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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

REDRAY Comments

Tim Whitcomb said:
The movies still have to be good. agreed and with the glut of films there is a lit of crap... but there also that many more good ones falling thru the cracks. 12000 Sundance submissions... hello? they couldn't watch 1200 films if they tried.

I see 4 or 5 AMAZING movies at Sundance every year that never get distribution... so I think this IS the Holy Grail for Indies... and a godsend to STUDIOS... (because P is still a SUBSTANTIAL cost for the latter)
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Sundance has an amazing screening machine in place that pretty much guarantees every submission gets watched at least once, seems improbable but after working with several people involved with the organization I strongly believe them.
 
My guess, it derives from "Odeon" " Ancient Greece: a building used for musical performances" "Ode", and so on
 
James Kirst said:
Sundance has an amazing screening machine in place that pretty much guarantees every submission gets watched at least once, seems improbable but after working with several people involved with the organization I strongly believe them.
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I assume by "machine" you mean a cadre of people. It's a shame an actual machine can't be programmed to screen an entry from the perspective of multiple individuals because sometimes 10 people can watch the same thing and only one of them will see its true potential.
 
Bill Anderson said:
My guess, it derives from "Odeon" " Ancient Greece: a building used for musical performances" "Ode", and so on
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Still, I'm not sure why the E is singled out to be in a Red Block in order to (seemingly) place it higher than the other letters.
 
Tim Whitcomb said:
wahts the age group of your demographic?
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Well, going by people that have financially supported our film... I'd guess early 20s to mid 50s, but it's really all over the place. I know we have a couple 16 year-old backers and at least one who is 76 years-old (he flew to Latvia for a walk on role). We have indie film lovers, people that like the genre of the film, lots of musicians, lots of people in the industry (including a number of people from this forum and distributors, producers, etc.), lots of actors, lots of aspiring filmmakers. More than half from the US, but in total 33 countries.

As for the results so far:

Cinema: 16
TV: 22
iDevice: 2
Computer: 2

Lots of people using Netflix.

This is 1 hour of responses on Twitter so hardly scientific. Still interesting :)
 
Jarred Land said:
heh heh heh....
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How did you guys keep the lid on ODEMAX? With all the pieces that appear to be in place, it seems there would at least a few leaks here and there. Even area 51 seems to have had some leakage.
 
I'm eager to know if Criterion has looked at this, and what their take on it is. It would be great to get access to their library at 4k, either at the local theater or in a living room.

On the other hand, I feel sad about the great movies that only exist at 1080p, like Star Wars and O Brother.
 
Neil Cronin said:
I'm eager to know if Criterion has looked at this, and what their take on it is. It would be great to get access to their library at 4k, either at the local theater or in a living room.
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I would LOVE to see Criterion films on REDRAY!
 
Elsie N said:
Still, I'm not sure why the E is singled out to be in a Red Block in order to (seemingly) place it higher than the other letters.
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Maybe the red "e" signifies being "ready". ...to steal one from Sony's past playbook. ;)

Anyway, I'm sure we'll get better clarification at some point.
 
Ok.. as I understand this launch now.. Odeon and Redray would make it possible for you to furnish your film to a short run theater who was part of the system.

It also appears that the business model is set up to quickly return gate receipt share to the producers of the content

There are other barriers and nuances to the distribution and exhibition industry in America.

First, the math of exhibition venues is such that they need subsidized marketing to lure people to the venues to attend the screenings. This marketeing is currently provided by the distribution arms of the major studios, and the mini majors.

Second, the venue actually has to sell merchandise (Popcorn, Candy, Drinks, anything else possible) to collect enough income to keep the business open

Third And related to First on the list, is that the economy of scale is very much in play. Own one theater and go broke as advertising (subsidized or not) needs to serve multiple locations in a region to be an affordable component of the expenses of operating venues.

Fourth, From the person double selling a ticket, to the usher letting friends in free, to the concession sales person reselling rinsed out cups and popcorn containers, to the manager raking in a little of the cash, to the exhibitor under-reporting ticket sales, to the distributor exaggerating the marketing service costs, the distribution and exhibition chain is stealing money from the pot as it is passed back to the distribution company's bank account. Under-reporting of ticket sales has declined a lot in the post IT revolution, but it still can happen a bit.

Fifth, and most important.. theater chains and distributors, just like music labels, have an infrequently expressed, but very concrete practice of selecting the easy to victimize film makers and production entities over the better prepared and protected ones.

What your great indie movie that shows in a few houses really does for you, is to showcase your skills and be a resume building piece. Most filmmakers who get their movies seen in venues that are willing to go the RR route, and schedule a screening, will get some return, but the number of venues in America that will play along with you is pitifully small..

In my state.. Georgia, it looks like there would be 3-5 screens that could agree to show your film, and would split gate with you. They would already agree to do so, but RR would mean that your film would look much better than it would now...

And about that Santa guy.....
 
I didn't say it wasn't for me. I said that it *may* not solve the problem of getting onto a large number of screens. It *should* solve the problem of how it looks when it is projected.

As far as the home delivery/VOD aspects go.. I feel it very much is for me.

My hit list is my perspective on what's going on behind the curtain of exhibition and distribution.. where I have more than cursory knowledge.. and have been part of profits being made and losses being incurred over the last 25 years.

As I am completely unsuited for other fields, I continue to make some films and earn a living in the film/video production industry..

Looks like Phil Holland answered several of my other questions in an earlier post.. so I look forward to getting aboard this development!
 
Elsie N said:
you are worried about popcorn and paper cups when the launch is about self-distribution.
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Living the dream also means understanding and accepting the reality. You ignore Christopher's points at your own peril.
 
Jon Farhat said:
Marketing your film has and will not ever change.....
The interruption age of advertising is over. But as filmmakers apply their skills of making movies to the task of also advertising them with 'story-based' rather than 'interruption-based' advertising, you'll find that even advertising is cued up for a major shift. We just need to solve this problem first, so they have something to sell.
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Can someone explain what 'interruption advertising' is?
 
M Most said:
Living the dream also means understanding and accepting the reality. You ignore Christopher's points at your own peril.
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... And if self-distributing means we may some day soon be in a position to sell directly to cinemas it would behoove us to understand their position. You can't make a good deal if you have no idea what it's going to take to get the deal done.
 
M Most said:
Living the dream also means understanding and accepting the reality. You ignore Christopher's points at your own peril.
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I just don't think he is looking at the Big Picture-icture-icture-ture. The way I see it is that ODEMAX has addressed these problems internally and in regards to the way they've planned the launch out so far, I'm going to assume they have addressed the parts that pertain to protecting most of the revenue due to content providers. There will always be some loss due to friends of an usher getting in free...maybe some under reporting but ODEMAX has said they have a system in place to monitor that and address it. But the amount of skim Christopher was addressing doesn't nearly compare with piracy, IMO.

This is the best attempt to give an Indie content producer a more-equal footing with the studios that I've seen come down the pike. That's what I'm concentrating on. There will be time to address the nuances of the system when they become problems in the future.

I've got a smile on my face and nothing I've read so far can wipe it off.
 
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