Movie Watchers Want to Behave: Here’s How Studios Can Help

Flickr  Marek Kubica

This month, Mediafly has had a blast diving headfirst into our research on both studio and public attitudes regarding film piracy. So far, we’ve explored the Anatomy of a Movie Leak and the decline in Piracy Legislation. This Sunday, the 86th Academy Awards will make no mention of piracy, and they shouldn’t. The Oscars are a time to celebrate this all-American pastime. Instead, the Oscars ceremony (taking place at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood) will recognize a year of truly groundbreaking films. The movie industry has always been about the stars, the plot twists, the amazing photography, and the emotions invoked whenever one pops open a DVD or settles into their movie theater seat. If a film generates enough buzz, people are going to see it and they are going to talk about it. The more people that get to see a great film, the greater the benefit for studios. Industry insiders want to protect pre-screen versions of the next blockbuster and movie watchers want to behave, accessing only legal content. Let’s explore three ways in which studios can continue to use technology as their ally and support both creativity and maintain control of their award-winning masterpieces.

Upgraded Internal Technology

Now that it’s apparent that people are generally good and it is not worthwhile to combat piracy, studios should take one final approach: upgrading their internal film distribution technology. This expense will pay for itself over time. Here’s how:

• Security: Heavy encryption keeps the review technology secure online and off, and hackers at bay. Multi-tier access grants executives a choice of who has access to what content at any time. Remote locking and remote wiping can save you from an accidental leak with no problem. Throw custom forensic watermarking into the mix and movie collaboration gets extremely high-tech.
• Reliability: Millions of viewers, thousands of files, and hundreds of content distribution employees juggling media around can get unreliable on an unstable platform. And everyone prefers different devices as well as operating systems. The right technology can make integration feel consistent and polished on any setup.
• Quick Turnaround: Any tech company will admit that they favor optimism with enterprise-level project completion. Mediafly favors proven results. In two to three weeks, a studio can see a mobile technology concept be up and running with very few hiccups.

Radical Distribution Methods

The FBI warnings that appear before viewing a film are certainly no joke. They will make any viewer glad that they legally rented or purchased the DVD rather than visit their favorite torrent software. But DVDs are where audience behavior tracking ends. Streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu are completely revamping how viewers consume content. Same-day release distribution, where you have a choice between either the theater or your iTunes or OnDemand cable listings to view a film, has been picking up steam. Audiences prefer a method that is cheap and easy. As long as it is extremely convenient to enjoy your content, and the consumer has a very strong desire to see your film, they will be happy to pay a reasonable price. Studios need to increase distribution to multiple platforms, rather than limit it.

Studio Transparency

While the MPAA and major film studios have generally worked hand-in-hand to combat movie leaks and piracy, there seems to be some disconnect on how to best move forward from an exhausted problem. The U.S. movie audience should not have any reason to assume those who make movies are after them. Piracy has historically created more word-of-mouth for movies. If studios are transparent, and limit enforcement of individuals sharing their films on the internet, it could be argued that their marketing budgets can be trimmed down thanks to pre-release buzz from pirates.

Your studio can view, annotate, and distribute internal media very safely with ProReview. Piracy, as long as it is acknowledged and not interpreted as a mortal enemy, can generate great buzz in the right hands. Finally, cheap, choice-driven distribution can bump sales to even more astronomical levels. It’s a very exciting time for movie studios. It’s time for studios to rekindle the love affair with audiences.

Have a question for Mediafly about ProReview?  We’d love to get back to you and see if our film distribution platform will suit your studio’s needs.