Thank you for teaching me something I was not realizing was that apparent and but not least this important to everyone on this planet.

And I live in the Faroe Islands, water is not an issue here, but I will be more aware/awake now if there are at any time talks about privatizing the water-supply here.

I am downloading the movie at the moment and am setting up a paypal account to donate.

However, you and other content creators has to realize that a download is not necessarily a lost sale, By getting more viewers you can make more money in total while still making alot less on each individual viewer.

$400 for 2500 downloads can be seen as a failure since the revenue / copy is rather awful (~16 cents) but it could also be seen as $400 that you wouldn’t have gotten if the movie hadn’t been available on the P2P networks. (It is entierly possible that none of those downloaders would have bought or even heard of the movie otherwise)

I don’t really think you should expect to make $5 / copy if you are aksing for a $5-$10 donation, people in general will be assholes when noone is looking (Especially if not being an asshole takes a bit of effort).

The main problem i ran into with donating was that it required a paypal account, (Which i didn’t have) and creating one just for one donation is a bit of a hassle, its not really that $5 or $10 is alot of money (it is alot for some people ofcourse but i could pay more for a pizza where i live)

Anyway, i’ve donated $15 now and I sincerely hope you’ll make enough money on this movie.

If the P2P experiment doesn’t work out you should still consider some other form of online distribution for your future projects.

This is 2009 and its insane to buy/sell information on plastic discs that are transported halfway across the world when it can be sent over the internet at a low cost in a matter of minutes.

An economist is needed to do a diminishing marginal returns calculation or something. NOt that the goal should be to maximize profits, but i wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it is a viable business model. It’s a tadpole right now, but could become a monster fish. It’s kind of scary actually. It also needs to be REALLY easy to make the donation, e.g. a few pleasant clicks and no brain usage. I don’t even see a “donate” button or link here.

Unfortunately, as with the privatization of water and business in general. You can’t force people to NOT be assholes … I am one myself often enough but I try to support as many small businesses as I can especially when I get such great entertainment as a rewards out of it.

Cheers, keep fighting!

it seems you are arguing for the MAFIAA mindset “every (not acompanied by a donation) download is a lost sale”.

Just because someone downloaded it, does not mean he WOULD have bought it in the first place would it not have been available as torrent for free too!

And regarding your numbers, when you compare the fugures in the first place have you deduced from the numbers of your “could have been made if a DVD was sold” the downloads that were done from IP-addresses in places that do not offer the DVD for sale in the first place?
In tradition of the damage calculation of the MAFIAA in the TPB trial, you should count donations from those IPs as 10x the value since the stuff was NOT released there and no “legal” alternative to buy was available at all so you would not have made a single cent from those people willing to pay but unable to get “physical product”!

On the other hand torrent sharing isn’t about profits, money and corporate greed… It’s getting the word out…

If the word is good, people will share it more… and as for the reward, saving the world, isn’t enough for you?

What is the cost of making a film when compared to saving the world?

I’m sure, the 8 billion citizens of the world can help find you a home, food and even water, should they get off they lazy, exhausted tired ass and do something positive to save themselves…

But, I would be glady pay for your film, had I had money… Had I had water, had I a method to afford your film….

The truth is, I am without a home, without a job, without a mate and totally stuck, being stateless…

I was made that way, because my country was ruined by corporate greed… to be without a place to live.

Why it was invented is moot. What matters is like all P2P, it allows free information access over an individual or group interest which is its primary use. Look at the donations for this film; more often than not, people have downloaded without giving anything.

But then, I wouldn’t expect much less from a bellend crying troll when a differing view doesn’t sit well with them. The real world must be tough!

The torrenting with donations is the future model of business as far as I can see. Donating itself in piracy world is just catching up, have seen many places where it’s (more or less) succesfully employed. But it isn’t there yet. 400 USD is small money, but it was just released in Torrentfreak few days ago, so give it a bit of time.

$5 per download is probably too much to ask for. But then again 2000 downloads isn’t too much either yet. Don’t worry though, the downloads will rise, and so will the donations.

Not sure if torrenting is viable business model right now, but as long as it’s going to happen anyway, i would consider the fact to get the added exposure (I for sure would have never seen the movie), and get some money back from the thankful community, a great success.

Steps to take:

1. Although risky business, you should raise the awareness of the free version. Link to the torrent from TBG homepage?
2. Release English subtitles to community to get the translation going on.

I, in my all evilness modified the banner to show “Available on TPB” :)

http://remixta.net/bluegold_720_90.png

You are a fool whose tongue is best left in mouth. Torrenting happens to be an efficient method of delivery. This is the essence of it all.

However, it ISN’T unbeknownst to me why you wouldn’t realize that because I suspect you’re simply a torrent uploader trying to make a name for himself because he has no other way to feel accepted by society. Some quasi-intelligent person who has no idea why torrenting was invented in the first place or what the basis of the use was/is.

Nobody is asking your for help to sell shite, so get over yourself.

