Defecting to digital

The whole issue of creative rights on the internet is a prickly one. It causes no end of headaches and petty kerfuffles as everyone from the writers to the talent to the gaffer wants a slice of the internet cash pie before they will let their content be set free.

The entire argument feels alien to me as a digital marketer. One of the single greatest achievements on the web is to have your content picked up and spread around. The more people that spread it about the better. On top of that, to have someone take the time to comment on it, good or bad, is fantastic. And right at the top of the tree - if a pleasant internet-type person decides to pick up your content and perhaps re-edit it, or use it elsewhere for their own purposes - well that is the sincerest form of flattery.

Obviously the studios, media owners, production houses and all that crowd don't agree because they can't see where the next pay cheque is coming from. But it isn't rocket science to start to adapt your financial model to cope in this brave new world. It rather appears to be pig-headed, old fashioned traditionalism and greed that is holding these big wigs back.

The likes of Sellaband are breaking the mould in music, as have Radiohead (but I'm bored of that example already). Joost, Hulu, Kangaroo, TIOTI et al are attempting the same with TV and Film, just the studios and content producers are dragging their heels.

So it is quite wonderful to hear about the latest twist in the Writers Guild of America strike saga. In an ironic twist, considering that it was the whole internet rights issue that prompted the action in the first place, the WGA are heading to Silicon Valley to attempt to circumvent the studios entirely.

"It's a whole new model to bring content directly to the masses," said screenwriter Aaron Mendelsohn. "We're gathering together a team of A-list TV and film writers, along with their A-list equivalent from Silicon Valley."

You can read the whole article in the Guardian here. Some of their initial writing forays have already achieved fame on the world wide web. Have a flick through the Speechless videos on YouTube, starring a number of actors, writers and celebs demonstrating their support for the strikers.

The Woody Allen episode tops the popularity charts with a decent 55,000 views or so, with the others wavering between 3,000 and 20,000. Which is actually a lot less than I thought such talent could muster. So maybe it is not such an easy transition into an online model. They may be A-list TV and film writers, but they may need to engage some A-list digital practitioners to make them as successful online as onscreen.

Comments

[cedric]

If Hollywood can be a Turkey-production machine, it can also produce some jewels when scenarists and writters are really investing some of their time in finding the right words.

The Friends series for instance have build upon this multi-threading story-telling, full of cross-references and private jokes to become cult.

Personnaly, I am not sure that I would appreciate to go back to the silent movie time. No matter how Buster, Chaplin and co were great, I want to see well-written, and spoken stories.

Keep it on...

[Eamon]

I agree with the gist of this.

People just need to be smarter about what they give away (and being generous, no doubt, pays more, than keeping information / ideas to yourself).