From: Abina Manning (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Aug 25 2005 - 11:46:19 PDT
Hello to all
I have been following this thread with much interest, but did not
contribute before now because the conversation has been centred on
film distribution models. But following up on Konrad's request for
input about video distribution, I am happy to contribute with an
outline of the VDB.
We have non-exclusive contracts with the artists whose work we
acquire. We are principally aiming to promote their work, and
hopefully earn royalties for them. We enter into different license
agreements with clients depending on the rights we negotiate on the
artists' behalf, be it a classroom rental, a library sale, broadcast
transmission, a museum archive purchase, etc. On the whole, we don't
sell to individuals at home video prices and we are not set up as a
retailer. Our collections (some 5,000+ titles, of which around
2,000 are in active distribution) are kept on site and we dub, ship
and receive everything ourselves.
We can supply work on a number of formats: miniDV, DVD, Betacam, as
well as the soon to be obsolete VHS and 3/4 inch tape. We aim to
provide educators and others with extensive information on artists
and their work (we currently have over 1,200 QuickTime clips on our
website!), and we create themed programs and single artist
collections (see the newly released Soft Science program and the
Yvonne Rainer DVD collection highlighted on our website at
http://www.vdb.org!). In an attempt to stimulate the field, we
commission academics, critics and artists to write about video art,
hoping to affect a perceived lack of writing in this area. We carry
the work of many filmmakers who have decided to distribute on video
instead of, or as well as, film such as Jem Cohen, Jill Godmilow,
Daniel Eisenberg, Jennet Thomas, Peggy Ahwesh, to name a few.
There are things to worry about: I am aware that sometimes people
will dub a copy for themselves when we rent a tape to them (once a
major educational institution returned a tape to us with a post-it
still attached telling the technician to make a dub). I worry about
artists DVD's being sold in stores at individual prices being used
for public screenings, and the artist making no income from that
screening. We talk constantly about how to make works more
accessible, and how we can make them less expensive (though the
prices for video distribution have not gone up in 10 or more years,
we're aware that budgets have decreased. I am happy to try to help
educators frame an argument for increased budgets within their
institution). All of these circumstances are a part of our reality.
There seems to be a belief among some posters here that the video
format is much easier to handle than film, whereas in fact it has its
own inherent difficulties: achieving a good video and audio signal
takes time and skill. Believe me, quality control can keep a video
distributor awake at night! In fact, we have to deal with several
issues that are analogous to film - video is not a mere throwaway
format. Part of our practice is to archive our collection. We ask
artists to supply us with a beta copy of their work, from which we
strike a distribution copy. The original master is then archived in
a temperature-controlled environment. We have to deal with the
problem of degrading video images, and in fact many early video
recordings are in danger of being lost altogether. Over the past few
years, we have been working with several artists and collectives such
as the Videofreex with whom we are confronting these problems, having
gone back to early recordings to find that they are moldy, or the
adhesive used in the physical tape have dried out, causing magnetic
drop-out. Distributors and artists are collaborating to attempt to
preserve early works, and this is an ongoing, time consuming and
expensive project.
Looking to the future, I am tentatively optimistic about the
opportunities that streaming will offer, allowing one-off classroom
or cinema screenings, no shipping fees, less order fulfillment time,
etc. We cannot rest on our laurels: we have to be extremely
adaptable to the fast-shifting technological landscape in order to
stay vital. To paraphrase Dominic, VIDEO distribution is very
difficult, costly, and very challenging! We have to stay creative.
Best wishes
Abina (no L!)
-- Abina Manning Associate Director Video Data Bank The School of the Art Institute 3rd Floor, 112 S Michigan Avenue Chicago IL 60603 Tel: 312 345 3550 Fax: 312 541 8073 VISIT OUR WEBSITE AND ON-LINE CATALOGUE AT http://www.vdb.org It's constantly updated and features new work and new artists in distribution as well as videoclips and resources on video art. Our latest catalog is also available to download from the site as a PDF. __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.