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The propaganda battle over the decision by four studios to supply their films for VOD viewing 60 days after release is intensifying. Today, NATO released an open letter by a group of filmmakers speaking out against the shortening of theatrical windows: Michael Bay, Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, Roland Emmerich, Antoine Fuqua, Todd Garner, Lawrence Gordon, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Gale Anne Hurd, Peter Jackson, Karyn Kusama, Jon Landau, Shawn Levy, Michael Mann, Bill Mechanic, Jamie Patricof, Todd Phillips, Brett Ratner, Robert Rodriguez
Adam Shankman, Gore Verbinski, Robert Zemeckis
.
AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY ON PROTECTING THE MOVIE-GOING EXPERIENCE
We are the artists and business professionals who help make the movie business great. We produce and direct movies. We work on the business deals that help get movies made. At the end of the day, we are also simply big movie fans.
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk by leaders at some major studios and cable companies about early-to-the-home “premium video-on-demand.” In this proposed distribution model, new movies can be shown in homes while these same films are still in their theatrical run.
In this scenario, those who own televisions with an HDMI input would be able to order a film through their cable system or an Internet provider as a digital rental. Terms and timing have yet to be made concrete, but there has been talk of windows of 60 days after theatrical release at a price of $30.
Currently, the average theatrical release window is over four months (132 days). The theatrical release window model has worked for years for everyone in the movie business. Current theatrical windows protect the exclusivity of new films showing in state-of-the-art theaters bolstered by the latest in digital projection, digital sound, and stadium seating.
As a crucial part of a business that last year grossed close to $32 billion in worldwide theatrical ticket sales, we in the creative community feel that now is the time for studios and cable companies to acknowledge that a release pattern for premium video-on-demand that invades the current theatrical window could irrevocably harm the financial model of our film industry.
Major studios are struggling to replace the revenue lost by the declining value of DVD transactions. Low-cost rentals and subscriptions are undermining higher priced DVD sales and rentals. But the problem of declining revenue in home video will not be solved by importing into the theatrical window a distribution model that cannibalizes theatrical ticket sales.
Make no mistake: History has shown that price points cannot be maintained in the home video window. What sells for $30-a-viewing today could be blown out for $9.99 within a few years. If wiser heads do not prevail, the cannibalization of theatrical revenue in favor of a faulty, premature home video window could lead to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Some theaters will close. The competition for those screens that remain will become that much more intense, foreclosing all but the most commercial movies from theatrical release. Specialty films whose success depends on platform releases that slowly build in awareness would be severely threatened under this new model. Careers that are built on the risks that can be taken with lower budget films may never have the chance to blossom under this cut-throat new model.
Further, releasing a pristine, digital copy of new movies early to the home will only increase the piracy problem—not solve it.
As leaders in the creative community, we ask for a seat at the table. We want to hear the studios’ plans for how this new distribution model will affect the future of the industry that we love.
And until that happens, we ask that our studio partners do not rashly undermine the current – and successful – system of releasing films in a sequential distribution window that encourages movie lovers to see films in the optimum, and most profitable, exhibition arena: the movie theaters of America.
We encourage our colleagues in the creative community to join with us by calling or emailing NATO at 202-962-0054 or nato@natodc.com.
Sincerely,
Michael Bay
Kathryn Bigelow
James Cameron
Guillermo del Toro
Roland Emmerich
Antoine Fuqua
Todd Garner
Lawrence Gordon
Stephen Gyllenhaal
Gale Anne Hurd
Peter Jackson
Karyn Kusama
Jon Landau
Shawn Levy
Michael Mann
Bill Mechanic
Jamie Patricof
Todd Phillips
Brett Ratner
Robert Rodriguez
Adam Shankman
Gore Verbinski
Robert Zemeckis
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“We are the artists and business professionals who help make the movie business great.”
Sincerely,
Todd Garner.
WTF?
Marry me!
How nice of Todd Phillips to join such a cause after completely trashing the WGA , which is itself involved in such efforts. Maybe there’s use for a union, after all, Todd?
heh: apples and oranges. The WGA fucked Phillips over hard core on Hangover. I sure wouldn’t carry the WGA’s water if the same thing happened to me.
Besides, the WGA can’t even get its members a slice of new media residuals….what in the world makes you think they’d be even the successful on any level in moving this mountain??
He trashed the writers strike and was right to do so. We still haven’t recovered. Maybe never will.
