This is an excellent discussion. Thank you all. Now I have a brief question and a comment.
I am an independent filmmaker who also instructs other independents in DIY distribution, and have done well selling DVDs on my own--Worldcat lists the ownership of one of my films at over 250. Now that many institutions are interested in streaming, however, I am trying to discern the most efficient and productive way to make content available. It seems to me the question that lies beneath all of this is how the institution satisfies the individual professor's need for a particular title. Streaming services can offer catalogues, but as one commenter has mentioned, schools don't have the money to buy more than one or two catalogues. On the other end of the spectrum, from the filmmaker's point-of-view, a catalogue will rarely spotlight individual films for any length of time; thus, for the rare sale, the profit they take is often unreasonable. Of course independent filmmakers could send out endless eblasts advertising their individual Vimeo streams, but would they even be seen, let alone remembered, by the right people, and how many eblasts do librarians want in their inboxes? It seems to me what is desperately needed is a centralized, on-line database, that would index all titles out there, by subject matter, academic area, type, length, reviews, year of production, etc. Over time and as it developed, it could also encompass films in other languages and regardless of age. Hyperlinks would then lead to dvd purchase and/or streaming sites--either via distributors or individual filmmakers. This is just an idea and perhaps one that will never come to pass, but I have thought about it for a long time. The core of the idea is to serve the professor's need to find a specific title, while liberating institutions from the straight-jacket of the individual catalogue. Needless to say, it would also be an incredible boon to independent filmmakers. Any chance something like this could ever happen? Judith Dancoff NewFilmMarketing.com Breakthrough Strategies of Academic DIY Los Angeles, CA 90065 323-225-5633 On Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 10:11 AM, Gisele Genevieve Tanasse < gtana...@library.berkeley.edu> wrote: > Well, speaking just for my institution-- as a person who devotes a > significant amount of time to securing permission to make DVD copies and > digital "preservation" copies of video content made freely available on the > web-- I would be OK (and I say that with wincing, pained hesitation) with a > digital distribution model that allows for life of file ownership with an > upcharge to sell me a license to make a DVD for the life of that DVD. > Personally my favorite model is that of California Newsreel, but I > understand that producing DVDs, especially when some institutions may not > be interested in them, is an expense to distributors. > > The greatest lesson I learned from participating in Video-at-Risk, was > how, over time, because of the nature of video distribution, we became an > unintentional archive-- even though our primary mission was, and still is, > to circulate films for instruction. For a large collection like > Berkeley's, with a stable collections budget, and plenty of storage space, > we find ourselves the accidental custodian of content that was once readily > commercially available, where we hold one of few copies--if not the ONLY > copy-- left in an institution. > > People like to tell me that everything will be streaming in a few years > (or that everything is streaming now!), my response is always that > everything that will make commercial sense to stream will be streamed. > There are a great number of titles in my collection, that my faculty use, > that don't fit into that model. I can't tell you how many filmmakers have > contacted me over the years to ask to make a new "master" from our Umatic > tapes, because all they have is a 3rd, 4th or 5th generation VHS tape. > That is my greatest fear with switching to a streaming only model, > especially where we are paying for access and not local ownership-- that we > shirk the responsibility that an institution like Berkeley has to ensure > that the cultural record is preserved. That said, my digital dream, > Jonathan, is that streaming is somehow the model that allows for the end of > 'out of printness' -- but the issue with many a great doc is relicensing > footage-- and I just don't see that model shifting to allow for even the > best distributors to perpetually own rights to all the films in their > catalogs. > > Not your typical customer, but always a fan and well-wisher, > Gisele > > > > Gisèle Tanasse > > Head, Media Resources Center > > 150 Moffitt Library #6000 > University of California > Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 > PH: 510-642-8197 > BCAL: nerdpo...@berkeley.edu > NOTE: PART TIME SCHEDULE Monday-Thurs 8AM-2PM > > On Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 8:27 AM, Randal Baier <rba...@emich.edu> wrote: > >> *" ... >> so soon as it steps forth as a commodity, it is changed into something >> transcendent ..."* >> >> A serious question and certainly something to think about. >> >> We are still purchasing DVDs because we don't yet have the streaming use >> to warrant a rental-type arrangement, which is essentially what the >> subscription/licensing has become. And another aspect is the added value >> that many of the DVDs have with extra features, data, still images, etc. >> >> I wonder if a DVD on demand (um, on request) model would work? You could >> go completely to streamed content but still make the DVDs available to >> those who need to continue using them. Or make good web sites that provide >> the ancillary material. >> >> I will say that spending $350 for a DVD that might have a very short >> shelf life would be the same as spending that $350 for a 3-yr. streaming >> license. If it's not played at all after three years what's the difference? >> With a PDA or EBA model you might be able to have added availability and >> viewing during that period, so turnover would be something that might be an >> advantage of "all streaming, all the time." >> >> Faculty are now preferring streamed content, but we still make choices to >> get DVDs based on their cost over time. (oops, the DVD cost not the faculty >> cost!) I guess another matter is the have and have not issue with $$$ >> resources as well. For some it's a matter of affordability. >> >> Yet don't forget one thing: the precious aura of a held object. We NEED >> our *Nosferatu*s!!! >> >> But, of course, you don't have to take my word for it -- >> http://web.stanford.edu/~davies/Symbsys100-Spring0708/Marx-Commodity-Fetishism.pdf >> >> >> >> Continually changing the forms of materials furnished by Nature, >> >> I remain ... >> >> ============== >> Randal Baier >> Eastern Michigan University >> Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197 >> (734) 487-2520 >> rba...@emich.edu >> tweets @rbaier – skypes @ randalbaier >> “... do not all strange sounds thrill us as human >> till we have learned to refer them to their proper >> source?” -Thoreau, mss., Journal 9: 1854-1855 >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From: *"Jonathan Miller" <jmil...@icarusfilms.com> >> *To: *videolib@lists.berkeley.edu >> *Sent: *Tuesday, November 3, 2015 10:19:08 AM >> *Subject: *[Videolib] No more DVDs? >> >> Dear Videolib friends >> >> >> >> As many of you know Icarus Films has been helping to build, and currently >> has over 300 titles on, Docuseek2, to provide colleges and universities >> streaming access to our collection over the internet. >> >> >> >> Yes, we continue to invest in producing and releasing DVDs of the same >> titles. And, as streaming usage increases, selling fewer and fewer of them. >> >> >> >> It is making me wonder if we should stop selling DVDs altogether, not >> producing them at all for new films, and not ordering any more once we sell >> the last one of an older one. >> >> >> >> What do you think would happen if we did that? >> >> >> >> How many of you would definitely NOT buy or use a film that a professor >> or collection development librarian wanted to have, if it was ONLY >> available via streaming? >> >> >> >> I’m serious in asking this question, I think it may be time to take a >> (perhaps) drastic step, and not another small incremental one. What do you >> think? Thanks! >> >> >> >> Curiously yours, >> >> >> >> Jonathan Miller >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Jonathan Miller >> >> President >> Icarus Films >> >> 32 Court Street, 21st Floor >> >> Brooklyn, NY 11201 >> >> >> >> www.IcarusFilms.com <http://www.icarusfilms.com/> >> >> http://HomeVideo.IcarusFilms.com <http://homevideo.icarusfilms.com/> >> >> >> >> Tel 1.718.488.8900 >> >> Fax 1.718.488.8642 >> >> jmil...@icarusfilms.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. >> >> >> 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. >> >> > > 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. > >
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.
