I don't think the world is ready for the next reinvention of Madonna, but she does not seem to care. Madonna, known for changing her appearance, accent or occupation on the turn of a dime has added DIRECTOR to her resume, right between Children's literature author, horrendous actress and multi-platinum recording star.
Her feature film debut is entitled "FILTH & WISDOM" and it recently premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Let's just say that the reviews were the opposite of fantastic. In light of such bad press, the pop-star has decided to release the film through the INTERNET - possibly exclusively through iTunes. This would not mark the first feature debut through iTunes, but it showcases something completely different. iTunes, a beacon of hope for up and coming film makers looking for distribution for quality films now represents a digital graveyard where producers can upload horrendous films in hopes of seeing even the tiniest income of cash. Madonna, quoted saying she "doesn't do anything conventionally," might want to stop claming this use of iTunes as a 21st century way of distribution and just say what it really is - the only place where her movie would be distributed. The real question is, why would iTunes take a crap shoot like this movie? The reason is because it is of little cost to put this movie on their servers. If it does not sell, it is as easy and pressing the delete key. Another movie could be uploaded in its place within seconds. In the world of cinema today, if you want to roll out a film in wide release, it costs tons of money to print the celluloid and guarentee the theaters a cut of the ticket. Most, if not all, of this expense is avoided through iTunes (albeit I assume iTunes does receive a cut of each sale)
All in all, it seems iTunes, a service that continues to grow and change the face of digital distribution, has now evolved into a place where films no one wants to see can die a slow, digital death. If only iTunes were around for Lucas' Howard the Duck...
Her feature film debut is entitled "FILTH & WISDOM" and it recently premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Let's just say that the reviews were the opposite of fantastic. In light of such bad press, the pop-star has decided to release the film through the INTERNET - possibly exclusively through iTunes. This would not mark the first feature debut through iTunes, but it showcases something completely different. iTunes, a beacon of hope for up and coming film makers looking for distribution for quality films now represents a digital graveyard where producers can upload horrendous films in hopes of seeing even the tiniest income of cash. Madonna, quoted saying she "doesn't do anything conventionally," might want to stop claming this use of iTunes as a 21st century way of distribution and just say what it really is - the only place where her movie would be distributed. The real question is, why would iTunes take a crap shoot like this movie? The reason is because it is of little cost to put this movie on their servers. If it does not sell, it is as easy and pressing the delete key. Another movie could be uploaded in its place within seconds. In the world of cinema today, if you want to roll out a film in wide release, it costs tons of money to print the celluloid and guarentee the theaters a cut of the ticket. Most, if not all, of this expense is avoided through iTunes (albeit I assume iTunes does receive a cut of each sale)
All in all, it seems iTunes, a service that continues to grow and change the face of digital distribution, has now evolved into a place where films no one wants to see can die a slow, digital death. If only iTunes were around for Lucas' Howard the Duck...
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