February 20, 2006
free dvd’s?
So, do you think there is any merit in the idea of Sony giving away 2,000 “Young Adam” DVDs to bloggers? I mean, they cost about 40
Hugh MacLeod
I'm a cartoonist.
I sell limited-edition prints.
I wrote a book.
I'm CEO of Stormhoek USA, which markets South African wine in the States.
I also draw private commissions.
Prints |
Opening | Current |
|---|---|---|
Bluetrain |
$900 | |
We Need to Talk |
$650 | |
Portfolio #2 |
$300 | |
NY NY |
$275 |
i dunno, can the tracks be played on podcasts? that’d be a factor. but even so, i’m not thinking that bloggers can be bought off so cheap.
I reckon it would cost more in postage than production…
Hugh,
I think it’s a great idea. I’m a trial lawyer and collected a bunch of PowerPoint examples from other lawyers and give the collection away for free to other lawyers. All I ask for in return is for them to contribute an example for their fellow lawyers.
We pressed the disk last May and have given away nearly 900 disks so far. That’s a lot of exposure for a sole practitioner.
The link for the disk giveaway is here Free PowerPoint Examples Plaintiffs Lawyer
I’ll have one.
It’s worth a shot.
I’d be interested to see more corporations getting amongst the blogs and bloggers if only to see how the bloggers react.
The day is already upon us when you overhear someone say..
“Oh, I read it on a blog”
Plus I don’t think of it as buying the bloggers off, as the blogger has the choice to review it under their own terms.
What Sony wants is mass circulation of the band, than other channels such as web ads etc.
In the long run cd’s for bloggers turns out a cheaper option than direct advertising.
band = movie
Hugh I recall you talking about the script, did they end up changing anything in the script based on peoples comments?
It’s got to be worth a try.
If you mean a full DVD of the movie, then I’d say yes. The amount of worldwide buzz that would generate for what’s essentially a low-budget Scottish film would be phenomenal.
If you mean the soundtrack, good though it is, not so much.
Maybe they include Sony’s nice rootkit technology as well.….
Install a ncie hidden application on a bunch of bloggers machines.… Perhaps a little cynical
I’m waiting to see the new script on “Hallum Foe”…
But I have this thing out Young Adam. I want people to see it, period.
That would be very nice. I’ve been trying to locate the DVD in brick-and-mortar stores where I live, but to no avail. Would be good to see what Hugh and others have been raving about.
Releasing an official, Sony-tracked torrent of the movie would make its mass distribution to bloggers even easier than giving out physical CDs. And you reach a different niche.
It was the most criminally ignored films of the last few years. I loved it and I’m especially glad I didn’t see the trailer beforehand.
I dunno, maybe.
Based on all the blogging you did about the film, I rented it shortly after it became available at my local video store. It was a good film, though not in my top ten list. The point is, I guess, that I rented it based on a blogger’s recomendation. But I don’t think I feel compelled to own it.
On the other hand, I don’t really feel compelled to own copies of *any* films anymore. I’ve got netflix… I can pretty much see anything I want to (or see it again) any time. So why clutter my shelf space?
I think a better model would be to offer bloggers a free download of the film. No postage, no disc, just some server space for Sony and some bandwidth on the blogger’s end. I guess yw suggests the same above. Yeah, a torrent would be the better delivery mechanism, and would, as yw points out, allow for tracking.
Or offer a code to get the movie from netflix for no charge, in addition to the normal subscription a blogger might have (ie: I’m on the 3 movies at a time plan. I’d probably watch it again if it meant I got 4 movies at once this week).
Good idea in theory but the cost is more than 40c when you take into account residual payments and music mechanicals. Most contracts around film and music products will incorporate an allowance for promotional copies but i think an additional 2000 copies would not fallwithin that remit so the third parties would need to be be paid or individually signed up to a new agreement.
So John, what does that drive the price up to? 50 cents? 60 cents?
Being Sony I wouldn’t consider the idea. No offense to your friend who made the movie or you Hugh, but Sony has burned so much credablity between the DRM issue they could give me free money and I’d be looking for a catch.
I simply don’t trust them as a company.
I can’t give you a definitive answer but I wouldn’t be surprised if its more than the 50% increase in your costs that you suggest. It depends on the deals the performers cut and how much original music is on the soundtrack, ie individual songs. They all get a cut per sale so it might mount up.
Being Sony, absolutely not.
Too Bad for young adam
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Check it out! Nike’s new TV commercial.
This is what playing football should look like!
Nike’s going insane with it’s new campaign for the World Cup 2006, in
Germany. Check out this commercial, first of eigth! The next vids should be
even better.
http://www.nk6.com.br/jogabonito
By the way, ‘Joga Bonito’ means Play Beautiful in Portuguese (brazilian)…
Check it out! Nike’s new TV commercial.
