Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood. • Hacker News Board

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#181

Post by caublestone » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:50 AM UTC

I believe in creating a mix of a.empowering the content creators to create b. quality content that is c. distributed in the most accessible way for consumers and is d. financially sensible for all parties involved.

PirateBay pointed it out yesterday; the entertainment industries got greedy and started demanding more rights and driving up costs to fill their pockets.

Wouldn't it be awesome if you could have a healthy career, making $60,000+, by entertaining people with what you love? As in, do you really need to make $20,000,000 to act/sing/write etc?

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#182

Post by eru » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:51 AM UTC

Helianthus wrote: post #134

diego wrote: post #13

This strikes me as a bit naïve. Hollywood can be seen as two different things: 1) An ecosystem of artists creating music, movies and TV shows. 2) A group of companies distributing and commercializing the output of the ecosystem. It's hard to say where one ends and the other one begins. YC, you may want to kill #2 but not #1. Or do you expect to fund "startups" that create TV shows, movies, or music? If so, start look…

1) is a naive description. Ecosystem implies some sort of balance, where in fact it is a cutthroat competition for the favors handed out by 2). Because 2) holds the keys, 2) controls the message. In other words, I would _gladly_ kill #1. #1 is dysfunctional: some sort of willing imprisonment for artists for the sole benefit of #2.

> Ecosystem implies some sort of balance, where in fact it is a cutthroat competition [...]

You don't know much about biology, do you?

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#183

Post by awt » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:51 AM UTC

mdda wrote: post #166

nitrogen wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your original proposal were strictly true, then artists would never perform for the same gender (unless that was who they wanted to attract).

It may be aimed at establishing oneself within the hierarchy - which happens all over the animal kingdom.

I agree. I would add that if I want to impress a girl, I might buy tickets to a concert by a great artist. If she's impressed, I get a fraction of attractiveness credit with the girl just by having the ability to recognize good stuff. This doesn't preclude me from personally enjoying the show as well.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#184

Post by trout » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:52 AM UTC

I don't believe you will replace movies with another form of entertainment. They are just stories when distilled when distilled. The stories are a fabric of values, beliefs, morals, and culture that is inseparable from society. Some stories are so representative of the culture it becomes a direct part of culture. Replacing movies will require a more creative way to spread that fabric of ideas.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#185

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:53 AM UTC

diego wrote: post #50

pg wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the sort of disingenuous remark a politician would make. It's hypocritical of us to want to fund companies doing good things because one of the 383 companies we've funded has one customer you don't like? We don't have any control over who companies we fund do business with.

I take issue with the name-calling: "the people who run it are so mean..." You could say the system is corrupt, broken, blinded by self-interest, etc. There are probably all kinds of people running Hollywood, like in any other industry. There must be some execs with sociopathic tendencies, others who simply go with momentum or believe they are doing what's best for their shareholders, etc. In my opinion, stating that…

[deleted]

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#186

Post by eru » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:53 AM UTC

wtvanhest wrote: post #40

Tycho wrote: post #23

What's all this about 'predetermined' ?

That was exactly what I was going to ask. PG, would you mind explaining the predetermined wording? It seems counter intuitive for someone who funds disruptive companies to say so I have a sense that there is more to it.

Look back a hundred years (or so). Even if you shot the people who invented colour film or sound in films, somebody else would have developed those.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#187

Post by eru » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:54 AM UTC

techiferous wrote: post #71

Another idea: choose your own adventure movies.

Some people tried that already.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#188

Post by neworbit » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:54 AM UTC

harshreality wrote: post #118

pg wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the sort of disingenuous remark a politician would make. It's hypocritical of us to want to fund companies doing good things because one of the 383 companies we've funded has one customer you don't like? We don't have any control over who companies we fund do business with.

You may not be able to control them, but you can influence who YC startups do business with. You screen founders heavily based on perceived intelligence, and probably based somewhat on perceived ethics as well. You probably have some sense, before you fund them, whether founders would be willing to do business with the RIAA or MPAA. You could be doing something to dissuade YC-funded startups from engaging with Monsan…

My take: because Monsanto or similar firms are not supporting legislation that immediately threatens YC and the internet in general. SOPA et al is pretty much a declaration of war, it shouldn't be much surprise there's a response to that.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#189

Post by Professa » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:54 AM UTC

krshmda wrote: post #122

iamdann wrote: post #29

Free idea: Create an app that provides a TiVo-like experience to all web video. You could "record" channels from YouTube the same way you'd queue TED, or even Hulu+, Netflix, et all. Your app would automatically pull new streaming episodes for you to watch and manage the same way people use DVRs on televisions. If internet TV, and "television app" really are the next thing...if you build an amazing version of this no…

I've been doing this instead of satellite TV. $8/month for HD comedy, news and educational stuff (H+, CNN, YT). I think downloading will dominate the future more than streaming. It's just a better experience, you can skip forward ads and you can download off peak hours. Of course, capturing the RTMP data violates the user agreements but it should be fair to store the incoming data to play it back later.

I think it may be the other way around. With the right curated lists of content, it would be more worthwhile to stream instead of downloading everything.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#190

Post by aninteger » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 12:55 AM UTC

I think if you really want to fight Hollywood it would be best to boycott them at the movie theaters and try to support their competitors (Does Netflix count as a competitor?) as much as possible. That means not going to see Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises". Wait for the DVD/Blu-ray release and don't purchase it. Rent it, or borrow it from someone who has purchased it. Spend as little money as possible on Hollywood. Rinse and repeat with other movies.