Brokekid.net

(via Unmediated.org)

An experiment that could rearrange the tectonic plates of the movie business is being conducted by the owners of an American movie theater chain, a movie production company, and a High Definition cable TV network, writes Scott Kirsner in his superb blog, CinemaTech. He spoke with Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner about the movies they’re producing, and their innovative plans for distribution:

Scott Kirsner: … [Hollywood has painted itself] into the “Innovator’s Dilemma” corner. They can’t make a movie for less than US$50 million, and they can’t market anything for less than –
Mark Cuban: They can’t take chances. They can’t say, let’s change the way we do business. Which is truly the innovator’s dilemma. Somebody else comes in and pre-empts them.

Scott Kirsner: With the films that 2929 Entertainment is making, is the production going to be all digital?
Mark Cuban: 2929 not so much, because that’s more Todd Wagner’s baby. But HDNet Films, that’s 100 percent HD.

Scott Kirsner: So with 2929, if a director wants to shoot on film, you say, go ahead.
Mark Cuban: Yeah, because that’s Todd’s baby, and that’s the way he runs that side of it. He just wants to make great movies, and he’ll follow the director. Whereas with HDNet Films, it’s the exact opposite. Here’s the rules of the game: it’s going to have a day-and-date release, [on] any platform and every platform that makes sense for us, and it’s going to be shot in high-definition 1080.

[Mark Cuban, Mike Homer at the AlwaysOn 2005 conference]