This is what playing football should look like!
Nike’s going insane with it’s new campaign for the World Cup 2006, in
Germany. Check out this commercial, first of eigth! The next vids should be
even better.
http://www.nk6.com.br/jogabonito
By the way, ‘Joga Bonito’ means Play Beautiful in Portuguese (brazilian)…
Check it out! Nike’s new TV commercial.
This is what playing football should look like!
Nike’s going insane with it’s new campaign for the World Cup 2006, in
Germany. Check out this commercial, first of eigth! The next vids should be
even better.
http://www.nk6.com.br/jogabonito
By the way, ‘Joga Bonito’ means Play Beautiful in Portuguese (brazilian)…
Isn’t comment spam so cute and obvious, er or not.
Yeah. Release 2,000 DVDs into the wild, prior to the release of the film. (Too late int this case, I suppose, but Mark Cuban is seliing DVDS in the theatre as patrons leave. Smart or what?) As long as the DRM is removed in order that bloggers might do with it what they will i.e. an enhanced podcast/review of the film. Or better, give a point of focus to the release. A “Make a Movie Trailer Contest.” Let the director pick the open source designed movie trailer that best captures the spirit of the film. Existing trailers are formulaic to the point of off-putting. Or, movies seem to be made with a 90 second trailer in mind. You get the drift. Still could be done in this case. Films have a life beyond theatrical release of course.
Yo Hugh…
If you’re asking, ‘Roy, do you want me to put your name top of the list of people to receive a free copy of Young Adam signed by David Mackenzie?’, then the answer is: Roy Blumenthal, PO Box 532, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa.
If you’re asking, ‘Is this a good marketing tool for a filmmaker?’, the answer is two-fold: (1) It’s a disengenuous, manipulative question, cos you’ve already engaged the self-serving interests of anyone considering answering the question, and you KNOW that this is a topic that will generate heated discussion, and (2) I don’t know if bloggers’ opinions on films make MUCH of a difference in the world of aesthetic reception.
So, answer (1) to question-framing 2, my self-interest: I’m not feeling highly objective about answering. I LIKED the film, but I hated the title. It still makes no sense to me, years later, even though I intellectually understand some of the resonances. For me, it fatally weakens the film to such an extent that I walked out of the cinema going, ‘Why the hell did he call it ‘Young Adam??? Surely that must have been a working title that mistakenly STUCK to the film???’ Instead, I should have been telling all my friends to see the thing.
Do I wanna own the DVD? Sure! It might have a making of, or a commentary, or something that I can learn from as a filmmaker myself.
Will my owning the DVD make any difference to David as a filmmaker? I dunno. Sure, I know a lot of South African filmmakers. We hang out occasionally, and I’m vociferous about spreading my opinions to them. And blah blah blah. But we’re all ‘geniuses in our own back gardens’, so do we really care about opinions? I dunno.
Addressing the second answer to the second framing: We ALL know that getting David’s name mentioned in blogs is a great way of getting his Google-worth to improve, and that MUST be good for his career. Maybe Hollywood will Google him and be impressed. But I somehow doubt that.
The short answer: No, it’s not a bad idea to give out 2000 free DVDs. Cos it’s a contained, predictable cost, that MIGHT have huge upside at best, and at worst will improve David’s visibility in the eyes of the public, which is not bad at all.
My address again: Roy Blumenthal, PO Box 532, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa.
Heheheheheh.
Blue skies
love
Roy
Don’t people get the ‘marketing disruption’ concept yet? It’s not about buying bloggers, bloggers selling out, or bloggers’ opinions on films having an impact on aesthetic reception. You’re creating a story, an environment for a conversation to take place, internally within an organization and everything it traditionally touches, which creates all manner of indirect benefits. Given that so many people don’t trust Sony — this would be perfect for Sony themselves to participate in that process.
Liam,
The problem is your asking someone to take a disc from a company that just had a major scandal over loading rootkit software on their discs, would you honestly trust anything they sent you? Fool me once…
If they opened other avenues of contact and worked to rebuild trust then offered a DVD it might be productive, but right now they need to start substantive efforts to interact with the ir customer base and some giveaways don’t qualify in my mind, just my $.02
I know Thomas, but I believe a conversation involving the very thing they fecked up could address the matter quite quickly. And they could get around the trust issue in this specific case by distributing via CinemaNow or Starz or whoever, and issuing keys for once-off downloads. They might never get around the long-term damage they did though especially with people who now object to anything they do.
Good idea. I’m looking to do something similar BUT GOING ONE STEP FURTHER.
To get funding for my new film through advertising on the final release. Then I can give it away for free?
Tim, that kinda what the James Bond films do… except the cinema goer still has to pay
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