The Creative Bunkers Team: September 2016

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

15 Books which have been made into movie in 2016

2016 is set to be a big year for book-to-film adaptations. Several highly anticipated novel-inspired projects, like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Find Them and Girl on the Train, are scheduled to hit theaters over the coming months. Can’t decide which ones are worth checking out? Here are 15 books being made into movies this year.

1. The Divergent Series: Allegiant, premiered March 18

The third installment in the Divergent franchise follows Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) as they journey beyond the wall that encloses Chicago. For the first time, they leave the only city and family they have ever known to find a peaceful solution. But once outside, they learn shocking new truths that render old discoveries meaningless. As the ruthless battle threatens humanity, Tris and Four must quickly decide who to trust to survive. Ansel Elgort, Naomi Watts, Miles Teller, Octavia Spencer, and Jeff Daniels co-star.

2. The Jungle Book, premiered April 15

The anticipated live-action/CGI Disney release follows the story of an orphan boy named Mowgli who is raised in the jungle by a pack of wolves, a bear named Baloo and a black panther named Bagheera. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli. It also features the voices of A-list stars, like Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken.

3. A Hologram For the King, premiered April 22

Tom Hanks stars in this comedy drama as Alan Clay, a washed-up, desperate American salesman who travels to Saudi Arabia to secure the IT contract for a massive new complex being built in the middle of the desert. Based on Dave Eggers’s 2012 novel of the same name, the adaptation also co-stars Tom Skerritt and Sarita Choudhury.

4. The BFG, premiered July 1

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the upcoming fantasy adventure flick, based on the novel by Roald Dahl, tells the story of Sophie, who encounters the Big Friendly Giant. Despite his intimidating appearance, the BFG turns out to be a kindhearted soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because he, unlike his peers, refuses to eat boys and girls. Mark Rylance stars as the BFG, while Ruby Barnhill plays Sophie. Bill Hader, Penelope Winton, Rebecca Hall, and Jermaine Clement also co-star.

5. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, premiered July 8

Adam DeVine and Zac Efron co-star as real-life brothers Mike and Dave Stangle, who put out a Craigslist ad for wedding dates only to have the ad go viral. The two brothers chronicled their experience with the ad and the subsequent search around the country in their 2015 book of the same name. Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza will also star in the forthcoming comedy.

6. The Shack[Update: release date moved to March 2017]

The faith-based drama, based on the 2007 bestselling novel by William Paul Young, stars Sam Worthington as a father whose young daughter was kidnapped and believed to have been murdered while on a family camping trip. Years later, he receives a note from “Papa” — which is his wife’s nickname for God — asking him to return to the shack where his daughter’s bloodied clothes were found. There, he experiences a spiritual epiphany. Octavia Spencer, Graham Greene, and Tim McGraw co-star. [Update, 9/7/16: Updated release date (see above).]

7. The Light Between Oceans, premiered September 2

Based on M.L. Stedman’s novel of the same name, the upcoming drama stars Michael Fassbender as lighthouse keeper Tom Sherbourne and Alicia Vikander as his wife Isabel, who are living off the coast of Western Australia when they find a baby girl washed up on shore in a lifeboat and decide to keep her for themselves. Rachel Weisz, Caren Pistorius, Florence Clery, Anthony Hayes, and Emily Barclay co-star in the adaptation of The Light Between Oceans.

8. The Girl on the Train, October 7

Emily Blunt stars in the upcoming thriller, based on Paula Hawkins hit 2015 debut novel of the same name. The movie stars Blunt as Rachel Watson, an alcoholic, troubled woman, who is struggling to come to terms with the end of her marriage when she witnesses a murder and starts to realize that she may have been involved in the crime. Justin Theroux co-stars as her ex-husband Tom, while Rebecca Ferguson plays his new love, Anna. Haley Bennett, Luke Evans, and Lisa Kudrow also co-star in the movie, which will be helmed by The Help director, Tate Taylor.

9. A Monster Calls, October 14

Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Patrick Ness, the movie will follow the story of Conor, a young boy who is struggling to cope with his mother’s terminal illness and is repeatedly visited in the middle of the night by a monster who tells stories. Lewis MacDougall will play Conor while Felicity Jones will play his mom. Meanwhile, Liam Neeson will co-star as The Monster and Sigourney Weaver as Conor’s grandmother.

10. Inferno, October 28

Directed by Ron Howard and based on Dan Brown’s 2013 novel of the same name, the upcoming thriller drama will feature Tom Hanks reprising his role as symbology professor Robert Langdon. After waking up in a hospital room in Florence, Italy, with no memory of what has occurred for the last few days, Langdon suddenly finds himself the target of a manhunt and must team up with Dr. Sienna Brooks (played by Felicity Jones) to try to escape while also solving the most intricate riddle he’s ever faced. Omar Sy, Ben Foster, Irrfan Khan, Sidse Babett Knudsen, and Ana Ularu also co-star in Inferno.

11. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, November 18

The highly anticipated Harry Potter spinoff stars Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, an eccentric globe-hopping English “magizoologist” who travels to New York with his trusty briefcase full of magical creatures. When some of the creatures escape from the briefcase, it sends the American wizarding authorities after Newt, and it further threatens the already tense state of magical and non-magical relations. Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Jon Voigt, and Ron Perlman co-star in the adaptation, which was scripted by J.K. Rowling herself.

12. The Circle

Dave Eggers’ 2013 novel of the same name will serve as the basis for the upcoming sci-fi drama adaptation, starring Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt, and Bill Paxton. The book centers on tech worker Mae Holland (Watson) as she joins a powerful Internet company, which starts out as an incredibly rewarding experience but soon starts to fall apart. The movie began filming in September.

13. The Queen of Katwe, September 30

The film, inspired by Tim Crothers’s book of the same name, chronicles the life of Phiona Mutesi, a Ugandan teen chess prodigy who becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her performances at World Chess Olympiads. David Oyelowo will star as the man who mentors Phiona, while Lupita Nyong’o will play her mother. Charity Rose Pimer will play Phiona herself. The movie is expected to premiere sometime this fall.

14. The Lost City of Z

The upcoming action adventure biographical film, based on the 2009 book of the same name by David Grann, describes the real-life story of British explorer Percy Fawcett. Fawcett made several attempts to find an ancient lost city in the Amazon and finally disappeared in 1925 along with his son in the search for the city. The film adaptation will star Charlie Hunnam as Fawcettalong with Robert Pattinson as his fellow explorer Henry Costin and Sienna Miller as his wife Nina Fawcett. No official release date has been scheduled yet.

15. Silence

Martin Scorsese’s next project is based on Shūsaku Endō’s 1966 novel of the same name. The historical drama flick will follow two Jesuit Portuguese priests, who face violent persecution when they travel to Japan to seek out their mentor and spread the teachings of Christianity. Andrew Garfield will star as Father Sebastiao Rodrigues in the film, while Adam Driver and Liam Neeson will play Father Franchisco Garrpe and Father Cristovao Ferreira, respectively. No specific premiere date has been released, but the movie is expected to hit theaters sometime in late 2016.

