Digital Distribution for Film in Cornwall

Digital Distribution seminar at the Cornwall Film Festival 2004

National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Saturday 13th November

Lindsey Hall - Creative Partnerships - chair
Alex Stolz – UK Film Council
Tom Brammer – Node Explore
Danny Bamping – H2O TV
Paul Clark - Digima Ltd

Presented with the support of flicKerNOW

H2O TV provides unique water based and water-sport content and also specialises in environmental issues. They launched o­n the web o­n West Ocean Day o­n 28th June 2004 with the website www.h2o.tv. The company uses the latest technology and intend ultimately to launch o­n a Sky platform.

Tom Brammer grew up in Cornwall, he worked in the music industry as a talent scout and is now the managing director of NODE.

NODE developed the worlds’ first media player that knows who, when and where you are. It’s a PDA that uses mobile technology and distributes content using WiFi. Node will open a network up in the future.

Alex Stoltz – UK Film Council
Alex Stoltz lived in Cornwall for some time and was the cinema programmer for city screen.
Alex works for the UK Film Council in the Development and Education division. Their aim is to give audiences more choice, distributing a wider range of films to a wider audience.

Paul Clark – Digima Ltd.
Digima Ltd. Are consultants in digital media.
Their concept is to provide video o­n demand by using existing technologies in a new way.
His vision for 10 – 15 years time is that TV and interactive web content will converge and will be able to reach audiences in DVD quality.

The idea behind “Cornwall Web TV” is to enable content to be delivered, o­n demand, to your TV.

Discussion points

a) With digital screening, what are the implications for filmmaking.
b) Disney are looking at setting up their own digital distribution system in the States. Is this going to be the same product?

Alex UKFC - The system will be set up to provide a wide range of content, cinemas will be contracted to provide this. We are looking to provide the equipment before the major companies get in there.

Node - It will give more independence to filmmakers.
What about marketing budgets? There is huge competition for this. Is the UKFC going to support this by offering assistance with marketing?

Alex - Yes, it is another component of the scheme. The schemes’ aims are:
1) To provide a fund to help with distribution
2) To support the Network Audience Development Fund.

The overall strategy is to help support these films.

Paul - The other market is to provide a niche content delivery system. It will be a while before this is available, but “the walls are coming down, it will get easier.”

Node - There is freedom but it comes at a price.

H2O-TV - Programming is hard, but we would like to take local and independent content, if the quality is right.

Oscha - Reading a market is o­ne thing, but it is difficult to find a path that pays. We want to commission local and independent companies to make programmes that are commercially viable.

H2O - I think we will get there, it is certainly our intention. Initially we want to let people know we are here and that we can provide a platform for new filmmakers and for advertising.

Paul - So there’s no point in building anything now?
Independent firms have problems getting content out there, but look at the music industry, and the popularity of the ipod. People will pay to download content, using micro payment systems. BT has a model.
There will also be a subsidy from advertisers; it will be very valuable to them, as they will know exactly which individuals are watching the content.

Question - Will the content be accessible throughout broadband, like a universal Jukebox?

Paul - In eight to ten years time the bandwidth will be there. We can play films through technologies that exist right now.

Node - There will be many devices that deliver the “experience”.

Question (Jeremy) - To a certain extent the jury is out. Is it good news? Have I got time to decide what I want to watch?
In music, the album or artwork is covetable. Cinema is an experience and there is a worry that the communal experience will disappear.

Node - We must remember that when radio and TV came out people rubbished it. People will continue to buy stuff, but it will offer more. Digital distribution will go far because people want it and it will make money quicker.
With the music system Apple are deciding the market, the audience isn’t choosing. My worry is that we’ll get Toy Story sooner in Falmouth.

UKFC - That won’t be the case. Cinemas have to make a bid, if they get the equipment they have to show a certain amount of independent cinema. They will be contractually obliged to do so.

Lindsey - How do we make digital distribution about more than getting content quicker?

Someone from - The audience wants a wider choice, not just more rubbish.
The audience

UKFC - Digital distribution is a means to an end – to increase the market for non-mainstream films.

Ben Weschke - We should be worrying about the good stuff we do want to see. We are looking for new models to show our content; perhaps then it will migrate to the mainstream.

from the audience - Digital shorts are fantastic, but can Falmouth Arts Centre afford to dedicate a night to these? 

Node - The same problems exist weather we are dealing with digital or analogue.

Paul - The reason Saturday is full of crap is that they are all addressing the same market, but they don’t know or understand that market. The new technology means the squeeze goes away and we get the money to the many.

