We’ve all bitched about how the movie studios don’t seem to get the internet, spending millions taking people who torrent their film to court. A couple of Aussie filmmakers have decided to turn the film making process on its head by getting its audience to buy frames from its movie in advance, in order to raise the $135,000 needed to create the film. They’ll then release it on the web for free.
So far, Julian Harvey and Enzo Tedeschi from Distracted Media have raised almost $7,500 from people on the net as part of the 135K project. Each frame is on sale for $1, and with 25 frames per second, you can opt to easily purchase a single frame, a second of the movie, two seconds or a full minute (or you can decide your own quantity as well). Payments are made through PayPal and upon release, you’ll get a digital copy of the frame you purchased.
It’s a really interesting way to not only raise money to make the film, but also to tackle the issue of piracy. The movie’s website explains the approach really well:
The Internet was meant to be a tool to connect us. It was meant to break down borders and liberate. Now we have an entire generation who are being labelled criminals for using that tool. But perhaps rather than wasting millions of dollars fighting a losing battle against internet piracy, we should try and find a way to embrace the possibilities that this new world brings…
That’s the thought that inspired this project. We believe that if we stop fighting the peer to peer networks, they could become the biggest revolution we have ever seen in the way we share entertainment and information.
After spending years being frustrated by what we saw as the movie industry’s short-sighted and conventional outlook towards the online community, we decided it was time to try something different – The 135K Project was born.
We figured that movie posters and collectable frames from movies are being sold every day, so what if we could raise the money to make “The Tunnel” by selling every individual frame of it? We would be able to make a movie unencumbered by a studio’s need for box office. We could do what we got into the industry to do in the first place. Tell stories we like and get them out there so people could enjoy them.
What’s the key to doing that? You.
If you like the look of “The Tunnel” or the idea behind The 135K Project – buy a frame or two, blog about it, follow us on twitter, seed and embed the finished film when it’s released. Whatever you can do. It will all help and show the world there might just be another way. Who knows where that might lead?
If you’ve ever torrented a film, or even just wondered at the studios’ approach to suing potential customers, you owe it to yourself to buy at least one frame of this movie. And if guilting you into doing it isn’t enough, the filmmakers have stated that upon release, they’ll pick a single frame from the movie at random, and whoever bought that frame will get 1% of the profits made from the film.
[The Tunnel – Thanks Ahmed!]
Mickk
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 10:40 AMGreat Idea. There is very good chance of getting an all black frame!
Nenad
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 10:58 AM“The Internet was meant to be a tool to connect us. It was meant to break down borders and liberate. Now we have an entire generation who are being labelled criminals for using that tool.”
what a crock of s*#t your meant to pay for movies and music it cost poeple money to make these things. Just because a crime becomes incredibly easy to do sitting on your fat arse in your mothers house doesn’t make it “right” and “liberating”?
I reckon a crack down is the way to go – send these punks to gaol that will scare em.
Nick Broughall
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 11:30 AMWhat? These are filmakers who are using the idea of an open internet to create a film. They’re hoping that by taking a different approach they can both make money and build awareness of their movie.
It’s pretty obvious that crackdowns don’t work – just look at music filesharing. So for these guys to try and approach it from a different angle is commendable.
Daryl
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 10:56 AMwait… so I’m clear on this;
They will pick, at random, a frame & the people or person who purchased said frame will win 1% of the profits of a film being distributed for free, that is being funded by people buying frames?
I’m assuming they must have more than 135,000 frames in their film for their to be profits
Nick Broughall
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 11:31 AMI’m pretty sure they’ll still distribute the film through cinemas and have a DVD release, which is where that extra profit will come from. But rather than fight piracy, they’re embracing it as a way of building hype for the film.
Kif
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 12:05 PMAs Nick said.
Not everyone has the know-how or means to download large files, or even internet access, for that matter.
If you got more than your dollar back, it’d be more than any Hollywood film gave you.
Although, after watching the teaser, it looks terrible. I think I’ll keep my dollar. I can count on one hand the number of Australian films that have ever been worth paying for. This one won’t make me grow an extra finger.
DAWOOKIE
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 11:44 AMBut what is the point of buying the frame?
As per the current P2P environment everyone will wait until someone else pays for it then get it for free.
A more interesting approach would be to profit share based on frames bought then it gives people a reason to support and buy into the movie. Obviously this would mean a pay per view system would be needed but it could be offered at much cheaper rates than current cinema due to no distribution, physical media or bricks and mortar needed to show it.
Mark
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 11:48 AMI like the Pioneer One approach of sucking you in with the first episode and them making everyone chuck in some cash if they want to see the second:
http://vodo.net/pioneerone
+ they give you a few bonuses for your donation.
Sam Timmins
Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 12:09 AMQuestion:
If the film sucks, where’s the refund?
Jack
Friday, July 9, 2010 at 11:18 PMGuys serisouly the idea behind the funding of this movie is incredable! ( i dont believe they are selling physical frames as such more the idea that if you chip in a little money you get the entire movie for that spare change you had in your pocket. )
Besides for the people that have asked ” what id i get a black frame ” if you dont like it skip forward ten frames in the movie to one that you do like when you download it.
I see this as a great idea instead of the pastel bland movie plots and story lines you see over and over in the cinima ( becuase they inductry refuses to make movies with ideas and premises that have not been tried and tested before to be profitable ) the end viewer, thats you and iw ill be able to activly pick movies that we would personally like to watch. If there is enough of us that like the movie it gets made not only that but is available relativly free to the public. that sounds like a freakin great idea especially if it turns out to be a profitable one and is adopted by the major producers.
take the bioshock movie for example. bioshock is a great game was there was a boat load of hype around it even mention of top notch directors and actors ( it may have turned out to be the first game to movie adaptation that didn’t sucks complete monkey balls ) now look at it. sure its gona get made but becuase its to much of a risk its been piped down the line to a useless director and actors and artists. In other words if you go to see it in the cinima not only will it sucks it will tarnish your view of the game aswell.
If it was funded by the fans however the amount of money would not doubt pay for all the top trimmings and you would end up with a film worthy of the game.
im definatly throwing in my 10 bucks to these guys.
Jack
Friday, July 9, 2010 at 11:25 PMsorry for the double post but just to let everyone know…they are asking for $1.30 a frame ( roughtly )
jacobandrewmyers
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 10:20 AMI’ve seen this mentioned as “the first” feature film to be released via P2P. I was in an independent feature tracked by Pirate Bay (among other sites) in late 2008 and we weren’t even the first to have done it then.
Also; we didn’t beg for money like these chumps are doing. We gave it with no expectations. They’re expecting people to buy “a digital copy” of their frame(s)? They couldn’t come up with a better “sponsorship gift” than that? Seriously…
I guess the producers of “The Tunnel Movie” need to get out more (or pay more attention to what’s happening with independent film). On the other hand; they might be the first Aussie production to distribute over P2P. But I doubt it.
I’m not going to mention the title of “my” movie here but it’s easy enough to find on IMDB (hint: search for my name). If you like chiaroscuro-style film, psychedelia, and improvised “noise rock” then check it out. I’m pretty sure the “official” site has a link to a streaming copy in case no one’s seeding the ISO anymore (which is how we did the release). Anyway… Enjoy!
Myztry
Monday, June 6, 2011 at 11:28 AMI’d never heard of this film until I was chasing down what caused my upload to go over quota.
Seems one of the kids downloaded the free movie and left it seeding on my 60Mb/4Mb cable connection.
Guess I just contributed to the Australian film industry even if it’s my ISP that gets the dollars.