The Importance of Physical Media
A new vision for Bronson Creative and the future of Cinema
If you have ever spent any real time with me, you know I love physical media. I collect records and films. I have a small library in my office. I love being able to be able to share a film, or rewatch it despite the streaming contracts that might be in place. I love seeing the artwork on the outside before I press play or start reading. It’s the last time the artist can say “Hey, this is what I think is important about my film.” This is why I am going to start a physical distribution company out of Bronson Creative.
If you are a filmmaker scroll to the end to see how you can submit your film!
WHAT! But isn’t physical media dead??
While major corporate retailers are stopping their sales of physical media, small theatres and video stores are starting to open back up. Before we start I am not marketing this kind of distribution to corporate megastores. I am not marketing this to multi-million dollar films. I am making this move for filmmakers like myself, those filmmakers making films under 25k that only have VOD1 as an option. I am doing this for artists that made their film to be seen, not hidden in an algorithm. I want filmmakers to be able to sell their films to people they meet that are excited about their work. Want a copy of my film, here it is.
In 2022 an estimated 750,000,000 DVD’s were shipped for sale and the average consumer is between 25-39.
https://recordhead.biz/are-dvds-making-a-comeback/
Why physical media?
We have already been at this moment in history once before. Until the mid-70’s you could only see a film in the theatre. If you wanted to see the film again, it was back to theatre. After it left the theatre, you were just out of luck. Bye Bye! This is the same moment we are currently in. I see films in theatre that I can never see again because they don’t get a VOD deal and no one wants to do the work to put it on physical media. In my experience most distributors are playing a numbers game, hoping to have one of the 100 films they license pop off. What would happen if the distributor actually partnered with the filmmaker?
“The Young Teacher was the first movie to be released on VHS. It was a movie from South Korea about a teacher who organized a volleyball game to boost her students’ self-confidence. The movie itself was widely considered a failure and gained little recognition around the world, but this little piece of history has enshrined it in VCR history.”
Fast forward to the late 90’s and we are heading to DVD copies of films, and it was great. Behind the scenes, commentary tracks, trailers. I never thought I would miss the trailers. If you think I’m wrong pop in your favorite DVD from the 90’s and see what films they were marketing, you might just find a good one in there.
Soon after in the early 2000’s we would have the short-lived HDdvd and then came Bluray, which is now the staple for physical media. If you haven’t listened to Christopher Nolan talk about physical media then you should definitely search it up.
Why am I going to put my films on physical media?
The reason is simple, this is the only way filmmakers films are going to survive the ever-changing movie landscape. As a film lover and educator, I own over 2500 films. I have out-of-print films that will never be seen again, and I own films on VHS that will never be seen any other way due to contract complications, lapse of copyright, or just confusion around who owns the film.
Another reason for physical media is compression. Without getting to technical, streaming and physical both require a filmmaker to compress their film into a format that was not in line with the original medium they filmed on. If you have ever seen little black squares while streaming then you understand compression and artifacts. DVD and blu-ray outperform in this area. The quality and detail is baked into the disc and is not dependent on your internet speed to keep things smooth and easy to view. Compression and artifacts are a filmmakers worst nightmare. None of us want our films to look like that.
I am also doing this because it has been a lifelong dream of mine to have my films in a video store for rental. All of which is not possible with streaming.
Check out this article by James Davidson that shows the difference between streaming and physical if you are looking for a more nuanced approach to this difference.
What about buying digital copies?
I realized during my distribution deal (which was actually an aggregator2) with “The Horror” that the people who purchased digital copies were just licensing the work. When you buy a digital copy from your place of choice you are buying a licensed copy of a licensed film. What this means is now that my distribution deal is over, they had to remove the film from their streaming sites and everyone who bought a digital copy no longer has access because the streamer no longer has the rights to offer access. It would be like Criterion going out of business and they came to my house and said give us back our movies. You paid $10-$30 to “rent or own” the film and it’s gone whenever the legal rights lapsed. This is bad for the consumer and it’s bad for the filmmaker.
Who’s going to buy physical media?
Myself and millions of other people are still buying physical media, no matter how hard corporate streamers try to get rid of them. Physical media is for viewers that are tired of Netflix’s top 10, which is just the films that keep you on their platform longer. Most of which are produced in house keeping other filmmakers out of the game. If we have learned anything about the industry these past three years, it’s that they want to make the most amount of money and cut out any form of art. The big three streamers carry entertainment, not cinema. Cinema is found in a theatre, cinema is found offline, cinema should be kept for the next generation.
