‘Sicko’ downloads making their rounds
Right now, I’m watching Michael Moore’s “Sicko” on Google Video. Good documentary with the usual hard-left slant on the reporting. Video quality is just OK, of course.
A high-quality DVD screener (DVDSCR) copy is widely available on BitTorrent outlets. The Google download is a no-hassle, zero risk way to see the film. As of this writing, it’s located at this Google Video url. If that link goes dead, use the search or just nose around.
Moore has said “I don’t have a problem” with P2P sharing of his films, as long as the networkers aren’t making money. “I do quite well,” he explained. “I make these movies because I want things to change.” He compared it to someone lending a DVD to a friend.
In this case, though, “Sicko” has another week and half until it makes it to U.S. theaters. Moore’s backers at The Weinstein Company may not be so enthused.
Update: Lionsgate, the distributor of “Sicko,” said Tuesday it would open the film on one AMC screen in New York this Friday, a week before the wide premiere. A Weinstein exec told The New York Times that the move was not related to the premature Internet distribution of the film.
Update: “Sicko” is set for Sicko
Studios, vid biz gather to scratch their heads
The movie and video industries trotted out their latest thinking on beating back free P2P formats during the recent Digital Hollywood conference.
They see the pain-in-the-ass factor of P2P networks such as BitTorrent as a major opportunity for sales of legal downloads. “Free is really not free,” said David Caulton, of Microsoft. “It takes a lot of time (to download) and the quality may not be great. BitTorrent is painful.”
Availability of many more titles, flexible price points and short content designed for the iPod crowd were all cited as ways to grow the legal downloads market.
Home Media Magazine has the Digital Hollywood report. (Sorry, no permalink.)
Cool freebie: concert movie download
Here’s a sweet deal: Julien Temple’s “Glastonbury,” a concert performance film featuring highlights from three decades of the British festival, will be available to download on MovieLink for two weeks starting June 25.
ThinkFilm’s DVD version
After the two-week freebie, the “Glastonbury” download will set you back $19.99. The performances will be available as a package for $15, or individual artists for $1.99. The free downloads begin the day after this year’s festival wraps.
Joost tunes in a CEO
Cisco Systems’ Mike Volpi has networked himself into the CEO post at Internet TV startup Joost. The company, started by Kaza and Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, is still in beta but reportedly remains on target for a million subscribers before the test period ends at year’s end. (Apparently you have to know a subscriber to join their ranks as a tester.)
The startup rated a major story in the New York Times a few months back. The Times and GigaOM spoke with Volpi after last week’s big announcement.
OM asked Volpi, 40, why he though Joost would succeed with so many rival online video players out there:
Joost is not YouTube and Joost is not Apple iTunes. What Joost is: a service that delivers high quality ad-supported long form produced video content in a secure manner using a cost-effective delivery platform. Bringing these three pieces (long form video content, advertising and delivery platform) together is going to be hard and not everyone is going to be able to do it. No one has it packaged together like Joost.
Check out the semi-annoying corporate video about Joost (pronouned Juiced).
CinemaNow hears siren call of music
CinemaNow is getting back into the music video business, dueting with Warner Music Group. One problem: the $1.99 videos won’t work on your iPod or iPhone.
“This year, consumers headed to the Web for short-form content in record numbers, and we see great potential in music video downloads,” CinemaNow chieftain Curt Marvis says. The company made a watery attempt at the business a few years back with watchmusichere.com, which is being revived.
Music videos are free like air on the Web, but CinemaNow is banking on customers wanting copies that approach DVD quality instead of, say, a grainy video from YouTube.
The AP reports:
The relaunched site will feature about 1,600 videos exclusively from Warner until July 21. After that, additional videos from Warner and from other major record labels will be added to the site, the company said. Marvis said the files are designed to look good playing on a larger screen as well. Many portable players can connect to a TV either through a cable or a wireless connection.
Update:CinemaNow later signed a similar music video deal with Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI, and Sanctuary Records that includes European concert performances.