Seeing opportunity in changing models
Spielberg’s prediction of the demise of the studio system and the burgeoning video-on-demand market present a perfect opportunity for film-makers says Ed Gibbs, in a piece that first appeared in Encore.
Last week, all I seemed to hear, to quote a Rolling Stones song, was doom and gloom. In the US, Steven Spielberg was predicting the end of the studio system as we know it – and for video on demand (VOD) to boom. In Australia, at the Sydney Film Festival hub, the thorny issue of piracy was being laid bare.
From both events, a clear picture emerged: that studios are shockingly out of touch with their audiences and their consumption habits. As it had happened to the record labels years before, the status quo is about to come crashing down to earth with an almighty thud.
Consider the figures: an alleged US$6bn in lost revenues to piracy each year, with more than US$500m claimed to occur in Australia alone. While studios remain unsure how to act, six or more tentpole pictures will spectacularly fail, Spielberg predicted, sending the industry into a tailspin. Price variances will be introduced. Seeing Iron Man 3 could cost anything up to US$150 a ticket (while Lincoln might play as a matinee at US$7 a pop). Add to that the boom in VOD, with internet television moving the goalposts for studios and broadcasters, and an ever-fragmented market seems inevitable and irrevocable.
