Forget Osama... It's Pirated Movies That We Should Fear!!!

Yesterday, I woke up and checked out my Facebook account to see something odd and distrubing.  Someone had posted a link to an article about the Department of Homeland Security shutting down 77 sites.  At first I thought, "wow, they found 77 sites involved in terrorism and they shut them down".  Then I read the article.  The Department of Homeland Security shut down, not terrorist sites, but sites that allowed the file sharing of copyrighted material.  http://mashable.com/2010/11/27/homeland-security-website-seized/ Now I understand the concern over pirated movies is seriously impacting the major studios and independent filmmakers... but we need to seriously take a step back an examine what happened.  The Department of Homeland Security, set up by former president George W. Bush, to protect America from terrorists, takes time away from focusing on people who could hurt and kill Americans, to instead track down sites that people use to share copyrighted material.  This would be like the IRS deciding to put federal taxes off their prioritiy list and instead chase down people with speeding violations.  Yes, the IRS has authority... with taxes!  In the same way, the Department of Homeland Security has authority when it comes to terror attacks and concerns about the implimentation of those evil plans.... not pirated movies!

Now with that crazy paragraph out of the way, let's take a realistic view of pirating and the unrealistic realities that the big studios don't want to come to terms with.  Back in 2004 (I think that was the year) I happened to stumble upon a NPR broadcast about the music and movie industry.  The only person I remember in particular that spoke at this broadcast was Justin Timberlake.  Not sure why I can't remember any other names.  It was a discussion on how the music, movie and print industries need to adapt to the changing world.  One of the speakers pointed out to an interesting story about the executives at Disney when the first VCR was introduced to them.

The representative for the company that made the VCR prototype came in, plugged it into a TV and popped in a VCR tape of a film.  The executive responded with, "but how do we control how many people get to see it at a time?"

And that statement "how do we control how many people get to see it at a time?" is exactly what is wrong with the mentality of the film industry.  That word "control" is a very scarry word....  Stalin used that word.  Hitler did to.  So did the robber barons of the end of the 19th going into the 20th century.  We need to use caution when using that word.

The problem isn't with the pirates.  They're are thieves in every industry.  Just because someone steals gas at the pump doesn't mean that the entire oil industry is going to collapse.  You use some restraining power to keep the amount of thieving down, but if you hopped in your car and went chasing them down like some enraged vigilante, then all you'd end up with is someone in a car accident over a few bucks of gas.

My point is this:  If the film industry, especially the major studios in Hollywood, spend all their time chasing the "bad guys" then they'll take their focus off doing their real job which is making "great" movies.  The reason why they are loosing money is that their budgets are over budget while their actual stories are second rate to what they use to be a decade or so ago.

When my wife and I go out on a date, we first go by the local cinema to see what is playing.  In the last few years we've found ourselves looking at all the posters on the cinema wall, outside the building, and then saying, "well... not much of a choice to pick from".  And then we drive over to a local restaurant and eat out instead of watching a film.

The other major mistake in the film industry is that we haven't applied the simple concept of supply and demand to our films.  Why should anyone want to watch my movie when it is done if no one even knew I was making it?

The major studios put all this money out on their films, keep a tight lid on what is going on during production to "keep the magic in the film making" as they say it.  Then when the film is ready for release they create a  trailer that basically show a bunch of flashy shots that fit that genre without really giving us a good reason to even watch the film.

Great example:  The Hurt Locker.  The film industry was enraged when the Oscar award winning film ended up being pirated to death after it came out on DVD.  But the problem wasn't the pirates.  It was the marketing.  You didn't give me (the audience) a good enough reason to get up off my butt to see that particular film.

Another major issue is the price of tickets vs. the average yearly wage of most Americans.  Back in the Great Depression, people went to the movie theaters because they weren't expensive.  The cost of living wasn't blown out of proportion.  Yes, people we struggling worse than we are now, but the cost of a movie ticket wasn't outrageous.  If the movie industry gave deals on tickets, more people would show up, which means more money for the film studios.

To recap, the film industry needs to take a hard look at what it's doing before becoming the police of the world but utilizing the Department of Homeland Security which should be focusing its attention of the real evils of the world.