From: konrad (email suppressed)
Date: Sun Aug 21 2005 - 12:33:19 PDT
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005, James Kreul wrote:
> But, at the risk of oversimplifying DIY, it seems like DIY is dependent on a
> very active audience who know what's out there and has relatively easy
> access to it, either by legitimate (Band CDs) or illegitimate means (mp3
> swaps or burned CDs). A lot of this is driven by a desire to find out what
> is new. It is less driven by a sense of historical inquiry.
Right, so increased availability through DVD/download would fuel
that desire/market. That's the idea. That's also why i suggest
that screenings should be very cheap, which serves the purposes
that Pip is concerned with. Anyway i have my doubts that gate
receipts, except maybe at festivals, make up a lrge percent of
any organization's budget.
> My first instinct would be to say that DVDs probably hurt
> Brakhage rentals but they could help contemporary rentals.
> So what does an organization devoted to distributing both
> kinds of films say when asked why they don't offer DVDs?
I think this is also an underlying aspect of the issue with the
co-op's that hasn't been mentioned: the Big Names basically
subsidize the organization. If those rentals go down without a
corresponding increase in anyone else, the whole thing tanks.
I think what you're saying is in accord with what i mean:
flatten out the demand by using the new media to draw attention
to other work, but at the same time skim some of the profits off
DVD sales to benefit (subsidize) the print collection.
> But, in terms of Brakhage, one could argue that all of those
> things [my suggestions James is responding to] have already
> been done by Criterion--it's not all of his work, notes are
> included, Fred C. talks about the importance of viewing the
> films, etc. I think the jury is still out in terms of the
> impact it has had on actually leading people back to the film
> prints.
Well, i was thinking of what Fred and Criterion did as a model
for how NOT to go to the Art World trough, whether the jury is
out or not on people seeking out the prints. They won't see
them at all if only collectors have them.
konrad
^Z
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.