TIME FOR INDEPENDENTS?

As Hollywood is prepping for recession, cuts will come.

NBC Universal sent a clear signal last week, dropping $500 million from its 2009 budget and Paramount sharply realigned its release schedule. Many other companies will surely follow suit. As jobs are lost and paydays cut, the coming months could plunge the industry into a recession resulting in less production and less content for all outlets crying for programming.

We've all lived through recessions before, but this one is somehow more ominous. For one thing, it's global. Even tiny countries like Iceland have run out of money.

In addition, there's no one at the controls. Historians will probably award the final days of the Bush Era an "A" for Anarchy. The economy is being run by a fraternity of dorks from Goldman Sachs who have spent their careers padding their own bonuses and constructing golden parachutes rather than pondering monetary policy.

The CEOs of the major congloms in the entertainment industry are themselves insecure about their business models as the Internet and digital projection promise great change. Is this a moment to steady the course or, conversely, should some basic -- indeed cosmic -- changes be added to the agenda?

READ MORE - "Final results of recession not necessarily bad" by PETER BART - http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117994607.html?categoryid=1&cs=1
© 2008, Stanley Lozowski, All Rights Reserved. and
© 2008, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ribbit Films’ Motion Green Screen Gets Higher Click Through Rate

Ribbit Films is the leader in high-def green screen motion stock footage. It is observing a strong shift towards video and motion formats in the world of internet advertising. The marriage of video with interactivity poses a great opportunity for advertisers to reach web surfing consumers in an effective new way.

Researchers find much higher click through rates with various forms of video advertising over stationary images. The click-through rate for online video ads up to four times greater, depending on the video format, than the click-through rate for plain GIF or JPG image ads according to DoubleClick data.

As creators of green screen motion stock footage, an increasingly popular resource for internet advertising programmers, Navarre Joseph (president of Ribbit Films) predicted this shift in advertising after opening his company in 2004. “When we first started, we were at the beginning cusp of high-def and web viewed TV programming,” Navarre Joseph said. “It’s no surprise that innovative motion advertising is becoming the medium of choice for internet advertisers. It drives brand awareness and sales so much better. . . when starring at a still computer screen, live action motion ads catch the eye really well, and advertisers have really begun to understand this.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE by http://blog.digitalcontentproducer.com/briefingroom/2008/08/06/ribbit-films-motion-green-screen-gets-higher-click-through-rate/

© 2006 Penton Media, Inc.

MOVIE MONEY: WHERE IT IS & HOW TO GET IT

Protecting Your Internet Distribution Rights

An internet distributor (“Distributor”) wants to exhibit your movie or program (“product”) over the internet on its website and provides you with its “standard” distribution agreement.

Of course, you are flattered, but now what do you do? First, check with your partners, colleagues, and business and legal advisors to determine if the internet is your first choice for exposing your product.

There are a number of issues to consider in this arena including your collective analysis as to whether or not theatrical, television, video, ancillary and international distribution of your product are available options, the costs and expenses associated with traditional distribution means, and whether or not the genre, subject matter and quality of your product is appropriate for internet exploitation.

Once you have determined that the internet route is indeed right for your product, there are some key issues to consider; everything is negotiable.

The Key issues being: The Grant of Rights, Exclusivity, Crosslinks, Territory, Licensing Period, License Fee/Payment Terms/Audit

CLICK HERE to READ MORE: http://www.medialawyer.com/RIGHTART.htm

© 2000 by Harris E. Tulchin. All Rights Reserved