Call me crazy, but I don’t have a problem with a 60 day window. That seems like a good amount of time, actually.
Day-in-date, I’m totally against, though.
VOD isn’t going to die. But I think closing the window down to almost nothing won’t kill piracy. It will just hurt the movie industry.
Keeping on topic, Canada went thru serious negotiations with the studios and the industry to combat piracy. I know alot are switching to entirely digital formats, but in most cases, movies in Canada don’t arrive till the same day and are under lock and key with unlock codes being emailed minutes before the day of the release.
And Canada doesn’t have a four month window. It doesn’t have a 60 day window. It has a 90 day window. From release to retail is exactly 90 days. It has been like that for a few years now.
Well , this letter should surely stop VOD in its tracks from going forward.
And, there still are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, too!
Blah blah blah blah blah. It’s all about cash. I love it when 7 and 8 figure players band together for “what’s right and working.” Make the movies because you love to, get your bills paid, and knock a digit off your salaries. Then you have to live like the rest of the world, being a bit frugal. People don’t appreciate the lives we have. At the end of the day, the public pays our bills, and they should have whatever (paying) options are available.
yep me too if they “love” it so much, then work for free and “save it”
as if they do love it and not the pay, I hate it!! and since i work in the biz too i’ll take your pay checks please to make me feel better.
If your business model depends on denying available products to willing customers, then you don’t have a business model.
Movies cost too much to go see in theaters. Can’t they argue that the price of tickets is what’s keeping people away?
If every screening of every movie cost $5, I would go see EVERYTHING in theaters. I’d be there once a night.
Hop, Drive Angry, Arthur, Insidious, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules… I would have paid/made the effort to have seen you all in theaters.
I might have even gone to see Suckerpunch twice.
I remember when there was the Toonie Tuesdays. Or the $5 Tuesdays when I was a kid. What about the dollar theater? There are no cheap Tuesdays anymore. I agree that if movies were a bit more affordable then I would spend a whole day in the movie theater like I did in the 90′s.
I do realize the studios take a big chunk of ticket proceeds and leave next to nothing to the theater, which is why concessions have gone up 400%. I don’t think there is anything wrong with the current model. I think there is something seriously wrong with the revenue stream.
It is all about money, and the studios are no different. The Studios want to make as much money as they can in the first three days – this has nothing to do with the movie going public. It has everything to do with $$.
I love going to a theater, but film makers who line up with NATO are idiots. They are fighting the inevitable, you may as well stand on the beach and stop the tide.
I’m a filmmaker and whole-heartedly support this.
HOWEVER…
Theater owners THEMSELVES need to clean up the movie going experience. I haven’t seen a film in YEARS that didn’t have people talking, texting, on their phones. No one from the theater chain was browsing the aisles keeping the movie going experience enjoyable for all. If it wasn’t for the Arclight I wouldn’t even bother with films in theaters–and I’m a feature director in L.A.!
When theater chains step in and ensure a good time for all, not just for chatty fifteen year-olds, I’ll head back. Until then I’d prefer my 52-inch HDTV with 5.1 surround on my couch.
Amen. There are a few local theaters who are implementing a ‘no cell phone’ policy (such as Carousel Cinemas in Burlington, NC). Those caught using their cell phone for anything will be kicked out WITHOUT a refund.
But the thing is, the theater chains cry ‘money woes’. Or if more and more customers complained about people texting, web surfing, et al during the shows. Hell, I’ve seen people bring in their iPads.
Customers are apathetic too. It’s not just the theater chains.
As a theater owner who is desperately trying to preserve the movie-going experience, how am I supposed to stop people who have lost the concept of common decency? Shall I hire an employee to stand behind every obnoxious, rude customer and beat them if they talk, text, belch, fart or kick the back of your seat? Shall I require everyone to complete an etiquette class before we sell them a ticket? Believe me, I wish I could. Why do people like you blame the theater when it is the MOVIE-GOER that thinks their admission ticket entitles them to behave in a theater auditorium the same way they would act in their living room and be able to do, say or act any they want.
These people SHOULD stay home and watch their 52 inch TV’s and stay the fuck out of my theaters.
If I’m going to make the 20+ mile round trip to the mega-godziilla-plex to see a movie (that’s the only theater near me), I want to get my money’s worth from the experience, primarily because the average person is getting priced out of the moviegoing experience with high ticket prices for both 2D and 3D movies, and the first thought in my mind whenever I read or hear about a new movie is “Wonder when the DVD is coming out?”, instead of “Wow… I’d really like to see it in the theater”.
