Microsoft & Amazon are sponsoring 1,000 indie films on HD DVD
By Richard Lawler 
posted Jul 2nd 2007 6:12PM
posted Jul 2nd 2007 6:12PM
Indie filmmakers have an easy in to sell high definition movies, as Amazon and Microsoft have teamed up with CustomFlix to provide free authoring and setup (normally $499) for up to 1,000 titles. CustomFlix will then sell the titles through Amazon using its DVD on Demand service, which produces DVDs to order. Filmmakers don't have to worry about managing inventory and can get their product to customers quickly. CustomFlix has been selling HD DVD, Blu-ray and WMV-HD flicks for a while now, but says HD DVD "fits its business model perfectly." HD DVD might not have all of the major studio supporters of Blu-ray, but maybe cheaper players and a wide variety of content can tip the balance its way.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Great news for the HD DVD
I have been extolling the promise of Microsoft and Toshiba's financial soundness as reasons for HD-DVD eventually prevailing. This is the first of many salvos to come from HD-DVD - much more substantive than Blockbuster renting out your films. HD-DVD owners are likely to be more high-income "film" watchers (not just popcorn movie watchers, not that there's anything wrong with that) and generate sales of these Indie flicks. That means they buy the recently discounted Toshiba HD-DVD player or add the HD-DVD player to their XBOX and than buy these Indie flicks and the occasional movie at Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, well you get the idea.
I contend the Blu-Ray group does not have the financial health to do this. Amazon has jumped into this camp (though I am quite sure they'll sell Blu-Ray discs until the format dies or becomes a data storage solution only) and they're in it to make money.
Ah, Sundance, Caanes, and Tribeca - all available on HD-DVD.
"until the format dies or becomes a data storage solution only"
LOL, the hd dud fanboys are really desperete alredy :D
Yes. Finally. I can't wait until I can watch All Ships at Sea- a story about two adult sisters, one a refugee from a religious cult, the other a Catholic professor of theology, are reunited after many years, discuss their beliefs and their oppressive childhood, and try to reestablish their relationship and other indie titles in 1080p glory.
I'm sorry- but this is not exciting news and I don't think the Sony boys are quivering in the pants. Most people who are interested in blu-ray/HD-DVD want to buy into the new formats to watch the Matrix, Spider Man or other recent films. Another advantage of both formats is the superior sound so people watching at home can hear the explosions and planes coming from behind.
I do not need 7.1 sound to hear two sisters talking. Don't get me wrong- I'm not against it and in fact I applaud making such movies available- but aside from the snobbery of the initial response about the "popcorn crowd"- today's news will not cause a rush to buy HD-DVD players.
This is cool but not really an issue for any movie that would make it to "Sundance, Caanes, or Tribeca"
The people who watch "films" aren't really a mass market. Those same people stayed with laser disk becuase it had no compression, thus better video quality.
This is good it may get a lot of films seen in high def that might not have been seen at all.
It will pair well with netfilx's willingness to let indie filmmakers distribite via netflix.
Of course the BD alliance can afford this, 1 million in mastering fees waived for 1000 movies is small change for the combined columbia, MGM, Fox, Disney(Buena Vista, Sony screen gems etc...
Typically they do better than that. If a film is worthwhile it gets picked up and distributed. So insetad of just getting a marginal release on a fledgling format it will get a theatrical release, a dvd and a blueray. The members of the BD association can do this 1 because they have money. 2 They are mostly MOVIE studios and stand to profit greatly by purchaing worthwhile independent content and profiting off it's release.
Not to knock anyone supporting the smaller indie films, like student projects. It's just not really important to the format war at all. Movies of any commercial quality are bought by studios.
Take the #1 selling title on both formats, which is the BBC's "Planet Earth." It didn't get theatrical distribution, and it doesn't appeal to the same popcorn market that would buy "Stealth" or "Ghost Rider."
Don't under-estimate the "long tail" of content -- that is precisely what Amazon (and CustomFlix) are set up to profit from.
This is good for HDDVD in terms of providing more content. More content is always better. But this will have little affect on the format war unless suddenly these sorts of movies become very popular or draw significant interest. In which case a studio is likely going to pick up distribution rights and go from there.
I most certainly am not a "fanboy." One must take a hard look at the financials and understand that Sony CANNOT continue to lose nearly $100M per month on PS3 and other problems and be the keystone for Blu-Ray technology. It does have a lot of great features, but they made a few bad choices including hanging their hat on the PS3 (I can literally show you 2 pallets full at a local store) and the "features" controls. Oh, and pricing.
So you understand: Everyone involved in HD-DVD is doing well. Microsoft, cash rich, Toshiba: making a concerted effort to lower the prices of its units through economies of scale. Amazon/Clix: getting high-end viewers who WILL choose the format to see these films.
Look, the PS3 is a great console, but it has failed. Sony is no longer in the top 10 most valuable companies in Japan (displaced by Nintendo no less) and lost $2B last year and are down almost a $1B in operating income this year. They're laying off folks at SCEA. They do have Blockbuster, but that's pretty negligible - folks aren't lining up at the rental stores like they used to.
