After an excellent first month or so, things have tailed off on the downloads. Overall the experiment has been successful - the technology worked, people were generous - but it seems the flaw in the system is quite simply exposure. Being as we made a stand-alone payment system (no-one else could offer a pay-what-you-like service), people just don't chance across us while generally browsing or by accident. Of course there is always the potential to be picked up by other blogs / sites etc, but after the first 8 weeks or so and the news becomes old news, this hasn't really happened to any great extent.
One factor not helping us was my own time, which has been divided between having to get paid work and another exciting project, which has meant I've not chased things up as well as I might have. Another is that, this being a brand new expriment and all, there is no mechanism in the press or media to review downloads - only cinema or (at a pinch) DVD count. Inevitably this will change, but we may be a little ahead of our time on this one.
However, the film is still there, and it doesn't take much for a mention here or there to start another little flurry of interest. We have a rating of 9.2/10 on the Internet Movie Database, and I should be able to tell you all about another form of distribution for the film very soon. I'm so proud of what everyone working on this film acheived, and getting feedback from people who have seen it and been engrossed by it has been the greatest thing.
Monday 24 March 2008
Thursday 17 January 2008
Local boy makes good
Look what I saw at the end of my road yesterday....
Well, it makes a change from "Local Phone Mast Fury"....
Tuesday 8 January 2008
Missing People
The National Missing Persons Helpline (as they were then, now called Missing People) helped us enormously making the film. The whole process was quite an eye-opener - did you know that of every ten long term missing persons cases, 6 are eventually resolved with the person being found alive, 3 are never resolved and 1 found deceased? No, nor did I... it was one thing that really stuck out in my mind as we learned about the reality of missing people. In terms of our story, it showed that Abi has every reason to believe that Sam is out there somewhere...
The organisation mocked up posters for us, treating our fictional Sam Jackson just as they would a real case. Their spokesperson at the time, Sophie Woodforde, was interviewed on camera, again just as if it were a real case (and she did a brilliant job too, as those of you who have seen the film will know). Sophie was a fantastic advocate of the film. I'll always remember that right after our filming with her, she rushed out to meet a person who had just been found 10 years later! It had been her first case when joining the organisation. Amazing.
Anyway, last week Missing People published a press release about Sam Jackson's Secret Video Diary. Chief Executive of Missing People, Paul Tuohy said “This film is an innovative way of not only remembering the extraordinary life of Posy Miller, but also supporting two national UK charities. People can download this film for as much or as little as they like –each time knowing the more they give the more will go to charity.”
All of us involved in the film are proud that Missing People are so supportive of what is, in the end, a work of fiction. As people continue - voluntarily - to pay for our film, it is great to know that some of it goes to continue their amazing work. It genuinely was a privilege to work with them, and we wish them all the best in their continuing work.
The organisation mocked up posters for us, treating our fictional Sam Jackson just as they would a real case. Their spokesperson at the time, Sophie Woodforde, was interviewed on camera, again just as if it were a real case (and she did a brilliant job too, as those of you who have seen the film will know). Sophie was a fantastic advocate of the film. I'll always remember that right after our filming with her, she rushed out to meet a person who had just been found 10 years later! It had been her first case when joining the organisation. Amazing.
Anyway, last week Missing People published a press release about Sam Jackson's Secret Video Diary. Chief Executive of Missing People, Paul Tuohy said “This film is an innovative way of not only remembering the extraordinary life of Posy Miller, but also supporting two national UK charities. People can download this film for as much or as little as they like –each time knowing the more they give the more will go to charity.”
All of us involved in the film are proud that Missing People are so supportive of what is, in the end, a work of fiction. As people continue - voluntarily - to pay for our film, it is great to know that some of it goes to continue their amazing work. It genuinely was a privilege to work with them, and we wish them all the best in their continuing work.
Raindance interview
Sorry, this is turning into a news service, but Raindance have just put up an interview with me about how on Earth this film happened here.
Monday 7 January 2008
Mark Kermode British Film special
A quick update to say I'm taking part in a British film special that Radio Kent are doing tomorrow at 12.15pm GMT - you can listen live online here. Also taking part will be uber-critic Mark Kermode. [EDIT POST INTERVIEW] Mr Kermode was actually at BAFTA doing his bit down the line as they say, but it all seemed to go well.
Industry publication Screen International has also picked up on our story - this requires a paid subscription to view, however.
Industry publication Screen International has also picked up on our story - this requires a paid subscription to view, however.
The age of the dinosaurs
It's been another good week for us, the average payment actually went up to £5.10 in the week. Word is slowly starting to spread too I think - obviously this is how it should be!
I knew I spoke to soon with regard to how few people have reported problems. There was (ahem) a problem with our shop email address! We've still only had a handful of people with difficulties mind, and I know most of these are now resolved. Sorry to anyone who hasn't been able to get through, all our email addresses are working fine now, so please do try again.
