Linkapalooza - Feb 11, 2008

Indie boxoffice down 12% in 2007 -here's the link to the Hollywood Reporter article. This is just kind of interesting. So, the number of indies in the theaters increased from 501 to 530, yet the revenue for indie films dropped 11.9% from $1.32Billion in 2006 to $1.16Billion in 2007. I wouldn't consider these films to be indie, like I consider, say, "Zombies Gone Wild" to be an indie, so it's tough to compare what's going on here to what's going on in the indie horror scene. However, there is something going on here. My personal opinion is that audiences are looking to other outlets to get their fix on indie film. Boxoffice for indie's may be down, but how are they doing on DVD? What's IFC's neilsen ratings like? What kind of hits are they getting online? It's a common theme for me, but I don't think there's a lack of interest in indie, I just think indie fans aren't going to the movie theaters to watch them anymore.

Rob Zombie's "Tyrannosaurus Rex" - here's a link from shocktillyoudrop, a link from bloody-disgusting and a link from /film. So, look, it's fairly unanimous, Rob Zombie's "Halloween" was God-awful. A travesty. Yet, the net is all buzzing about his next feature for the Weinstein's, "Tyrannosaurus Rex". I really liked "House of 1,000 Corpses", in fact, I loved it ...and I thought "Devil's Rejects" was okay, but... I don't know. This is supposed to be a biker film and are we just going to get a Rob Zombie version of "Death Proof"? Well, that might not be all bad. Either way, instead of getting all stupid over this like it's "Cloverfield 2", I'm going to reserve judgement until I hear/see more.

The strike's over, who wins? The web - Here's a link to a very interesting article at Forbes' site. Essentially, they're saying that this 'win' for the writers is really a win for the web, as it legitimizes the net as a medium for distributing content. The other thing that's interesting is that it goes on to say that the studios are betting that Hollywood's writing talent can make better content for the web than the guys in Silicon Valley can. Every industry projection says that there's going to be huge revenue from video downloading and streaming in the next few years, but no one's really sure how that's going to happen. Is it from downloading or streaming? Is it advertising based or pay per download? My bet, watch the focus in Hollywood turn to monetizing content on the web now. This agreement basically states that the web is a legitimate portal for distributing content... and that's a statement that can end up being self-prophesizing.

At the movies, 3D's hot all over again - here's a link to an article I came across in Media Life. There's a couple reasons that I find this interesting... one, it couldn't be further from the kinds of movies I like. "Hannah Montana 3D" or "Colonel Kill Motherfuckers"? Umm... yeah. Anyhow, I think that this is the kind of thing you're going to see more and more of in the mutli-plex's. They're spectacles that the whole family can enjoy, they're cuddly and friendly and there's a tied-in audience base, you're not offending anyone, it's backed by Disney, etc... The niche films, like low-budget horror are not going to be found in the big theaters anymore, they'll be at horror film festivals, straight-to-DVD or available through the net. Two, guess why the studios like the push to use 3D? You can't pirate it. My thoughts, watch for more unique, unpiratable things like 3D or Imax on the big screen...

Piracy vs. Hollywood - Last, but definitely not least, here's a link to an article about how 'the world' is getting behind the fight against music piracy, which should be watched closesly because whatever happens in the music industry is going to be happening to the film industry. So, now, instead of going after the P2P sites, they're blaming the ISP's themselves. "The time has come for ISPs to stop dragging their feet and start showing some responsibility, by taking reasonable steps to counter illegal music freeloading." The writer's response is, "First and foremost, the music industry must understand that it’s not the tracks that should bring in the most cash, but concerts and other merchandise. It looks like the future of music is free, online and ad supported." This is why I think that the future of film will be free, online and ad supported. Also, watch for the revenue streams to change in Hollywood, too. We've already established that the studios don't make money on the movies themselves, so maybe they'll turn to other ways they can leverage their franchises. Either way, coming soon... easier ways for low-budget indie horror filmmakers to make money, let Hollywood figure it out - stay tuned.