I agree AND I'm looking forward to your follow up on why Global Streaming is not compatible with art or truth.
Specifically, I'm looking to understand what makes Global Streaming different from the mega studios of yore -- or whether Global Streaming is just the latest evolution and perfection of a mainstream corporate machine that has just gotten too large and too loud for a distracted culture to ignore.
I know I've posted this Rilke quote before, but it seems worth repeating here:
"Behold the machine,
How it rolls and wreaks vengeance.
And maims and weakens us."
(From Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 2 Number 18)
Very interesting that you cite Mubi as specifically an alternative model. I agree and shill it often, but without really knowing it's background business model.
I have a long history with Mubi going back to when it was a cinephile discussion board called The Auteurs. It took a very strange and convoluted path to become what it is today.
I so agree, Ted. I suspected this phenomenon was coming even before the streamers really hit their stride, because I worked for a producer in international sales and had seen the box office numbers shifting. Whereas it used to be that 70% of the profits of a film had come from domestic sales and 30% International, it had switched to 30/70 and I knew that would be a disaster for art, because the business men making the decisions would start aggressively looking for content that pleased everybody. And when you try to please everybody, most of the time you end up pleasing nobody. There are certainly some universal stories with the power to please the masses without giving up their clear voice, but those are exceptions, and shouldn't negate the profound importance of the stories that admittedly speak to a select group who understand. I think the challenge we have is that most of the business men don't actually care about such things. They see things in terms of supply and demand, and our art is merely their product. But maybe there's some room in there to convince them that they are missing an opportunity for loyalty to their platforms by not getting more serious about serving niche and/or regional demands as well? Content that is only available in certain regions and doesn't even try to cater to anyone else? Aren't fans who get served something that speaks deeply to them in a more direct and personal way more likely to feel they must maintain the subscription? Does this make sense?
“Bored” by Destroy All Monsters released Independently in 1978 on IDBI Records in Southfield Michigan. Ron Asheton from The Stooges on guitar and Niagara on vocals.
As a musician first and aspiring filmmaker second, you don't need to convince me. I was flabbergasted and horrified when my fellow indie musicians stampeded towards the black hole of Spotify. I still don't have a Spotify account and never will. But the damage is done. I recently found out about Mubi because a friend of mine did the soundtrack for Gasoline Rainbow. It seems to me that maybe a Mubi-like service is the way forward? Where a streaming service sets itself apart by also being a curator, and by supporting actual filmmaking? And not base their entire business model on ripping off the very creators that make their product?
This is close to home. I am 44, was raised in Brazil, and like most filmmakers of my generation and background, 90’s American Independent cinema (yep, Good Machine was part of it), European political cinema, and Latin American cinema from the 60s and 70s (American Too - Easy Ryder, Medium Cool, etc) Raised us. Living in the US since I was 19, attending Columbia University for film (Schamus was my professor), and watching the world collapse (transition?), the USA political canvas turn into a 1968-like (or worse) circus, brought the “why do I make films?” Instincts back - with a vengeance. Why do we make films? To me it was always to try to document history and to assess the present in an effort to improve the future. A fool’s errand? An inevitability? Or both? (Why did Haskell Wexler made medium cool?). Outside of early 2000s Michael Moore, or 60s social commentary films, when it gets to “issues” cinema, streamers and festivals are, and have always been, too safe. There’s seems to be a protocol that keeps the truly radical films out of the game. My films were done they way I could. Totally independently, during the pandemic, and even though I got distributed, the films got “buried” by the online-maze-Gods-of-distribution-dumping. But when I come to think about it… would it ever be any different? Would Adam Curtis be known if his films were not released for free on YouTube? Maybe we should think more about “why we make films” and make them the way we can. To make them. Because we have to. What about money and sustainability? Well, if one, like myself, creates crazy political films, streamers, even Mubi, may not be interested anyway - I played Oldenburg but not Berlin! Most filmmakers are in my situation. Most. What do we do? We keep making films the way we can and try to invent ways to get them seen. Community screenings. YouTube for free? Maybe. Got to keep inventing. The solution to the collapse of our industry when it gets to distribution may very well come from the very underground…
Great piece. I was gifted a Mubi membership for my birthday from a friend a few years ago. I found that I didn't watch the films as much as I wanted to, but was grateful for the donation to the service, based on what it stands for. The mid-2010s comment - assuming you mean the "Mumblecore" films? If so, that period stretched from the mid-aughts to the mid-10s. We had 10 good years dang it! But yeah, I get it.
