8 ms·

Can't wait to see fake hollywood bitcoins in the movies. I'm sure they'll just 'cat /dev/urandom' for awhile and call it good. My assumption based on the titl

by VLM 12y ago

Can't wait to see fake hollywood bitcoins in the movies. I'm sure they'll just 'cat /dev/urandom' for awhile and call it good. My assumption based on the title was the article would be a discussion about hollywood accounting where numbers are manipulated until only the studio wins. I was pleasantly surprised to read about fake currency.

sogen 12y ago
They did an interesting article on that: http://priceonomics.com/why-do-all-hollywood-movies-lose-money/ http://priceonomics.com/why-do-all-hollywood-movies-lose-mon...
- Retric 12y ago
  The most interesting part of that is the line where people need to agree to follow Hollywood accounting as part of the contract and actors have a large incentive to 'exaggerate' their income. Still, I suspect a more honest studio could quickly gain a lot of traction.
  - delinka 12y ago
    "Honesty" is a logistical headache when it comes to recorded performances. Imagine, before digital distribution, tracking every movie ticket, every rental, every purchase (don't forget discounts like matinée tickets, coupons, clearance, etc), every clip used where royalties are due, etc ... and paying royalties to every face in your movie, at various rates depending on screen time or 'voice' time... As the talent, it's just easier to demand a large payment up front and just forget about the royalties. As the studio, it's easier just to pay that amount up front. Then, magic voodoo accounting and poof any statutory royalties are eliminated. I suppose in this case, the "honest" studio is negotiating that large up-front payment to its talent rather than trying to sell the talent on the eternal royalties that never come.
  - sogen 12y ago
    Maybe that's why these days actors demand a % of the profits: "Bullock's deal with Warner Bros. for the Alfonso Cuaron-directed space epic calls for her to earn $20 million upfront against 15 percent of first-dollar gross. " USD $70 million USD $50 million for Robert Downey Jr. on Iron Man 3 Not too bad
sjtgraham 12y ago
> Can't wait to see fake hollywood bitcoins in the movies. I'm sure they'll just 'cat /dev/urandom' for awhile and call it good. You overestimate Hollywood tremendously. They'll create a GUI interface using Visual Basic and see if they can track an IP address. [1] [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDD03yeLnU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDD03yeLnU
- jonnathanson 12y ago
  Hollywood has gotten better about faking technology. At least some people in Hollywood have. "Silicon Valley" on HBO went as far as having a Stanford CS professor develop a viable compression-rating system to be used on the show (the "Weissman Score," named for Professor Tsachy Weissman).
  - grrowl 12y ago
    I've been really impressed by the TV show Halt And Catch Fire in this regard, the sales guy is slightly incorrect as a sales guy would be, but the engineers are bang-on.
    - centizen 12y ago
      Halt and Catch Fire is doing a bang up job of reflecting the technology and even the market of the time. Really refreshing to see.
  - omnibrain 12y ago
    The first two seasons of Alias were pretty ok regarding the use of computers. Granted, they still did impossible (highly advanced) stuff with them but it looked plausible. But after season 2 they jumped the shark in all regards.
- tormeh 12y ago
  No..... Oh wow.
  - nitrogen 12y ago
maxerickson 12y ago
You mean something else, but the cancelled Almost Human did bitcoin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8LqlMzEe-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8LqlMzEe-I

by VLM 12y ago

sogen 12y ago

They did an interesting article on that: http://priceonomics.com/why-do-all-hollywood-movies-lose-money/ http://priceonomics.com/why-do-all-hollywood-movies-lose-mon...

Retric 12y ago
The most interesting part of that is the line where people need to agree to follow Hollywood accounting as part of the contract and actors have a large incentive to 'exaggerate' their income. Still, I suspect a more honest studio could quickly gain a lot of traction.
- delinka 12y ago
  "Honesty" is a logistical headache when it comes to recorded performances. Imagine, before digital distribution, tracking every movie ticket, every rental, every purchase (don't forget discounts like matinée tickets, coupons, clearance, etc), every clip used where royalties are due, etc ... and paying royalties to every face in your movie, at various rates depending on screen time or 'voice' time... As the talent, it's just easier to demand a large payment up front and just forget about the royalties. As the studio, it's easier just to pay that amount up front. Then, magic voodoo accounting and poof any statutory royalties are eliminated. I suppose in this case, the "honest" studio is negotiating that large up-front payment to its talent rather than trying to sell the talent on the eternal royalties that never come.
- sogen 12y ago
  Maybe that's why these days actors demand a % of the profits: "Bullock's deal with Warner Bros. for the Alfonso Cuaron-directed space epic calls for her to earn $20 million upfront against 15 percent of first-dollar gross. " USD $70 million USD $50 million for Robert Downey Jr. on Iron Man 3 Not too bad

sjtgraham 12y ago

> Can't wait to see fake hollywood bitcoins in the movies. I'm sure they'll just 'cat /dev/urandom' for awhile and call it good. You overestimate Hollywood tremendously. They'll create a GUI interface using Visual Basic and see if they can track an IP address. [1] [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDD03yeLnU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDD03yeLnU

jonnathanson 12y ago
Hollywood has gotten better about faking technology. At least some people in Hollywood have. "Silicon Valley" on HBO went as far as having a Stanford CS professor develop a viable compression-rating system to be used on the show (the "Weissman Score," named for Professor Tsachy Weissman).
- grrowl 12y ago
  I've been really impressed by the TV show Halt And Catch Fire in this regard, the sales guy is slightly incorrect as a sales guy would be, but the engineers are bang-on.
  - centizen 12y ago
    Halt and Catch Fire is doing a bang up job of reflecting the technology and even the market of the time. Really refreshing to see.
- omnibrain 12y ago
  The first two seasons of Alias were pretty ok regarding the use of computers. Granted, they still did impossible (highly advanced) stuff with them but it looked plausible. But after season 2 they jumped the shark in all regards.
tormeh 12y ago
No..... Oh wow.
- nitrogen 12y ago

maxerickson 12y ago

You mean something else, but the cancelled Almost Human did bitcoin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8LqlMzEe-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8LqlMzEe-I