"Follow the money" DeepThroat, from All the President's Men, applies in this case. Microsoft is waking up and flexing its muscles. MS could spend Sony et al into the ground without blinking. I think this latest move shows Microsoft needs this technology to win and Bill Gates' competitive nature is emerging. Summary: high-end movies equals high end users and buyers of equipment setting the stage for an installed base to support lower priced units that will be practical after Toshiba and HP put HD-DVD drives into their laptops achieving said economies of scale. Can you point to similar facts in the case of Blu-Ray? No, you cannot. But, you can hold on to the dream.
Who cares about Sony losing money? Its the format that has to survive...
Microsoft could really push this format by allowing some of these movies to be downloaded off their marketplace and they have a button there that says burn this movie to HD-DVD right in the interface.
ZOMG This is going to end zee WAR!!!
OK reality check... this will not help HD-DVD in the least bit. Silly fanboys.
The people who like these indies are hippy and poor and probably don't own an HDTV, let alone an HD-DVD player. That is why they go to dollar flicks to see these POS movies. This will not tip the scales. It will not even cause a ripple in the waters of the format war.
If you really wanna see HD-DVD win, you better start convincing them to get some more studio support FAST. Content is king, and BD has the studios lined up. It's just a matter of time before UNIVERSAL breaks ranks and supports BD too. Then it's over.
MS only wants the war to be prolonged in order to strengthen movie delivery via downloads. They have made it no secret that they feel downloading will dominate disc based movies in a few years. By keeping the war going, they ensure that no one format wins.
I hate SONY as much as the next person, but BD is a coalition, not just SONY. They did the R&D on the format but much input from many other CE companies went into it as well.
As it stands, the quicker path to one format is backing BD right now. HD-DVD backers are pissing in the wind hoping for a landslide announcement that will tip the scales. This was not it and it's not going to happen.
someof the best films i have seen are indie, take pulp fiction, one flew over the cuckoos nest, little miss sunshine, the graduate, lock stock and two smoking barrels etc etc etc, there hundreds and none fo these brilliant films would see the light of day if it wasnt for some support from the industry. microsoft and amazon well done. and to think the next wave of amazing indie films will showcase on HDDVD and not bluray could have a massive swing for HDDVD dont underestimate content! after all the wii is on DVD and ps3 os on Bluray is anyone bothered about that???
This is exciting news. I like indie films, this could really make my HD DVD collection grow. Another reason I bought HD DVD is the price, including the price of making movies.
I doubt it will change the format war too much except that in a few months Amazon will have 1000+ movies listed for HD DVD.
I guess some of you guys are brighter than the marketing gurus at Microsoft, Amazon, HP, Toshiba, etc... Hmmm, nah. I really don't mean to be pejorative, but frankly the Indies have had a profound impact on Hollywood and the world. Words describing Indie viewers: "trend setters, affluent, early adopters." I didn't find anything about being poor or hippies. I guess my 5 years in media research gives me a wee little bit more insight. These aren't gut reactions or intuition, it's clear and solid market research done by powerhouses like Microsoft and Amazon.
Source: The Independent Film Channel/Mediamark Research, Spring 2000
"Over the last decade, every major studio has bought or established an art-house division (Paramount Classics, Sony Pictures Classics, Fox Searchlight, etc.), in an attempt to win some of this market. As the majors have gotten involved in the production and distribution of indies, budgets for some indies have increased, and the line between independent and studio releases has gotten fuzzier. Indies have become so mainstream that they "now form an industry that runs not so much against Hollywood, as parallel to Hollywood," writes Emanuel Levy in his recent book Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film.
Viewers of the Independent Film Channel tend to be young, well-educated, and affluent.
While attendance at New York City's Film Forum has risen from 250,000 three years ago to more than 300,000 last year, it's not only sophisticates who are creating this wave of interest in indies.
It's not only demographics that distinguish indie film fans from the masses who flock to Sandra Bullock's latest tour de force. Research indicates the audience is also different psychographically. They are early adopters and trend-setters."
@007baf
I hope you're not an HD-DVD fanboy and a James Bond one... Not the greatest combination.
007baf i agree with your comments but i feel you shouldnt immdiatly believe you are more qualified to discuss this than anyone else, because you have 5 years of media studies it doesnt smean you know what your taking about any better than anyone else here, after all, the majority of you comments are quotes and not a self opinion, and most of the people here were defending the stance that microsoft and amazon have taken, and your comments lean more towards art house side of things, not really the overall independant side of movies
"Viewers of the Independent Film Channel tend to be young, well-educated, and affluent"
yes but veiwers of indie movies can be anyone who enjoys a good movie like say, Clerks, to Kill Bill each an independant movie and not the kind of thing shown on Independant film channel in general, your comments are wwell informed but you yourself seem to take comments from other media outlets out of context, and believe the quotes were for all independant movies in general.
Now that's how you save a dying format, perhaps another thousand foreign films will help too.
