Will One Software Application Revolutionize The Movie Industry?

Overhype

from the seems-a-bit-exaggerated dept

I have to admit, this story sounds a bit far-fetched, but some guy has apparently spent $2 million of his own money to write a huge program that supposedly details every aspect of making a movie. While there are other software products out there that help people storyboard or budget a movie, this one ties everything together. In other words, if you decided to cut out a scene, a producer can tap a few buttons on his Palm device (yeah, it works on the Palm) and see how much money it will save the production. It also helps determine where to place cameras, how much film to use, how much catering will cost and plenty of other things. Reading the article, the whole thing sounds a bit far-fetched, and I wonder just how well the program actually works – and how well it takes other contingencies into account. I mean, how do you program in the impact of an actor storming out demanding more money? What’s odd is that the guy doesn’t seem to be entirely focused on selling the software, either. His company is, instead, working on a sitcom which the guy (not very modest, you’ll note) is positive will be “the next Seinfeld”. With that sort of boast, you get the feeling that he might be hyping up the software a bit beyond its abilities as well.