Also, when I go to the movies, I want to feel relatively safe when I go there, and not feel like I’m in the middle of a war zone. The responsibility for insuring a pleasant moviegoing experience should be shared equally by both the moviegoer and the theater owner. If the moviegoer refuses to behave in a civilized manner, then the theater owner has the right to toss that person out. Why should those of us who do behave ourselves have to tolerate those rude, ill-mannered boors who insist on acting like jerks.
And… not to beat an already dead subject into the ground, a steady diet of remakes, sequels and prequels that nobody asked for, and converting every movie into eyeball-numbing, migraine-inducing 3D also makes going to the movies less special, because it’s the same old stuff that I can watch at home. When I go to the movies, I want to be told a good story, with interesting characters and ideas which I might not have thought about before.
For me… that’s the moviegoing experience in a nutshell. So, I’d tell all these people who signed their names — especially the producers — to this open letter to think seriously about the movies that they and the studios are churning out, and give us good movies that are thought-provoking as well as entertaining, instead of yet another sequel, prequel or remake that we didn’t ask for…
You’re right. It’s a culture thing. I haven’t seen a movie in a theater in the States for years. I live in Tokyo (no, I’m not glowing…yet) and the movie going experience here is absolutely fabulous. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. And many, many folks do have 60 inch flat screens at home w/ 5.1 surround and still truck out to the theaters for every new big release. It’s an event. Just like it used to be back in the States. Here, cinemas have VERY comfortable seats, inside enormous, extremely clean theaters. No noise from rude people, because people here generally have manners and behave in public. And you CAN bring in food from outside. I usually do. Even McDonalds. No one leaves garbage, no one trashes the place. No one puts feet up on seat backs, no one talks at all as soon as the lights begin to dim before even the coming attractions start.
It’s the culture. American culture has just sunk so low in terms of manners, and behavior that it’s impossible to enforce something that does not exist anywhere else anyway. Sad, but decorum is a thing of the past in America. It’s like the town in “Back to the Future”. What was once clean, safe and fun, is now run down, dirty and dangerous.
I’m a filmmaker, too. And it breaks my heart not to have my films shown in the kinds of theaters, the movie palaces that were once common in America.
To Indep Theater Owner:
Yes, the (rude, obnoxious, selfish, moronic) people are the problem. They’re the cause. But theater owners allowing b.s. are to blame too. You can even blame theater patrons who are well-behaved but too timid to say anything to the talker next to them (when you put up with it, you’re partly responsible for it…I think behavior has gotten worse and worse, in part because people just put up with it).
But what happened to ushers? $$ Nobody wants to spend $$ on it. No, you don’t have to stand behind each rude patron. Start having a no b.s. policy, and watch behavior change. Don’t give people warnings first. Just kick them out. There are chains who do this. I remember reading about a chain that has a no cell phone policy. A guy got kicked out for opening his phone to turn it off after the show had started. He thought it was b.s., but I bet he made sure to have his cell turned off BEFORE the movie started from then on out. Short of having ushers, theaters could provide call boxes (I think the Regal chain does this) for problems (push button A for texter/talker). At the very least, each theater should have a dedicated text # for problems. I’d love to be able to text, “I’m in the 1:00 show of “Win, Win” and there’s a group of 4 ppl in the 5th row talking.” That way you don’t have to leave the theater and miss 5 minutes of the movie.
Obviously I wholeheartedly agree with all posters who’ve complained about rude patrons. I used to see a movie or two per week (late 90′s in Columbus, OH). I rarely go now. I’ll hit 2 or 3 movies in one day every couple months, and only with a movie buddy. It just gets old trying to deal with morons by yourself. I live in Iowa, and I have problems at about 1/2 of the movies I see. The result? I don’t see many now. The ticket prices are generally fair at most theaters ($5 matinees M-Th and Fri before noon at AMC where I live), some chains charge too much. As far as concessions being expensive…don’t buy them. Either refrain from eating for 90 minutes or sneak stuff in.
we are the audience and the people that make hard earned money to
help support the movie industry.
we implore the filmakers in directors to stop making shitty
movies, remakes, and converting every
thing into 3D.
oh ps please stop casting jennifer aniston in every single movie
Ktnx,
The audience
Other than the Jennifer Aniston thing (I’m a fan), I agree wholeheartedly. If the movies were worth seeing immediately, more people would go.
