File shareing helps small films
Piracy isn’t THAT bad and they know it
I received a very pleasant mail today. My inbox is usually full of stupid cease & desist messages from various antipiracy organizations, but it’s mails like this one which make you happy. It’s good to see that some people realize that internet piracy isn’t just evil…
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Eric D. Wilkinson and I am the producer of a small independent film called “Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth” (our review).
I am sending you this email after realizing that our website has had nearly 23,000 hits in the last 12 days, much of it coming from your website. In addition, our trailer, both on the www.manfromearth.com site and other sites like YouTube, MySpace and AOL has been watched nearly 20,000 times AND what’s most impressive is our ranking on IMDb went from being the 11,235th most popular movie, to the 5th most popular movie in 2 weeks (we are also the #1 independent film on IMDb & the #1 science fiction film on IMDb). How did this all happen? Two words: Torrent / File Sharing sites (well, four words and a slash).
More specifically, RLSLOG.net. Our independent movie had next to no advertising budget and very little going for it until somebody ripped one of the DVD screeners and put the movie online for all to download. After that happened, people were watching it and started posting mostly all positive reviews on IMDb, Amazon and other places. Most of the feedback from everyone who has downloaded “The Man From Earth” has been overwhelmingly positive. People like our movie and are talking about it, all thanks to piracy on the net!
Am I upset… surprisingly no. Thanks to everyone who has downloaded this torrrent and watched the film, our awareness level is through the roof. For that I say, “THANK YOU”!
What you guys have done here is nothing short of amazing. In the future, I will not complain about file sharing. YOU HAVE HELPED PUT THIS LITTLE MOVIE ON THE MAP!!!! When I make my next picture, I just may upload the movie on the net myself!
This guy really deserves support from the file shareing community! You can support producers of The Man From Earth by buying the retail DVD, which should be available in the US stores from tomorrow.
4 Comments
gorgonheapSmall bands do this kind of stuff all the time on pure volume and other such sites. It's the best way to get people to notice them.
MINKwow, nice letter, and nice work eric... this blog is worth checking for sure. i work with musicians and filmmakers on low budgets, and it's definitely interesting to note how much the big studios oppose file sharing... as if they instinctively know it will be their undoing...
however, most of the time if you hear a project got big because of myspace or whatever, it's a flat out lie propagated by a PR company... and films and music still cost money to make. My main argument is that UNPROFITABLE stuff should become viable, and wildly profitable stuff is only a tiny fraction of the world's creative output. We need more variety, not more superstars.
i don't think we have reached a meritocracy yet, and the only future I will be happy with is one where a lone independent artist can make a reasonable living or even just beer money from his work, without the filter of big media.
the future is not 1000000 bands making it big on the internet, there's still only 10 people in the top 10. if we are levelling the playing field, that means less money for successful artists (and more for niche acts with cheap worldwide diy distribution). It might still be impossible for 99.9% of artists to give up their day jobs.
winkler1Just watched this last night..from RlsLog.net. Great little flick.
siftbotDiscarding this post - discard requested by original submitter eric3579.
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