Filmmaking / Directing : Jason Bourne Speaks by Tony Ray

Thanks for sharing the article, Tony Ray. Matt Damon said "And so, the movies that we used to make, you afford to not make all of your money, when it played in the theater, because you knew you had the DVD coming behind the release, and six months later, you would get a whole other chunk, which would be like reopening the movie almost. And when that went away, it changed the type of movies that we could make." I understand that, but I don't understand why streaming can't do the same thing for movies that DVDs did: make up for what the movies don't make in the theaters.

I think there just used to be way more continued income than now it seems. for residuals for just me being int he DGA as just an Assistant Director, it would go to paid tv like HBO or Showtime, then it would go to video, then DVD WAS created and you got another wave of residuals, and so on. so for even little ole me, I don’t see as much of a stream of in one beyond the original pay. as far as return on investment. also, all the unions who get residuals take a piece of the pie. course all that doesn’t mean a movie can’t be good! just coats a lot more for less return. all my opinion of course!

Maurice Vaughan I think part of it might be because DVDs are physical property, meaning that you're paying for the film or TV series but also paying for the creation of the disc and case that houses it as well. It might also be streaming runs on a different model. When you go to see a movie in theatres, you have to pay every time you go to the theatre. When you buy a DVD, you're buying that particular IP. But for streaming, you pay a monthly subscription fee and then you can watch as many movies as you want.

Personally, I think they should set residual points based on views of the IP. For instance, a person could get 2% for a view, 1% for multiple views, and 3% if the original view was from a premium subscriber (not sure if they have those, but for the sake of the example let's say that they do). They could also do a bonus to the major players (director, main actor and actress, screenwriter, cinematographer) if the number of views surpasses a certain amount. And all of it can be predetermined during the contract negotiations.

Just my opinion, though. Not sure how it actually works.

That makes sense, Tony Ray. "Personally, I think they should set residual points based on views of the IP..." I think that was negotiated as part of the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and DGA contracts.

I never thought I'd miss DVDs, but here we are ...

Torrents are cool!

My wife and kids made me give away DVD's about 10 years ago due to lack of use. They were taking up physical space. I have not ever missed them. I did keep 25 of "my favorites", but that's it.