17 Incredibly highly educated celebs

It’s a common misconception that celebs aren’t particularly educated. It’s the typical glamourous origin story; someone arrives on the bus with a one-way ticket, fresh outta high school, or maybe even a school dropout.
Then, after some struggle, they make it big and become rich and famous. While a high school education may be common among celebrities, it is definitely not the only path in life to become a major star. In fact, some celebrities are highly educated, a fact that’s often evident in how they approach their work.
Several celebrities have graduate degrees from general education majors to studies in their craft. But you don’t often see these stars boasting about their education. In fact, sometimes you have to do some hardcore digging in order to unearth their diploma. Of course, often the celebrity’s alma mater will brag about how successful their program is with mentions of famous alumni.
The following seventeen celebrities have not only undergraduate but Master’s degrees. Perhaps it was the tenacity and dedication that helped them in their studies which afforded these celebs the success they have now. Who knows, perhaps these A-listers will inspire a trend of highly educated fans.

17. Leonard Nimoy

Mr. Leonard Nimoy, the Star Trek star, attended Antioch College in the fifties and earned his Master of Arts in Bilingual Education. After his university days, Nimoy started out in Hollywood playing smaller roles before landing the coveted role of Mr. Spock in “Star Trek.”
Today, he has been awarded two honorary doctorates for his work in Holocaust remembrance, arts activism, and advocating for the environment. He is also often the keynote speaker at numerous universities.

16. Ron Jeremy

You’d be forgiven for a double take here. It’s true, Ron Jeremy was a special education teacher before he became the king of the adult entertainment industry. In order to work in special education and to be good at it, you have to have the credentials and the degree: He earned a Bachelor of Arts in education as well as theatre. But his education didn’t stop there. He went on to earn his Master of Arts in special education from Queens College in New York.

15. Christy Turlington Burns

Christy Turlington Burns is best known as one of the most sought-after models in the industry. Despite having a lucrative and successful career in the modeling industry, Christy wanted more. So, she returned to school in 1994 to the Gallatin School of Individualized Study (part of New York University) and graduated in 1999 cum laude with a Bachelors degree in Eastern Philosophy and Comparative Religion. She then started to attend Columbia University, is currently working part-time towards a Master’s degree in public health.

14. Ashley Judd

We all know Ashley Judd as one of the most talented actresses in the industry, who never has to worry about not getting any work. She’s beautiful as well as smart. She is the daughter of Naomi Judd and the half-sister of Wynonna Judd, and graduated from the University of Kentucky where she majored in French. But she wouldn’t pursue a graduate degree until the mid-2000s. In 2010, Judd earned her Master’s degree in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Her graduation day was especially endearing as her daughter also graduated that day.

13. Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth has the voice of an angel, and it has brought her much success in the entertainment industry from Broadway to Hollywood, along with her feisty acting chops. But Ms. Chenoweth didn’t just wake up one day with her extraordinary talent, she had to work hard for it. Growing up in Oklahoma, the “Glee” star earned her bachelors degree in musical theatre in 1990 from Oklahoma City University, and then decided to keep pursuing her education. She earned her Master’s degree in operatic performance from the same school in 1992.

12. Dolph Lundgren

Dolph Lundgren is a well known Swedish actor, director, and martial artist who has played alongside of our best known action heroes. This action star is quite well-versed in science. He studied chemistry and earned a degree at Washington State University. Lundgren then got a degree in chemical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Then he earned his Masters degree from the University of Sydney in Australia in 1980. All during this time, Lundgren was studying martial arts, and started dating Grace Jones, who got him his big break in Hollywood.

11. Greg Graffin

Greg Graffin is best known as the front man for the band, Bad Religion, but he also a hefty academic. Growing up in Los Angeles, Graffin attended the University of California – Los Angeles, double majoring in geology and anthropology. He later stuck around UCLA and went on to earn his Master’s degree in geology.
But Graffin didn’t stop there; he earned his PhD from Cornell University. In 2009, Graffin returned to teach a Life Sciences class at UCLA. Imagine walking into your first class and seeing the front man for Bad Religion in a suit and glasses…

10. Art Garfunkel

When he wasn’t building bridges to help you with your troubled waters with a singer named Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel was trying to find a way to support himself and make a decent living.
He majored in Art History at Columbia College, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree. Then, his academic career took a sharp turn in favor of mathematics, where he earned his Masters degree from Columbia University. During his graduate studies, he didn’t stop singing or making music, and eventually reunited with Simon to create the iconic musical pair we know and love today.

9. David Duchovny

Before he was chasing down the paranormal in “The X-Files” or doing some naughty stuff on “Californication”, David Duchovny was an Ivy League academic. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, and then went on to earn his Master’s degree in English literature from Yale.
He was noted to be very gifted when it came to writing and poetry, and even earned accolades for his works. While in graduate school, he would commute to New York City on the weekends for acting lessons and auditions. Although he earned a spot in Yale’s doctoral program, he soon abandoned it to pursue acting professionally.

8. Dexter Holland

If you’re involved in the punk scene, you probably know who Dexter Holland is. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for the band, “The Offspring”, and has played venues for thousands of fans. But what most people might not know is that he’s actually got a brilliant mind that’s not just focused on music.
He attended the University of Southern California, where he earned his Bachelor’s in biology. Then, Holland stuck around for a few more years and earned his Master’s in molecular biology. He was originally in a PhD program, but then dropped out to focus more on The Offspring.

7. Rowan Atkinson

While the world may know him as Mr. Bean – the lovable comedic character who wasn’t quite too bright – Rowan Atkinson is actually quite a brilliant man. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Newcastle University, and then in 1975, enrolled in a Master’s program in electrical engineering at The Queen’s College at Oxford University.
While he was there, he became involved in the Oxford University Dramatic Society, along with several other theatre-related clubs in the city. While in graduate school, Atkinson began developing the iconic character of Mr. Bean.

6. Lupita Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong’o was born in Mexico and moved to the United States to attend college. She studied theatre and film at Hampshire College and was admitted to the prestigious Master of Fine Arts program at the Yale School of Drama studying acting.
After graduating in 2012, Nyong’o had her first supporting role in the film, “12 Years a Slave”, where she earned herself an Academy Award. For a new breakout starlet, this was a huge accomplishment, and made her the first Kenyan actress and the first Mexican actress to win an Oscar. Not only is she an educated and accomplished actress, but a major advocate for women’s rights.

5. Sigourney Weaver

Before she was battling aliens and being possessed by ghosts, Sigourney Weaver was a graduate student earning her MFA in acting from Yale – are you starting to notice a trend here between Yale and celebrities?
Weaver earned her degree in 1974, just one year before another person on this list who also attended the prestigious drama school. She created the role of Ellen Ripley in the well known “Alien” movie franchise, which was her breakout role and set her career into overdrive. Since graduation, she has starred in numerous movies and has earned a Lifetime Achievement Award as well as getting her name on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.

4. Angela Bassett – MFA Yale

When it comes to education, Angela Bassett is a Yale girl through and through. She first attended the university on a scholarship and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Afro-American Studies, and was then accepted into Yale’s MFA program in drama.
While she was a graduate student, she had the chance to work with world renowned director, Lloyd Richards, who would give Bassett her first gig on Broadway – setting her career into overdrive.