The last time I was told about MUBI a couple of years ago, I was told it did not have English captions on all material. Is this still the case? I'm deaf so it's pretty essential. I imagine that by now there may be more captions available, but this may be dependent on whether the source provided them with the film itself originally, as many outside the USA do not have the regional legal requirement to automatically include captions in a variety of languages.
I’m not entirely sure about the captions as I watch a lot of foreign films (so it’s always an option) but I’m in the same boat with hearing and need subtitles.
Thanks. I imagine all the non-English language content is subtitled, but maybe not the English language content? I've been burned by services set up like that.
I’m heartened to see more cinemas adopt limited screenings (at least) with subtitles for English in-language content. But out of curiousity what do you do for cinemas?
In Mexico, I can watch movies at the cinema in English language, but with Spanish subtitles.
In New Zealand, there are occasional open captions sessions, but usually at hours that nobody attends like Tuesday morning at 11 am, so that the cinema can complain that there isn't enough demand for them. In most cinemas in NZ, there is a dongle that goes into your drink holder and the user is supposed to enjoy looking near and far constantly for two hours.
By and large, I watch movies on the widest screen I have at home, which is on my work computer. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to stream sound to my cochlear implant without it also blaring at full volume on my PC because the maker of the implant doesn't prioritize Bluetooth interconnectivity beyond synching it with my iPhone. So I watch most stuff in silence.
When I was younger, my first real cinematic experience was the Friday night Chinese movie sessions where a local cinema would play the latest Hong Kong releases, two movies a night, one movie twice. You could pay for one or all of the movies and enjoy hanging out having a drink in the intermissions between movies. For me, it was a rare occasion to watch something other than what the BBC had made. American media didn't come with subtitles to NZ universally until the mid 2000s. Even now, many streaming channels in New Zealand still do not include subtitles.
I VPN US Netflix, Amazon and BBC for the most part. Stuff that isn't on there, I find through alternative means.
Thanks for the thorough answer. I assume you’re in NZ? I hook up my hearing aids via Bluetooth all the time but don’t have cochlear implants. I didn’t realize how little I could hear before I got them and I should have done it sooner. I think part of the reason I gravitated to foreign film even as a kid were the built in subtitles. I didn’t have to work so damn hard to understand maybe 50% of the film and miss out on nuances that were key to the film. Not to mention not wanting to bother others with “What did they say? What did he say? What did she say?” Thanks for sharing your experience and also how you’ve been able to find a vpn solution for streamers. I too watch a lot of programming on laptop or iPad where the sound is more conducive to hearing based on being able to connect into the aids
FWIW, I’m trying to do the “one for them, one for me” thing by continuing to do action and genre movies that play on GSPs to pay the bills and then making indies I love in between. I just wrapped a 90s-style indie that, when I describe it to people, they always say “I love those kinds of movies! I wish people still made them!” Whether they show up and support the film remains to be seen, but know that there are people like me and my squad out there actively making these films. I’ve also been working on two documentaries that are telling the truth about how our systems have failed people and offering some glimmer of what can be done to change things (one even has high level famous people involved!), and everyone says they love them but they’re “not the right fit” for their company. So that’s a bit disheartening. I’d love to contribute any way I can in improving the film ecosystem, and in the meantime I just have to keep making things and working to find our audience. Ted - thank you again for all that you do to tell it like it is and inspire conversation about change that hopefully leads to meaningful action!
I saw the ad for "Where Is Truth? Why Democracy Depends on Film" listed at the bottom of the post. I am here in Cannes. Do I need to sign up to attend?
I agree AND I'm looking forward to your follow up on why Global Streaming is not compatible with art or truth.
Specifically, I'm looking to understand what makes Global Streaming different from the mega studios of yore -- or whether Global Streaming is just the latest evolution and perfection of a mainstream corporate machine that has just gotten too large and too loud for a distracted culture to ignore.
I know I've posted this Rilke quote before, but it seems worth repeating here:
"Behold the machine,
How it rolls and wreaks vengeance.
And maims and weakens us."
(From Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus, Book 2 Number 18)
You left out the end of it, which is even more scary.
“But as it also draws strength from us,
Let us, passionless,
Make it our pursuit, our service.”
And the whole thing while we are here :)
“My friend, do you detect the sound of the Modern?
Rumbling and shaking?
Its prophets come
To extol it.
