Open Internet For All Indie Filmmakers?
By Art Brodsky, Public Knowledge
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There's no getting around the fact that the Internet will be the lifeblood of independent filmmakers and videographers. You will need it to make your products, to edit collaboratively and, most of all, to have a distribution mechanism so that the public can see what it is you have produced.
It's not secret that the media business is being consolidated. The Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will review the purchase of a major television network/film studio/cable channel supplier by the largest provider of broadband services. Congress has already held hearings on the Comcast takeover of NBC Universal. Even some members of Congress who favor the merger have even raised questions about how the deal would affect independent producers. In not too short a time, it will be the Internet or next to nothing in terms of distribution.
In order for online distribution to be a realistic alternative, however, the Internet has to be a transport medium favorable to independent filmmakers. That means two things. First, the technology of the Internet network has to be of sufficient speed and quality so that movies can be transmitted for viewing smoothly and easily, and that the consumer has a smooth viewing experience without stops and starts, and of sufficient deployment and affordability so that consumers will have the opportunity to take advantage of
Second, the Internet has to be an open, non-discriminatory transportation mechanism in which everyone has an equal chance to reach consumers. If it turns into a simple data network controlled by big telecom companies for the benefit of big media companies, then independents will totally be shut out.
We know where the big movie studios are on the issue. Just about two years ago, in March, 2008, Dan Glickman, the soon-to-be-former CEO and chairman of the Motion Picture Association mad it clear in a landmark speech at Sho West:
"Today, MPAA and all of our studios are standing up in opposition to broad-based government regulation of the Internet."It's not clear how a neutral and open Internet would hurt the big studios, but that's another question. What is clear is that independents disagree with Glickman, and it's to their credit that they see the future for what it will be without some intervention.
Days after Glickman gave his speech, Jean Prewitt, the president of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, sent him a little note.
"The Internet offers the only truly open opportunity for independents (whether or not commercially oriented) to reach consumers because both free and cable television have been foreclosed in the wake of massive industry consolidation. The Internet offers a new system of distribution as well as new ways of communicating ideas to audiences. It is vital that this channel remain open and competitively accessible to all users,"Prewitt wrote.
And although her letter was written two years ago, it carries additional relevance now with the big merger pending: "IFTA's members have experienced the steady erosion of opportunity in the traditional distribution channels despite producing and distributing most of the award-winning films. This has been the result of massive deregulation of the broadcast and cable industries and the resultant substitution of corporate decisions for ones previously overseen by government in the public interest. Allowing the Internet to become an exclusive province of a small number of giant companies would inevitably harm the future of independent art and commerce."
Another leading independent voice for an open Internet is producer Ted Hope, who has spoken on the issue many times.
"Net Neutrality is the key issue for all filmmakers,"Hope wrote on his blog. In a 2008 speech, Hope said
"We have never had this sort opportunity before and the great tragedy is that just as we are learning what it means, forces are vying to take it away from us. The principal that all information, all creators, all audiences should be treated equally within the structure that is the Internet is popularly referred to as Net Neutrality. The Telecos, the Cable Companies, and their great ally, the Hollywood Motion Picture Studios and their MPAA are now trying to end that equality. And with it you will lose the opportunity to be TRULY FREE FILMMAKERS. But they are not going to succeed because we are going to ban together and organize; we are going to save the Internet, and keep equal access for all."
The FCC has started the legal process to institute some Net Neutrality rules. The big carriers, and the big media companies, are dead set against it and are pulling out every trick (and dollar) in their lobbying books to try to stop it. If you want to preserve an environment in which independents can have films distributed online on the same basis as the big companies, you will have to fight for it. That means spreading the word to members of Congress to protect Net Neutrality and speaking about it when you do public appearances. As industry leaders like Prewitt and Hope will tell you, the future is on the line.