3. James Franco

Even though his latest movie was pulled by Sony after political threats, James Franco has the tenacity to keep creating. The “Interview” actor holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing from Columbia University in 2010.
However, this isn’t Franco’s only academic accomplishment. In fact, he is well know for pursuing academic success with multiple degrees. When he first started college after graduating high school, Franco dropped out during his freshman year to pursue his acting career. He’s since been making up for it ten-fold.

2. Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper is perhaps the most surprising entry on this list, as it’s hard to picture the star of “The Hangover” as an academic protege. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University in 1997, and then moved to New York City to begin his graduate studies. Cooper earned his MFA in acting in 2000 from the Actors Studio Drama School at The New School. Before he earned his MFA, he already booked a guest spot on “Sex and the City” in 1999, so it seemed that his studies were paying off before he graduated.

1. Meryl Streep

There is no question that Meryl Streep has had one of the most successful careers in Hollywood, and there is no doubt that she is a wildly talented actress. While it’s obvious that there’s some major natural talent at play, that didn’t stop Streep from pursuing an education.
The “Into the Woods” star earned her Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama in 1975, and in 1983 the school gave her an honorary Doctorate. Streep has used her training to maintain a very successful career and will often pass down her knowledge in master classes at her alma mater.

10 Great Books that have not Been made Into Movies

Some of the best movies of all time have been based on great books. Whether it is From Here To Eternity by author James Jones or, more recently, No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Great books provide wonderful source material for screenwriters and directors to develop into films. However, some of the best books of all time—both vintage novels and more contemporary titles—have never been made into a movie. Sometimes this is because an author refuses to sell the rights to the book. Other times it is because a novel is deemed to be unfilmable. But, whatever the reason, it is a shame that many great books have not been turned into movies. Here are 10 books that we think deserve to be filmed.

10. The Dark Tower Series (Stephen King)

Considering that nearly every Stephen King book has been turned into a movie—from Carrie and Cujo to Firestarter and Misery—it is surprising that his biggest creation, The Dark Tower series has never been developed into a film or film franchise. Even Stephen King’s short stories have made it to the big screen, including Stand By Me and The Green Mile. However, the reason The Dark Tower series has not been turned into a movie yet is because it is deemed to be too big, expensive and technically daunting. The series, which centers on Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, who is on a quest to catch “the man in black” across a vast desert, spans a total of eight novels that together comprise 4,250 pages. Director Ron Howard tried to develop the series into a number of feature films and made-for-TV movie tie-ins several years ago, and actor Javier Bardem was attached to play Roland the Gunslinger. But in the end, movie studios bulked at a price tag of more than $300 million to produce it

9. The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen)

Jonathan Franzen’s National Book Award winner about a dysfunctional family is funny, hearfelt and contains a great deal of truth to it. With so many other family-centerd books being adapted into movies, one would assume that The Corrections would also make it to the big screen. But not yet. HBO had been working to adapt the book into a television series starring Anthony Hopkins as the family patriarch, but unfortunately that never worked out. The book follows the lives of multiple family members, so its episodic nature lends itself well to television, but it could also work well as a film. Scott Rudin optioned the rights to produce the film in 2001, but so far nothing has come of it. In 2002, author Jonathan Franzen wrote that he’d love to see the film star Gene Hackman as the family patriarch Alfred. But to date, no film has materialized.

8. A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L’Engle)

Published in 1962, A Wrinkle In Time has never been out of print. And the book, about a young girl whose father, a government scientist, goes missing after working on a mysterious project called a Tesseract, has won numerous awards, including a Newbery Medal and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. However, it has yet to be produced as a major motion picture. Disney did make a TV movie based on the book in 2003, but it went largely unnoticed and was reviled by fans of the book who claim that Disney left out many of its adult themes in an effort to turn it into a children’s TV film. This science fiction rescue story that contains fantastic planets and alien beings, would make a great movie. But there’s heavy material included in the book too, including quantum physics that has kept producers and directors at bay so far.

7. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

One of the most famous works ever in Latin American literature, and one of the most influential works of magical realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book One Hundred Years of Solitude spans generations of one family and follows the creation and eventual death of the city of Macondo. The novel popularized the use of magical realism, a style where seemingly impossible or even supernatural events are depicted in a way that makes them seem believable. And although the novel is universally loved, it has been deemed too difficult to film because of its fantastical style. However, some people feel that a movie version could be made in the vein of other films that employ magic realism such as Amélie and Chocolat—both of which won Oscars. However, it may all be for naught as Gabriel Garcia Marquez has not yet allowed any production company to purchase the rights to adapt his much heralded novel.

6. Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)

Many critics consider the epic western novel Blood Meridian, published in 1985, to be Cormac McCarthy’s best. However, while some of McCarthy’s more recent books such as The Road and No Country For Old Men have been made into great films, this one has not. Speculation is that the story, which follows a teenager known only as the Kid who takes up with a gang of scalp hunters and Indian killers, is too violent and racist in tone to become a commercial motion picture. Plus, the language used in the book is extremely dense and difficult. And, while believed to be historically accurate, the novel about a gang that massacred Native Americans along the U.S.-Mexico border around 1850 has turned off most producers and directors who wonder if a movie about it would find an audience.

5. The Stand (Stephen King)

Another Stephen King novel to make this list, The Stand is considered to be the author’s masterwork. And it was made into a pretty bad TV miniseries in 1994 starring Gary Sinise and, believe it or not, Molly Ringwald. Yet King fans have been clamouring for a feature film adaptation of this book since it was first published in 1978. A post-apocalyptic horror and fantasy novel, The Stand is a monster of a book at 823 pages. Yet the tale it tells of good versus evil amid the survivors of a plague that wipes out most of Earth’s population is a classic and much beloved by readers. There have been many attempts, and rumoured attempts, to make The Stand into a feature film over the years. Earlier this year, there were rumors that Warner Bros. was going to make the movie with director Josh Boone (The Fault In Our Stars) at the helm. But, to date, nothing has been made official. Many in Hollywood consider the book just too big to adapt into a movie—even a four hour long one might not be enough.

4. A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole)

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and widely consider one of the funniest books ever written, John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces published in 1980 is about Ignatius J. Reilly, a larger-than-life idiot savant, who is out of time with his immediate world and has many misadventures around New Orleans. Many directors have tried to adapt this picaresque novel, including Harold Ramis, John Waters, Stephen Fry and Steven Soderbergh. But none have succeeded. Soderbergh got close with his film version when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and scuttled plans to begin filming on location there, leading Soderbergh to comment that he throught a film adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces was cursed and doomed to failure.

3. Roger’s Version (John Updike)

John Updike’s novel The Witches of Eastwick was a big screen smash when it was adapted by director George Miller with Jack Nicholson in the title role at the end of the 1980s. So it is a bit surprising that more of John Updike’s novels haven’t been given the cinematic green light and turned into movies. And the consensus is that the novel Roger’s Version would make for a fantastic movie, as it has as its themes middle age disillusionment, sexual attraction to a younger woman and questions about the existence of God. Yet to date, nobody has made this book into the dramatic, Oscar caliber film it could potentially be. The rights to it were quickly optioned when the book was first published in 1986. But it has never made it into film production.

2. Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)

We are not talking here about the sci-fi novel The Invisible Man. That has been made into numerous film adaptations. Instead, we are talking about the brilliant first novel by Ralph Ellison that is considered one of the most important books of the 20th Century. Published in 1952, it tells the story of an anonymous narrator who is black and considers himself to be invisible because other people refuse to see him. The book, which won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953, touches on issues of race relations, black nationalism and individual identity. Considered an important work and historical document, director Spike Lee has purportedly been trying to make a movie from the novel for years. However, some people feel that the book is too intellectual to be made into a movie. Others feel it is now outdated given that there is a black president in the White House.

1. The Catcher In The Rye (J.D. Salinger)

Arguably, the most famous book to never be made into a movie, J.D. Salinger’s classic 1951 novel The Catcher In The Rye has been sought after by a who’s who of Hollywood directors—from Martin Scorsese to Sophia Coppola. But to date, there has never been a film adaptation of the book about disillusioned teenager Holden Caulfield. Salinger refused to sign over the rights to his most famous book. And I guess this makes sense considering that the novel’s central character does a good deal of complaining about Hollywood phonies and how the movies are unrealistic. Nevertheless, that has not stopped everyone from Jerry Lewis to John Cusack from trying to get their hands on the rights to The Catcher In The Rye. There was hope that the situation might change after J.D. Salinger died in 2010 and the rights to the book might finally become available. However, that notion was quickly quashed by Phyllis Westberg, Salinger’s long time agent, who issued a statement saying that nothing has changed in terms of licensing film, television or stage rights to J.D. Salinger’s work. She also noted that J.D. Salinger himself always thought that a film adaptation of The Catcher In The Rye would end up being “contrived.”

8 biggest problems in filmindustry which have to be fixed

The film industry is a big family of creative people all working together to produce a unique story. However, there are big problems in the family that have to be addressed and fixed otherwise the film industry as we know it today, won’t be the same in the years to come.
Below are the most pressing issues that are undermining creativity, people’s aspirations and the value we place on film itself. Can these problems be solved? Not overnight, but ignoring them and not finding solutions to make things work for the best, would be tragic.
So what are these problems?
1. The devaluation of film as a product
Film is becoming less ‘valuable’ as streaming content on mass erodes the pricing model of physical items like DVD and Bluray. With current technologies, filmmakers are able to get their films out on VOD faster to their audience but there’s a catch : People are paying less per stream than they would a physical product. As VOD ‘cheapens’ the physical product, this is the biggest challenge and problem that has to be dealt with, and it’s unavoidable.
If the price of a film falls too low, then the film producers, set designers, film directors, editors and so on, will all feel the pinch. Even a film financier will be left with smaller returns if the numbers are too low and that will have a direct impact on film production as we know it.
It’s not just film crews that will feel the pain either. PR companies, distributors, actors, caterers, hotels, travel companies and so on will feel the knock-on effect.
2. Film franchise fatigue
A major problem this year at the box office was the overload of franchises and sequels. There was disappointment over the summer about the quality of films and it’s been a lacklustre year for releases partly because original storytelling has been on a decline.
It’s no secret that the franchise model is still lucrative, but the over-reliance of this, is creating a detrimental effect on the whole business. Some would argue it’s encouraging piracy. On the forums ahead of ‘Expendables 3’, the viewpoint was that ‘the movie sucked anyway’ and didn’t have enough value for people to want to see it or buy the film.
Audience expectations, if low, will undermine box office receipts across the whole film business. Standards need to be kept high otherwise people will see film devalued again and it will affect everyone.
3. Lack of government grants for short films
Government grants are an important contribution to indie filmmakers as well as big productions but there appears to be a reluctance to invest in short filmed content. Perhaps this is because turning a profit on a short is seen as impossible, and it’s not an export format that can earn money at the box office but, short films are today’s most important communication tool.
Some might argue that the feature film as a format itself is becoming extinct. Well, there’s a reason for it, but that doesn’t mean that short filmmakers should be punished and not supported to preserve the status-quo. In fact, shorts can bring a lot of public interest to places, people, products and so on. This is where a profit can be made.
4. Tax breaks that don’t help smaller film productions
Again, tax breaks seem to favor bigger productions but don’t give much help to lower budget films. In France and the UK there are funds available but in the US, there is very little help for those making indie films and that’s a tragedy for content diversity.
The film industry shouldn’t just be about making huge films with million dollar budgets. There a niches, and smaller audiences that want a different kind of content too. Where is the help to make these films really take off?
5. Runaway digital piracy affecting filmmaker profits
Digital piracy continues and the problem isn’t solved. ISPs can make a difference in blocking sites that host illegal content but the laws and the public discord over how to do it, is stopping the process. No one wants to inhibit the freedom of the web, but people shouldn’t be impoverished by theft either. This is a must fix, and it’s far from being resolved.
6. Lack of access to content in different markets
One of the big problems with film releases is their availability in different markets. Films have different release dates and windows in different territories but the web centralizes the audience to the point where not having content available in all regions on the same day is detrimental. With all the advertising dollars spent on film marketing campaigns in different regions, there is so little focus on the reality : That even if you market 100% of your content to the US market, you’re going to get people in different countries looking at that as well and demand gets created elsewhere. The web has no borders, so film releases shouldn’t have them either.
7. Long working hours and pay issues
Another problem for film professionals is the lack of regulation on working hours and pay. Making a film is not a 9 to 5 job and of course, shoots can go on for as much as 20 hours in extreme cases, but there are no realistic overtime provisions or laws that help filmmakers retain a minimum salary.
8. Film crews not knowing their legal rights
A majority of filmmakers have no idea what their actual rights are as workers or even on the intellectual copyright side. This poses a challenge as there are people out there that can abuse this lack of knowledge to get their way. Unfortunately some rogue producers have treated their crews badly, paid them virtually nothing and even endangered their safety by breaking all these rules. People are scared to come forward, don’t know how to deal with these problems or are too afraid to stand up to abusive practices.
There should be no instance where anyone working in film is being treated badly or bullied and feels that they can’t do anything about it

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

13 most qualified actors in bollywood

We all know them for their glamor and acting skills, but hardly did we know that some of these Bollywood celebrities that we adore are highly educated too.

1. Amitabh Bachchan

The legendary actor in Indian Cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, had no plans to become an actor in his early years and took education very seriously. He has a double major in Science and also an honorary Doctorate degree from Queensland University in Australia to his credit.

2. Vidya Balan

The ‘OoLa La’ girl always dreamt of having an acting career but she did give importance to education. She got a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from St. Xavier’s College and also holds a Master’s degree from University of Mumbai

3. John Abraham

John Abraham might be popular for his hot body, but he is all brains too. He holds a Bachelor’s in Economics and got MBA from NarseeMonjee Institute of Management Studies. He would have done a great job in media planning if he hadn’t delved into the world of modeling and film

4. Siddharth

This multifaceted celebrity was also an all-rounder in college. The ‘Rang De Basanti’ guy holds a Bachelor of Commerce honors degree from Kirori Mal College under University of Delhi. He has also participated in many world debating championships. He went to do MBA from SPJIMR, Mumbai and was awarded CNBC Manager of the Year Award 1999 for his speaking skills.

5. Preity Zinta

Priety Zinta was a bright student in school and has done Bachelors in English with honors from St. Bede’s College in Shimla. The actress also did a graduate program in Psychology and holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Psychology, making her one of the highly educated Bollywood actresses.

