Comments on: Documentary Filmmaker Supports BitTorrent Uploader

By: UggaBugga

UggaBugga — Mon, 25 May 2009 06:38:17 +0000

Watched the doc. and just donated 10$
I hope this kind of model gets used more often in the future.

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.

By: Sub

Sub — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:59:50 +0000

@Sam Bozzo

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.

By: Slasher

Slasher — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:53:41 +0000

As people probably has pointed out several times, the number of downloads is different from the number of people actually seen the movie and very different from those that would have bought the dvd. I have downloaded it (and donated because I like to support this business model) BUT I havent even watched the movie yet and maybe never will. And I can guarantee that I would never have seen even the dvd case in any store, let alone bought it.

By: opdude

opdude — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:23:49 +0000

:) Watched & Donated!

By: Blue Gold: World Water Wars | Activities

Blue Gold: World Water Wars | Activities — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:19:12 +0000

[...] of documentaries. Anyway, I had no qualms downloading Blue Gold: World Water Wars because of Torrent Freak’s article about the film. Basically the filmmaker is happy the film is spreading via torrents because of [...]

By: PaulP

PaulP — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:59:42 +0000

I haven’t read all of the comments above–i just happened across this page and found it quite interesting. At a glance, i think $5 is too much to expect most people to pay for a download. But what if a million people downloaded the movie and 1 in 10 gave $1.50? THat would more than cover the prod. costs. Not that a good movie is only worth $1.50, but the reality is that people download lots of movies. Also, far more people are likely to download a given movie than would ever buy the DVD, so that comparison is weak.

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.

By: r0ck

r0ck — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:28:06 +0000

@Sam Bozzo (the filmmaker):
I just finished watching the movie and donated 5$ through Paypal. I can see your point about the “failure” of Torrent as a business model but lets not forget. This is a VERY special topic and the majority of people simply isn’t interested in seeing these kinds of films. I enjoyed it very much (apart from that ultra-annoying music you’ve used for some of the “eerie” parts of the film -there was a constant ringing noise that was nearly unbearable). For the water cause it’s already a success that so many people watched that movie. I am not surprised though to learn that not that many are actually donating. As a commercial product (hate to put it in these disgusting terms) your film just doesn’t have enough “appeal” to the audience that would be more likely to spend money on things like that. I am happy to give you the little I can afford as a student but using Torrent for “indie” products as a distribution means only is not really up to snuff actually. There is still a lot of work to do to get more people to appreciate what people like you and Rick L. Winters are doing and to actually pay where credit is due. I can see why people rip-off billion dollar Hollywood studios when they still make hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office but for projects like yours help would be much appreciated.

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!

By: kdsde

kdsde — Wed, 20 May 2009 05:39:20 +0000

filmmaker wrote:
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.

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”!

By: Alexandrov

Alexandrov — Wed, 20 May 2009 02:29:44 +0000

Should the public finance the film industry just like profits for corporations, when in fact, it’s because of these things that are causing our current situation!

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.

By: smo

smo — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:33:55 +0000

why is this not on slashdot? It would certainly give the donations a healthy boost.