The future of Hollywood is channel dot com and is playing on a computer or iPhone near you. 2008 has been a tumultuous span in the life time and future of Hollywood. As the writers strike and such union negotiations between the major studios and the Directors Guild, Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) played out in newspaper headlines and over the airways, non-Hollywood America mostly attributed the deadlocks in negotiations to financial greed. After all it is well documented that the average yearly income a single actor, writer, or producer who works on a television series or has a substantial position on a feature film exceeds the combined salaries of a whole auditorium of middle American parents watching their kid’s school play. That’s right. One mid-level writer producer of a network television show could pay all of their salaries for a week, when one considers the the average yearly salary in middle America is $24,000. That’s crazy. Hollywood strife must be about greed and they deserve every last bit of financial strife that their Hummer driving lives can endure and more. But… despite the money. Despite their claimed shifting fortunes, this moment in time in Hollywood is about technology. It’s about how inexpensive it is to purchase a computer, how phones do more than make phone calls and the ability of junior and his sister being able to become stars and a means to grow their stardom without ever stepping on a Hollywood sound stage. Better yet, without ever leaving the farm. No more waiting on a stool in Schwab’s (I know. Some of you are going to have to look that reference up.) to be discovered.
Unlike the days when there were only three and then four television networks and films that originated on film and not video, Hollywood pretty much dictated what you would watch, when you would watch and how often. Hollywood could and did dictate whether your broadcasted entertainment would be interrupted by a commercial or not. They dictated if you watched in a theater or in your home. Then came technology.
The technology you carry in your pocket or purse or desktop and how you use it has rocked Hollywood to it’s core. For a while now, Tivo and DVR technology has allowed you to set your own viewing schedules with or without commercial interruption. Smart phones like iPhones and iPods allow you to take this entertainment along with you. Broadband internet connections have virtually turned your computer into your own home entertainment center, where you can view movies, television shows and download music at a click of the mouse button. Furthermore, if you don’t like what’s being dished out by the pros in Hollywood, you now have the technology to create, produce and distribute your own original content through MySpace, Facebook, Youtube and a myriad of other outlets that are coming up everyday. Hey, because the price of hard drives and computer hardware is so inexpensive these days, you can start your own television station over cable for practically nothing. How cheap have things gotten you ask? In 1995, when doing my own digital filmmaking, an 8 gigabyte hard drive cost me $3500. Now? That same drive would cost nothing. Nothing? I must be exaggerating. No. I’m not. The hard drive that used to be the center of my whole film editing suite would not be worth packaging and selling even if it were brand new. Remember my drive of 8 gigabytes cost $3500. Today a drive of 500 gigabytes (that’s right 500gb) costs $80.00.
What everyday people can do from their homes with consumer level equipment is amazing! Hollywood knows it. Hollywood can’t control it (for now). Hollywood is afraid of it. Think about the music recording industry. What happened to records? What happened to eight tracks? What happened to cassettes? What happened to CD’s? Finally, what happened to record stores?
You are the new Hollywood and your choices dictate the future of old Hollywood. Look what the networks have to offer you in the way of television shows. Reality has taken over. Talk shows, singing contests, amazing races, who’s lying or who’s telling the truth, big brothers and little brothers, nannies taking over your kids, the list goes on. Why? These shows are cheap to make and cheap to cancel if by chance you should prefer the company of your iphone, rather than seeing if some one is smarter than a fifth grader.
With your computer, iPhone, Myspace, Youtube life, you are now the studio boss and if regulations don’t set in, you will continue to be so in the future. So while you’re standing in line waiting for the newest iphone or other form of entertainment and communication technology don’t think of yourself as a consumer, think of yourself as a Hollywood Producer. Hollywood already sees you that way. Let’s see what you’re going to green light. The world is waiting.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8oHN6Hi6bc
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Creative or Technical questions about your quest for stardom? Just post them here and if there’s an answer we’ll give you some advice. Good Luck with your rising star.
