Hollywood's Digital Dilemma

Hollywood is facing one of its biggest dilemmas - networked media and digital technology. The project 'Hollywood's Digital Dilemma' aims to investigate the challenges facing the film industry and to explore the impact of these challenges upon the industry’s dominance of distribution networks. The objective is to seek to create new business opportunities for the movie industry's continual success, with particular interest in the independents.

The Motion Picture Association of America estimates the U.S. motion picture industry loses billions of dollars annually in potential worldwide revenue due to piracy. Whatever encryption is created to prevent piracy, there will always be leaks into the Darknet - a collection of networks and technologies used to share digital content. The Darknet is less a place or a thing than an idea. It is about people engaging in a shared media experience and finding secret ways around restrictions.

Hollywood faces issues that are both social and technological. Digitisation is not the major challenge though, but one of culture and business. Hollywood is up against a mindset that fears losing centralized control of its distribution models and ultimately a major source of revenue.

Movie companies are not thrilled at the prospect of distribution models that allow peer-to-peer network distribution. Hollywood's best strategy against movie pirates may be to enlist the creative talent at the grassroots level, embrace its digital destiny and offer Internet users tools and financial incentives to promote movies. But Hollywood has a very different vision of the future. It opposes new formats and with fear of losing exclusive control, is moving in the opposite direction. They are imposing more rights management schemes and pushing for further restrictions that take away computer user's ability to manipulate digital media.

Hollywood was created out of 'pirates', pioneering independents that refused to be manipulated by the Edison monopoly and sought creative ways to continue as filmmakers. It has always been people with vision who form new landscapes. Hollywood's success will depend on its ability to adapt to changing environments and not to be out manoeuvred by the masses. The industry needs to consider economic models that can be built around conditions that exist. The major media companies have traditionally held control of the distribution gateways - but that's all about to change, it's only a matter of time.

Research undertaken for this investigation will be added to the Screen Media Biz website - a platform containing information about the business of the movie industry focusing on networked media and digital technology. Screen Media Biz is an information source for anyone who is interested in media and the movie business.

Screen Media Biz: the business of screen media
www.screenmediabiz.com