5 Daily Tech Stories That Filmmakers (and Film Fans) Must Read: Combating Piracy, Top Indies in iTunes and More
1. Pluto.TV Launches: A new free streaming platform launched today with the idea of bringing the experience of watching television to the web with 100 channels of curated content. There are a lot of competitors out there vying to establish a web video content brand, but this one boasts an impressive pedigree with investors and advisers including Terry Semel’s Windsor Media, UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer, ICM president and partner Chris Silbermann, rapper Nas, Interscope Records co-founder Tom Whalley, former ABC Entertainment president Jamie Tarses and UTA head of digital media Brent Weinstein, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
2. Crowdfunding Tip: There are currently over 33,000 films trying to raise funds on
Kickstarter alone. So how does an indie film get attention while crowdfunding? In the case of the independent feature
film “The Other Side,” the filmmakers created an interactive video to attract attention and stand out from the crowd. Read more about how they used new technology to create this innovative campaign video here.
3. Top Indies in iTunes: Oscar
winners “12 Years a Slave” and “Dallas Buyers Club” continue to
dominate the list of top 10 indies in the iTunes store, but new additions to the list include “August: Osage County” and “Mistaken for
Strangers.” Recent additions
“Nymphomaniac: Volume 1,” “Blood Ties” and “Cheap Thrills” have some
lasting power in their second week on the list. Read the full list here.
4. Amazon Studios: Amazon Studios is passing its network initiation by picking up its first
program for a second season, ordering six more pilots to series, and
canceling a previous high priority show. The digital distribution online
platform announced today that it has ordered a second season of the
John Goodman-starring “Alpha House,” about four Republican senators
shacking up together in Washington D.C. Production is set to begin in
the summer. Read more about the news in Ben Travers’ coverage here.
5. How to Fight Piracy: The New York Times profiles Ruth Vitale, the veteran film executive who was recently named executive director of CreativeFuture, a coalition
of movie and television producers, unions and companies that are determined to quash piracy and lead Hollywood into a successful digital future. While some say that the only way to combat piracy is to collapse theatrical windows and make new films available through a day-and-date strategy, Vitale disagrees. Instead, she blames the proliferation of piracy sites like Pirate Bay.
