DVDs: A Dying Video Distribution System

We Might be Facing a Crisis In the Movie Industry

As many of us are well aware, we are in a new age of home digital media consumption. This is having a greater impact on how movies are made than one might think, which is why many believe that "movies suck today.”

In a Hot One’s interview, Matt Damon summed up the problem that the film industry is facing: "The DVD was a huge part of our business, of our revenue stream, and technology has just made that obsolete," Damon said. "So, the movies that we used to make, you could afford to not make all of your money when it played in the theater because you knew you had the DVD coming behind the release, and six months later, you knew you'd get a whole other chunk. It would be like reopening the movie again, and when that went away, that changed the type of movies that we could make."

Damon goes on to say, "I did this movie 'Behind the Candelabra,' and I talked to the studio executive who explained it was a $25 million movie, so I would have to put that much into printing and advertising, so now I'm at $50 million. I have to split everything with the theaters, so I'd have to make $100 million before I even get into profit," he said. "The idea of making $100 million on a story about a love affair between two people suddenly became a massive gamble in a way that it wasn't in the 1990s when they were making all those kinds of movies that were my bread and butter."

But how does this make movies suck? Well, if the studio knows that its movie has to make all its money at the box office, they're only going to make a movie that they think will be a hit. The safest way to do this is by making movies like Avatar again, or a Mario movie, or another superhero movie - movies I would call "safe"; something that the majority of people would be interested in, and not just for Americans. They're nostalgic, packed with movie stars, easily made into toys, and "well-rounded"

This is where we see a lack of movies like slow-burn character dramas and creative, quirky indie films. Great films like Eyes Wide Shut, Amadeus, There Will be Blood, Blade Runner, Napoleon Dynamite, Rushmore, O Brother, Where Art Thou? wouldn't have been as successful or would have been made at all today. Studios are not afraid to cancel the release of a movie anymore.

Furthermore, filmmakers are getting paid less and less as more movies are being made directly for streaming services. This means that filmmakers and actors don't get paid for the revenue when the movie is released in theaters or on DVD. They only get paid by the studio to make the movie, and that's it. This is causing great filmmakers to settle for big blockbuster movies to make an above-average profit.

But there's somewhat of a silver lining to this. Television shows have been getting better and better in recent years. All due to the migration of movie actors and filmmakers to TV. This is because these great talented actors and filmmakers want to make the kind of stories that I said before. They don’t want to just be in superhero movies; they want to demonstrate their skills. As a result, some of the most talented people in Hollywood are now willing to take on television roles, making TV shows just as prestigious as films.

In conclusion, it's becoming increasingly challenging to make a movie that isn't animated, a sequel/prequel, or based on existing intellectual property. And let's not forget about the obligatory CGI action scenes that seem to be a staple in most modern movies. It's a sad reality that the movie industry is facing, and some might even argue that it's already on the brink of collapse.