To the moderators: Please pardon this response to Anarcho as his post was clearly trolling without at least a slight bit of sensibility behind it. Allowing his flawed, hostile post to be viewed by this article’s readers, and not my response (which is admittedly somewhat hostile) would be unfair. Thanks for the consideration.

Let me take the opportunity to differentiate ‘profit’ from ‘costs’. All art forms require time commitment from the artist, but the financial ‘cost’ realities for each art is very different; a painter might invest $200 for paints and canvas, photographers maybe $2,000 for a camera and software, a musician maybe $8,000 for instruments and mixing equipment. But when each piece of ‘art’, EACH feature film, costs at least $100,000, you can hopefully see why p2p sharing is a double-edge sword, depending on what portion of the Torrent audience donates.

Even though Blue Gold is ‘only’ $100,000 film, compared to the $100 million films in theaters, independent budgets often come from the filmmaker’s pocket and credit cards, which is almost always the case with American films since America is one of the few countries without film funds from the government. If you work a day job, have a family, and pay bills (i.e. if you are not born rich), then $100,000 is a HUGE investment, and the simple reality is I must make that money back or I can never produce another film again.

I hope Torrent users who experience any negative opinions from filmmakers can try to understand that filmmakers are reacting to the horrifying thought of not being able to make another film, not to the community taking interest in their film on the Torrent.

I don’t know any filmmaker who is not disgusted by profit going to Executives and those not involved in the filmmaking, but if you continue to view an artist making his/her money back as ‘prostitution of art’ and do not donate to filmmakers like me who open their arms to this new frontier, the irony is that yo will kill the artists ability to make more art.

Sincerely, thanks again for your interest in Blue Gold and supporting documentary filmmaking via your donations when you download.

Sam Bozzo
Filmmaker
Blue Gold: World Water Wars

IP is diametrically opposed to availability. No matter how lax the law is made on it, people are going to be excluded. There’s no need for spouting vapid rhetoric when this is the reality.

As for you Sam Bozzo, torrents aren’t a business model. They are a stand against archaic law, and the sham that is private property. We want to abolish the ability to market art, not help prostitute it.

So you let your Hollywood producer friends know, and yourself of course, that you can stick it up your arse. We’ve no interest in selling your shite.

Hi all. I wanted to update everyone on the status of the torrent donations. First, I am pleased that the uploader godcanjudgeme contacted me and he and I are working together to make this torrent the most successful it can be. He informed me that over 2,500 torrents have been downloaded so far. With a documentary like this, with such an important message, it is wonderful to have an instant audience like that.

I informed godcanjudgeme that I’ve received $400 donations to date from 51 people and he shares my disappointment. As my previous posts state, I am so grateful for the supportive messages that have come with these donations and appreciate those who are honorable to donate for viewing the film.

godcanjudgeme and I both agree, however, that the numbers of downloads vs. those who donate are such that any industry professionals viewing this story will continue to see Torrent downloading a failure as a business model. On average, a filmmaker will make $5 per DVD sale (it greatly varies from contract to contract, the costs the distributor incurred, and the 3rd party sales outlet cuts), so thanks to the fact that most of the 50 donators donated $10-$20, we can say that the torrent donations have earned me that of 80 DVD sales to help fund future films and make my money back.

I have a few high-end Hollywood producers contacting me asking me for these numbers because they are curious about the TorrentFreak story and want to see if Torrent downloading can be turned into a positive for the film industry.

Unfortunately, as it currently stands, they will view this as a failure unless I can make $5 per download, currently $12,500, to match filmmaker DVD royalties if those users bought a DVD instead of downloading the Torrent.

Personally, I again stress I see this as a positive, since 2,500 more people are aware of the film and that will ultimately help word-of-mouth, but if the torrent community wants this to be a valid business model for the film industry and stop the studios from attacking Torrent downloads, we need to raise another $12,100 in donations for BLUE GOLD so that I can go to the press and media and present this as a success story.

For those 2,449 people who downloaded BLUE GOLD but did not donate, PLEASE reconsider. If everyone could also please help spread the word to any people you know who support documentaries, the water crisis, or the idea of Torrent downloading, to help raise this remaining $12,100, then I promise to use some of those funds for PR to get to the press so we can proclaim this a success story example to the film industry!

To help with your efforts, any of you with websites can upload a BLUE GOLD banner there and link to the site. Banners can be found at http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/banners/index.html

Thanks again for your interest in BLUD GOLD!

Sam Bozzo
Filmmaker
Blue Gold: World Water Wars

Are there any subtitles for this movie? I would watch it but my “listening” English is not so good, it would be better if I had subtitles for it.

You should provide some kind of protection to the *authors* (and not only to the distributors) and *inventors*, but this protection should be time-limited and well-thought so that is doesn’t impact the availability.

Of course developing such kind of laws is extremely difficult. It’s so much easier just to label everyone who shares as a thief and squeeze all the money he has out of him.

Maybe there needs to be an investigative documentary into that issue as well. I hope someone can do it. I’d certainly contribute to that!

I was a bit nervous about it, but using called Transmission that came with my computer system, it was surprisingly easy to do. I thought the movie would take days and days to finish downloading, but it was finished in less than an hour. I left the Transmission program running for another hour afterwards, because I’d read that’s the polite way to give back. (is that correct?)