There was an interesting article in The Sunday Times about online film delivery, and how it will eventually replace DVD. "Eventually" is the word, however - mainly because the film industry is obsessed with copyright issues. This means that if people download a movie, it will only work on the device they have downloaded to - which in my view is a total disaster, and the reason why peer-to-peer free downloads will continue to clean up and the movie industry lose money hand over fist.
If I was a punter and wanted to watch Sam Jackson's Secret Video Diary, I'd download it to my PC, then put it on a tiny SD card so I could watch it on my little portable player on the train (sadly the way I have to watch most movies these days, because of time!) This would be impossible if I used copyright protection. In that case, I'd either not bother downloading it at all, or get it illegally - just because I physically couldn't do it any other way.
I think the movie industry needs to join the real world. Illegal files will always be with us - none of the technical efforts made by Hollywood to stop piracy have worked. All domestic copy protection does is stop it working for consumers. The solution is to make the product simple to use and and not rip people off. Is that so much to ask?
I knew I spoke to soon with regard to how few people have reported problems. There was (ahem) a problem with our shop email address! We've still only had a handful of people with difficulties mind, and I know most of these are now resolved. Sorry to anyone who hasn't been able to get through, all our email addresses are working fine now, so please do try again.
There was an interesting article in The Sunday Times about online film delivery, and how it will eventually replace DVD. "Eventually" is the word, however - mainly because the film industry is obsessed with copyright issues. This means that if people download a movie, it will only work on the device they have downloaded to - which in my view is a total disaster, and the reason why peer-to-peer free downloads will continue to clean up and the movie industry lose money hand over fist.
If I was a punter and wanted to watch Sam Jackson's Secret Video Diary, I'd download it to my PC, then put it on a tiny SD card so I could watch it on my little portable player on the train (sadly the way I have to watch most movies these days, because of time!) This would be impossible if I used copyright protection. In that case, I'd either not bother downloading it at all, or get it illegally - just because I physically couldn't do it any other way.
I think the movie industry needs to join the real world. Illegal files will always be with us - none of the technical efforts made by Hollywood to stop piracy have worked. All domestic copy protection does is stop it working for consumers. The solution is to make the product simple to use and and not rip people off. Is that so much to ask?
Wednesday 2 January 2008
Our, er, Opening Weekend!
Well, the first facts and figures are mostly in. After (joyfully!) discovering that a lot of payments had been made that hadn't been notified by email to me from PayPal, it turns out to be pretty damn good. Although there are less downloads overall than I'd hoped, it is a very long way from a disastrous... as you will hopefully see.
The first 3 days (our opening weekend, if you will) saw just over 100 downloads - not so bad considering how little-known we are. However, the great unknown has always been how many people will actually pay... and how much.
In fact, early indications are that around 30% of people are paying, which is broadly the same amount that megastars Radiohead pulled. The biggest surprise of all, however, is HOW MUCH people are paying. Whereas Radiohead's reported average was £2.90 per album, our average to date has been an extremely healthy £4.70! And without further ado, I'd like to say a huge thank you to every single person who has given something, it truly restores your faith in human nature...
A lot of people wrote off Radiohead's venture when their figures were released ("2/3rd of people don't pay a penny" etc). However, it seemed to me at the time like a huge success. It is well known that artists only get around £1 per CD sold... so I figured that even after costs they'd be getting double per purchase than they would with CD. Also, how many of those people who downloaded for free would have paid £12.99 for a CD otherwise? Probably a tiny fraction, they'd probably have got it illegally that way anyway. Do some back-of-an-envelope sums, and I reckon the band did rather well.
The big unknown for us was - how could this model work for a small British independent movie? Although we only have a statistically-tiny 3 days figures in so far, the early signs are promising. And we could afford to take the risk simply because we weren't in it for the money (in fact, we decided to give away 20% of anything we got anyway). The fact is that if these sort of modest figures continue for a while (and it's a big IF), we WILL be able to pay back our debts, and the charities will get a significant boost.
I heard one UK distributor tell me of a $16m budget movie he promoted on DVD, with a big name US star, good reviews and front page advertising in the broadsheets. In 6 months he sold 500 copies. You don't need to know too much about movie economics to realise how disastrous that was. The physical DVD authoring & mastering, distribution, postage, VAT, BBFC costs... it adds up massively. Downloading has none of these nightmares (except simplified mastering and hosting fees), and technically things seem to be working well - only 2 people have contacted me to say they've been having problems, and I've heard others say the connection was quick and the quality of the film itself very high. In 3 days we already have a 1/5th of the people watching that bought the $16m movie in 6 months - without reviews, stars or advertising.
