The movie industry is finding itself at a crossroads. This is a multimillion dollar industry staring nervously at the music industry, the file sharing that swept it up, and the industry’s abysmal response to it all. Now Hollywood is wondering what will happen to them. Will they lose returns because of illegal sharing? Will this mean they won’t be able to afford to make new movies? Will all our actors be out of work?
We think it would help if these Hollywood execs, rather than looking at the music industry, followed millions of internet users and looked at the porn industry. This is an industry that, not many years ago, had movie directors, released movies, had well-known actors and actresses, and could be a lucrative career for many. These days, however, there are countless online providers of free or cheap videos and websites. Amateurs are quite literally posting videos from their bedrooms and competing with the professionals.
So what has happened? There are still plenty of sites that make much money (otherwise you wouldn’t be bombarded with spam about it), but they do so by differentiating themselves. Whether it be a specific niche (we won’t get into specifics) or a performer who has created a name for her/himself, certain people have found ways of standing out by providing the customer with what they want.
What does this mean for the movie industry? Hollywood will usually say that without their big budgets (and therefore their grasp on the industry) expensive movies like The Matrix would never have been made. We believe this will be less and less true as time passes. With the equipment that can be bought on credit card advances, people are increasingly able to film and edit video that looks more and more professional. So special effects will be more and more mainstream. Of course, hiring big name actors might become harder, which would mean The Wachowski brothers might have had to hire someone other than Keanu Reeves to play Neo.
On the other hand, actors who differentiate themselves will still be in very high demand. Likewise, freelancers who have real talent will find funding for their movies. Movies will be more niched, more targeted and provide more of what customers want, and an industry that once had extremely high barriers to entry will be giving everyone a shot at bat. And those who are able to keep with the times will benefit enormously. Much like has happened with the Porn industry.