If you look at the movies that are made by the marketing department (e.g., crappy remakes and unnecessary sequels), those are the ones that flop and make people wary of spending money on movies. The movies that are made as art, the ones that have a story to tell, are the ones that remind us that we do, indeed, love the movies.
Filmmakers are hired guns. Studios develop, greenlight, produce and develop all these so-called shitty films so if you want to place blame do so on the corporations trying to make a buck, not the filmmakers who are trying to do the best they can.
Amen to that!!!!
AMC chains are the worst, zombie slow employee’s
who do not care about the paying audience.
I recently complained about two teenage girls text messaging consistently and laughing and talking about me during my movie.
The manager came in and just stood there and stared at them did not do a damn thing.
Unfortunately not every city has an Arclight cinemas.
My parents who love movies have not gone to the theaters in years due to this problem.
Face it, the current state of going to the movies it’s crap
and I believe people are being very wise with what they’re spending your money on
when was the last TIME anyone who signed this open letter actually saw a movie in a movie theater?
they should make everyone who signed that open letter go see a movie at AMC 42nd St. they will all openly embrace 60 day VOD viewing before the previews even start
Or better yet… they should make everyone who signed that open letter go see a movie at the AMC Ford City theater in Chicago (that’s the one which is roughly 12 miles away from where I live).
If that doesn’t convince them that 60-day VOD is a positive thing, I don’t know what will.
Done right this is the right model. Let’s be honest, this isn’t coming at 60 days for a blockbuster. But do you think a film like say “The Kids are All Right” or “Rabbit Hole” or quite a few limited run films wouldn’t kill for this as an option? Winters Bone get a 60 day window.. almost 50% of the country didn’t have a theater within driving range that showed the thing. Would theater owners really be harmed?
Theaters have moved to make themselves teenager meccas, big blockbusters and big events – and I love that too. But there is nothing wrong with a film getting a screening and moving after a set period of time (60 days seems more then enough) to move to VOD. Find me anyone who was running “Get Low” on week 8. Even their trial balloons.. “Just Go With It” is showing in ONE theater within 25 miles of me, and I’m in a major metro.
Are theater owners this terrified of people staying home from a new movie for one that came out two months ago? If so, maybe they should also start protesting subscriptions to HBO Showtime and Starz which lately have had better original media content..
This is such crap. With diminishing DVD revenue the studios are being forced to make up that money someplace else. Also most movies make a majority of their money in the first 60 days of theatrical release anyway, so the claim that this window will cost them money is just wrong.
Whether these filmmakers like it or not, the industry (and how its goods are consumed) is heading towards a future that’s not nearly as lucrative as it has been this last decade. How easy is it to just download [a certain widely-available Napster-like program], type in a movie that’s in theaters, and have it on your computer in an hour? They’ll either take a dip in revenues and go with a more consumer-friendly VOD model, or lose it all trying to hold onto the status quo, like the music industry did.
The answer isn’t to put the screws to the consumer and force them to wait 4 weeks for videos to become available on Netflix and Redbox (with the hopes that they’ll say “UNCLE” and buy the $35 Blu-ray instead). Like you said, the theater-going experience sucks. I can’t stand on the side of these theater-owners, who took their control over the marketplace for granted. They wouldn’t streamline the quality of their locations or put their foot down on talking & texting during movies, while jacking up the prices to ungodly levels – why is the matinee price literally twice as much now as it was when I saw Sin City, six years ago?.
Like I said, it’s easy to say fuck the theaters, fuck the studios, fuck the artists, I’m watching a movie for free tonight with my girl because I have no job and live off of Bugles and PB&J sandwiches. Piracy’s kind of a scary problem that they need to handle (without blowing it like the RIAA did and make even my grandmother say “screw those guys, I’m downloading this shit like it’s cool!”).
PS A lot of those filmmakers need to make better quality pictures before crying about money. What an ass-backwards industry, entertainment is.
“fuck the artists..I’m watching a movie for free tonight…Piracy’s kind of a scary problem that they need to handle…A lot of those filmmakers need to make better quality pictures before crying about money….”
Wow. Did you really just say these things one after the other? Enjoy the Bugles, thief.
I may be completely off the mark, but wouldn’t VOD open up a new revenue stream for indies that can’t afford to compete with the majors?
pirate bay all day!
