Filmmaker Ti West has written a heartfelt letter to the Internet, requesting that you do not pirate his new film THE INNKEEPERS. I hope letters like this become a more common occurrence. People should know that pirating independent films has a huge negative impact on people they want to support, and on the future of films that they might want to see.
Most independent distributors I know already think itâs pointless to release interesting independent films for young people. They think young people will only show up for blockbusters, and will pirate anything else. And this attitude is getting worse, because the evidence supports it. The audience for interesting youthful independent films is the same audience that heavily pirates online. Distributors and film financiers want to make films for a viable market, and youâre not a market if you donât pay for content. Your taste literally stops mattering, and the content will be determined by people who still pay for content.
Do you want to live in a world where RESERVOIR DOGS or PULP FICTION wouldnât be able to get made, because the distributors all assume its audience would just pirate it? Because thatâs where weâre headed right now.
Iâve heard all the counterarguments, but in the end theyâre just rationalizations. It comes down to this: people pirate because they want to watch whatever movie they want whenever they want for whatever price they want to pay. As a consumer, I understand that. Why wouldnât you want that? Thatâs not something that the traditional distribution system gives them, but it is something that piracy offers them. Iâm sure people would also love to have Apple give them a free iPhone every year, but Apple isnât going to do that. Apple charges money because they are a business with a huge staff and expenses that go into actually designing, making, and distribution the iPhone. But you canât torrent an iPhone, so people buy into Appleâs system.
Piracy can offer you a better short-term deal than the traditional distribution system because piracy doesnât actually have to make movies, but in the long-term you are destroying the ability for interesting new films to be made.
Yes, there are a lot of annoying limitations on how films are released in the traditional distribution system. The films are released in different territories at different times and they are released on different media at different times. Itâs confusing and itâs frustrating. But the whole purpose for this system is to try to recoup the cost of making movies, and hopefully even make a profit.
The types of films that can make money are the types of films that keep getting made. That is the simple math of the film industry. When someone loves a film they didnât pay for, thatâs a vote that doesnât get counted. When someone hates a film they did pay for, thatâs a vote for more movies like that. So if you pay to see TRANSFORMERS 3 in theaters and pirate THE INNKEEPERS, itâs a vote that you want more films like TRANSFORMERS 3 and donât want films like THE INNKEEPERS.
I donât point this out to bash TRANSFORMERS 3, but I know a lot of people who hated the film and saw it in the theater. I know some of these people also pirated smaller films that they liked. To the filmmaking and distribution system it doesnât matter what you like, it matters what you pay for.
Make your voice count by watching films in the system. That might mean seeing films in the theater, or if you want to save money, it might mean watching them on Netflix or TV. These things all âcountâ and have a direct impact on what films are made in the future. Vote with your money, or your taste will be ignored.
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