James Cameron's Thoughts On Containing Piracy

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James Cameron says that providing a better theater experience is one of the keys to containing piracy. While I agree that currently the movie-going experience kinda sucks and definitely needs improvement, I also think pirates will be pirates regardless how great you make the movie-going experience.

The biggest hedge against piracy is still the sanctity of the viewing experience in a movie theater — when it comes to movies. With “The Walking Dead” or something like that, that’s not what you’re selling, but if we’re talking about movies and theatrical exhibition, keeping it great, making it a special experience, is still the biggest hedge against that. Because even if piracy was totally legal and download rates were much faster, you’re still watching it on a small platform, and it’s not that social experience.
 
Pirates gonna pirate.

As for as theatres go, they need to stop gouging people on both tickets and concessions. Maybe avoiding the constant increase in lease rates for the film to theatres would help that. Everything is digital these days, anyway. You don't have to pay for armored vehicle delivery and film copy anymore.
 
"Because even if piracy was totally legal and download rates were much faster, you’re still watching it on a small platform"

He hasn't seen my 34" monitor.
 
I don't want a social experience. It's a movie. You shouldn't be social during a movie. The entire concept came about from live theaters and the era before we could view things at home.
It simply isn't necessary anymore. Yes, a theater's large screen and speakers are better than almost anyone has at home. Yet does that really matter to most people? Not really. Hence all of the people watching movies on their phones or via lousy laptop speakers. Either that or via LQ streaming. The theater usually just a necessary evil if you want to watch something ASAP.
 
Domingo said:
I don't want a social experience. It's a movie. You shouldn't be social during a movie.
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I think he means social as in going to the movies on a date is more stimulating than going to your living room on a date. I certainly hope he doesn't mean active and loud conversations through the experience!
 
Armenius said:
Pirates gonna pirate.

As for as theatres go, they need to stop gouging people on both tickets and concessions. Maybe avoiding the constant increase in lease rates for the film to theatres would help that. Everything is digital these days, anyway. You don't have to pay for armored vehicle delivery and film copy anymore.
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So, how do you expect them to make money? Concessions are where theaters get most of their money. Everything might be digital but that doesn't mean theaters are paying less for the movies or giving less of the ticket price to studios.
 
I have only know a pair of movie pirates in my life, and it struck my much more as a hoarder thing than anything else... I mean that they both seemed to treat it as a pokemon situation and wanted to have everything just to have it. Good movie / bad movie didn't matter, it was collect, collect, collect.

Oh- forgot to mention that being able to pause / rewind a movie also is a deathknell to theaters... :cool:
 
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I don't want sit with a bunch of assholes where I can't kick back and smoke and drink and have to listen to people who talk and don't even want to be there. Eating crappy food heated up by minimum wage pimple factories.

Theatres haven't changed in decades.

Maybe that is why there is this so-called piracy thing you people keep bringing up.
 
Agree with most here, don't like the people, prices and environment. Let me know when I can bring my bong and smoke out like in front of my 65" plasma with surround with company or not....
 
dgingeri said:
"Because even if piracy was totally legal and download rates were much faster, you’re still watching it on a small platform"

He hasn't seen my 34" monitor.
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Our 34" monitor are still small when compared to a true movie screen. Let's not fool ourselves.
Domingo said:
I don't want a social experience. It's a movie. You shouldn't be social during a movie. The entire concept came about from live theaters and the era before we could view things at home.
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It doesn't change the fact that movies aren't there for a single person unless if it's private screening unfortunately.
DrLobotomy said:
I don't want sit with a bunch of assholes where I can't kick back and smoke and drink and have to listen to people who talk and don't even want to be there. Eating crappy food heated up by minimum wage pimple factories.
.
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That is my real problem with watching a movie, more than just the ticket price hike and the lack of good movies.
 
Derangel said:
So, how do you expect them to make money? Concessions are where theaters get most of their money. Everything might be digital but that doesn't mean theaters are paying less for the movies or giving less of the ticket price to studios.
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The problem is when you make them so outrageously expensive for such a cheap product to begin with that it keeps moviegoer's away. Part of the experience for many is the awesome candy and buttered popcorn that comes with the movie. The wholesale cost of K-way soda and popcorn is incredibly low to start with. I'd rather pay a couple bucks more a ticket than feel guilty for buying a $14 soda and popcorn with no refills on popcorn.
 
dgingeri said:
"Because even if piracy was totally legal and download rates were much faster, you’re still watching it on a small platform"

He hasn't seen my 34" monitor.
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Hate to say but that's pretty tiny considering the argument.
 
