I've got a few ideas swirling around in my head right now and I'm not sure how I'm going to tie it all together, but I'm going to try...It's funny to say, but it is true - horror and porn are the two genres that push change in the industry. Porn changes things from a more technical standpoint, as porn producers just want to reach people as easily and as cheaply as possible. They were the first to switch to video, they were the first to embrace the internet... the were the first to use 'user generated' content... Porn is truly an innovator in the entertainment industry and it's unfortunate to see how the internet brought it to new heights, but then, subsequently, has brought it to new lows due to piracy and free content. Bail out the auto sector? Please... bail out porn. Anyhow, horror has also always been an innovator. However, horror has innovated on a more creative level. From visual effects, to things like strong female characters and villains, to using things like 3D, smell-o-vision, all the way to music and sound effects... horror has pushed the envelope. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Check out this article from Adage.com, which is about 'augmented reality' and showcases a 3D sasquatch. Really, it's no surprise it's a sasquatch. Who do you think would be the first genre to use this technology? Without question - horror or, hopefully, porn. The long and short is, they need to innovate now, as porn is in dire straights and mainstream horror is hemorrhaging along with the rest of Hollywood.
A lot of people think that online content is the answer and we all know that the internet and TV have been on a collision course for a few years now... There will come a day when you will switch your TV to watch online content the same way you switch it over to play your PS3 or watch a DVD. This should, in theory, make it easy for any one of us to create our own TV channel and compete with the major networks. I mean, Magna just came out with a report, which you can click here to download, that says "despite the economic downturn and its inevitable strains on overall advertising expenditures, one category is clearly holding up as a beacon of change and growth: online video". Once again, I don't want to write the Magna Carta here, so I'll get right to the point... this isn't as easy as they make it sound. One, it's not simple enough to connect the internet to TV yet and, two, content on the internet is just not as good as the content on TV. You can argue both of those, but the truth of the matter is, until the average household can browse through online content with the push of a button, while sitting on their couch, this isn't going to hit critical mass. The technology IS here, but don't expect to see it implemented any time soon. Here's why...
The networks make shit-tons of money through advertising, which finances the shows that it airs. Online content STILL hasn't figured out how to generate an equal amount of revenue on a per-show basis. Really, if you think about it, the amount of TV channels is finite - there's not too many of them. That's why they can charge so much for advertising, more eyeballs per show. IF creators of online content were allowed to compete on the same field, what would that do? Dilute the eyeballs. So, it's no surprise that the networks, with all their money and clout, are going to fight this every step of the way. Now, as for the ease of connecting... it CAN be done fairly easily, but is it easy enough for the average household? No, not really. Not only that, the content that's available online doesn't really interest the average household as much as TV does, so... not worth the effort. Personally, I think indie horror and the indie film world, as a whole, needs this innovation to happen - we NEED a system that allows people to easily browse through online content while sitting on their couch. It's the golden goose that will bring our content to the masses. 3D, smell-o-vision and creative innovation isn't going to save us this time...
Now, let me tell you about a success story, which is going to loop back and tie all this shit together, I think... I'm a baseball fan. Further, I'm a Red Sox fan. I want to watch or listen to every game. I'm on mlb.com and redsox.com every day. I subscribe to XM Radio, so I can listen to all the games and, since they introduced mlb.tv, which streams every game online, I've been subscribing to that. I'll come home, plug my laptop into the TV and watch the games. I can't get enough, really. I go through the effort of logging on, plugging my laptop into my TV and watching pixelized content on my big screen TV. Why? Because it's worth the effort for me. I'm not alone on this, either. MLB's online, satellite and streamed content has been a huge success story and they had this all figured from the start. MLB's content has grown year after year and is generating good dollars for baseball AND it's increasing its fanbase. So, hold on... if people are fanatical enough about something, they'll go to the effort for the content? Yeah... Well, what else is like that? That's right... horror.
Horror fans ARE fanatical, they DO crave more and more of it. The problem, currently, is that there's just too much out there and none of it is standardized and/or easy to find. If there was one portal for horror, where you could read news about ALL new projects, watch ALL trailers for upcoming films, read interviews with filmmakers, download ALL available films, watch EVERY horror TV shows, etc... you'd probably use it. However, it's not going to happen any time soon because all of the "content producers" aren't going to agree on how it's going to be distributed, how to generate revenue and, then, how to distribute the dollars. If there's was one league of horror, say... MLH, this would be easy. Just do what MLB is doing. However, there's not. So, standardizing everything isn't going to happen anytime soon... and that's why Hollywood will only innovate on a creative level. If they innovated on a technical level... it may allow you, the indie horror filmmakers, to take away some of their eyeballs.
So, while Hollywood horror and porn fight to retain its audience and maintain its eyeballs through creative innovation, the battle for how online content will be distributed will rage on... In the end, I think it'll work out for indie horror filmmakers - just not as soon as everyone thinks. However, do know that each and every day brings us closer and closer to that point where the average household can sit back on their couch, push a few buttons, then watch online content through their TV. When they can, I hope they'll turn to DeadHarvey.tv.
God, I hope all that made sense...
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