6. R Madhavan

Not many know that R. Madhavan has a Graduation in Electronics and is also trained with the Royal Army, Navy and the Air Force. He has got many achievements to his credit before joining the industry. He represented India as a cultural Ambassador in Canada and was also awarded the Best NCC Cadet Maharashtra with a chance to go to England. He did courses in public speaking too which gave him more awards and achievements.

7. Sonu Sood

Chedi Singh from Dabangg, SonuSood is an Engineer! He has an Engineering degree in Electronics from Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering in Nagpur. If he stopped acting, he would not have to think twice for an alternate career

8. Soha Ali Khan

Actress best known for her role as Sonia in Rang De Basanti (2006), which she won the IIFA award for Best Supporting Actress and GIFA award for Best Supporting Actress, Soha Ali Khan studied modern history at Balliol College, Oxford and earned a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

9. Imran Khan

Nephew of actor Aamir Khan and director/producer Mansoor Khan, and the grandson of director-producer Nasir Hussain, Imran Khan was born in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. He attended Fremont High School and later the Los Angeles branch of the New York Film Academy where he received a degree in filmmaking.

10. Parineeti Chopra

Parineeti Chopra moved to London when she was 17 years old. Deciding that she wanted to be an investment banker, she enrolled at Manchester Business School and got a triple honors degree – in business, finance and economics – but changed her mind back in 2011 and started a film career.

11. Ayushmann Khurrana

As a television anchor, Ayushmann did pretty well, but not nearly as well as he did as an actor in Bollywood. Ayushmann studied at St. John’s High School and DAV College in Chandigarh, where he majored in English literature. He also did a master’s in mass communication from School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

12. Omi Vaidya

Best known for his performance as Chatur Ramalingam or “The Silencer” in the 2009 Bollywood film 3 Idiots, Omi Vaidya graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and later attended the University of California, Santa Cruz for two years before transferring to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and graduated with honors

13. Richa Chadda

Richa Chadda, winner of the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 2012 films Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 and Part 2, is not only a great actress but a highly educated Bollywood celebrity as well. After completing her schooling at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in 2002, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.
There are many other celebrities too who have an assured career even after Bollywood. However, with their Bollywood status, probably these degrees and diplomas will always remain under the wraps

Myths regarding Filmmaking

Myths are incredibly important—they help us find a purpose beyond ourselves. The best myths unite and bring us together, providing narratives that lead to greater truths about our existence.
At their very core, myths are collective stories that can help us make sense of our lives. By definition, they’re fictitious, created to explain something unexplainable. In them, we attempt to see truths that we all can share. But let’s not fail to recognize that there are different kinds of myths, and some are worth paying attention to while others are not.
One kind of myth is used as a storytelling device to accomplish some good or to entertain us. We interact with these myths throughout the day. These made up stories evoke all kinds of emotional responses, but we view them as positive. They help us feel more connected, more compassionate and more alive.
Another kind of myth has more unfortunate consequences. These are the kinds of pessimistic myths that tell us we’re not good enough, why we can’t accomplish our dreams, and so on. The good news about these myths is that they’re fictitious, too. The bad news is that we are often fooled into believing them.
We’ve drawn on our years of experience as filmmakers to share the myths we all need to stop believing in the filmmaking community, negative misconceptions that could stand in the way of our dreams and block our creative growth.

Here are 8 filmmaking myths you should ignore:

1. Better gear, better stories
All it takes is a quick browse through Vimeo Staff Picks from years ago and you’ll see a powerful story is still a powerful story. They are moving films not because of the gear, but because of the story and those who brought it to life.
The general public—non-filmmakers—will not care about or notice the gear a film was shot with. The only thing that matters is the story and how it makes them feel.

2. Making a film is expensive
You don’t need the latest gear to make a film. This is all you need: the gear you have right now and your friends.
But if for some reason your story calls for a piece of gear you don’t own, rent it. With shops like LensProToGo, making a film has never been more affordable.
Budget should never silence a great story. Don’t let it silence yours.

3. Better high ISO performance means no need for lights
Your Sony A7S just arrived. Great, now you can shoot in pitch black—no need to use lights anymore, right? Not quite.
It is certainly true that better ISO performance opens up more creative options, but understanding light as a storytelling tool is one of the—if not the—biggest skills you need to master as a filmmaker. There is no replacement for a solid understanding of light and how to use it to affect your audience.
Light for story, not for what’s easiest.

4. You can fix it in post-production
There is one ideal way to fix something, and that way is to fix it in preproduction. Spend as much time as you possibly can preparing for production. Live in the details of how to bring your story to light. Know your characters like they are living and breathing. Know the rhythms of their heart and the cadence of their speech.
Know the story inside and out before you ever start rolling the camera; it will help you tremendously down the road. You can’t fix a broken story in post-production.

5. You can do it alone
Filmmaking is—and will always be—a team sport.
Collaboration is everything, and any great story is a result of the combined experiences and ideas of those working on the project. And the best part, all that collaboration requires is a story everyone is connected to.
You’ll be amazed at how many people will jump at the opportunity to be part of a project that has a great story at the center of it.

6. You need to be famous to have your work seen
The common thread among films that get millions of views is not well-known names, but how they make audiences feel. And while certain filmmakers have cracked the code, and as a result have videos go viral consistently, an amazing story is always at the heart of it.
Create a film that makes people feel something and your chance of views goes up dramatically.

7. You don’t have a story to tell
You are amazing. And because of that, you have amazing stories to tell.
Don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Go out and find it. Explore, meet new people and bring a camera.
Stories are everywhere, but sometimes you have to dig to find them.

8. There’s too much to learn
It’s true: there is a lot to learn in filmmaking. But like any other craft, that should inspire you and push you forward. You should certainly read and watch tutorials, but there is no replacement for practice—even if it means failing. You have to get your hands a little dirty.
And because you’re not doing it alone (see myth #5), bring in collaborators who specialize in areas you don’t and learn from them.
Great filmmakers aren’t necessarily more gifted. They just never stop learning.

What filmmaking myths have you learned are better to ignore? On the flip side, what filmmaking truths have helped you grow as a filmmaker? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below

