04 Aug

Posted at 16:30h in Death of Hollywood

Relativity Media's descent into bankruptcy has been spiraling for many years, almost since its beginning according to some analysts. When the company first emerged back in 2004, it was greeted with a mixture of high hope and deep doubt. Relativity promised new approaches and a vague claim to modern...

19 Dec

Posted at 15:59h in Death of Hollywood

There is an old Hollywood joke about a studio called Miracle Pictures. The punchline is the company's motto: “If it's good, it's a Miracle.”

Sony can now change their name. As the fallout continues over the massive hack of data from Sony Pictures, the damage will reach levels that presumably will weaken – if not demolish – any chance for Sony to effectively continue doing business in the film industry. Right now it is hard to assess the damage accurately only because it is still under way and the whole thing resembles a slow motion train wreak with boxcars still flying through the air.

11 Oct

Posted at 14:40h in Death of Hollywood, Digital Revolution
Harvey Weinstein has scored a first. He has succeeded in getting a movie shut out of theaters before it is even finished being made. In the past, he at least waited until the MPAA got a look at it. I can't wait to see the fit he will throw this time. Especially since the issue will effect the entire future of film distribution. With his recent announcement that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend will be simultaneously released on both Netflix (via video on demand) and IMAX (to theaters), Weinstein has just fired the biggest shot yet in the rapidly emerging war for digital distribution. The response has been incredible. The three biggest theater chains have all announced their intentions to not show the film. In turn, the parent company of the AMC theater chain, the Chinese firm Dalian Wanda, is hinting that they might also refuse to show the movie in China. Not since 2006, when Steven Soderbergh tried to release the film Bubble on the same day to both theaters and cable TV, has there been such a massive negative reaction. But Weinstein is extremely committed to pursuing the digital approach. Less widely reported is the current handling by The Weinstein Company of the British film One Chance. Before its national release on October 10, the movie is being made available on Yahoo! Screen. Viewer response to this movie has been slightly more positive than the critical reviews, and the advanced digital release just might create some positive word of mouth for the title.

24 Sep

Posted at 05:40h in Death of Hollywood, Film Fundamentals
A few months back, I mentioned a theory that was floating on the fringes of the film business. It's the idea that 2015 will be the year Hollywood implodes. To be honest, I only gave the notion half a thought. After all, we have gone through more doomsday predictions than a season's worth of Doctor Who episodes. I hear there are still a few people living off of their stockpile of canned goods left over from Y2K. So I have not been inclined to give much thought to the 2015 theory. However, it has a point. In fact, it is starting to feel like a grim inevitability. Now that the summer box office is being viewed as a financial disaster and the major companies are slowly rolling their way through a restructuring of executive staff as well as massive lay offs, the 2015 effect is starting to sound pretty reasonable. The 2015 theory is quite straightforward....

20 Aug

Posted at 02:09h in Death of Hollywood, Dennis Toth, Digital Revolution, Film Elements, Film Fundamentals
Proclaiming the death of cinema has become a popular pastime. Jean-Luc Godard has been announcing the death of cinema for over 40 years. So he was bound to be right eventually. Perhaps the time has arrived. Several years ago, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg warned of the end of Hollywood. OK, they were mostly focused on the current Hollywood business model and its possible implosion. Last Spring, Quentin Tarantino produced a stir at Cannes with his death of cinema pronouncement. However, he was mostly complaining about digital projection while having a nostalgic fit on behalf of old-fashioned celluloid. To be honest, Tarantino sounded as if he still used a rotary phone and an old Philco TV set. Now, with his recent lecture at Pietrasanta in northern Italy, British filmmaker Peter Greenaway gives a much more detailed and provocative argument for the end of cinema. In some ways, Greenaway's remarks are closer to the Lucas/Spielberg perspective. But he goes much further. It isn't just the business model that is broken. It's everything. Specifically, Greenaway is focused on the greater aesthetic changes taking place due to the digital revolution. The traditional movie theater is fading from its importance. The concept of the screen is changing as the standard movie model is replaced by multiple types of “screens,” from laptops to smart phones. The entire model of production and distribution is evolving