Looks like my proposal to release movies on DVD at the same time as the theatre run may become a reality even tho this is an indie film at least it's a small step in that direction
Chicago Sun-Times article
Chicago Sun-Times article
An indie-film by Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh figures into a grand experiment that just might herald the future of how audiences view first-run movies. As new technology allows consumers to get faster access to music, movies and TV series, one company is upping the ante by opening Soderbergh's small film, "Bubble," in theaters and on high-definition cable this Friday. A few days later, it also will be released on DVD.
"The industry and, more important, consumers, are ready to hear somebody say, 'The way it is now doesn't make sense anymore,'" says Todd Wagner, co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, which is financing and releasing "Bubble." "The [old] model is, I don't want to go so far as to say broken, but [it] certainly doesn't align with the way people want to consume entertainment today."
The simultaneous release is a little-used practice known in Hollywood as "day-and-date." The goal is to put the film on as many screens as possible, including home TVs, to capitalize on viewers who do not or cannot go to theaters. It is estimated that only 10 percent of the U.S. population consistently attends movies.
While this new venture may delight makers and distributors of smaller films, which have a hard time getting a mass release in theaters, it is by no means applauded across the board. Owners of small independent movie houses might admire the innovation but also fear what it means for their business.
Concerns are high at Chicago's Music Box Theatre, which has built a thriving business with an admirable lineup of documentary, independent and foreign films.
"The idea gives us great concern," said Music Box program director Brian Andriotti. "We don't have other sources of revenue to fall back on. We make our living through exhibiting films on a first-run basis. If this system takes hold, it would kill the small independent exhibitor."
Major Hollywood studios also are riled up, and the country's largest chains are snubbing "Bubble," (which opens Friday at Landmark Century) because they object to the three-way release. But the combination of a high-profile director and the backing of billionaires Wagner and Mark Cuban have studios and theater owners also paying close attention to the experiment.
"You have to pay attention," says Tom Sherak, a partner in Revolution Studios, which recently released "Rent," "The Fog" and the upcoming "Freedomland." "I'm not quite sure it's a good thing for the business as we know it, but the business changes every 20 seconds now."
"It's an interesting concept," said Brian Ross, Landmark's senior regional publicist in Chicago. "I don't see it as a threat at all. The plus side is that it will reach people who can't come to the theater. In the end, it will mean new exposure for this smaller product."
For Soderbergh, the triple-release presents a chance to get more offbeat, unusual and non-commercial filmmaking experiments in front of viewers. "Otherwise, it's an idea that wouldn't have seen the light of day," he admits.
The "Bubble" multi-release is the brainstorm of Wagner and Dallas Mavericks owner Cuban, two high-tech businessmen who sold their company Broadcast.com to Yahoo in 1999 for $5.7 billion and then turned their attention to the movie industry. Founders of 2929 Entertainment, they also own Magnolia Pictures, Landmark Theatres and HDNet Movies, the cable channel that will air the movies.
Currently, Hollywood studios make millions of dollars using a long-standing distribution system. Films are first released in theaters, with a debut on home video about four months later. When DVD sales max out, a movie debuts on pay cable networks like HBO or Showtime.
After high-profile, star-studded films like "Ocean's Eleven" and "Traffic," which earned him a best-director Oscar, Soderbergh returns to his low-budget, "sex, lies and videotape" roots with the $1.6 million "Bubble," a murder mystery set in a doll factory. Soderbergh plans to make at least six films for release this way. He's working on "The Good German," with George Clooney, which is slotted for a traditional release. But he hopes to start another "Bubble"-type film next year. "I'm convinced that five years from now, everything is going to go out like this," he says.
Regardless of the inevitability of changes in movie distribution, major theater owners are holding firm, saying that it ultimately will cost them customers.
AMC Theatres, which has 3,500 screens, believes "a film released on DVD the same day and date wouldn't play well in a theatrical environment, just as a made-for-TV movie wouldn't play well, either," says spokeswoman Melanie Bell.
"We don't like it," says Terrell Falk of Cinemark USA Inc., which has 3,357 screens. "If it's out on DVD, we wouldn't show it in any of our first-run theaters."
That attitude puts fear in major Hollywood studios, which need to keep exhibitors happy or they won't get the thousands of screens necessary to remain competitive.
But Walt Disney Co. has shown interest in the idea. And Rainbow Media, a division of Cablevision, plans to release eight to 24 films a year via video-on-demand systems at the same time they debut in theaters. The idea, executives say, is to create a "virtual art house."
"For us, it's not meant to make trouble," said Joshua Sapan, president and CEO of Rainbow Media. "We think [the films] will do better in the theaters if there is more buzz around it, even if it's available on television."