So, what’s next?
What’s next is that I am going to be turning Bronson Creative, my production company, into a micro-budget film distribution company. I am looking for like minded filmmakers that made their film with will power and grit. I am looking for films with heart, that had to be made despite what everyone told them. I am going to distribute physical copies of films, and I will start with mine.
Before you say this can’t make money, you may be right. This may be a “waste” of money to some people, but I think its a small battle in the fight to keep filmmakers work available beyond the confines of the digital realm. As these companies come and go, the physical media lives on. If you don’t believe me just go a try to watch all of your UltraViolet3 copies of films that came with your dvds in the early 2000’s. You can’t, but you can watch that dvd and no one is going to charge you an extra dollar to press play. You already bought it, its yours, enjoy!
I know there has to be a better way for filmmakers to control their films and actually know what is going on. If you are a filmmaker reading this and you are skeptical, you should be. Check out this article from filmmaker magazine that has more detail from producers actual numbers from distribution deals. The odds are not in our favor so we should at least enjoy the process.
I don’t know if this will work, but I do know that the other way isn’t working for anyone but the corporate giants. If they don’t want you to own physical media, then it might mean that you should. Film lives forever, as long as we keep it out of the cloud.
Filmmakers Portion
If you are a filmmaker reading this article, I thank you for taking the time to see what this is all about. I truly enjoy film and I want to make it more accessible and available.
What is the deal:
I want to license your physical rights and make DVD’s available to your audience.
Most distributors only want digital rights so this opens up a possibility to share your physical and theatrical with other distributors, and this is where I want to come in. Me, Bronson Creative, Jerry White, would like to license your Micro-Budget Feature Film's physical rights and bring DVD copies of your film to life, and here’s how it works:
You must have self-financed your feature film. I am looking for filmmakers that have made their film no matter what. If you have a great story then lets get it seen.
You must have a clear chain of title and copyright. If your film does not currently meet this requirement then reach out and we can discuss how to make this happen. Getting your film cleared with the Library Of Congress is one of the best things you can do to keep your IP.
Physical Media! I am only looking to license your physical media rights for DVD at the moment. It is my hope to add BluRay options in the future but for now we are only looking at DVD. This means you can sell off everything else and try to make your film go as far as it can.
Contracts are for 18-24 months. The current average for a distribution deal is 5-15 years, and that is way too long for anyone to lose control of their IP.
For this to work, we are 50/50 partners. This means that you will need to also be an advocate of your work. You will need to post about it as much as I do. This is the only way that our type of films will get seen. No matter how good the film, it will take a community to bring it to audiences.
You should never have to pay a distributor for their service, so with Bronson you never pay anything up front fees. However, you will need to deliver a specific set of deliverables including posters, stills frames, and properly exported media and I will create a DVD cover and disc design for your film.
It is my hope that in doing this we can work together to share micro-budget filmmaking with the world. It is my hope that our collective work will bring something beautiful into the world that can be seen anywhere. It is my hope that together we can help keep physical media alive, and most importantly that you will be able to add your film to your movie collection.
If your film meets the criteria above, then lets chat.
-Jerry-
What is VOD. Video On Demand or basically anything that is streaming and you are currently pay a subscription for. Think Netflix, Apple, Disney, etc.
Distributors control all the distribution (or at least within specific territories) and usually marketing for that film. Film aggregators, on the other hand, typically only aid in getting your project posted to networks where your project can be purchased. -Wrapbook-
Ultraviolet was a digital copy of your film that was sometimes included with the DVD. Ultraviolet shut its doors in 2019 leaving many people with no access to their digital copies.
I really identified with this post. Last year we moved after being in the same house for 25 years. We ended up purging many physical items. However, when it came to our DVD and Blu-ray collection, we kept them all. I looked through our collection and felt an emotional connection with many of the movies on those discs. Whether it was a date, or watching the DVD extras, or enjoying a film with friends and family, I know that I definitely felt something when I held these physical objects. I look forward to rewatching these physical discs many more times. I’m definitely pro technology, but I do see the importance of physical media. I can watch these titles anywhere. As long as I have a player and screen. I don’t need an Internet connection, nor do I need to rely on some giant company, ensuring that they have licensing rights. I recently discovered that I could no longer watch. “This is Spinal Tap” on any streaming service. I made sure and bought a DVD right away . As your post points out, we don’t want to be at the mercy of the streaming Giants. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your plan to put more physical media out there.