Shocking that I would be writing about hollywood in the wake of SOPA?PIPA. AMIRIGHT?

No, but seriously. If the world is to defeat the monolithic behemoth that is Hollywood, who spends so much money on lobbying, more than  the marketing budget of Fuck Buddies Two: Birth Control, they are going to have to do something drastic.

Paul Graham says its not about content, but if you’ve been to the movies lately, or looked at a movie trailer, you know that it absolutely is about content. What was the last movie you saw in theaters? Was it actually worth the money? Probably not.

Television is worse. The most popular shows are stereotypes of geeky intellectuals or worse, Two and a Half men.

If we are to liberate american culture from Hollywood we are going to have to create the tools that allows independent film makers to release quality content. There are already some companies who are helping, but there are other needs to be met. 

Here is a breif drunken overview:

1. Distrify.com

Distriy allows filmakers to distribute films simply and easily. All Distrify does is creat a video plug-in that allows publishers to embed trailers, rentals or purchases into any site on the internet. It’ amazing. You can look at Gary Hurstwit’s Urbanized as an example. So cool.

2. Network of filmakers, actors, etc.

I don’t know of any websites that connect directors with actors and make up artists, but I’m sure they exist. There has to be a network outside of LA to connect all the people necessary to make a film. It’s not that hard. 

3. Screen testing.

Hollywood is all about the mass market. They don’t want to offend the soccer moms or the bible belt.  If indy film makers of the internet want to be able  to create content that attracts large audiences and by extension large ad buys, they have to create content that “tests well”. In order to do that, there has to be a cheap way of testing content with focus groups. Let’s create a service that allows filmmakers to get feedback on individual scenes to help them throw the editing process.

4. Community theatre

Movie theaters make all their money off of popcorn and Coke. I know because my first job was at a concession stand at Tinseltown 17. Hurray! Filling seats during the week is difficult, and a biopic about Edgar Allen Poe staring John Cusack isn’t going to help.  If there was a service that allowed the local movie goers to vote on which films, hollywood of indy, that were to be screened, it would help create new sources of content as well as boost attendance at theaters. Win win.

Anyway, if we are to create content alternatives to Paul Blart and King of Queens, the internet has to create services which bring down the cost of content creation for film makers. It’s going to happen. Let’s hope its just sooner rather than later. I for one am not looking forward to Battleship or any of the other “franchises” which pass for engaging moviemaking…