Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood. • Hacker News Board

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#591

Post by Keyframe » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:03 PM UTC

wj wrote: post #587

Keyframe wrote: post #486

I am a director, I can speak on this from experience. Primary problem with producing movie/TV shows is money. It costs A LOT of money. Even shows you think can be done with a lower budget, it can't... currently. Reasons for high costs are numerous and I can expand on them (and will if someone asks me), but lets take that as an axiom for this post. It costs a lot of money, which means people who invest in content prod…

I'm wondering if going back to the studio method of producing films in the 20s-40s would be a disruptive method. By that I mean having companies with actors on payroll, writers on payroll, directors on payroll, etc. A group of 5-10 actors, a few writers writing scripts for those particular actors, a couple of directors, and a full time crew. Always be in production on one film, with one in development, one in pre-pro…

Sans actors, pixar is essentially like this.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#592

Post by archangel_one » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:07 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #114

socratic wrote: post #27

I agree that Hollywood is evil, however, is the argument that it has peaked really accurate? ("Hollywood is dying.") This RFS doesn't really give any statistics (perhaps because it will be up for longer than those statistics will be current). That said, based on a few minutes of Google searching, the average American apparently watches 150 hours of TV per month, and every few years there is a new "biggest grossing fi…

and every few years there is a new "biggest grossing film of all time." That, at least, can be accounted for by inflation: http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm Titanic (1997) is the most recent in the top ten (at #6). Avatar is the most recent at #14, and one of only two movies from the 2000s in the top 30. Movie revenue is dropping. Roger Ebert has a rundown of why 2011 was such a terrible year: http://roge…

Probably worth noting that the inflation-adjusted list, while more accurate than a non-adjusted one, is only the American domestic gross. It's quite plausible that the international gross would look different - one might expect that the trend there for Gone With The Wind would look a bit different to Avatar.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#593

Post by barce » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:07 PM UTC

Right now http://machinima.com/ is killing it. Their monthly stats for video game play views (ya just people watching videos of people play video games) is better than any TV ever was. Lost only had a small percentage of what Machinima can field for audiences.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#594

Post by elorant » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:20 PM UTC

You don't have to "kill" Hollywood as a whole. All you need is to heavily disrupt the distribution channel. Control distribution and you control the game.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#595

Post by ChristianMarks » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:21 PM UTC

TomOfTTB wrote: post #388

pg wrote: post #9

Incidentally, Paul Buchheit deserves all the credit for this idea. The YC partners were having lunch yesterday and he suggested posting this RFS. Whereupon we all turned to Jessica, who is usually the one who talks us out of doing crazy things. I was kind of surprised she didn't try to talk us out of it.

You’re an ass. Pardon the bluntness of that statement but I’m home right now because this pissed me off so much. So my tone is less measured. Have you even contemplated all the things the industry you’re trying to “kill” does? Make note of something: Hollywood is one of the most unionized workforces in the United States. This isn’t a story of rich studio heads taking advantage of people. Actors, Writers, Stage Hands,…

Lobbyists for SOPA and PIPA have had to retreat in wounded ignorance. Their apologists complain that an attack on Hollywood is an attack on the elderly-- elderly intellectual monopolists (cf. Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/againstnew.htm). And don't forget the outrageous scattershot lawsuits by the MPAA and RIAA. These organizations weren't satisfied with the extortionate judgments they were getting away with (cf. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com). They want to impose an enormous negative externality on the kind of businesses that YCombinator invests in. Venture capitalists threatened to stop investing in Internet companies if SOPA and PIPA became law. It's too late to complain that these are basically good people.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#596

Post by robotjosh » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:44 PM UTC

Hollywood won't die until the movie theater monopoly on new releases ends. Most people have comparable bigscreens and surround sound systems already. All that is left is the ability to pay $12 to see a new release in your home. Film producers would make more money by cutting out the middlemen. People would see more new releases even at $12 each you could see 6-10 movies per month for it to cost as much as cable. Some people would see most new releases and cause middle and lower tier movies to make more money.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#597

Post by mikeleeorg » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:48 PM UTC

silverlake wrote: post #567

mikeleeorg wrote: post #508

Here's what I would love to see. And I'm 90% sure there are companies already thinking & working on this. I'd love to see a service that offers various "channels" of video content. These channels would be genres, like food, home, comedy, action, etc. The content would be a mix of amateur videos (like home videos), semi-pro videos (like amateurs who've worked hard to create near-professional quality videos), and profe…

youtube is already doing this

Almost. And I certainly hope they're going to go this way. Their concept of "channels" right now aren't genres, but specific accounts, like CollegeHumor. I'd love to see a generic "comedy" channel that included CollegeHumor, comedians (amateur & professional), clips from TBBT, etc.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#598

Post by drhowarddrfine » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:48 PM UTC

Keyframe wrote: post #530

pdelgallego wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Marketing and distribution is a sizeable chunk of money in a project too How is a movie marketed and distributed in the film industry? >> - Camera and grip departement can get huge... I've done only a moderate size productions and my camera and grip dept. was 20-30 people (skilled labour that costs money) Could the team size be reduced by more/better technology? >> Sound designers start their work (sound design is…

How is a movie marketed and distributed in the film industry? It's not my expertise so I can't dwell into detail, but you can see it for yourself too - mostly via traditional channels, print and billboards, tv and radio trailers, online campaigns. Could the team size be reduced by more/better technology? Yes, but not by much! For example 35mm film is now more or less obsolete - average movie is shot on 20:1 ratio (fo…

As you know, though, the cost of film and development is hardly worth talking about, particularly in big budget motion pictures. Shooting video, nowadays, is a convenience mostly. The cameras are far more expensive, as is the support equipment, but transmitting completed video and editing is far cleaner.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#599

Post by Keyframe » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:49 PM UTC

wj wrote: post #584

Keyframe wrote: post #543

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EP Scheduling and Budgeting could use an alternative - that's where a startup could make a difference, not a large one though. It costs $500 I think, that is a lot for indies, but not even a small dent in normal productions. Final Draft is awful, but it's a standard, there are viable alternatives. I've bought 'Fade In' recently and am enjoying it, but I still have Final Draft and will continue to use it. Largest cont…

I've been working on an alternative for indies for a while now. Hoping to launch in the next couple of months.

Looking forward to seeing what you did and how you have approached the task of producing and scheduling productions.

Re: Request for Startups: Kill Hollywood.

#600

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 21, 2012, 6:51 PM UTC

Professa wrote: post #189

krshmda wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]