Below is a link to a conversation I have been participating in on Mark Lipsky’s new(ish) blog, Light A Fire!.
Mark’s blog is a great place for discussion of the age-old Art vs. Commerce argument, and I hope you’ll find his opinions and insights to be useful and meaningful! He’s certainly someone with a unique and hard-won perspective, as he’s been around the indie film world in various capacities over his long career.
This could potentially be a great thing for independent filmmakers as it would allow access to a monetized streaming platform without the need for middle-man aggregators. It could also potentially usurp VOD as the primary means of “on-demand” delivery to an audience. There aren’t a lot of details yet on how it will work or whether anyone will be able to upload videos for rental, but if so it add a very valuable bit of infrastructure to the indie film landscape. Of course, filmmakers would still need to find ways to drive potential audience members to their films, and the need for marketing or somehow building awareness of our projects isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. That is, unless Google starts offering free marketing campaigns with their gmail accounts… Alas, wishful thinking!
YouTube to Let Users Charge Rental Fees for Videos
It’s always good to hear about new programs to get the DIY word out, and IFP has long been fostering discussion about where film making is headed…