Truly there is no hearing left intact
In the raging tumult,
But still the realm of machines
Would have our pledge.
Behold the Machine:
As it revolves upon itself, avenges itself,
And maims and enfeebles us.
But as it also draws strength from us,
Let us, passionless,
Make it our pursuit, our service.”
Absolutely more scary ... and prescient, too.
Such a great quote.
Very interesting that you cite Mubi as specifically an alternative model. I agree and shill it often, but without really knowing it's background business model.
I have a long history with Mubi going back to when it was a cinephile discussion board called The Auteurs. It took a very strange and convoluted path to become what it is today.
I so agree, Ted. I suspected this phenomenon was coming even before the streamers really hit their stride, because I worked for a producer in international sales and had seen the box office numbers shifting. Whereas it used to be that 70% of the profits of a film had come from domestic sales and 30% International, it had switched to 30/70 and I knew that would be a disaster for art, because the business men making the decisions would start aggressively looking for content that pleased everybody. And when you try to please everybody, most of the time you end up pleasing nobody. There are certainly some universal stories with the power to please the masses without giving up their clear voice, but those are exceptions, and shouldn't negate the profound importance of the stories that admittedly speak to a select group who understand. I think the challenge we have is that most of the business men don't actually care about such things. They see things in terms of supply and demand, and our art is merely their product. But maybe there's some room in there to convince them that they are missing an opportunity for loyalty to their platforms by not getting more serious about serving niche and/or regional demands as well? Content that is only available in certain regions and doesn't even try to cater to anyone else? Aren't fans who get served something that speaks deeply to them in a more direct and personal way more likely to feel they must maintain the subscription? Does this make sense?
“Bored” by Destroy All Monsters released Independently in 1978 on IDBI Records in Southfield Michigan. Ron Asheton from The Stooges on guitar and Niagara on vocals.
https://youtu.be/3MZIQWhSdOo?si=XETXvxJ7c6hN6g3c
“Sylvia Plath” by Peter Laughner released posthumously in 1982 on the Independent Koolie Productions label in Cleveland
Ohio.
https://youtu.be/MyUbjWRUPuQ?si=jf2RL2_6CXC3ySfL
As a musician first and aspiring filmmaker second, you don't need to convince me. I was flabbergasted and horrified when my fellow indie musicians stampeded towards the black hole of Spotify. I still don't have a Spotify account and never will. But the damage is done. I recently found out about Mubi because a friend of mine did the soundtrack for Gasoline Rainbow. It seems to me that maybe a Mubi-like service is the way forward? Where a streaming service sets itself apart by also being a curator, and by supporting actual filmmaking? And not base their entire business model on ripping off the very creators that make their product?
This is close to home. I am 44, was raised in Brazil, and like most filmmakers of my generation and background, 90’s American Independent cinema (yep, Good Machine was part of it), European political cinema, and Latin American cinema from the 60s and 70s (American Too - Easy Ryder, Medium Cool, etc) Raised us. Living in the US since I was 19, attending Columbia University for film (Schamus was my professor), and watching the world collapse (transition?), the USA political canvas turn into a 1968-like (or worse) circus, brought the “why do I make films?” Instincts back - with a vengeance. Why do we make films? To me it was always to try to document history and to assess the present in an effort to improve the future. A fool’s errand? An inevitability? Or both? (Why did Haskell Wexler made medium cool?). Outside of early 2000s Michael Moore, or 60s social commentary films, when it gets to “issues” cinema, streamers and festivals are, and have always been, too safe. There’s seems to be a protocol that keeps the truly radical films out of the game. My films were done they way I could. Totally independently, during the pandemic, and even though I got distributed, the films got “buried” by the online-maze-Gods-of-distribution-dumping. But when I come to think about it… would it ever be any different? Would Adam Curtis be known if his films were not released for free on YouTube? Maybe we should think more about “why we make films” and make them the way we can. To make them. Because we have to. What about money and sustainability? Well, if one, like myself, creates crazy political films, streamers, even Mubi, may not be interested anyway - I played Oldenburg but not Berlin! Most filmmakers are in my situation. Most. What do we do? We keep making films the way we can and try to invent ways to get them seen. Community screenings. YouTube for free? Maybe. Got to keep inventing. The solution to the collapse of our industry when it gets to distribution may very well come from the very underground…
Great piece. I was gifted a Mubi membership for my birthday from a friend a few years ago. I found that I didn't watch the films as much as I wanted to, but was grateful for the donation to the service, based on what it stands for. The mid-2010s comment - assuming you mean the "Mumblecore" films? If so, that period stretched from the mid-aughts to the mid-10s. We had 10 good years dang it! But yeah, I get it.
