They were just talking about this on the radio but it was actually stunning to me.
Of the 5 movies nominated for best picture for the Academy Awards, as of Feb. 1st, none, zero, 0/5 of them are available for viewing in Japan (except from shady p2p networks or illegal pirated DVDs from China.)
If content providers, in this case Hollywood, are not going to take their “International” markets seriously, then no wonder there’s as much piracy as there is. And no whining about costs for releasing movies globally. If you want a global market then you have to pay the costs associated with access to a global market. That should be the standard, not the exception.
It is a shame. Not only should global releases be simultaneous but I think there’s merit in even releasing DVDs at the same time as theater releases.
Anachronistic copyright laws and distribution arrangements are suffocating the industry. We’ve all heard about DVDs of favorite TV shows being edited to remove songs used because the companies can’t reach an agreement on royalty.
We also need to ask ourselves whether the actors, directors, and studios deserve to charge astronomic prices for the some of the mediocre films cranked out. Many recent movies are fastfood quality at gourmet prices. You get empty calories that do more harm than good while still left with an empty feeling and an even emptier wallet. More ironically, the paying customers that go to theaters or buy DVDs are lambasted with warnings and unwanted “previews” before being able to see the product they paid for.
It’s really made the entertainment industry into shadow of its former self, mainly a formulaic excercise in profit maximization led by the ivy league marketers that only produce diminishing returns by alienating their true supporters. They try to see everything as a function of cash–bigger production, bigger stars, more effects, more advertisements, etc. instead of focusing on the basics of a good movie (just the story and acting).
Yet at the same time the barriers to entry for producing quality content are becoming considerably lower. It is only a matter of time before talented artists take matters into their own hands. The consumers already have.
In the case of Japan, I believe the problem is not with the content providers, but the distributors in Japan, which have been known to put up significant barriers to distribution from time to time.
Thanks for your comments.
“Not only should global releases be simultaneous but I think there’s merit in even releasing DVDs at the same time as theater releases.”
Mark Cuban is trying to do just this. It should be interesting to see if he succeeds.
Wrt Japanese distributors, I’m sure you’re right Kenji. Toei is one of the worst culprits in Japan.
This may seem a bit silly if I’m wrong, but isn’t there a lag created by the need for adequqte translation? Anyway, here in Hiroshima a fair number of the more interesting looking movies never show up at all, even on DVD.
Kenji, you are right, its mostly the distributors fault.
Gen, Dont be so quick to blame all the piracy on China. The local syndicates caught on to this racket a few years ago and now a fair ammount of the bogus content is quite local.