Web Distribution for Makers of Film and Video

Digital Distribution Opportunities for Makers of Film and Video - Scott Kirsner - B ased on the book The Future of Web Video , and delivered at the Apple Store, San Francisco, June 12, 2007 “… Scott Kirsner ’s The Future of Web Video is a must-read. It ’s a concise and comprehensive analysis of the viewer trends, distribution opportunities, and revenue schemes out there now and soon on the horizon that working filmmakers can ’t do without." – Scott Macaulay, Editor, Filmmaker magazine and producer, Forensic Films

The First Apple Store? Holland Bros. Kinetosocope Parlor, 1894

The Original Video iPod (Edison’s Kinetoscope)

The Web Video Era

Web Video Presents Two Kinds of Opportunities for Creatives

Exposure and potential “discovery” by mainstream media

Financial success on your own terms

Economic Models

Paid download (Brightcove, GreenCine, Jaman, eventually iTunes?)

Ad-supported (Revver, Metacafe, YouTube … for some content creators)

DVD purchase (CustomFlix, IndieFlix, IndiePix, FilmBaby)

Who’s Watching Web Video

107.7 million people watched video on the Internet at least once per month, on average, in 2006

Apple’s iTunes store has sold over 50 million TV episodes ($1.99 each) and 2 million feature films ($9.99 to $14.99 each), as of April 2007

On YouTube, the most popular video, “Evolution of Dance,” has been seen 50 million times, and the average viewer spends 26 minutes per month on the site, according to Nielsen/NetRatings

What are They Watching? “ Evolution of Dance” - 50 million views, $0 on YouTube

What are They Watching? “ Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments” 7.5 million views, $35,000 on Revver

What are They Watching? “ Matrix - For Real” by Joe Eigo 5.25 million views, $26,000 on Metacafe

What are They Watching? “ 405” on iFilm 5.3 million views, $??

What are They Watching? “ Ask a Ninja” $20,000 on Revver in 2006

What are They Watching? “ The Landlord” 34 million views, $??

What are They Watching? “ Back Massage Techniques” 1.4 million views, $7174 on Metacafe

What are They Watching? “ the smiley intervention” 1.3 million views, $0 on YouTube

Commonalities

Videos making money on the Net so far are:

Short (10 mins or less)

Entertaining, funny or instructive

Not reliant on dialogue

Consumption Habits News: 72 percent Television or movie clips: 59 percent Music videos: 48 percent Sports highlights: 44 percent Amateur videos: 43 percent Concert highlights: 23 percent Full-length movies or TV shows: 22 percent Live sporting events: 17 percent Video podcasts: 17 percent Live concerts: 9 percent A September 2006 AP/AOL survey of 1,347 online video users reported on the types of videos they were consuming

Where Consumption Happens Source: Nielsen/NetRatings

Filmmaker Experiences $7 million budget….Digital download on AOL in October 2006: $2.49 for 5-day rental, $7.99 to own…AOL committed millions to promotion…Later released by Sony Home Entertainment on DVD

Filmmaker Experiences Budget under $1 million…Director turned down $125K distrib offer…Debuted on Google video in Jan. 2006, with 70/30 revenue split at $3.99 per download…300 downloads, not 3000…About $1000 in revenue, but 22,000 DVDs shipped (MTI Home Video)

Filmmaker Experiences Budget under $10 million…Distributed on Net two weeks after theatrical release, in December 2006 … $9.99 for rental, $19.99 for download to own…Released on DVD in February by First Look.

Filmmaker Experiences Four Eyed Monsters on YouTube / Spout promotion Spout paying $1 bounty (up to $100,000) for every new user $16,399 earned as of Tuesday afternoon (6/12/07)

Exposure and Reputation-Building

In The Audience

Creatives and entrepreneurs in the audience who spoke about their work included:

Mark Day, YouTube content partner

Ondine Kilker, Kisser Productions

Jim Kerns, “Destination Bangalore”

Brett Levine, Dovetail.tv / “How to Behave”

Charles Choi, Caachi.com

Enric Teller, Cirne

Challenges

iTunes not open to indie content

Aside from iTunes, no obvious second-tier player for paid rentals or downloads

No widely-used connection yet between Internet and TV (Apple TV, TiVo, MSFT Media Center all candidates)

Very few sites support HD content (Vuze, Dovetail)

“ Snacking” behavior; preference for short videos

Marketing in a noisy environment with near-infinite choice

"A must-read for every filmmaker. A comprehensive look at an elusive emerging market that has the potential to change the way films are made and distributed.” – Lance Weiler, producer/ director, Head Trauma and The Last Broadcast http://stores.lulu.com/kirsner http://www.scottkirsner.com/ webvid/gettingpaid.htm http://cinematech.blogspot.com/ My e-mail: kirsner@pobox.com