11 ms·

If streaming does indeed come to overtake theaters as the primary distribution method of new releases going forward, I'm curious about how significantly this wi

by danhak 6y ago

If streaming does indeed come to overtake theaters as the primary distribution method of new releases going forward, I'm curious about how significantly this will upend the industry due to direct competition from classic films. For example, the way I purchase and consume a book is identical whether it is a classic or a new release. And my reading habits skew heavily toward classics. Same for the way I consume music, and I listen to releases from the 60's - 2000's just as much as new stuff.

grawprog 6y ago
>I'm curious about how significantly this will upend the industry due to direct competition from classic films. My guess, not much. If they started having to compete with classics and were losing, I imagine the classics would just vanish from those services.
- ElFitz 6y ago
  Or you’d have to pay a premium to access x+ years old movies. Which would be a smarter move.
  - asciimov 6y ago
    I think you have it backwards, the old movies would be the draw, the new releases would be the premium. You have to keep people subscribed to the service, well curated old movies would be one way to do this.
    - ElFitz 6y ago
      You know what? Let’s A/B test! ^^
- ghaff 6y ago
  There's not a lot of evidence that there's a big market for a premium streaming classics service. I would probably subscribe to one but the film buff market is probably not a huge one. (I know there's Criterion but that tends towards arthouse fare rather than mainstream classics.)
frankish 6y ago
This is a very interesting perspective. Though, I think technology is the big differentiating factor between movies and books. The quality of CGI, special effects, resolution, cameras, etc. are constantly improving and I think a significant portion of the younger demographic fails to appreciate older movies due to the obvious age of the films. There just isn't much evolution in how books are consumed or written. Digital books make them more accessible, but are not exclusive to new releases. Other than technology, I think marketing and name recognition are the primary factors for selecting both movies and books because of a popularity bias. New media is heavily marketed and will likely still receive a lot more consumption.
- the-pigeon 6y ago
  > The quality of CGI, special effects, resolution, cameras, etc. are constantly improving Aren't we already at a diminishing returns point though? In fact I think most people would agree there's lots of movies from 10 years ago with better CGI than many movies from last year. Better tools don't make up for rushing CGI through during post-production. At some point we certainly get to completely photo realistic CGI where things don't become dated unless the viewing experience significantly changes in an incompatible way. Like the majority of movies becoming VR experiences but I wouldn't bet on a shift like that anytime in the next decade or two.

by danhak 6y ago

grawprog 6y ago

>I'm curious about how significantly this will upend the industry due to direct competition from classic films. My guess, not much. If they started having to compete with classics and were losing, I imagine the classics would just vanish from those services.

ElFitz 6y ago
Or you’d have to pay a premium to access x+ years old movies. Which would be a smarter move.
- asciimov 6y ago
  I think you have it backwards, the old movies would be the draw, the new releases would be the premium. You have to keep people subscribed to the service, well curated old movies would be one way to do this.
  - ElFitz 6y ago
    You know what? Let’s A/B test! ^^
ghaff 6y ago
There's not a lot of evidence that there's a big market for a premium streaming classics service. I would probably subscribe to one but the film buff market is probably not a huge one. (I know there's Criterion but that tends towards arthouse fare rather than mainstream classics.)

frankish 6y ago

This is a very interesting perspective. Though, I think technology is the big differentiating factor between movies and books. The quality of CGI, special effects, resolution, cameras, etc. are constantly improving and I think a significant portion of the younger demographic fails to appreciate older movies due to the obvious age of the films. There just isn't much evolution in how books are consumed or written. Digital books make them more accessible, but are not exclusive to new releases. Other than technology, I think marketing and name recognition are the primary factors for selecting both movies and books because of a popularity bias. New media is heavily marketed and will likely still receive a lot more consumption.

the-pigeon 6y ago
> The quality of CGI, special effects, resolution, cameras, etc. are constantly improving Aren't we already at a diminishing returns point though? In fact I think most people would agree there's lots of movies from 10 years ago with better CGI than many movies from last year. Better tools don't make up for rushing CGI through during post-production. At some point we certainly get to completely photo realistic CGI where things don't become dated unless the viewing experience significantly changes in an incompatible way. Like the majority of movies becoming VR experiences but I wouldn't bet on a shift like that anytime in the next decade or two.