But the Music Box's Andriotti disagrees: "Movies may be in a period of transition, but preserving that theatrical window is important. We do this because we love it, and we try to make a profit for everyone involved. It might be great to get movies to a wider audience, but you also have to think about the flip side of this and its effect on independent exhibitors."
Contributing: USA Today, AP
"The industry and, more important, consumers, are ready to hear somebody say, 'The way it is now doesn't make sense anymore,'" says Todd Wagner, co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, which is financing and releasing "Bubble." "The [old] model is, I don't want to go so far as to say broken, but [it] certainly doesn't align with the way people want to consume entertainment today."
The simultaneous release is a little-used practice known in Hollywood as "day-and-date." The goal is to put the film on as many screens as possible, including home TVs, to capitalize on viewers who do not or cannot go to theaters. It is estimated that only 10 percent of the U.S. population consistently attends movies.
While this new venture may delight makers and distributors of smaller films, which have a hard time getting a mass release in theaters, it is by no means applauded across the board. Owners of small independent movie houses might admire the innovation but also fear what it means for their business.
Concerns are high at Chicago's Music Box Theatre, which has built a thriving business with an admirable lineup of documentary, independent and foreign films.
"The idea gives us great concern," said Music Box program director Brian Andriotti. "We don't have other sources of revenue to fall back on. We make our living through exhibiting films on a first-run basis. If this system takes hold, it would kill the small independent exhibitor."
Major Hollywood studios also are riled up, and the country's largest chains are snubbing "Bubble," (which opens Friday at Landmark Century) because they object to the three-way release. But the combination of a high-profile director and the backing of billionaires Wagner and Mark Cuban have studios and theater owners also paying close attention to the experiment.
"You have to pay attention," says Tom Sherak, a partner in Revolution Studios, which recently released "Rent," "The Fog" and the upcoming "Freedomland." "I'm not quite sure it's a good thing for the business as we know it, but the business changes every 20 seconds now."
"It's an interesting concept," said Brian Ross, Landmark's senior regional publicist in Chicago. "I don't see it as a threat at all. The plus side is that it will reach people who can't come to the theater. In the end, it will mean new exposure for this smaller product."
For Soderbergh, the triple-release presents a chance to get more offbeat, unusual and non-commercial filmmaking experiments in front of viewers. "Otherwise, it's an idea that wouldn't have seen the light of day," he admits.
The "Bubble" multi-release is the brainstorm of Wagner and Dallas Mavericks owner Cuban, two high-tech businessmen who sold their company Broadcast.com to Yahoo in 1999 for $5.7 billion and then turned their attention to the movie industry. Founders of 2929 Entertainment, they also own Magnolia Pictures, Landmark Theatres and HDNet Movies, the cable channel that will air the movies.
Currently, Hollywood studios make millions of dollars using a long-standing distribution system. Films are first released in theaters, with a debut on home video about four months later. When DVD sales max out, a movie debuts on pay cable networks like HBO or Showtime.
After high-profile, star-studded films like "Ocean's Eleven" and "Traffic," which earned him a best-director Oscar, Soderbergh returns to his low-budget, "sex, lies and videotape" roots with the $1.6 million "Bubble," a murder mystery set in a doll factory. Soderbergh plans to make at least six films for release this way. He's working on "The Good German," with George Clooney, which is slotted for a traditional release. But he hopes to start another "Bubble"-type film next year. "I'm convinced that five years from now, everything is going to go out like this," he says.
Regardless of the inevitability of changes in movie distribution, major theater owners are holding firm, saying that it ultimately will cost them customers.
AMC Theatres, which has 3,500 screens, believes "a film released on DVD the same day and date wouldn't play well in a theatrical environment, just as a made-for-TV movie wouldn't play well, either," says spokeswoman Melanie Bell.
"We don't like it," says Terrell Falk of Cinemark USA Inc., which has 3,357 screens. "If it's out on DVD, we wouldn't show it in any of our first-run theaters."
That attitude puts fear in major Hollywood studios, which need to keep exhibitors happy or they won't get the thousands of screens necessary to remain competitive.
But Walt Disney Co. has shown interest in the idea. And Rainbow Media, a division of Cablevision, plans to release eight to 24 films a year via video-on-demand systems at the same time they debut in theaters. The idea, executives say, is to create a "virtual art house."
"For us, it's not meant to make trouble," said Joshua Sapan, president and CEO of Rainbow Media. "We think [the films] will do better in the theaters if there is more buzz around it, even if it's available on television."
But the Music Box's Andriotti disagrees: "Movies may be in a period of transition, but preserving that theatrical window is important. We do this because we love it, and we try to make a profit for everyone involved. It might be great to get movies to a wider audience, but you also have to think about the flip side of this and its effect on independent exhibitors."
Contributing: USA Today, AP
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