international viewers, and much harder to lock down.

And for independent film, it’s a whole other clustermuck. You’re dealing with local distributors, so trying to coordinate any worldwide effort is going to be extremely difficult.

Last night, I was talking with another friend about 3D. It hadn’t occurred to me that a 3D film is probably more difficult to cam. Possible, certainly — it’s a fun mental exercise — but not as easy to get something usable.