I am a HUGE James Bond fan and it crushes me that it's only on Blu-Ray! Very perceptive! ROTFL! But, even Sony Pix will come around - they'll have to face the music and publish in HD-DVD. In fact, that could help them recover from the PS3 hemorrhaging that the company is suffering.
See, this sort of illustrates that I'm not a "fan-boy," just used to the biz and military world's use of facts vs anecdotal evidence. My screen name is based on the serial number of my, you got it, Walther PPK handgun used by Bond in the films. I had to have the gun because of the rare serial number. I have a P99-QA like the new Bond also.
PS - I don't mean to suggest one can't express one's own opinion, but analysis and opinion is better backed up with facts vs pure instinct (though instinct might direct you down the right road).
I love Engadget because you get really great points of view expressed. And you're right about anyone enjoying any type of film. My key point here is that these affluent, early adopters do indeed set the trend. They watch all kinds of movies, ergo if they want Indie flicks, they're going to buy an HD-DVD (even though it doesn't have the action of the Matrix, they will show the sweat glistening on the worker's face or the vibrant colors of a sunset, etc...) and the player to go with. Next comes needing a laptop with the HD-DVD, I think you can see the logic trail.
The superior nature of Blu-Rays' storage capability isn't really that important when you can buy a 1.5 TB backup drive today. Just another thought.
This sounds like pure quantity over quality rubbish to me. When you read the fine print, it says 'qualifying independent film makers'. What does that mean? To me, it means all the rubbish that can't get into Cannes or Sundance, and can't get picked up by a major distributer anyway. Blu-ray already has great, quality indie material coming from the likes of Magnolia Home Entertainment, R&B Films, and now Starz Home Entertainment (Anchor Bay) and Exoptron. Do we really need the 'let's get a thousand Beautiful Landscapes titles out so we can claim "we have 2,000 titles!" ' sort of rubbish?
Let them have it, and remember, Amazon distributes Blu-ray titles through this service as well. Anyone who believes that Palm D'Or winners will be distributed through a deal like this is truly an idiot with blinders on.
007baf- You are a fanboy and a troll. You don't have any factually strong arguments so you use a strawman argument to make it seem like BD is in trouble when in fact it is doing very well.
The ps3 lost 2 billion dollar over christmas but Sony over all made over half a billion dollars at that time. Hmmm... where could they have been making money? I guess it must be from a magical fountain because if you say it was the motion picture division your arguments crumble.
You in fact are a fanboy and a troll. You hate Sony and pick on blueray because you hate Sony. Since BD is associate with Sony you hate that also. So follow the money as you say, and determine why Sony could lose 2 billion and turn a profit.
I'm glad you have 5 years in media research. I'd be veery happy to never use the comapny that you are an analysist for. You are trying to tie the relative failure of the gaming console to the relative sucess of a movie format. The raw unit sales show support for bluray is quite strong.
The amount and type of content are also strong. The most telling feature is that most major movie studios are backing blueray. It is possible the MS may turn a HAIL MARY play and somehow figure out how to make a profit in home entertainment. They never have. That is a FIRM reason I have little faith in them at this point.
Sony has had many sucessful media formats promoted and it looks like blue ray will be the next for them. They worked hard to secure content that people will want to see from major players and help them set good profit margins.
HD-DVD is all alone in the world. Sony could drop out of BD and it woudl survive. The same could be said for any other player, samsung, lite-on,disney, apple, fox.
If universal drops HD-DVD it is dead. The same for Toshiba.
HD-DVD isn't dead but as a media analyist with 5 years experience, should you have noticed that HD-DVD is trying to secure nich markets without capturing the mass market? You shoudl also know that is pretty bad.
Successful formats from SONY???? Like BETAMAX, SACD, Mini Disc, Memory Sticks and UMD's??
Took them long enough but I do think BD will finally be the first winning format for SONY. They will nail the coffin with a PS3 price drop prior to holiday season. Then we can finally move on with one HD format.
A little update:
From VNUNET.com:
"The market is currently split between firms backing Blu-ray, led by Sony, and firms backing HD-DVD, led by companies including Toshiba, Intel and Microsoft.
European Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told Reuters: "We have sent a request for information to a number of studios concerning possible discrimination against one or other DVD format.
"We are at the stage of basic fact-finding, and have not yet opened a formal investigation."
The Commission is particularly interested in why so many studios went for the Blu-ray format exclusively." Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2193404/deadline-looms-eu-hd-dvd-blu
This says to me the "investigation" is geared towards Blu-Ray. Sony is cooperating, but the bottom line could require the studios to support both formats. Is it game over? Probably not, but it sure makes things difficult.
From Forbes: Sony's computer entertainment unit posted a $2 billion loss on sales of $8.6 billion during the company's 2006 fiscal year. (Not over Christmas - they would have had to shut the company down, not too likely).
I'm not sure what the personal attacks are about - do you own a bunch of stock in Sony and hoping it gets back the 10 points it has lost recently?
For the record I have Sony equipment including a great camera, a few crappy video cameras, and a non-functional Sony Clie. I don't hate Sony. The fact is the "format war" is heating up in subtleties and Microsoft is getting energized.