Jon Lawrence 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Hollywood Continues Its Plan To Kill Netflix

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2011 @ 11:49am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    YES, WE ARE!

    Our relationships in general with the Networks and Studios have been painful and acrimonious; there are very few exceptions to this.

    Many of us would far rather pitch nerds than MBA's.

  • On the post: Hollywood Continues Its Plan To Kill Netflix

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2011 @ 11:46am

    Re: Re: Consequences?

    Comment on the back catalog.

    The Studios CANNOT RELEASE much of their back catalog due to the fact they don't even know if their old rights deals allow them to release a lot of it digitally.

    In particular, they are not sure that the music deals on old tv and films are cleared for digital releases, AND they are not willing to spend the legal $$$ (a lot) to find out. In many cases, the physical paper rights records simply don't exist anymore. And if they can't prove they have the rights, they can't get E&O insurance coverage, and if they can't get E&O on the digital releases, they simply won't release it. It's too big a liability for them.

    I don't think you're going to see a lot of older back-catalog content until it falls into public domain, a very long time from now.

  • On the post: Hollywood Continues Its Plan To Kill Netflix

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2011 @ 11:42am

    Re: Re:

    You mean this deal: http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/netflix-to-enter-original-programming-with-mega-deal-for-david-fincher-kevin-spacey-drama-series-house-of-cards/

    Yep. And I have friends who are queuing up to pitch original content series to Netflix like there's no tomorrow.

    If producers can get better production financing deals, and less pain from a Netflix deal they'll go there in a hurry.

  • On the post: Contract Dispute Reveals That Intellectual Ventures Paid Consultant To Get Unions To Fight Patent Reform

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2011 @ 10:55am

    Re: Re: Re: Obvious anti-patent bias, again

    You mean the workers who, on average, earn less now than they did in 1979? The bottom 80% of working people who's percentage of net wealth has fallen steadily since the 80's? (http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html)

    While CEO pay has risen over 298% just since 2005? Hm, I wonder what costs are making us uncompetitive?

  • On the post: Why Is The MPAA's Top Priority 'Fighting Piracy' Rather Than Helping The Film Industry Thrive?

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2011 @ 01:13pm

    Welcome.

    To my everyday life.

    I'm a member of the Producers Guild of America; and our leadership *COMPLETELY* has their heads... er... in the sand on this too.

    It drives me insane that some of our dues goes to lobby right in line with the MPAA; and that none of it goes to do things like put together pro-active conference days where we can take a look at creating new business models. (Yes, I have proposed this, no they won't allocate any money for it).

    And yes, I could quit the Guild, but having earned membership does give me some legitimacy in my career path, and that's helpful.

    At any rate, the long and short of it is, they (the MPAA and PGA leadership) want to see the OLD BUSINESS thrive, not the new one. The new one includes too many competitors for movies to be "special' anymore.

    I don't expect the new business to completely supplant the old business, but I do expect the old business to shrink in overall dollars and relevancy over the next 10-15 years.

  • On the post: Sony Demanding Identity Of Anyone Who Saw PS3 Jailbreak Video On YouTube

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2011 @ 08:36am

    Obliviate.

    Apparently, Sony is making magic wands, and we don't know about them yet.

  • On the post: Feature Film Made In GTA IV

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2011 @ 12:44pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    No different than the thousands of people who work "deferred" each year on a indie films hoping to get paid on the "next" gig or to have this one make money later.

    Myself included. And I've actually made AND sold two independent feature films, spending cumulatively about 6 years of my life on them, and while they did return the investors $$$, I never made a cent off them - including never recouping my own deferred salary as a producer.

    Worth it? Not really.

    I would have far rather have made a $3-5K feature than $100k - at least the odds (if all my clearances are in order) on making an actual profit are far better at that cost level.

  • On the post: US Government Pushing Pro And Anti-Privacy Internet Rules At The Same Time

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2011 @ 02:24pm

    Hilarious!

    Ask a politician if they want to go UP or DOWN.

    The answer you'll get is a "yes" or a "no."

    Idiots. I'd like to see a new reality show where Senators and Congresspeople have to go work a job that *requires* critical thinking for a week, and watch the hilarity ensure.

    Or send them to work at Radio Shack for a week, that might be worth a laugh or two...

  • On the post: Will Hollywood Kill The Golden Goose By Squeezing Netflix Dry?

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2011 @ 09:23pm

    Re: Re: I will mourn the loss of Netflix

    I dunno, I'm already watching my Instant Queue slim down. This week, we've had 5 titles disappear from being available anymore.

    I'll support Netflix as long as we can, because we love their service; but we will get content other ways if not available through them.

  • On the post: Will Hollywood Kill The Golden Goose By Squeezing Netflix Dry?

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2011 @ 09:14pm

    Re:

    It's not the content alone, the studios have proven this time and again by not creating compelling business models nor compelling services in the streaming markets.

    The company absolutely *does* matter.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Looking To Improve Infrastructure Designs

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2011 @ 08:38pm

    Vote for Roundabouts

    Seriously. After spending enough time in the UK to get over being terrified, those things are the best.

  • On the post: Permission Culture And The Automated Diminishment Of Fair Use

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 27 Dec, 2010 @ 09:16pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    You know, your grammar is so atrocious, it's really difficult to take anything you post seriously.

