HOARDABILITY: music, compression, conferences, and drama
:: SITES
WHAT: Where music goes film follows. The music industry has been ahead of the film industry for years - in terms of technology, failed business models, and musicians going direct to audiences. In recent years, discovery has become a major focus (LastFM, Pandora). The Sixty One takes discovery a step further by combining gaming and community to create an addictive social discovery mechanism for music.
WHY: With so much content vying for audience attention - the music, film, and gaming industry are all in a similar position when it comes to discovery. The new discovery models for film could very well come from other industries.
:: TOOLS
WHAT: Movavi’s online video converter is a free way to convert your short form videos to a number of formats (AVI, mp4, mpeg-2, 3gp, mov, flv, mp3, wma).
WHY: It can be a hassle to convert video to various video formats. Movavi Online Convert is free and enables simple conversions of various formats for online playback and mobile devices.
:: EVENTS
WHAT: Much has been written about the erosion of the independent film business over the last year. We have seen the shuttering of various distribution companies, poor box office for specialty films, a reduction of shelf space - not to mention the complete saturation of films in the market due to the democratization of the tools. We all know the problems, but where are the evasive new business models? THE CONVERSATION (San Francisco 10.17 & 10.18) and POWER TO THE PIXEL (London 10.22 to 10.24) are two gatherings that will attempt to address these very issues.
WHY: THE CONVERSATION and POWER TO THE PIXEL bring together innovators and filmmakers from all over the world for discussion and debate about the future of the industry.
http://powertothepixel.com For those in London
htttp://theconversationspot.com For those in San Francisco
RELATED: Interview with Conversation founder Scott Kirsner
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:: WATCH
WHAT: Ballast synopsis: In the cold, winter light of a rural Mississippi Delta township, a man’s suicide radically transforms three characters’ lives and throws off-balance what has long been a static arrangement among them. Marlee is a single mother struggling to scratch a living for herself and James, her 12-year-old son, who has begun to stumble under drug and violence pressures. So when the opportunity to seek safe harbor at a new home arises, she grabs it, though the property is shared by Lawrence, a man with whom Marlee has feuded bitterly since James’s birth. With circumstances thrusting them into proximity, a subtle interdependence and common purpose emerge for Marlee and Lawrence as they navigate grief, test new waters, and tentatively move forward.
WHY: Ballast is a powerful film that needs to be seen in a theater. Not to mention that the film’s self distribution efforts need your support.
For the last few months I have been researching various sites like these and The Workbook Project. I thank the powers that be for creating this as I truly believe that Digital Distribution and its various Business Models will figure itself out. The 70’s indy film movement will have nothing on the digital movement. I have collected lots of sites in my Delicious account that can be found here: Delicious.com/Mental.Eclectic. Please share any sites with me that I may not have discovered.
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