Monday, September 19, 2016

Commom mistakes which beginners make

Common Mistakes Amateur Filmmakers make

No Clear Vision - There's no clear vision for how the film will be used in the end. Is the goal a theater release, to be bought by a national broadcaster such as HBO, is it for PBS? Or is it a packaged educational piece to be sold to schools? Perhaps it is simply to showcase to family and friends. Or will it be a mini-documentary for the web only? The point is that if there is a certain goal in mind, the documentary can be crafted from the very beginning with the end use in mind.
Skimping on production -- For the filmmaking amateur, lack of money is a very real issue. It can often be the filmmaker with a camcorder and that's it. And if that's all you've got, then go for it and do your best. But realize that when you're back in the editing room with an interview that's badly lit or the sound is terrible, it's going to be torture and you'll be kicking yourself for not making the extra effort to get the shot right. Do everything you can to get the best quality footage in the field.
Underestimate the value and importance of a trailer -- An effective trailer can be the difference between your documentary getting made or not. A trailer can help you raise money, support and publicity.
Shooting way too many interviews -- A typical documentary might only profile 7-10 people. More than that and an audience gets lost. Filming more interviews than you need is normal, but a filmmaking amateur goes way overboard.
Creating a business plan -- Many first time filmmakers are enthralled by a certain documentary idea, but with no sense of who will be interested to see it when it's done or how it will be distributed. If the project is purely for joy, then skip this part. But with just a wee bit of foresight, you could potentially gear your idea to a particular audience where your film could be of value and help generate income for yourself. Make a list of all potential buyers before you start making the film. Check out our Documentary Proposal Template for guidance.
Not Using Facebook -- Old school filmmaking involved making the film and then releasing it to the public when it was done. Those days are gone! A big mistake filmmakers make is waiting until the film is completed to start promoting it and building an audience. As soon as possible create a Facebook page for your documentary and start building your audience by involving them in the process.
Funding -- Raising money is much much harder than you can imagine. Prepare yourself mentally ahead of time that fundraising will be a long tough road. Put together a fundraising team if at all possible. Get more tips on documentary fundraising.
Underestimating distribution and marketing -- Once the film is complete, now your second job begins. Oh boy! If you care at all if anyone sees your documentary, you will have to do a lot of work to get the word out and promote your movie. That can mean everything from film festivals, to creating postcards and posters, doing a public relations campaign, interviewing with media, social media outreach, speaking to groups, etc.
Lacking courage -- Some documentaries will require you to go outside your comfort zone. Do it.
Underestimating how long it will take to complete the project.
Thinking about music last instead of first.
Lack of planning -- Don't start shooting without a plan.. this is a typical filmmaking amateur mistake. Think about some creative storytelling techniques around your subject. For example, if you know the title of your documentary, have your interviews work the title into their answers. Stop motion is another great visual hook, as well as animation. What about skits that illustrate certain points of your documentary. With the documentary Young @ Heart, the filmmakers had their elderly subjects perform in music videos that weaved in and out of the interviews and storyline.
Signed Releases - If you ever hope to have your documentary broadcast on TV or sold on DVD, you'll need signed releases from your interviews stating you have their permission to use their image. Read more about legal, consent and copyright issues

So those are some common filmmaking amateur mistakes.
What are your thoughts about this topic... leave a comment below!

Free Music Track.......loaded...pirated

The origin of Music Piracy

Music piracy is a conceptually abstract and intangible phenomenon that is considered to be the main enemy of the global music industry. However, this practice is not condemned unanimously by all parties involved; while artists may thoroughly despise it, consumers are very divided with regards to it. The discrepancy in how this phenomenon is seen lies in the fact that piracy is a very flexible term and can be moulded to fit any kind of argument. Therefore, before we even try to analyse the extent to which the music industry is damaged by piracy, we must firstly understand what piracy really is.

The Economic Times defines it as “the copying and distributing of copies of a piece of music for which the composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company did not give consent.” Dictionary.com makes an even broader definition defining piracy as “the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented intervention, trademarked product, etc.” If we use this definition as the only true definition of piracy, we can be accused of piracy if we sing under the shower and someone hears us. The American Federal law code, (Title 17, United States Code Sections 501 and 506), other than unauthorized reproduction, also includes the simple copying of the medium without any further use (e.g. for backup).

From this brief research we can conclude that copyright infringement through illegal music sharing is hard to define and therefore hard to quantify. It should be no surprise therefore, that record labels blame all of their woes on piracy, after all, estimates using such broad definitions, can potentially allow them to produce huge numbers of potential “pirates” and consequentially increase the economic damage done.

The term “piracy” implies that there is a theft of a good, taking something away from someone without their consent, but this implication is actually the complete opposite of what music piracy actually is: the sharing of songs without the permission of the artist. Illegal music sharing is more of a form of vandalism, where most of the time it just damages the owner of the copyrighted material without bringing any benefit to the criminal. In many cases, therefore, this type of activity leads to a net loss of welfare. Therefore, in this article while discussing the widespread phenomenon of music “piracy”, I will refer to it as Illegal Music Sharing (IMS).

CD-burning was the first real catalyst for IMS, it was incredibly cheap to copy a song and give it to a friend, or a family member, but copying files took time and still imposed a cost on the criminal, there were still many barriers that prevented IMS from expanding beyond the more technically savvy users. With the advent of Napster in the early 2000’s IMS really began to expand at an incredibly rapid pace as it was virtually free to download and reproduce songs that other users had uploaded, at its peak there were 57 million users. The revolution set off by Napster survived the website’s demise as by the time it was closed, thousands of similar websites had emerged in the web, not only that, but peer-to-peer file sharing over “torrents” was also being coordinated by sites such as Limewire. IMS found fertile territory in the World Wide Web and grew to dimensions that even governments and institutions are unable to control.

Only damage?

IMS damages the music industry in many ways, the most obvious is that it supposedly deprives the music industry from the income it needs to survive and expand. The economic reasoning behind this is quite simple. In an initial scenario, the consumers, in order to obtain the song they want, can only purchase it through the authorized retailers who at times even charge their own mark up. The possibility of illegal music sharing, initially through CD cloning and then through online platforms, gives the potential buyers another option, in this case, the cost is zero but the enjoyment they derive from it is the same. Obviously consumers would choose the latter option and acquire the so-called “pirated” song.

This is the assumption of many economic studies reported on the RIAA website. These studies unsurprisingly, given where they were reported, strongly suggest that music piracy directly damaged the industry. The following are a sample of a collection of statements reported on the website:

Since the peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing site Napster emerged in 1999, total music sales in the US have dropped 53 percent, from $14.6 billion to less than $7.0 billion in 2013. (The main decline, however, was due to a fall in CD sales, so there may be no causal link.)
NPD, a market research company, reports that only 37 percent of music acquired by US consumers in 2009 was paid for.
Digital storage locker downloads constitute 7 percent of all internet traffic, while 91 percent of the links found on them were for copyrighted material, and 10 percent of those links were to music specifically, according to a 2011 Envisional study.

Clearly, there is a deep economic impact caused by IMS, more specifically, a study conducted by Jupiter research concluded that between 2001 and 2012 music piracy cost the UK music industry £1.6bn, to put in perspective, the whole music industry was worth £3.5bn in 2012. On the other side of the Atlantic, a study in 2007 concluded that “recorded music piracy costs American workers significant losses in jobs and earnings, and governments substantial lost tax revenue” This study concluded in fact that there were 71,000 lost jobs and an annual loss of $12.5 billion through knock on effects on related industries.

[FIGURE 1: CD’s sales have declined, but is it piracy’s fault?]

It is easy to conclude, therefore, that there is a concrete impact on the number of sales of music. We must still consider, however, the results of survey data dependent heavily on the sample and the type of questions asked, a bad combination of these two factors could lead to an overestimation or underestimation of the problem.

To make matters worse, one of the few studies that analysed the real behaviour came to the opposite conclusion of the surveys. In the European Commission report “Digital Music Consumption on the Internet: Evidence from Clickstream Data”, the researchers followed 15,000 unsuspecting internet users across Europe for a whole year came to the following conclusion “Across specifications, the estimates of δ suggest elasticities of about 0.02 between clicks on illegal downloading websites and legal purchases websites. If this estimate is given a causal interpretation, it means that clicks on legal purchase websites would have been 2% lower in the absence of illegal downloading websites” of course, this is giving “causal interpretation”, but even without this assumption, the study also said “After using several approaches to deal with the endogeneity of downloading and streaming, our results show no evidence of sales displacement”.

