On the heels of the previous post and at the risk of gagging on too much good news, check out
this report:
In an annual survey that will be released Tuesday, the accounting giant projects that worldwide consumer spending in filmed entertainment -- a category that includes how much consumers spend at the box office, on home video rentals and purchases and on movie downloads -- will increase at a compound annual rate of 4% to $102 billion worldwide in 2013 from $83.9 billion in 2008.
Moreover:
Additionally, the authors predict that the much-publicized falloff in DVD sales -- which studios have relied on for years to prop up the movie business -- will be offset by a boost from the sale of Blu-ray high-definition videos. Still, home video's share of entertainment spending is shrinking in North America and is projected to fall to 53% by 2013 from 61% in 2008. During the same period, the combined share for video-on-demand, online subscription rentals and digital downloads will double to 20%, a clear sign of long-term shifts in how consumers buy entertainment.
Why should screenwriters care? Because when the studios are making more money, they make
more movies. And when they make more movies, they hire
more screenwriters.
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2 comments:
Who am I to argue with Pricewaterhouse Coopers but I must say, the whole BluRay thing has been a bit of a conundrum to me.
History dictates that there will always be another newest, greatest format for watching flicks in your living room... it's a cyclical constant. Super 8mm reels to Laserdiscs to Betamax to VHS to DVD to HDDVD to BluRay to Video on Demand to... who knows? The VidNostril, which you stick up your nose and play directly into your brain??? Whatever...
The point is that the only format that sticks is the one consumers embrace, no matter how cool it is.
Here's the problem... playing BluRay is only as good as the TV you're watching it on. On a sleek 80 inch LCD screen with THX sound boomers that make your sofa vibrate, awesome! On your old Montgomery Ward 13 inch TV, which much of middle America still uses, like it or not, not so good.... (and yes, I know that 2 million or so of those Monkey Ward users got disenfranchised this week by the digital switch but they'll get their converter boxes eventually, I'm sure...)
Who, then, if you're not a ravenous videophile who REQUIRES their movies to look BETTER than real life, is BluRay exactly for??? You don't get MORE MOVIE with BluRay... you don't seem to get more extra features with BluRay... these are the things that seemed to cause DVD to finally bypass the old standard workhorse VHS format and leave it in the dust... or at least leave it for Wall-E to watch his favorite musicals on.
Any notions on this or am I just showing my age by saying "Screw you compact disks, I'm keeping my LP's!" I've amassed a rather nice collection of DVDs over the years and I still have some slight allegiance to the format. It kinda' always struck me as the best of all worlds for watching movies at home.
I mean, c'mon, do I really need Murnau's Nosferatu on BluRay? How much better could they possibly make THAT look???
I don't think you're showing your age, Jeff. I'm 23 and I've got a 46 inch LCD TV, but I have no intention of switching to BluRay.
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