DrLobotomy said:
I don't want sit with a bunch of assholes where I can't kick back and smoke and drink and have to listen to people who talk and don't even want to be there. Eating crappy food heated up by minimum wage pimple factories.

Theatres haven't changed in decades.

Maybe that is why there is this so-called piracy thing you people keep bringing up.
Click to expand...


Don't forget the unidentifiable, amazingly sticky puddles of of congealed shmoo all over the floor and seats. The half wit e-warriors and power-girls with their fucking cel phones out. And that one ass hole that keeps trying to get into the pants of the poor woman he brought with him. Oh but you're not done until super mom and her brood of noisy, Chef Boyardee encrusted, snot dripping, feral children makes a massive hyper-dramatic show out of every single twitch from her perpetually urinating larva. When you're done with all that free-with-your-ticket entertainment, you get to use a theatre bathroom, it's been cleaned!

Once.

When the building was new.

On top of all that nastiness, I can't relax an enjoy a little scotch with my nap.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
Don't forget the unidentifiable, amazingly sticky puddles of of congealed shmoo all over the floor and seats. The half wit e-warriors and power-girls with their fucking cel phones out. And that one ass hole that keeps trying to get into the pants of the poor woman he brought with him. Oh but you're not done until super mom and her brood of noisy, Chef Boyardee encrusted, snot dripping, feral children makes a massive hyper-dramatic show out of every single twitch from her perpetually urinating larva. When you're done with all that free-with-your-ticket entertainment, you get to use a theatre bathroom, it's been cleaned!

Once.

When the building was new.

On top of all that nastiness, I can't relax an enjoy a little scotch with my nap.
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What the hell kind of theaters do you people go to? Jesus. I have NEVER had a bad theater experience in my life.
 
I go to the movies still. If I don't like the movie, I ask for my money back. Hasn't happened since The Wicker Man. If I were to pirate, I would do it after it is on blu-ray. It makes no sense to get a cam or pre-post production copy. I would want a finished product.
 
I go to the movies all the time. I love it, but I guess I have the money for it and that is not the case for everyone.
 
Maybe a better theater experience will do it for some people, but I think we are beyond that. There is a REALLY NICE theater with big reclining leather seats and a bar near my house, but I'd still rather watch films at home if I had the option.


Here's my list for what you can do to tackle piracy:
  • Get rid of all exclusives
  • Get rid of all regional differences (except subtitles and dubbing)
  • Sure, give theaters the first shot like it is today, but after that, launch at the same time in all regions and on all platforms.
  • Make legal streaming and downloads EASY.
  • Have universal platforms for streaming and downloads where ALL content is present, so you don't have to go to the Apple store for one title, and HBO go for another, and Netflix for yet another. (See the no exclusives bit above)
  • Charge affordable prices. As we learned from Valve's Gabe Newell, with digital distribution there is almost no limit to the relationship that the cheaper you make a game the more money you make in total, because the quantity goes up, with very few costs. I bet the same is true for movies/TV shows.
  • Just dispense with DRM already. It only winds up hurting legitimate customers who can't watch things the way they want to. The pirates can still break the encryption and distribute it easily.
  • Stop releasing absolute junk, or remakes/rehashes of the same thing. Release new well made content and people will be willing to pay to see it. Otherwise they don't think it's worth it (and will rationalize downloading it, "because if I wasn't going to pay for it anyway, no one loses, right?"

More so than just wanting something free, this comic illustrates why people pirate stuff.

They:
  • Get frustrated an pissed off when they get locked out due to delayed regional launches or platform exclusives.
  • They get frustrated with DRM preventing them from viewing the content on the device they want when they want
  • Keeping track of and signing up for a million different services just to get the content they want is less convenient than just going to the same one piracy site for one stop torrenting (which downloads very fast!)

The free part is a motivator for some, for sure, but I bet if you get rid of the above frustrations, you'll go a long way towards mitigating the majority of piracy. Most people who pirate WOULD ACTUALLY PREFER PAYING FOR THE CONTENT because they feel that the people who make it deserve to get paid for their work, they just aren't willing to put up with the BS, headaches and delays in order to do so.

The lesson here is Spotify and what it has done for music piracy. Spotify is easy. Content is not universal because artists whine about the compensation, but in many markets, Spotify has almost killed music piracy, because its easy, cheap and convenient.

Artists don't get compensated as much as they'd like, sure, but a small per song compensation is better than no compensation at all with piracy, right? Besides, some might argue that in the past the artists were making out like bandits, as they got paid a full albums worth, even if you just listened to one song and never touched it again. Now the content actually has to be good enough to justify repeated listens for them to make money.
 