Everyone’s already outlined what all the parties (studios, theaters, film makers and even the audience) should do to keep theater going a viable experience. But the theater experience IS the movie experience. If you’re going to just chalk everything up to economics, and not fight for movies on the big screen, then you should get out of the business. Go sell the proverbial widgets, and leave the industry to people who care.
I really don’t get what’s their gripe. I just looked at Fandango.com and scrolled through all my local multiplexes, the oldest movie you can find and go and still see in the theater is Battle LA, and that was released on March 11th (39 days ago). Why are they crying about a 60 day window when those movies are long gone, already replaced by new ones.
The only place you could still probably see the older movies are small, little, off the beaten track, theaters. And those theaters are certainly NOT “state-of-the-art theaters bolstered by the latest in digital projection, digital sound, and stadium seating”.
These directors, visionary artists that dazzle us with their moving pictures seem to be blind to the fact that the world is now moving at a much faster pace. Instead of fighting it, they should embrace the new mediums and the new content and media delivery systems and figure out how to make money in this fast new world.
Hey, I always heard there was a difference between Movies and TV. Now you’re telling me that after 60 days there isn’t? How cool is that? You just wiped out the entire Movie industry except for those guys over there doing TV shows. I do seem to remember that there was a difference between the pay scales, but for only 60 days? Who cares! Just call them all TV shows!
I know you are being ironic, but I actually agree with what you’re saying.
Why should there be a difference in pay scales depending on the media? Just forget about all the historic reasons for making movies for cinemas or teves or whatever.
I’m absolutely certain that in 15 years the whole concept of “cinemas” and “television” will be very outdated. There’s nothing to say that these old forms of media delivery systems are decreed by God and so it must be always.
Media delivery via the internet is coming, either adapt, find a profitable business model to satisfy the customers desires, or keep on clinging to a dying business model for another couple of years before going broke.
Wait, wait, wait! Am I the only one that noticed they called Brett Rattner a filmmaker?
The theater prices & especially concessions are a joke. $60-$75 for a family of four to have under 2 hours of lackluster enjoyment is insane. When a Pizza Hut pizza went to almost $20 bucks a decade ago I quit going on principle. It was not worth the money for the quality. Now theycut the price in half and I happily go again. It seems fair. I am all for capitolism but make your prices match your quality. Most people enjoy a night out for dinner and a movie but not when you have to mortgage your home to do it. Oh wait that is impossible in this economy too.
$60-$75 for a family of four? What country are you in? Take your date to a movie in Canada at any major center on any major day and you can spend $75 easy. For a family of four…better have your line of credit paid up. LOL
Going to a movie theater is always an expensive, tedious, irritating experience. The idiot crowds with the coughing and the cellphones, the eardrum-bursting projection, the $12 popcorn, the smelly seat… I make it a point to avoid theaters like a disease. Seeing a feature at home on a premium HDTV setup is far better. Why do these phony “filmakers” ( Michael Bay hasn’t made a movie worth seeing in ten years ) care how they make their millions? The consumer can and should be king in this business!
We DO NOT go to the theater to see movies, we wait for the Blu-Ray. Taking the family to the theater is a nightmare, the staff is rude, the seats and auditorium are filthy, people won’t keep quiet or shut off the cell phones, snacks are very unhealthy and overpriced and frankly it cost far too much for the experience, no thank you!
We are far more comfortable staying home and viewing new movies in our home theater on a 16 foot HD projection screen with the latest surround technology which I can control the volume of, clean and comfortable lounge furniture, additionally we can choose to snack on what we wish, pause for whatever reason necessary and not be annoyed by the rude people that so often ruin the movie experience at a theater.
Bring on the $30.00 movie, I will be the 1st to order it every time, this should satisfy these CRY BABY DIRECTORS because right now all they are getting from me is money from a Blu-Ray sale which they will still get anyway.
Did the “people who make the movie business great,” even read this before they signed it?
I am shocked at how poorly written it is. It’s written at a 3rd grade level and shows these creative/business “geniuses” are worried solely about their back end participation. Hey directors…? Ever heard of the audience?
In a letter signed by Michale Bay and Brett Ratner, the first sentence is a joke. The letter does more talking about how amazing these directors are than it does about the supposed issue of slashing the theatrical window. What an embarrassing display of ego and poor decision making. The only name missing is Julie Taymor.
No wonder so many Hollywood films suck.