Anyway, it is a tremendously powerful documentary, well done and very relevant to the part of the world I live in…well actually it’s relevant to EVERY part of the world. I have made my donation for the gift of the movie (thank you Sam Bozzo for allowing us the opportunity!). I hope the movie maker does many many more.

Just wanted to share my experience. My grandkids will laugh when they find out I’ve become a downloader (dear me, where will it stop? ;).

I fully intend to share this documentary with everyone in my family (and a few neighbors, maybe). I hope they are all moved to donate money as well.

This, my friends is information-sharing at its best. Don’t you think?

Andrew

“Just to clarify: I haven’t even seen the film yet. However, your choice of giving the movie to the ever growing internet community and relying on the people’s conscience for monetary relief is a brave and a bold one and should be supported to the highest of extends. May it be a guiding, blistering torch for others to share the same values and ideas you stood behind. Thank you.”

“Great film that is not available in my country but thanks to internet and the torrents community i managed to watch it and now I recommend to all my friends!”

“I am donating because I read the article on torrentfreak. I have never watched your film, and I may never do in future, but the fact that you understand the value and importance of digital sharing and a community of global contributors is worth donating to in my view. Thanks for being smart and selfless enough to help mankind towards a free future, reflected in a free digital world.”

“thank you for not being stupid (as so many are) and accusing filesharers of thieves when all we want is to share culture.”

JS, thanks for the subtitle note. It’s tough because it is costly. Right now I have a French subtitled DVD and soon a Spanish one. Slowly I will have more as the film spreads to markets. Right now it is English only.

If you read my director’s statement from my press kit.pdf on the film site, you’ll know I risked my life to make the film. Audience response to the issue and film has been worth it, and this is icing on the cake. Please enjoy the film, absorb the vital message in it, and pass it on.

Sam

Just donated $5 (well, that’s a cost of a DVD here in Russia), looking forward to watching your film yet (still no doubt it’s great because of the IMDB ratings).

Wow, it’s nice to see a sensible person in the whole filming industry. Would you please tell us how this in going to work out after a few weeks / months (in the long term). If you manage to get at least some of your money back by donations (which you wouldn’t have got back otherwise), it would be an interesting example.

I mean I have no problem with donating something directly to the author / producer after watching a film which was delivered to me the way it is convenient for me. Still seems like nobody cares about that. Download = piracy / theft / murder / criminals.

It would be nice if people like you and us would be able to make a difference together.

Z.

Yes, legitimate viral video will do it as well. I don’t think Blair Witch required torrent to spread like wildfire… It was word of mouth.

Yea, hacker 7337 doods are really your primary market. Get them all to download because they are so amazed that someone didn’t immediate threaten them. Half of them probably can’t read this post anyway…

About the exposure of this film in non-english speaking countries it would be a good ideea if someone can provide a subtitle for this film, couse even the DVD doesn’t have one.
If a subtitle in english can be found then the translation it’s not a problem.
I cannot say if this exposure will translate in more donations/purchases of this movie, it’s just an ideea.

Thank you,
Andrew (Romania)

In Canada, it is best you buy from Amazon.ca or at the HMV stores.

One thing I am checking on is if I have the right to sell custom signed PAL DVDs for the rest of the world from my site until when/if deals are set up in each country.

If you like the film, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter so I can inform you of each country’s distribution as it occurs.

Also would love to get as many positive reviews on Amazon, Netflix, and IMDB!

we should support what we liked.

can anything else other than torrents give it this much exposure

torrents are a great way to bringing more media to the people, the entertainment industry should consider it as boon rather than a curse. But those BA****** never learn will they.

http://www.wannabets.blogspot.com

@44

Utorrent + DHT + PER Enchange..

i reside in denmark and my ISP blocks out TPB, so i can only download it from a private tracker.

Thank you for being one of the few cooks to provide the means for people to do this, and to contribute to the extent they can afford, rather than some artificial maximum they want the market to bear. I would gladly redirect some of my disposable income back to copyright owners and content creators for ‘pirated’ material, if only they would make it possible for me to make such donations without exposing myself to more liability. It would also have the effect of encouraging the creation of art people will pay for, rather than sustaining industries in which executives & laborers feel entitled to derive a lifetime of income for their role in producing & marketing works of dubious merit.

A couple of questions: How much do you get for each DVD sale? And assuming this pans out, are you to spread your enthusiasm to other filmmakers, production companies and distributors? It’s the only way we’ll see real change, IMHO.

I updated the site to include an address of a non-profit you can send check donations to as I see that has been an issue for a few.

Imagine if I were to make my investment back by Torrent users alone? We’d make film industry and set a standard for the studios to follow. Help me achieve it! Spread the word.

Sincerely,

Sam Bozzo

Hi, I cant find the ‘Donate’ button at all. Just the link to buy the dvd. Can someone help out? I would like to support this man for being considerate.
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On the left side of their page it’s a banner with “Subscribe/Donate”