The Distributed Network: Why Hollywood Doesn't Get the Internet


Chris Dorr is a digital media consultant with a client list that includes MTV and the Tribeca Film Festival.

On January 25th, 2012 Chris Dorr contributed an eye-opening blogpost to the Tribeca Film blog that neatly explains the gulf between Old World big media companies (like the movie studios) and New World internet users and tech companies who are using the internet to distribute and access content.

Chris Dorr's very informative short article is a must-read for indie filmmakers and web-savvy movie fans. I'm pretty sure that Chris Dodd of the MPAA and the leaders of Old World big media companies could benefit from reading Chris Dorr's blogpost too, but I'm not holding my breath that they are going to read it or change their positions about the New World of content distribution.

Still, wth just a few words and a couple of diagrams (see above), Chris Dorr neatly explains the way that movies have been distributed for 100+ years (i.e., through a few gatekeepers in a centralized network) and the way internet users have come to expect that movies will be distributed in the future (i.e., through a "distributed network").

These two models - and the ways that they differ - are at the bottom of all the major battles being fought today between Old Media and New.

As Chris Dorr explains, online "piracy" and the ways that content will be sold in the 21st century cannot really be understood until you understand why the two sides are having such a hard time seeing eye-to-eye.

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