  • On the post: Blaming Popcorn For Hollywood's Troubles

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2010 @ 03:50pm

    Here's their new business model

    http://prezi.com/oe45kg2noinq/the-socially-enabled-theater/ I want to see, whatever movie I want to see, with my friends, at my local theater. Old movie, new movie, indie flick, studio flick. Movies long-term success is driven by fans - give the fans a way to organize and share their favorite movie experiences IN theaters. :)

  • On the post: Reality Show Sued For Copying Idea

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2010 @ 08:45pm

    Well, ain't that a bummer

    Here's what's really funny.

    There only TWO ways to make any real money in the reality television business.

    1. You happen to win the lottery of right cast, right director, right exec producers, right network and time slot and right advertising backing and you create a hit that makes it into it's 3rd season or beyond (first two seasons are generally money losers for prodco's)

    OR

    2. You build a global network of production companies in different territories so that you can continue to lose money on the US production of a show (often), but because the show "format" is licensable in other territories, the global parent company of the US production company will rake in money by making 15 versions of "Big Brother" in 15 countries, and each of those will have pay a percentage fee back to the originating production subsidiary. This is the Endemol, Freemantle, RDF, Granada, etc, model.

    #2 is frightening, because show FORMATS (ideas), are the primary currency of these companies.

    The idea/expression dichotomy being clarified (towards expression) is definitely *not* in best interest of these multi-billion dollar companies; but as an independent producer, boy do I hope for some more clarity advocating "expression" of idea as the rule of law.

  • On the post: Surprise: Justice Department Says Isolated Genes Should Not Be Patentable

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2010 @ 08:33am

    Re: "...which makes perfect sense..."

    Can you please explain how isolating a naturally occurring piece of matter is patentable?

    Your argument in my mind sounds like, "well, if one takes water, and removes the oxygen from it, the oxygen should be patentable."

    A gene sequence, as the name implies, is still made up of naturally occurring genetic material; e.g. NOT material created by the patent filer. (again, to state the obvious, isolating part of substance is NOT equal to creating the substance).

    The process of isolation may be patentable, but not the material.

    Am I missing something here?

  • On the post: 'The Movie Business Is Dying!! Blame TV!' — The 1959 Edition

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 20 Oct, 2010 @ 10:45am

    The More Things Change...

    The more they stay the same. The Producers Guild and MPAA both to this day revere Mary Pickford; and as a whole are incredibly focused on the continued exclusivity of their clubs and protectionism of their business models.

    What's sad, to me, is that now is a golden opportunity to recognize there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of new media makers; new producers, as it were. Why not reach out to them and provide them with meaningful support and infrastructure; and in the collaboration maybe come up with some new ways of doing business?

    *sigh*

  • On the post: Why Haven't Any Movie Studios Become The 'Fan Friendly' Studio?

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 19 Oct, 2010 @ 09:50pm

    Re: Re: Theaters

    You're dead on.

    Add to that, Studios are NOT IN THE FILM BUSINESS. They are in the STAR business.

    The don't line up hundreds of millions of dollars in financing based and pre-sales based on the quality of the product, but on the "guaranteed" audience sizes the studios project based on the stars that are in the films.

    Indie's are a totally different (and arguably, more adaptable) business. But most indie filmmakers are pretty terrible entrepreneurs/business people.

  • On the post: Isn't It Unfortunate That We Need A Special Mark To Indicate Works That Are Already In The Public Domain?

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2010 @ 08:10am

    Marks & marks

    I actually think this will HELP producers who wish to either distribute, derive from, or use public domain art/media in their own projects.

    As noted in the post about CBC stopping use of CC licensed music from their programs; large distributors have one over-arching concern as driven by their Errors & Omissions insurance policy providers (and their legal teams):

    Where's The Binder?

    And Does Said Binder include clear documentation that will protect us when we get sued?

    That's it. If you're doing music cue sheets, or materials logs for professional media, you have to provide a copy of the license with your deliverables for the network; and a clear piece of paper with a mark that says "hey, this IS properly cleared" can actually be a benefit.

    For a mark to make fun of - check out this ridiculousness posted by the Producers Guild yesterday: http://www.producersguild.org/?Producers_Mark.

  • On the post: Is Uncompensated Commercial Use Of An Artist's Content Really That Bad?

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2010 @ 09:15pm

    Context, Context, Context

    What if the Artist WANTS the art to be free?

    Case in point. I put over $40,000 in materials, and 50K in labor into something I produced. It was all donated, granted, but it was my work that got it all donated. And the content I wanted created, I wanted to be free.

    Another producer has taken that work, and is now trying to sell it online.

    I put the time and energy into it because it was important to me that people got access to a part of my business they don't usually get to see. Now it's tied up in legal limbo and even I can't release it myself at the moment.

    I'd be happy for people to have it for free. But stealing what I want to be free, for commercial purpose... well...

  • On the post: Is Uncompensated Commercial Use Of An Artist's Content Really That Bad?

    Jon Lawrence ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2010 @ 09:09pm

    Re: Cue Sheets

    Just a brief response - all cable programming I've worked on for the last 7 years have always required cue sheets as part of our deliverables.

    No cue sheets, no final payments.

    What the networks ARE requiring though, is royalty free music.

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