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Won't stop piracy, but it'd get me into the theater more often.

Right now, the theater is for Star Wars, Star Trek and a couple other really good movies. It's a decent expense with the whole family experience. Not something I could do twice a week like I used to when I was young and single.

I think piracy is going to stay. It's free, and it's easy to get. With high speed internet, you can download a decent HD rip in 10 minutes or less. Quicker than Redbox, even. Pirates gonna pirate. Can't stop them.

Give incentives to those legitimate buyers. I buy BR on sale. I love a good deal. Throw in a digital copy (Vudu, Ultraviolet, etc), and I can share with my family. I'm all for it. I can't stand the previews, the FBI warnings, etc. at the beginning, though.... Fuck those things.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
Don't forget the unidentifiable, amazingly sticky puddles of of congealed shmoo all over the floor and seats. The half wit e-warriors and power-girls with their fucking cel phones out. And that one ass hole that keeps trying to get into the pants of the poor woman he brought with him. Oh but you're not done until super mom and her brood of noisy, Chef Boyardee encrusted, snot dripping, feral children makes a massive hyper-dramatic show out of every single twitch from her perpetually urinating larva. When you're done with all that free-with-your-ticket entertainment, you get to use a theatre bathroom, it's been cleaned!

Once.

When the building was new.

On top of all that nastiness, I can't relax an enjoy a little scotch with my nap.
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Amen
 
Sorry, Mr. Cameron, I disagree. I enjoyed watching Avatar more at home than in the theater (and this from a guy who got to see a pre-release screening of Avatar in IMAX 3D).

Nothing beats watching a good flick in your underwear, totally comfy on the couch or recliner, smoking what you smoke, drinking what you drink, eating what you eat, farting when you want, yelling when you want, replaying that cool scene or that bit of dialogue you missed, and of course, using the restroom or getting more snacks when you want without missing anything. Your feet shouldn't stick to the floor or armrests, there's no dealing with show times, or looking for parking spots, or a yapping audience, or fussy children, or bad seats, or standing in queues, or drive home.

These days theaters are becoming about as relevant as print media, piracy notwithstanding. They'll live on, but they'll no longer be the prime venue for movie-watching.
 
They could quite literally stream a new movie to your house on opening day/night and most people would gladly pay more for that privilege, but they won't allow that. They want to keep the movie theater monopoly in business as the major release outlet. The archaic old school thinking is still alive and well.
 
I'm just too lazy to leave the comfort of my home just to watch a movie. I'd rather wait two months for it until it's released on video or streaming.
 
Wanna stop piracy? That's impossible. Wanna lower piracy? That's something that is obtainable. Pirates, as Gabe Newell elegantly put it, are underserved customers. Increasing the quality of a theater, thus the price, won't solve that problem. Increasing the ease of which to obtain a viewing of the film will. Offering streaming options that are affordable would go a long way. Dictating that a first run film has to be play solely in the theater is an old way of thinking and needs to change.

I, personally, love the social aspect of a film. Being with people sharing in an experience can make a dull film more fun. I mean, it didn't save Ghostbusters (2016) but it did make watching Freddy VS Jason even better.
 
They always get pissed when I shut off the projector so I can take a piss.
 
Croak said:
Sorry, Mr. Cameron, I disagree. I enjoyed watching Avatar more at home than in the theater (and this from a guy who got to see a pre-release screening of Avatar in IMAX 3D).

Nothing beats watching a good flick in your underwear, totally comfy on the couch or recliner, smoking what you smoke, drinking what you drink, eating what you eat, farting when you want, yelling when you want, replaying that cool scene or that bit of dialogue you missed, and of course, using the restroom or getting more snacks when you want without missing anything. Your feet shouldn't stick to the floor or armrests, there's no dealing with show times, or looking for parking spots, or a yapping audience, or fussy children, or bad seats, or standing in queues, or drive home.

These days theaters are becoming about as relevant as print media, piracy notwithstanding. They'll live on, but they'll no longer be the prime venue for movie-watching.
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I'd even argue that crap films with rehashed tired old story lines (but this time with BLUE skin. Come on guys, come see it THEY'RE BLUE) might be part of the problem too.
 
Croak said:
Sorry, Mr. Cameron, I disagree. I enjoyed watching Avatar more at home than in the theater (and this from a guy who got to see a pre-release screening of Avatar in IMAX 3D).

