Liz Rosenthal created Power To The Pixel to create a forum for the independent film community with the latest in depth information and knowledge about new opportunities available in the transforming digital media landscape.

She held a one-day conference in London in October last year and all the videos from the sessions are now online so you can hear from industry pioneers like Lance Weiler, David Straus, Kelly DeVine, Robert Greenwald, Matt Hanson and others without leaving your computer.

Chris Anderson has done it again! Read his article on the trend towards FREE in Wired. Interesting to see how online film distribution will be affected by these changing business models.

This week’s Kultureflash editorial looked at the media’s attention on the increasingly tense relationship between Hollywood and the internet in the wake of this year’s somewhat low key Oscars.

I thought the articles linked to by KF might be of interest: The Economist: ‘Coming Soon’; The Economist: ‘There will be blood’; Telegraph, and Wall Street Journal .

Tamsin

SP London

Anne Thompson at Variety has written an interesting article on how companies like B-Side, IFC, Withoutabox, Cinequest, iTunes, Amazon and Netflix are experimenting with new models for distribution. Ira Deutchman from Emerging Pictures is quoted saying:

“We’re in the transitional post-major studio pre-Internet era. Models will be clear in the future. We’re still heading toward Web 2.0.”

Thompson’s article is a useful survey of some of the alternatives being explored as we navigate through this transitional period - please leave comments if you have other examples to share.

UPDATE: Scott Macauley makes a good point on the Filmmaker blog that many of the films that seem to be achieving some success online are  political docs, genre films, and sports docs. He argues that the typical Sundance indie dramas still require “marketplace definition” and “need to be formally introduced to the more general movie-loving consumer or to have their identities created and enhanced by critical support.” These films do not lend themselves so easily to the niche, long-tail marketing approach that can work for other kinds of films and they are not getting much of a chance in the crowded theatrical marketplace either so what is their fate?

Following on from the last post on new distribution alternatives, have a look at this Filmmaker Magazine article by Lance Weiler on how to distribute your films online. He provides some examples including the exclusive Internet release of Ed Burns’ Purple Violets on iTunes - and also adds a list of companies that are helping filmmakers reach audiences and sell their films online. Very useful stuff.

Check out this article by Peter Broderick (originally published in the IDA’s Documentary magazine) on new distribution opportunities including 7 tips for narrative and documentary filmmakers.

” Creative distribution strategies are enabling [filmmakers] to get their films out more widely, earn more money and have greater political impact than would be possible through traditional distribution deals.”

Scott Kirsner of CinemaTech talks to Brian Chirls who pioneered audience building with Arin Crumley and Susan Buice on Four Eyed Monsters and has recently been working on John Sayles’ Honeydripper.

Making Your Media Matter is a conference taking place in Washington, DC February 7-8, 2008 for established and aspiring filmmakers, non-profit communications leaders, funders and students looking to learn and share cutting-edge practices for creating media that matters.

Join filmmakers, distributors, outreach specialists and an impressive cast of media pioneers for a rich day of panels, discussions, networking and keynote speakers on the latest tools and trends in creating and distributing social issue media.

And check out podcasts and Power Point take away points from last year’s Making Your Documentary Matter conference.

Watch Steal This Film Part 2, for everything you ever wanted to learn about copyright. . . but were afraid to ask! It was downloaded 35,000 times on the first day it was available online which is pretty damn good. As an added joy you can watch it on the Shooting People website which you should definitely visit if you haven’t already.

We will be posting more on this soon but in the meantime check out the film itself.

We posted a while back about this great new discovery and distribution festival from DIY filmmaking pioneers Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma), Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters) and M dot Strange (We Are The Strange).

Submissions are now open so this is your chance to be part of the new (film)world order. The fest will use sites like YouTube and MySpace to allow the audience to interact and share in the process of discovery. Here’s what it says on the website:

All filmmakers are welcome to be a part of the festival. There are NO submission fees, and filmmakers retain their rights while receiving revenue directly from the distribution outlets. A wide range of major promotional partners and distribution platforms are on board. All we need now is your film. Please submit ASAP to give the festival’s audience time to vote your film into the April Showcase.