Dangling Conversations

Colour commentary on the world we live in

Some MPA humour

Posted 20 Oct, 2005 at 17:12 by blue in /Chatter | Permanent link

(This is largely tongue in cheek... or me finding humour on the MPAA site. If you don't see humour in it... don't worry... it's just you. ;) )

Direct from the MPAA site...

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its international counterpart, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), estimate that the U.S. motion picture industry loses in excess of $3 billion annually in potential worldwide revenue due to piracy.

Umm... maybe it's just me... but 'in potential revenue'? You can get in trouble for stealing something that doesn't even exist yet? They make it sound like it was their right to that $3 billion... (even though that's only a 'potential' amount). Guess when you have a monopoly though you can get away with saying things like that.

Moviemaking is an inherently risky business. Contrary to popular belief that moviemaking is always profitable, in actuality, only one in ten films ever retrieves its investment from domestic exhibition. In fact, four out of ten movies never recoup the original investment. In 2000, the average major studio film cost $55 million to produce with an extra $27 million to advertise and market, a total cost of over $80 million per film. No other nation in the world risks such immense capital to make, finance, produce and market their films.

Okay... if I made a product that required me to spend half again as much to convince people that it was actually worth buying... I personally would take that as a sign that I didn't have a very good product.

Finally... 'No other nation'... wait a sec... I though the MPAA represented companies not countries. So what is this saying...? That the MPAA has an over inflated opinion of itself... or that the US Government and the group that represents fictional theatrical production houses are one and the same... oh wait... I think I just answered my own question.

I could go on about how blaming poorly through through product rollouts, old fashioned distribution channels, and a business plan that relies on an army of middle men might also be something that I personally would take as a sign that I'm not really being as effective as I could be. But that seems to easy.

Comments (1 comment so far)
Duh?
Well, it would be funny, if they didn't have so much clout over the intellectual property laws of the USA, and, to some extent, the world.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some established production companies soon bypassing the big old distribution channels to market movies directly to consumers. It's already happening with TV (granted, currently targetting things like Play Station Portables, but likely to spread). Right now you can download episodes of Alias amongst other TV shows from the Apple store for US$1.99 per episode, after they've aired.

Of course, with reality TV shows, Alias, and other hype shows, the $64e6 question is "How much will people be willing to pay for shows before they're broadcast?"

But to get back to the point, how bad can the MPA(A) make things before the dam bursts?

(I get the feeling this is going to be a recurring thread, since Blue and I both have a few bones to pick with the MPAA members.)

(I now return this soapbox to it's previously designated purpose....)

Posted 2005/10/20 18:05:48 by Kael
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