Tom Lowe's TimeScape: A must see
If you haven't seen the trailer yet you have to check it out. Stunning imagery, colors and sounds, An absolute piece of art that will remind you of the wonders of our world.
Tom Lowe spent the last two years living out of his truck to create this hugely successful movie. It is available on iTunes and on his site. Lowe chose a unique distribution plan, he is offering the film for purchase as a Blu-ray/dvd and a DRM-free download in SD resolution all to way up to a USB stick with a 4k file of the finished film.
Tom has been getting some press lately for his handling of his movie's appearance on The Pirate bay, here was his response:
Greetings. I am Tom Lowe, the person who spent two years of his life living out of a Toyota pickup truck to make this film. If you enjoy it, please consider buying a copy from our website at TimeScapes.org or at iTunes, or maybe giving it as a gift to a friend, so we can recover the money we invested in the film, and then make some more films for your enjoyment. :)
Tom on his feelings about the torrent appearing online
I wasn’t upset about the torrents. I knew it was going to happen. I am a member at Demonoid and other torrent sites, so I was checking every couple of days to see when it would hit torrents. When I saw the torrent, I felt like letting downloaders know that this was a small, self-financed film, and there are not any Hollywood fatcats in the revenue stream. We have also gone out of our way to offer like 15 different types of paid downloads, from standard-def resolution up to 2560×1440, for those with 2560×1600 monitors, which we believe is a first. If you want reduce file sharing, I think you should offer fast, secure, relatively inexpensive, DRM-free downloads in as many flavors as possible. The only people DRM hurts are your actual, paying customers.
Tom on how he would explain his position to a pirate:
I can just look in the mirror and have that conversation. This will piss off some of my friends who are artists, but I download movies and music. Usually, if I like something, I will get on Amazon and send a copy to a friend or a girlfriend, or a family member. Do I always do that 100% of the time? No. But I do try to make a point of it.
Lastly, his advice on fixing the piracy epidemic:
I think providing very cheap, very fast downloads directly will help. I do not have complete control over pricing of my film, as I have financial backers who need to be paid back. But generally speaking I think film downloads should be cheaper and faster, with no DRM. As far as music goes, I think artists should rely more on live shows and merchandise and such to make a living. And in terms of films, I think theaters should be bigger, with higher resolution, better seats, better sound, to create an experience that you simply cannot get at home. I would also like to be able to drink a beer at the movies.
interview from nofilmschool.com