Nothing beats watching a good flick in your underwear, totally comfy on the couch or recliner, smoking what you smoke, drinking what you drink, eating what you eat, farting when you want, yelling when you want, replaying that cool scene or that bit of dialogue you missed, and of course, using the restroom or getting more snacks when you want without missing anything. Your feet shouldn't stick to the floor or armrests, there's no dealing with show times, or looking for parking spots, or a yapping audience, or fussy children, or bad seats, or standing in queues, or drive home.

These days theaters are becoming about as relevant as print media, piracy notwithstanding. They'll live on, but they'll no longer be the prime venue for movie-watching.
Click to expand...
Picture the way I like it, audio the way I like it, and everything else you mentioned. I still take the kids to the movies every once in a while, but I don't go like I used to and I really hate the experience. It's only ever enjoyable when all the stars align and I get a theater with a nice crowd.
 
as long as the costs weren't prohibitively high I would pay to watch new releases in my home with my friends and fam and my own reasonably priced popcorn for a higher price. The movie could expire in 24 hours or even 8 as long as I could watch it without having to go to a theatre. I think more people would go to movies that way. At the same time it'd probably be easier to pirate and get high def copies of new blockbusters.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'd even argue that crap films with rehashed tired old story lines (but this time with BLUE skin. Come on guys, come see it THEY'RE BLUE) might be part of the problem too.
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For me, the story wasn't the good part of Avatar - it was the amazing 3D and visuals. Never seen anything like that before and even now with other 3D movies I don't think they are nearly as well done as Avatar was.

Gravity is up there as well.
 
I haven't set foot in a movie theater in 15 years. DVDs and now streaming have given me no reason to go back to what was/is a crappy environment to watch movies.
 
No theater is going to trump the ease of Googling "Watch Avatar Stream Free." It's just not possible. Beyond the entire concept being antiquated, we have millions of movies at our fingertips legally and who knows how many others that aren't. Without taking a big step back (which won't happen), just suck it up and deal with it.
 
I've spent A LOT of money just so that I don't have to go to a movie theater. People these days are just plain-old rude when attending public events. At home, I can pick up my remote, press a single button, and either stream through Roku 4, access my media server stocked with over 600 movies, or watch live TV. I sit 9' away from a 75" 4K TV which gives me an almost perfect THX experience and enjoy movies in either Dolby Atmos ( DSU ) or DTS:X ( Neural X ) coming from 11 speakers powered by two amps that can output 3400 watts, not including the 3600 watts worth of THUMP!!

Only thing that would make it better is a Trinnov Altitude 32 processor but those are a cool $37,000. I'd also like to be able to have access to the same DCP the theaters get.
 
It's funny, but if only Hollywood took on the same attitude CDProjekt Red has on Piracy:

CD Projekt RED co-founder talks fighting videogame piracy with kindness

On getting people to buy instead of pirate:

“We can only convince them to do it. We totally believe in the carrot, not in the stick”, he said.
​

In other words, if Hollywood would start releasing more quality movies instead of shitty remakes, rehashes and sequels, maybe more people will go to the theater.

Funny thing, the only teams that seem to want to take risks anymore are animation studios (been out to see both Zootopia and Secret Life of Pets, and while being a dad of 3 had something to do with that, both were actually worth spending the $$).
 
MavericK said:
For me, the story wasn't the good part of Avatar - it was the amazing 3D and visuals. Never seen anything like that before and even now with other 3D movies I don't think they are nearly as well done as Avatar was.

Gravity is up there as well.
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Ahh. See I've never watched films for their visuals, effects or sound effects. For me films are all about he story.

The effects certainly support the story, but if the story is crap, then I have no interest in the effects either :p
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Artists don't get compensated as much as they'd like, sure, but a small per song compensation is better than no compensation at all with piracy, right? Besides, some might argue that in the past the artists were making out like bandits, as they got paid a full albums worth, even if you just listened to one song and never touched it again. Now the content actually has to be good enough to justify repeated listens for them to make money.
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The funny thing is this is exactly what the Artists wanted a pay per play system. They just never thought of the actual real world repercussions of having that type of system. I am sure they all thought their music was the greatest thing ever and people would play it over and over till they released their next album, but they now realize that doesn't happen anywhere but in their dreams. Before they'd get paid for about 10 songs worth at a much higher royalty and they complained cause people could rip the discs to their own players and they wouldn't get a penny. So people came up with this pay per play system and now they have come to realize they get paid less per song and people don't listen to their music nearly as much as they thought. Whoops. I guess this is one of those be careful of what you wish for scenarios.
 
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