Hollywood Earthquake

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The Coming Earthquake in Hollywood

Today it's possible to produce a movie and sell it directly to audiences on the internet. The quality is lacking and the trend is in a very early stage, so Internet movie sales are not a major threat to this summer’s box office. However, as the practice becomes more common and the technology improves, it will revolutionize the industry. The major studios may still put out the most popular and profitable movies, but they will no longer dominate the market because they are the only ones who have a distribution system. Just as most of the major airlines have been driven to bankruptcy by small airlines that offered low fares, so the major studios will be threatened by small movie production companies who make better decisions about what viewers really want to see. Modern technology is reducing the cost of making independent productions even while the cost of a typical Hollywood production is going up.

The television entertainment industry is in for an even bigger shock wave. The financial heart of the industry is advertising sales, but technology is making it easier and easier for viewers to trim out the ads. As this trend escalates, advertisers will not want to pay for the production and distribution of programs they are being cut out of by viewers.

Even more profound will be the convergence of the Internet with the living room television. This process has already begun but is still cumbersome and expensive. In a short while, it will be as simple as using an iPod and even more popular. It could spell the end for television networks, cable services and video stores (at least in their present form). The concept of “on demand” will expand to thousands of Internet film stores and libraries. Virtually any movie or program made will be available from some store or library for some price. Many programs will be free.

Independent productions will have inexpensive distribution channels to many millions of viewers. Viewers may still want Hollywood quality production values and be willing to pay premium prices for such programs, but it won’t be four $12 tickets for two parents and two children and it won’t be $20 for a DVD. For just a few dollars, someone will download a copy and show it in their home theatre to as many family members and friends as they choose as many times as they choose.

Advertisers will want out of entertainment programs unless they can manage some sort of electronic enforcement that won’t permit commercial skipping. Their alternative will be free infomercials that explain about their products or services in an entertaining fashion. Home builders and real estate offices will produce and make available online video house tours. Grocery chains will offer this week’s specials in a video format you can go to their website and watch. Car manufacturers will produce short films about each model presented in a style targeted to those they think most likely to buy each model. Many churches already offer their sermons online in small videos. This will expand to full screen.

The impact of this technology shift will kill some businesses and turn others into economic giants. The important thing is that the program director – more than ever –will be the viewer. The days when three networks dominated television died with the advent of cable. The days of any network saying what can be seen at what time will be a thing of the past (with the exception of live events and premiers). Already, you can download over 150 major television programs on iTunes.

Hopefully, as viewers gain more power, the winner will be quality family entertainment. MOVIEGUIDE® has been reporting for years that quality family entertainment makes more money than sex, violence and immorality. There will be pornography producers who find enough of an audience to make a few dollars, but there will be independent family movie producers who will make LOTS of money. Like Pixar, they may even become the popular profitable studios of the future. And, like Mel Gibson, someone will dare to produce a movie that hits a home run with the millions of Americans who attend church every Sunday. In fact, don’t be surprised by some new production companies that target Christian audiences, but do so with full Hollywood quality production values.

More than ever before, therefore, the major studios and media conglomerates will have to ask themselves if the expensive movie they’re making really needs foul language, ultraviolence, explicit sex, nudity, crude jokes, and other offensive material.

Consequently, hopefully, that will make MOVIEGUIDE® and its ideas on how to make an inspirational, entertaining family-friendly movie with positive Christian values that much more important.

In the meantime, you and your family should frequently visit our website at www.movieguide.org and subscribe to MOVIEGUIDE® so that you can protect you and your family from the negative elements that continue to impact the mass media of entertainment.