A film production company has decided to approach online movie piracy in the most diplomatic way possible – by embracing it.
Double Edge Film, the makers of low-budget sci-fi flick Ink, have contacted their fans via email pointing out that their movie hit bit-torrent sites earlier this week and revealed that this is a good thing for the movie as it has raised the popularity of the film to unprecedented levels.
This is unlike the stance Paramount is taking on web pirates, who believes the arrival of better online technology "poses an immediate threat to the motion picture industry".
Ripped off
"Over the weekend something pretty extraordinary happened. Ink got ripped off. Someone bit torrented the movie (we knew this would happen) and they posted it on every pirate site out there," explained the email sent by writer/director Jamin Winans and producer Kiowa K Winans.
"What we didn't expect was that within 24 hours Ink would blow up. Ink became the number 1 most downloaded movie on several sites having been downloaded somewhere between 150,000 to 200,000."
Unprecedented exposure
The letter continues to say: "Knowing there's absolutely nothing we can do about it, we've embraced the piracy and are just happy Ink is getting unprecedented exposure."
Because of the leak, the movie is now number 16 on IMDB's 'movie meter'. Not bad for a film that was without distributor or advertising budget.
With Ink expected to hit iTunes and other download stores this week, it seems that this word of mouth buzz – brought on by piracy – has been nothing but positive for the movie.
Via TechDirt
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ripsnorter
November 11th 2009
2. I'm in total agreement with mobius on this one. The film makers admit they had no choice and,per force, have adopted an attitude of "We're being totally ripped off but isn't all this attention great?!"! (Shades of 'Lie back and think of England', you could even say!).
As a distribution model, being pirated is not not one content creators should aspire to. Unless the film makers really did intend to crate a not-for-profit work. But assuming they invested money as well as time (and love, devotion etc.) then wanting to see a financial return is only reasonable.
I can understand their logic: "hundreds of thousands of people now know about our film and will buy a legitimate copy / hopefully somebody will now buy a copy / please?!" But this is also flawed thinking. If there's a free copy to be had, then people will go for that.
One of the major problems facing independent film makers is getting distribution (leaving aside all issue as to whether they will ever see any money assuming they do get distribution). There are many films that deserve to but for reasons the way the business works, don't.
Getting your name, your film, 'out there' is essential. But this is why there are film markets and festivals. Having a film pirated devalues it automatically. Pirates, when you strip away any kind of romance or swashbuckling imagery, are thieves, pure and simple.
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mobius
November 11th 2009
1. If they've "embraced" it then they're endorsing it and if they're endorsing it then they're giving permission to copy and it negates that it actually is piracy (which is simply copying without legal right or permission). So doesn't it kind of make the whole claim "Indie filmmakers embrace web piracy" an oxymoron?
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