5 Daily Tech Stories That Filmmakers (and Film Fans) Must Read: Get Your ‘Cheap Thrills’ BitTorrent Bundle, Happy Birthday Twitter and More
1. Netflix: Netflix, which reportedly accounts for nearly 30% of all
Internet
traffic during peak traffic, recently sealed a deal with Comcast to
ensure faster and
steadier access to Comcast’s subscribers. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings
recently said he is concerned about the precedent the deal is setting.
On a company blog post, Hastings wrote: “Some big ISPs are extracting a toll because they can — they effectively
control access to millions of consumers and are willing to sacrifice
the interests of their own customers to press Netflix and others to pay. Read more about the news here.
2. Twitter:
Happy Birthday, Twitter! In honor of the social media service’s 8th
birthday, Mashable lists the 10 Most-Followed Twitter Accounts. Don’t
you find it a little depressing that President Obama comes in third
after Katy Perry and Justine Bieber? At least he tops Lady Gaga, who is
in the fourth spot. See the full list here.
3. “Cheap Thrills:” The twisted dark comedy “Cheap Thrills” hits theaters and VOD platforms
today and now, in partnership with the film’s distributor Drafthouse
Films, BitTorrent has unveiled “The Cheap Thrills” Bundle. By sharing the website on Twitter, stars Pat Healy,
Ethan Embry, producer Travis Stevens and Drafthouse Films CEO Tim League
will be one step closer to having to execute one of the many
electrifying acts as part of a “Share to Dare” campaign. Once they are “unlocked” by a set number of social media
shares, video and photographic evidence will be released. Read more about the news here.
4. Kickstarter: Usually when filmmakers turn to crowdfunding, they’re looking for
backing to make a film, but in the case of veteran indie director
Alexandre Rockwell (“In The Soup”), he turned to Kickstarter after his
latest film “Little Feet” was picked up for distribution. The catch is that the distribution deal is
contingent on Rockwell being able to pay for music rights as well as
other post-production expenses. Rockwell is trying to raise the $35,000 necessary through his recently launched Kickstarter campaign. Read more here.
5. iPhone App: A new iPhone app honors Sarah Jones, the camera assistant who died last month on the set of “Midnight Rider.” As part of the “Slates for Sarah” campaign, film professionals from around have been memorializing Jones by
marking their production camera slates with “For Sarah Jones”, “For
Sarah”, and “RIP Sarah.” Now the MovieSlate app has added a feature where you can remember Sarah by adding your own message to a clapper stick. Read more about it here.
