Piracy and Independent Film

Over the last few years, there's been a great deal of talk about whether piracy helps or hinders independent cinema. Filmmakers have suggested that pirates might help them bring their films to audiences they can't reach on their own. Through that audience, filmmakers can drive ticket and DVD sales in the markets where they have a stronger presence.

Before today, I'm not sure there's ever been a documented case where this actually happened.

Now, things are different. For the last few months, a microbudget independent fantasy film called Ink has been roadshowing across the country, after a long and difficult production process that must have involved every actor, production person, and animator in Denver, CO. After generating a wealth of grassroots support and plenty of good reviews, the producers of Ink were gearing up for a DVD and Blue-Ray release of Ink this Tuesday. That's tomorrow.

Over the weekend, their film somehow leaked to the pirate community. Oops.

Over the course of the last 24 hours, Ink has become #16 on the IMDb moviemeter, sandwiched between Where the Wild Things Are and A Christmas Carol. In the last few days, between 150,000 and 200,000 have downloaded the movie. Apparently, the film has been subtitled in Croatian.

What does this mean for films like Sam Bailey and Heartsgaard? For one, it means that the grassroots support we're already cultivating can indeed reach critical mass. All these people downloading illegally are following the internet buzz. For months (or possibly even years), the internet community has been getting familiar with Ink. On places like Facebook and Twitter, communities have discovered the movie and passed it along to their friends. Film professionals have talked about what an achievement the film is, and passed it onto their coworkers.

This is how viral marketing works. This is exactly why sites like http://www.whoissambailey.com/ and http://www.churchofsam.org/ exist - to generate that kind of interest.

Like Twitter and Facebook, piracy has become a legitimate tool that independent filmmakers can use to change the way movies are distributed. Thanks to Ink, our group can approach this particular resource with the benefit of hindsight - and a foundation built on all the publicity and viral marketing we've already set in motion.


If Ink can achieve these kinds of numbers, imagine what Sam Bailey or Heartsgaard can do! Boy howdy, times are changing!