The last time I was told about MUBI a couple of years ago, I was told it did not have English captions on all material. Is this still the case? I'm deaf so it's pretty essential. I imagine that by now there may be more captions available, but this may be dependent on whether the source provided them with the film itself originally, as many outside the USA do not have the regional legal requirement to automatically include captions in a variety of languages.
Frank,
I’m not entirely sure about the captions as I watch a lot of foreign films (so it’s always an option) but I’m in the same boat with hearing and need subtitles.
Here’s what I see online (if this helps):
https://help.mubi.com/article/163-how-do-i-activate-subtitles-on-my-tv-app
Heck Britbox even has it so I have to imagine MUBI does too!
Thanks. I imagine all the non-English language content is subtitled, but maybe not the English language content? I've been burned by services set up like that.
I’m no longer a customer or id check!
I’m heartened to see more cinemas adopt limited screenings (at least) with subtitles for English in-language content. But out of curiousity what do you do for cinemas?
In Mexico, I can watch movies at the cinema in English language, but with Spanish subtitles.
In New Zealand, there are occasional open captions sessions, but usually at hours that nobody attends like Tuesday morning at 11 am, so that the cinema can complain that there isn't enough demand for them. In most cinemas in NZ, there is a dongle that goes into your drink holder and the user is supposed to enjoy looking near and far constantly for two hours.
By and large, I watch movies on the widest screen I have at home, which is on my work computer. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to stream sound to my cochlear implant without it also blaring at full volume on my PC because the maker of the implant doesn't prioritize Bluetooth interconnectivity beyond synching it with my iPhone. So I watch most stuff in silence.
When I was younger, my first real cinematic experience was the Friday night Chinese movie sessions where a local cinema would play the latest Hong Kong releases, two movies a night, one movie twice. You could pay for one or all of the movies and enjoy hanging out having a drink in the intermissions between movies. For me, it was a rare occasion to watch something other than what the BBC had made. American media didn't come with subtitles to NZ universally until the mid 2000s. Even now, many streaming channels in New Zealand still do not include subtitles.
I VPN US Netflix, Amazon and BBC for the most part. Stuff that isn't on there, I find through alternative means.
Thanks for the thorough answer. I assume you’re in NZ? I hook up my hearing aids via Bluetooth all the time but don’t have cochlear implants. I didn’t realize how little I could hear before I got them and I should have done it sooner. I think part of the reason I gravitated to foreign film even as a kid were the built in subtitles. I didn’t have to work so damn hard to understand maybe 50% of the film and miss out on nuances that were key to the film. Not to mention not wanting to bother others with “What did they say? What did he say? What did she say?” Thanks for sharing your experience and also how you’ve been able to find a vpn solution for streamers. I too watch a lot of programming on laptop or iPad where the sound is more conducive to hearing based on being able to connect into the aids
Say it ain’t so.. but. You did
FWIW, I’m trying to do the “one for them, one for me” thing by continuing to do action and genre movies that play on GSPs to pay the bills and then making indies I love in between. I just wrapped a 90s-style indie that, when I describe it to people, they always say “I love those kinds of movies! I wish people still made them!” Whether they show up and support the film remains to be seen, but know that there are people like me and my squad out there actively making these films. I’ve also been working on two documentaries that are telling the truth about how our systems have failed people and offering some glimmer of what can be done to change things (one even has high level famous people involved!), and everyone says they love them but they’re “not the right fit” for their company. So that’s a bit disheartening. I’d love to contribute any way I can in improving the film ecosystem, and in the meantime I just have to keep making things and working to find our audience. Ted - thank you again for all that you do to tell it like it is and inspire conversation about change that hopefully leads to meaningful action!
I saw the ad for "Where Is Truth? Why Democracy Depends on Film" listed at the bottom of the post. I am here in Cannes. Do I need to sign up to attend?
Anyone with Marché du Film badge can get in just by showing badges. If you don't have a badge, DM me and I will tell you who to email.
Hi Ted, I have the Festival's Industry Professional Badge not the Marche du Film Badge. Yes, tell me how can I attend?
Ted, I saw Cassandro on the flight to Cannes and was very impressed.