Kindle DX

I wanted to upgrade from my Kindle 1 to the new Kindle DX, I really did.  I've been looking forward to the announcement for days and finally got to see what it looked like today.  Sadly, I won't be upgrading.  There are several very cool things about it as well as several problems that did not get addressed in the DX.  But I won't bore you with the details of any of those because there's basically ONE thing that will keep me from upgrading:  it won't fit in most of my purses.

I know they're pushing out to a new market - the business and student market - and those users would have bigger bags.  But this DX version is not ready for prime time on the academic market, believe me, I've done some research on my Kindle and the highlight/notes functions are quite primitive and they don't seem to have improved those.  So to me, that means they still need to please their biggest current market which seems to be women.  Women read more books than men.  Women follow Oprah more than men.  Hence, the Kindle should suck up to women.  If only they had made it about an inch and a half shorter, it would fit in most of my purses and certainly all my favorite ones.  To have your Kindle determine the look of your purse is a fashion no-no, in my opinion.  We all have our own tastes and although mine is far from Vogue's, it's still my own style, not Amazon's.

Besides, it's too expensive.  For $489, you can buy a real notebook/netbook now with an insane amount of memory.

I could have been talked into coughing up the bucks for my favorite gadget if only it would fit into my favorite purse...

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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Withoutabox, the one and only online submission center for film festivals, gets my vote for the buggiest website ever.  Amazon should be ashamed to own it.

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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There's an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today that's worth checking out:  Indie Films Suffer Drop-off in Rights Sales.

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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LA Times reports that a dozen summer movies will top $100 million just for their marketing costs.  It makes you wonder how much it cost to make the movie itself.  Earlier this year, the MPAA, which normally gives the average studio movie budget for the year, declined to give out the budget statistics for 2008, saying: 

"Year-to-year average costs comparisons are really useless and misleading,'' he said. "I'm not sure what these numbers mean anymore." (Quote from LA Times).  

The biggest marketing cost for the studios is TV ads.  It can cost as much as $3 million for a 30-second spot.  But they say that TV ads are the only way to get a mass audience.

According to the numbers crunched by Thomas Trenker, the founder of Institute for International Film Financing, the theatre-released movies that made a profit are the ones that spent at least the same amount on marketing as they did on making the movie itself.  It's an interesting stat except for the fact that filmmakers and studios regularly lie about their film budget.  For an interesting perspective on the studios lying about movie budgets, check out the LA Times article, Why Everyone Lies About Their Movie Budgets.  The article's author says that studios tend to say the budget was lower than it really was.  In my personal experience, indie filmmakers tend to inflate their budget numbers so it doesn't smell like the backyard production it really is (for the record, I am very pro-backyard production.  I think it's absolutely ridiculous that movies cost as much as they do.).  Many of these indie budget lies can be significant, say, by an order of magnitude...

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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YouTube is launching a new section, "YouTube Shows," that has TV shows and movies in an effort to generate revenues.  So far, they are older shows and movies.  They're also working on a new program called, "TV Ads Online" for ads inserted in the middle of programs streaming on the web.

According to LA Times, YouTube had 5.3 billion views in Feb., and Hulu grew by 38% in Jan and Feb.  YouTube is owned by Google, and Hulu is owned by News Corp and NBC Universal.  YouTube Shows is working with CBS, Lionsgate, MGM, Starz and Sony Pictures.

Online video is looking pretty corporate these days...

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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Theatre-faces

According to the LA Times, research into what kinds of movies people want to see during a recession pretty much tells us nothing.  Some say light-hearted movies are best, others say sad ones are best.  "'There's not one type of genre that's doing better right now,' Goetz (president of a research firm that consults for Hollywood studios) says. 'They want to laugh, they want to cry.'"

Susan Ee

www.feraldream.com

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YouTube is on track to lose $470 million in 2009.  Estimated operating costs = $711 million.  $360 million of that is on bandwidth costs.  In short, YouTube is bleeding a LOT of money.

Still, that probably doesn't make you feel any better about the cost of your own webisode...

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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X-Men-Origins-Wolverine

Variety reports that Wolverine leaked online a month before its release.  The studio is, of course, totally scared (and pissed).  Their greatest fear is that they will spend a hundred million dollars to make a product and everyone will watch it for free.  They've announced that it's an early rough cut of the movie and that some effects and scenes are not in it.

I for one won't be spoiling the experience by watching an early version.  If I love the movie, I may go back and see the early version to compare, but I want my first impression to be the best one they can manage.  I don't think the studios need to worry so much about this one.  I mean, come on, they have Wolverine, the greatest X Men bad boy ever; Hugh Jackman, a man who was born to play Wolverine; a long-simmering mystery of the origin of Wolverine; and Hollywood visual effects with an unlimited budget.  What more could you ask for?

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I was browsing through my Amazon recommendations when I saw the Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog DVD.  It's being sold for $10.49 and it's No. 21 in Amazon's Movies & TV. 

Number 21 out of all the DVDs Amazon sells. 

Within the Movies & TV category, it is No. 1 in Musicals & Performing Arts, No. 1 in Action & Adventure/ Superheroes, and No. 1 in SciFi/ Comedy.

As you know, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog started out as a free webisode online.  What's whacky is that it is STILL available on the net FOR FREE.

WOW.  Go Joss Whedon.

Welcome to the New Economy, where banks give out bailout money as bonuses, houses in Detroit sell for a dollar, and free webisodes sell like hotcakes for $10.49.

So there you have it folks.  There's your answer to the billion dollar question of how to monetize your web videos...
1) release your videos on line for free ... 2) then make sure to call yourself Joss Whedon...

Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com

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Interesting article in Time regarding festival online distribution:  The Film Festival Comes to Your Living Room.

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