Oscha - We can’t assassinate all commissioning editors at the same time, so we have to ‘re-educate’ them as to what is out there. The commercial, the Art and the education aspects shouldn’t necessarily be separated. The more content out there the more competition.

Max 10 - People do want to see the video-jukebox model. It could work with a variety of content.
Is it a fantasy that people can walk in and select the content from a touch-screen and be able to change the entire environment?
How will it work with non-commercial, artistic projects?
PDA devices mean people can walk past Falmouth College of Arts and download artwork

Paul - We could use the model of the West Briton. It features o­nly local content and community related articles, yet it has the biggest circulation of any regional paper in the UK. The production values may be terrible but people will buy it if their kid is in it. It’s a mesh of this and blockbuster stuff.

Max 10 - I am suspicious of a commercial platform that brings free art along with it. Filmmakers don’t necessarily do it for commercial reasons, but where can this stuff exist?

UKFC - If you genuinely believe there is an audience then the scheme can work, if we can prove it to the cinemas too.

Jeremy - The technology is cheap, so there is no reason why you shouldn’t set up your own network, alongside the UKFC. It costs approximately £100,000 to set up your own TV station.

H2O - There are other costs o­n top of this.

UKFC - It costs £70,000 per installation

Max 10 - I’m interested in weather it will be easier to send film projects to other parts of the country.

UKFC - What about Network Training Events
There are a lot of guys out there with this technology. It costs about £5,000 for a projector, screen and a P.A.

Denzil - The biggest problem is the communication and lack of infrastructure in joining these things up. For example there are lots of Network Training Events within Cornwall but what is also happening is that nobody is taking the networks out of Cornwall to enable them to network with other networks.

UKFC - It’s a question of information.

Denzil - Has the UKFC got any intention to support this? For example. How can ‘The Rabbit’ be distributed?

Lindsey - Two other point’s -

How can Digital Distribution operate differently?
What does copyright mean in this context? Who gets paid and how?

Oscha - Who has time to watch all these films?

Denzil - When it starts to become commercial who will make the decisions.

Node - As soon as there is an ability to sell in the USA, unfortunately we will get the big boys coming in. The big guys, with enormous infrastructure need content. We need to get in there ahead of these people.

Denzil - There are two different audiences and the argument changes accordingly.
1) Isolated viewing
2) The communal experience.

Though the technology is the same the marketing is different. If we have high quality DVD material in future it will be able to be downloaded anywhere e.g. in the pub, the cinema, or a village hall.

Max 10 - Could you pay say £100 to have films shown in ten venues across the UK at o­nce?

Node - You shouldn’t have to pay for it as the bandwidth will already be there. The technology will be there and people will find a way.

Paul - Content licensing between the individual viewer and communal viewing is different. With communal viewing it becomes public licensing.

H2O - Unfortunately this doesn’t mean the audience wants to watch it. The issue is about marketing.

Denzil - Whatever your material, you are competing against the big boys.
We need digital curators, people who know what’s out there and who become the people who decide what we see. Roughcut and Max 10 are organisations that know their audience personally. That is true democracy.

Jeremy - You are coming up with your own solutions. Technology combined with local knowledge.

Lindsey - How can people make money?

Oscha - Aren’t you doing what Disney does, forcing your product o­n the public?

UKFC - The network is a bit of a misnomer, as films will be booked by cinemas responding to their audiences. It strikes me as something you (Denzil) could set up.
Why not print DVD’s?

Paul - There are barriers to entering that market, how do you get them out there?

Jeremy - In the same way as ‘Undercurrents’, which was hugely successful.

Oscha - If you try to distribute DVDs through commercial routes you won’t get in there because the top 40 take up the space. We are missing a huge opportunity by individually marketing our products. How do we start to tackle that?

Discussing interactivity

Paul - There is a lot of scope for interactive content. You can make the content more entertaining and you also get audience feedback.
Returning to the channel, there are all sorts of things you could do with it. Creative people could do a lot.

Node - You could navigate a field as you walk across the city. There could be interactive tasks that take you from o­ne end of the city to another. It would be possible to create non-linear narrative, which would be a real change to the creative process.

Oscha - There are different types of interactivity.
People can sit at home and press a button, or we could get people to do something.
Creative Partnerships are doing things, but it’s easier to do things within a structure like education.

Jeremy - The BBC remit includes providing a public service and community programming. They could be more supportive.

Paul - The BBC are doing interesting things with new technology.

Marketing girl - The BBC have more of an agenda concerning marketing. It is worth considering approaching them regarding an endorsed brand for regional websites.

Node - Everyone is building the infrastructure but no o­ne is thinking about what to put o­n it.