The industry has worked on a model where distributors used to 'call the shots' by deliberately holding off on the distribution of films and television shows. With calculated release dates, known as release windows, distributors have tried to eliminate the risk of distributing a film overseas until there is sufficient demand OR until they can justify the marketing costs required to release a film.
The internet has fundamentally changed this model.
The internet has put digital technology into the hands of kiwis who love film and television (in this post I'll refer to them as fans) enabling them to undermine the distributor by illegally downloading to eliminate the insufferably long release windows. However many fans don't illegally download, and as they look for a compelling legal alternative, their frustration is heard online.
FRUSTRATION
- Films often take a long time to reach our shores. The window of opportunity to see films is small if the film is screening at a film festival. Fans often have to wait up to a year for the DVD release.
- Fans in greater Auckland have to go out of their way, sometimes travelling far and wide, sometimes battling Auckland traffic, to see a small art-house film that did well at a film festival overseas.
- Fans have to disconnect from Facebook and Twitter, and disengage from blogs and podcasts, if they want to avoid spoilers of what's going to happen in their favourite TV show or movie.
- Film and TV is a common interest which turns strangers into friends. Fans cannot participate in online discussions, if they haven't seen the movie, further alienating them from friends.
- Piracy is a temptation. Fans could illegally download their favourite show or movie, but they face penalties under New Zealand's new Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill.
- Fans could try talking to elected officials about the bill, but they don't know what a legal alternative like Netflix is, or, as Wikileaks revealed, they would rather support Hollywood's interests.
- SKY offers a SKY Movies package for upwards of $49. This is ridiculously expensive compared to Netflix and Hulu, which offer 'all you can eat' options for a low $7.99 USD monthly fee.
- TVNZ and TV3 have 'catch up' services, although these are better than nothing, the selection is strictly limited, popular shows, like Grey's Anatomy, stream long after they've aired overseas.
- Fans who eliminate expensive cable options like SKY in favour of legal options like TVNZ and TV3 (aka cord cutting) is difficult when almost every kiwi uses the internet under a bandwidth cap.
- Orcon's O-Zone promises to load some sites like iSKY.co.nz for free meaning it doesn't count towards a customer's monthly data allowance BUT this is a complete violation of net neutrality.
- Apple TV combined with iTunes, one of our only legal streaming options for movies, again, offers a very limited selection. For an avid fan, the selection is out of date, or just plain awful.
- At DVD rental stores, fans are often greeted with outrageous overdue fees, and will avoid the store to avoid paying them. In desperation, stores use debt collection agencies to recoup all that they can.
- The cinema is fast becoming an expensive habit. Fans are cautious. They justify the expense of going to the cinema for big 'event' movies, like Avatar, hence the name Event Cinemas.
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