[Figure 3: Music pirates buy more music] Source: www.statista.com

The fact that the European study concluded that there were potentially some benefits, or at least no drawbacks to illegal music sharing suggests that, even if the data contradicts what would happen in the common sense situation, there are many scenarios in which this conclusion may seem perfectly valid. For example, illegally shared music can theoretically increase the consumer’s level of “knowledge”. This is because illegally shared music through uploads on streaming services such as YouTube can be used as a “trial” before the actual legal purchase. Unlike many other goods, a song or album cannot be objectively reviewed and the common 30-or-less second samples are clearly not enough to get a good feel for a song especially in the case of a whole album. In this case, downloading an illegal copy would allow the consumer to make an informed decision in the purchase.

A second situation in which the potential revenue of a record company is not harmed by illegal music sharing is if the person who downloads the track had no other option left. Many non-English speaking artists are very difficult to find in the common Anglophone online stores, for those who perhaps do not speak the language, purchasing a track in a foreign on-line store could present serious challenges or even be impossible due to IP region locks. This would mean that if consumers wanted to avoid breaching the law, they would not be able to buy the track or album. In this respect, illegal music sharing has a more capillary presence in the web, making it possible to access previously inaccessible data.

Sometimes, albums and individual songs are perceived to be simply too expensive and priced unfairly. In a study conducted in 2010 by the University of Pennsylvania, the researchers revealed that the interviewed consumers saw $0.60 as the fair price of music and concluded that potentially the industry’s profits are almost 50% lower than than what they could be if they had charged $0.60 per song rather than the common $0.99. This is both congruent with the view that illegal music sharing may harm the industry since, at an extreme, the 50% loss in revenue could be totally attributed to people resorting to piracy, but at the same time it is also suggesting that the record labels are giving people a reason to illegally share files because they are overpricing their products or simply discouraging people from purchasing the song.

The future

The music industry is reacting to the phenomenon of illegal music sharing in a disjointed manner as the interests of artists, record labels and consumers diverge. While there is a set of new approaches, which could work in some cases, there is no one solution and none of them is likely to succeed in the industry as a whole.

Some independent artists, for example, have begun selling songs for free on their websites and instead earn revenue through the advertising on their page and donations, this clearly does not give the artist much hope of making a large profit, but in some cases, it allows them to continue to make music. More popular artists, such as Madonna have contracts with music labels in which they forgo almost all of the single sales, but keep all of the profit from live performances and are paid in advance for their albums. Through these techniques, many artists have been able to partially shield themselves from the financial damage of illegal music sharing by changing the market they operate in, instead of selling their songs to the listeners, they are selling them to the record companies. While effective, to various degrees, in protecting the artists’ profits, these approaches, however, are not the best response to illegal music sharing; it is just as easy to copy a song today as it was five years ago.

Since record labels cannot run away from the consumers, the culprits for illegal music sharing, their solutions are more focused on addressing this problem. Techniques such as selling pre-orders with one-time codes, giving out CDs for free in special occasions and even at times producing one CD and preventing the buyer from selling it for another 88 years[9] can all be seen as direct attacks on illegal music sharing.

A solution can be found by looking at how other industries have responded to the phenomenon of illegal file sharing. The most successful example is the videogame industry, through the use of techniques such as online checking and codes that are tied to one account, the difficulty of pirating a videogame has increased dramatically. Perhaps then, the music industry can adopt a similar approach.

While this would be an increase in the cost of pirating music, another way could be to lower the cost of listening to the legal copy. This can be done through streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal, where due to the incredibly large libraries and unlimited music available, both free and paying users face incredibly low costs for a single track, which has the potential to offset the cost of downloading the illegal track. It has shown some success in the TV and Movie industry through services such as Netflix and Hulu; therefore, it could also work in the music industry. This seems to be the direction the industry is heading, while disputes between the music industry and these services (like Taylor Swift vs Spotify) are inevitable, but necessary for the development of a market that pushes buyers to acquiring music through legal means.

Although, as we have seen there are cases in which illegal music sharing does not damage the industry or even benefits it, it is undeniable that, fundamentally, people are going to choose the cheapest option available. With the complicity of common search engines, the damage done by this practice is undeniable. While estimates may vary, and are probably overstated, the economic consequences are still very real for those who work in their industry. The real risk to society as a whole is that potential artists may be put off by the widespread diffusion of illegal music sharing and in the long run this may lead to a decline in quality of the entertainment medium. Luckily, as we have seen, the industry is already evolving; services such as Spotify, Tidal and Apple music show the flexibility and creativity of the industry in dealing with this problem. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to think that if the economic incentive is large enough, an effective response to illegal music sharing is going to be produced.

Stats & Facts about Piracy ....

Facts/Figures

Online music and movie piracy is a real life crime, and with crime comes consequences. The fact is, online piracy is a continuous problem that is negatively affecting the music and movie industry. However, the level at which piracy has affected these industries is still under quite a bit a dispute. The RIAA asserts that piracy has cost the United States economy over $12 billion in total output annually as well as over 70,000 lost jobs [1] . The RIAA has also said that “both the volume of music acquired without paying for it and the resulting drop in revenues are staggering. Digital sales, while on the rise, are not making up the difference. There should be no doubt that piracy undermines the entire chain of creating and investing in music [2].” Conversely, there have been studies done that suggest that piracy has a minimal,if not negligible, effect on music sales, and that piracy can in fact sometimes act as a driving force in increasing music sales [3]. What both sides can agree on is the fact that online piracy is now easier and therefore more prevalent than ever.
One example of a band using file sharing to their advantage is when the band Radiohead produced and released a record on their own allowing users to pay whatever they wanted for the album and then download the album online. In an interview with the lead singer it was reported that the band made more money than all the previous albums combined (Cosstick) [7]. A similar example is with the recent popular computer game Minecraft, which was largely pirated. The creator is not complaining though, instead he looks at it as more opportunity to increase sales. “Treat game development as a service,” he says. “Make a game last longer than a week. You can’t pirate an online account.” [8].
With the increased awareness about the severity of internet piracy in recent years, it is evident in the below graphs that number of people that pirate media constantly increases [5] and [6]:

Quick Facts on Illegal Piracy: (Results from 2007)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) members received advance copies, also known as screeners, for 30 out of 34 films. (Everything except Click, Monster House, Poseidon, and Black Dahlia.)
31 out of 34 films were released online in some form, including camcorder footage. (Everything except Letters from Iwo Jima, Notes on a Scandal, and Venus.)
24 screeners were leaked online. (In several cases, they were leaked months before Academy screeners were mailed.)
The average length of time between a film’s USA release and its first appearance online is 12 days.
On average, a screener appears online 24 days before it’s received by Academy members [4].

