'Internet will revolutionise the film industry'

When I got introduced to the BitTorrent technology, I was like - WOW! Hey, but that's Napster reborn... what happens to the copyrights? History tells us that no one can prevent people (including me) from using these P2P technologies, if they really want to. So, does that mean that internet is killing the film industry?

Something always told me that we can fight it out. People wont mind paying a few bucks for a movie they want to see, if its priced rightly and available promptly(which is driven by market forces eventually). We could create an effective online distribution mechanism by creating an internet video library which offers clean interfaces, instant search and better, customized control over the programming of the content(unlike the P2P), which would eventually woo people away from P2P.

Getting the studios adopting such distribution mechanisms soon for big-budget Hollywood flicks is understandably risky. But, this is just a great chance for the entire landscape of independent film-makers across the world, who are struggling to make a mark in this big-bad world of films dominated by the studios. Now, they can directly corporatise their films (without any acceptance by a studio or a sugar-daddy) by interaction, feedback, customization and sell/share films directly to anyone with a computer and a broadband. So, the question remains, who's going to spearhead the revolution? Who will do to video/movies what iTunes has done to music?

Google Video looks like the answer. It has the potential to shake the traditional DVD/Multiplex distribution model. Lets see if DVDs are eventually replaced by .gvp(google-video format) files.

My two-weeks old nano is already outdated once Google started its "Save for iPod Video" feature. Ipod Video looks like an effective catalyst too.

However, the aspirant independent film-maker in me shouts with excitement - "Google, well done! Again!"

-Vamsi.
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Related Intereview with an independent film-maker:
'Internet will revolutionise the film industry'