Hollywood Has A Major Problem...

There is no shortage of postulating about the movie industry these days - especially in the context of Movies vs TV. This Paul Cantor piece - Hollywood has a Major Problem: Why television is killing the movie business is a particularly interesting one. It's well written, thoughtful and brings up some interesting ideas.

However, there are parts of it that I completely disagree with - particularly the notion that media finds success through social media conversation. TV is not winning out because you can tweet about it while you watch it, TV is winning out because they are hiring writers that understand character and plot developments over long periods of time. Movies are not in a place to take bets on new ideas; franchises are the #1 bet. I don't fault them for that from a monetary perspective but it's obvious that it's not a formula that helps this argument.

There is a kernel in there that I think is particularly worth taking note of:

There may be a day, soon enough, when the majority of films are released on-demand and in theaters simultaneously. And the messaging around their releases will be about making sure we watch on-demand, rather than buy tickets.

Granted, the success of a same day release does require some promotion and word of mouth endorsement but it's not about the real time conversation that takes place while watching it. It's about availability. I don't think anyone can disagree with that.