Remember The Tunnel – the Aussie made indie horror flick that allowed people all over the world to buy a frame of the film as a way of raising funds, before the promise of releasing it for free online via bittorrent? Turns out they’re having some difficulty getting IMDB to recognise their work.
In an open letter on the movie site’s blog, the team behind the film recount their various attempts at trying to get the film listed on the movie database, before concluding that the only possible reason they aren’t getting a listing is their chosen method of distribution of the film once they complete the film.
Considering the film has the backing of Andrew Denton’s production company Zapruder’s Other Films, not to mention the fact that the team is moving into post production, it’s pretty weak IMDB is failing to acknowledge them. I mean, even I have an IMDB page, and I certainly didn’t invest time or money into creating a film with a revolutionary financing and distribution method.
Oh, and if you haven’t yet, you should probably buy a frame or two of the film while you still can…
Andrew
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 10:15 AMI find this interesting becuase it depends on what a movie is. After all imdb is the Internet Movie Database,
I think the key term then is a movie;
If you go online and look at the oxford dictionary online they define a movie as
movie (movie)
Pronunciation:/muvi/
noun
chiefly North American
a cinema film(the movies) films generally or the film industry:
we decided to go the movies
http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0538290#m_en_gb0538290
or they define a film as
a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television:
Compared this with Wikipedia which has a more general term
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a story conveyed with moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie
If you use the first definition then they are semantically correct, if it is not shown in a movie theatre then it is not a movie as such – wikipedia would essentially put many youtube videos into the same category.
With home theatres blurring the line between television and movies; I suspect that there will need to be some consensus on what a movie is,
I just hope they don’t go down the line of issuing something similar ISBN to all true “Movies” as this would be an unnecessary expense for simple inclusion into a reference for theatrical works
Pauly7
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 10:41 AMIf this was true, none of the TV content would exist on IMDB.
Adam
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 10:52 AMor they define a film as
a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television:
SamP
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 1:33 PMIMDB probably look at this one item in the first definition (Though they probably wouldn’t use the oxford dictionary online as it doesn’t use the American modified spelling :-) ) they define a movie as:
“chiefly North American”
Mind you, a guy I went to school with is in a short film that was not widely distributed outside of France, produced by “The Salto Brothers”, and it is in IMDB.
Tom
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 11:18 AMAw Nick, your star meter has fallen by 80% in the past week!
Zathras
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 8:20 PMGo by the first two definitions then wouldn’t Toy Story not count? No Film, no Photography.
Even more interesting is that Big Buck Bunny is listed on IMDB. I can torrent that as the main distribution, or order a dvd
Chelu Marques
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 11:20 PMPerhaps IMDB can redefine themselves in light of current progress. A little bit more emphasis on the “INTERNET MOVIE” part, to go with the “DATABASE”. The Tunnel is, in the completest sense of the word, an Internet Movie.
Keith Coogan
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 1:24 AMPerhaps they aren’t getting listed because their title is too similar to other films. While making films within the “Movie Industry” one of the things you are supposed to do is a title clearance… I’m pretty sure this is what is holding up their listing. What if I made a movie called “Avatar” and then got pissed when they didn’t list it in IMDB?
Darren M
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 1:46 AMIMDB even lists video games. So why they wouldn’t list this movie is a little baffling. The medium or distribution method a film is put into shouldn’t make any difference.
Shawn Dream
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 5:47 AMI was on IMDB today and they had a section on the left offering a greyed out button to “Watch here” and having a link asking “Own the Rights” which brought up a page offering folks to have imdb host their content, with ads.
Seems to support alternate channels to me.
Lucas Bachmann
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 7:49 AMIf they want it in the database all they have to do is get it in a film festival or even merely rent a theater for a public event and document it – and or distribute a DVD copy.
For example anyone can become an associate producer on this project and they will be listed because it satisfies the requirements for listing.
http://www.sainteuphoria.com/
IMDB Eligibility guide
From http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?titleeligibility
General public interest is assumed if a work
* has been released to cinemas (not just a premiere but a regular engagement)
* has been shown on non local TV
* has been downloaded in ‘large’ numbers from some website(s)
* has been (widely) released on video or prints have been made available to the public
* is listed in the catalog of an established video retailer (e.g., Amazon.com)
* has been accepted and shown on film festivals that don’t accept everything independent of its quality (if you have doubts about a festival, see this guide for details)
* has been made by a (now) famous artist or person of public interest.
* has become famous for some reason and is widely talked about/referenced in non local media or the ‘film community’ or is now of general historic interest for some reason.
* is listed in a database, document or publication compiled and offered by some official entity such as a film archive, a governmental organization/branch or some reputable author or/publisher.
Noel
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 10:35 PMHi Nick – you should upload a photo to IMDB – would be nice to confirm you are who I think ;-)
Thought your story was very one sided – IMDB have commented that the filmakers had not satisified all of the criteria necessary, but they are reviewing this as a result of all the attention.
They also note they have details for a number of titles distributed by torrent – so perhaps these guys have repeatedly messed up their application for a listing?
Chris
Friday, October 1, 2010 at 8:19 AMAll they have to do is have the movie screen once in a theater. That’s it. Student short films are listed on IMDB because they had public screenings, either at fests or through their school. Putting a movie on torrent? Not a public screening. Easy peasy one two threesy.