Doing it the Radiohead-way goes under everybody's radar. For the first time in film history (yeah, I know, hyperbole but it is true!) the film makers can go straight to the public with no middlemen whatsoever. When you are as small as we are, you don't even pay the VAT. Potentially, this model changes EVERYTHING. Now that mainstream technology exists not just to watch downloads on your computer but also your TV (name-brand DIVX-playing DVD players can now be bought for about £30), surely a revolution has begun. PR aside (which is still a major and expensive issue), all that matters ultimately is how good your movie is.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on all this - you can add comments at the end of each post on this blog.
In other news, we got some good radio coverage on launch day. Radio 5 had a five minute spot on the Breakfast Show, but the best piece by far was on little BBC Radio Stoke, which had a 15 minute interview with Misha Herwin, Posy Miller's mother, and myself (Posy was from Stoke-on-Trent, and a lifelong fan of Stoke City FC). I'm trying to get permission to get this up on our website, as it sums up why and how this film exists better than anything I've been able to do.
There was something genuinely special about that being launch day, five year's after Posy's death, talking with her wonderful mother. It seemed very right that this was at the heart of the film's launch... it certainly gave it some perspective for me.
Thanks again to everyone who has made this film possible, from Posy's family to the dozens of friends, the corporations who bent the rules and now every person who has downloaded and freely given something. Happy New Year!
The first 3 days (our opening weekend, if you will) saw just over 100 downloads - not so bad considering how little-known we are. However, the great unknown has always been how many people will actually pay... and how much.
In fact, early indications are that around 30% of people are paying, which is broadly the same amount that megastars Radiohead pulled. The biggest surprise of all, however, is HOW MUCH people are paying. Whereas Radiohead's reported average was £2.90 per album, our average to date has been an extremely healthy £4.70! And without further ado, I'd like to say a huge thank you to every single person who has given something, it truly restores your faith in human nature...
A lot of people wrote off Radiohead's venture when their figures were released ("2/3rd of people don't pay a penny" etc). However, it seemed to me at the time like a huge success. It is well known that artists only get around £1 per CD sold... so I figured that even after costs they'd be getting double per purchase than they would with CD. Also, how many of those people who downloaded for free would have paid £12.99 for a CD otherwise? Probably a tiny fraction, they'd probably have got it illegally that way anyway. Do some back-of-an-envelope sums, and I reckon the band did rather well.
The big unknown for us was - how could this model work for a small British independent movie? Although we only have a statistically-tiny 3 days figures in so far, the early signs are promising. And we could afford to take the risk simply because we weren't in it for the money (in fact, we decided to give away 20% of anything we got anyway). The fact is that if these sort of modest figures continue for a while (and it's a big IF), we WILL be able to pay back our debts, and the charities will get a significant boost.
I heard one UK distributor tell me of a $16m budget movie he promoted on DVD, with a big name US star, good reviews and front page advertising in the broadsheets. In 6 months he sold 500 copies. You don't need to know too much about movie economics to realise how disastrous that was. The physical DVD authoring & mastering, distribution, postage, VAT, BBFC costs... it adds up massively. Downloading has none of these nightmares (except simplified mastering and hosting fees), and technically things seem to be working well - only 2 people have contacted me to say they've been having problems, and I've heard others say the connection was quick and the quality of the film itself very high. In 3 days we already have a 1/5th of the people watching that bought the $16m movie in 6 months - without reviews, stars or advertising.
Doing it the Radiohead-way goes under everybody's radar. For the first time in film history (yeah, I know, hyperbole but it is true!) the film makers can go straight to the public with no middlemen whatsoever. When you are as small as we are, you don't even pay the VAT. Potentially, this model changes EVERYTHING. Now that mainstream technology exists not just to watch downloads on your computer but also your TV (name-brand DIVX-playing DVD players can now be bought for about £30), surely a revolution has begun. PR aside (which is still a major and expensive issue), all that matters ultimately is how good your movie is.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on all this - you can add comments at the end of each post on this blog.
In other news, we got some good radio coverage on launch day. Radio 5 had a five minute spot on the Breakfast Show, but the best piece by far was on little BBC Radio Stoke, which had a 15 minute interview with Misha Herwin, Posy Miller's mother, and myself (Posy was from Stoke-on-Trent, and a lifelong fan of Stoke City FC). I'm trying to get permission to get this up on our website, as it sums up why and how this film exists better than anything I've been able to do.
There was something genuinely special about that being launch day, five year's after Posy's death, talking with her wonderful mother. It seemed very right that this was at the heart of the film's launch... it certainly gave it some perspective for me.
Thanks again to everyone who has made this film possible, from Posy's family to the dozens of friends, the corporations who bent the rules and now every person who has downloaded and freely given something. Happy New Year!
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