Well, of course, I don't think any film is irreplaceable (except Powell and Pressburger's I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING), but most people with films want to be found and their films rented. And I don't think you want to give up the Les Blanks and Frederick Wiseman's of the world who don't believe in giving up control of their films, right or wrong. The world world would be far less interesting. And if a filmmaker thinks that his or her films should be shown on 16mm or 35mm on a big screen rather than at 720 x 486 on a computer screen or Iphone, then their wishes should be followed and they themselves should be agreeable to accept the loss of revenue. Films should be treated like a art rather than a Big Mac. (There are obviously less-than-artful films and some great hamburgers, but on the whole, I do believe this.)
But what I do want to say is that this is a new world out there with streaming. It may seem like this is going to be fought until the last librarian and last distributor in existence in a post-celluloid nitrate-imploded world kill each other off with blows to the head using 16mm Goldberg cases, but even the smallest distributors (and I can't imagine any distributor smaller than us) and filmmakers are dealing with this change to the digital world. I would encourage working and talking to them to find accommodation rather than blatantly ripping files and putting them up without permission. Not only do I truly believe it's illegal (and I do have a pretty-fair and objective knowledge of fair use and educational copyright laws) but it's going to be very detrimental for your kind of films to be made in the future. We spent a lovely day with another (and far larger) distributor over the weekend and against the backdrop of a beautiful botanical garden in the Bronx (and there are two of them). we all agree that the financial rewards of distribution -- which were always minimal -- are getting slighter and slighter. -- Best regards, Dennis Doros Milestone Film & Video/Milliarium Zero PO Box 128 / Harrington Park, NJ 07640 Phone: 201-767-3117 / Fax: 201-767-3035 / Email: [email protected] Visit our main website! www.milestonefilms.com Visit our other websites! www.comebackafrica.com www.yougottomove.com www.ontheboweryfilm.com www.arayafilm.com www.exilesfilm.com www.wordisoutmovie.com www.killerofsheep.com <http://www.killerofsheep.com/> Support "Milestone Film" on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Milestone-Film/22348485426> and Twitter <https://twitter.com/#!/MilestoneFilms>! See the website: Association of Moving Image Archivists<http://www.amianet.org/> and like them on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Association-of-Moving-Image-Archivists/86854559717> AMIA 2012 Conference, Seattle, WA, December 4-7!<http://www.amiaconference.com/>
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