Overall, with the graphs and facts shown above, it is evident that there is a severe issue with online piracy on the internet that needs to be corralled. Although the RIAA has made efforts to increase awareness on the consequences of illegal downloading and file sharing on the internet, the fact is, piracy has become a social norm. Whether it be music or movies, the average person has illegally downloaded some sort of media in their lifetime. How can the RIAA and the FBI put a stop to internet piracy? A question that is yet to be answered.
Sources
[1]Stephen E. Siwek, “The True Cost of Sound Recording Piracy to the U.S. Economy.” Institute for Policy Innovation Policy Report – #181. (2007)<http://www.ipi.org/IPI/IPIPublications.nsf/3939c7c374268af8862567e000204ea2/d95dcb90f513f7d78625733e005246fa?OpenDocument>
[2] RIAA. 2011. 17 July 2011 <http://www.riaa.com/keystatistics.php?content_selector=research-report-journal-academic>.
[3]McGuire, D. (2004, March 29). Study: file-sharing no threat to music sales. The Washington Post, pp. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A34300-2004Mar29?language=printer.
[4] UnEasySilence. 24 Jan. 2007. 17 July 2011 <http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/01/9332/>.
[5] http://www.southchinasea.org/maps/modern%20piracy%20statistics%20.jpg
[6] http://torrentfreak.com/images/bogus-figure.jpg
[7] Cosstick, Adrian. “OK, Computer: File Sharing, the Music Industry, and Why We Need the Pirate Party.” Journal of Media and Communication. (2009): Print.
[8] “Minecraft Creator Says Piracy Is Not Theft.” IndustryGamers. Web. 19 July 2011. <http://www.industrygamers.com/news/minecraft-creator-says-piracy-is-not-theft/>.

Stop Piracy ....get off from Torrents

Hypothetically, two movies come out on the same day: The Wolf of Wall Street and the new Transformers. You are allowed to see one in an IMAX theater and you will illegally download the other one online. Most people would choose Transformers over The Wolf of Wall Street due to the fact that there are robot dinosaurs and everyone else is going to see it in theaters. Those robot dinosaurs will look a lot cooler in a theater rather than on a laptop. Many people then realized how lacking the movie really was after walking out of their local theater’s showing of Transformers: Age of Extinction. Meanwhile, many of the same people went on to watch The Wolf of Wall Street online to realize that it was actually a really good movie. Most people don’t realize that this is at all a problem, and at first glance it’s not. However, after more in-depth research, the problem soon becomes apparent. Transformers: Age of Extinction only gained an 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Transformers, Rotten Tomatoes), one of the most critical and most trusted film-review sites online. The Wolf of Wall Street, however, gained a 77% rating on the same site (Wolf of Wall Street, Rotten Tomatoes). It was also nominated for five different Academy Awards. The Wolf of Wall Street is clearly the better film. Yet, besides the fact that Transformers was clearly not a great film, it somehow managed to be named the highest grossing film worldwide of 2014 and earned over one billion dollars in the Box Office (2014 Worldwide Grosses). The Wolf of Wall Street went on to be the most pirated film of 2014 with over 30 million illegal downloads (Spangler, 1) and didn’t even gross $117 million, giving the producers and the studio under $17 million after the production cost, which is not a much of a profit at all for such a high-budget film.
Piracy has become more of a problem in the past decade than it ever has before, specifically movie piracy. In fact, a study from Columbia University came out recently that said at least 45% of US citizens pirate movies actively, but that number bumps up to 70% if you include the younger demographics as well (Mick, 2). This act of pirating is growing more and more common every year and most people do it mindlessly, not realizing what it costs. Everyone has seen the text at the beginning of movies saying “Piracy is not a victimless crime,” and this is completely true. Piracy is extremely harmful to the movie industry and its effects are larger than anyone could imagine.

But Where Do These Pirated Movies Come From?

There are many different ways that people pirate movies. One of the most classic ways people pirate is by “leaking” them. This involves a person going into a movie theater with a camera or a phone and recording the movie as it plays. It is usually a poor quality, but many people still download these recordings anyways instead of going to see it in a theater. This usually occurs when it is only in theater since that is the only version most people are able to see. Sometimes these leaks occur before the movie is even premiered, often because it is filmed during a special premier before the opening night. This is referred to as a pre-release, and they tend to result in a 19% decrease in how much the movie makes at the Box Office (Hart, 2). Many people defend pre-releases because it gives a movie more publicity so more people would want to see it, but the facts state otherwise. Leaking a movie that’s in the theaters always tends to decrease how much the movie makes regardless of when it is released and sometimes even leads to the movie not even making as much as there was put into it.

Note: not all pirated movies have a skull on them

One of the other common ways for a movie to be pirated is for it to be digitally hacked. This one has become more common lately as technology improves. One of the most extreme and recent examples was the Sony hacking. Though some people will claim that Sony faked the hacking, evidence shows that they were legitimately hacked. During this hacking, many of Sony’s movies were released illegally online, such as Annie and Fury (Note: Annie had not even been released yet). A hacking involves someone digitally cracking into the studio or company’s computer system and taking the movie from their files. This logically would actually decrease a movie’s Box Office revenue by even more than someone’s recording of the movie would because it’s a better quality.
There are more ways to watch a pirated movie other than just downloading it online. In fact, some people tend to start their own pirating businesses. It’s very inexpensive and easy for a person to start one of these businesses. More recently, people only need to buy a bunch of blank DVD’s, the same amount of DVD cases and a computer that can burn a DVD. From there, they must find a source to get the pirated movies from. Sometimes they will personally film them in a theater, or find a hacked or leaked version online and download it. After that, all they need to do is download the stolen films onto their blank DVD’s and sell them to anyone who is willing to purchase it. Within a short amount of time, this person has made a great deal of money that should have gone to the movie studios.

An actual movie pirate vendor in Zimbabwe

What Kind of Effect Does it Have?

Most people would just say that pirating has a small effect on the industry and that the studios already have enough money. They believe watching a movie online isn’t going to hurt anyone. The Motion Picture Association of America looked into this belief and discovered that piracy costs around $20.5 billion annually in the United States alone (Plumer, 2). In fact, a study back in 2005 estimated that a 10% decrease in worldwide piracy, including both film and music, over the course of four years would add 1.5 million jobs, $64 billion in taxes and $400 billion in economic growth (Kai-Lung). That, however, was ten years ago and is outdated. Those numbers are likely to be much higher today due to inflation and an increase in popularity of the film industry. This means that the studios are making much smaller amounts of money than they should be making from their films due to piracy.

Quit Talking Numbers. How Does it Effect My Movie Experience?

The decrease in money from studios will often decrease the quality of other movies and even sequels, but more often it will decrease the quantity. A studio is much more likely to throw all of their money into the next big franchise sequel than give half of it to the franchise and the other half to a movie like Twelve Years a Slave simply because Twelve Years a Slave won’t sell as well in theaters as the franchise movie will. Movie studios and production companies don’t look at reviews and DVD sales nearly as much as they look at the Box Office Revenue, or how much it makes in the theater.
In many cases, piracy of a film will even damage the likeliness of a franchise sequel. For example, the Kick-Ass movies came to an end due to lack of funding from piracy. According to Chloë Grace Moretz who stars as “Hit-Girl” in the series, Kick-Ass 2 was one of the most pirated films of 2013 despite having an extremely low Box Office Revenue (Highfill). Because of this, the plans for the third movie in the series have been cancelled. Whether or not you like the Kick-Ass series, it is clear that piracy has become a serious problem and will only continue to damage the film industry.

Chloë Grace Moretz on the set of Kick-Ass 2