Monday, July 11, 2011

Jumping The Broom Mondays - DVD & Blu-Ray drop August 9th in North America.

Thanks again to everyone who went to see JUMPING THE BROOM. The box office total in America is 37 million. The film's budget was only 6.5 million.

Our movie will be out on DVD/Blu-ray next month in the United States and Canada.

The DVD market has completely imploded thanks to privacy. Hopefully, JTB's DVD sales will avoid this trend.

The movie will available for rental on Netflix, and other places. You can buy the DVD on Amazon.com, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Blockbuster, Target, Wal-Mart, any official retailer.

Please do not buy bootlegs. They are killing our market. One of the main reasons the studios are not making more films like JTB is because of the bootlegging.

I got into a big fight with a friend of a friend. He told another friend to not worry about downloading music for free because "those people" make a lot of money. When I disagreed with him, he couldn't understand why a screenwriter would take issue with his comments.

He said he was a writer too. This man works full time for a huge multi-national and make a very good salary. He writes short stories sometimes. Writing's a hobby for him. I assume that's the reason he felt he could be so dismissive about what I was saying.

Sure Lady Gaga and Beyonce are not crying over missed royalties. However, most writers, singers, and actors are not in the top 2%. The majority of people in my industry are unemployed. The reason you hear about big script sales and large book advances is because they are rare.

I'm not sure why people who would never shoplift from a store think it's okay to download first-run movies or those that are on DVD. I get watching certain American TV shows when you live aboard, as not all of them are available on iTunes.

I do think at some point how the studios release movies is going to open up and change. Of course movie theater owners are very resistant to the idea of releasing a film theatrically and on a platform like iTunes, or the studio's website on the same day. It won't happen tomorrow, but as technology improves, the window between the theatrical release and the DVD/Internet release is going to continue to shrink. We can't put our heads in the sand like the music industry did.

There will be special features on the JTB DVD, including commentary with director Salim Akil and actress Paula Patton.

8 comments:

GigiSxm said...

will there be commentary from the writers????

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Gigi - I haven't seen the featurette yet. Elizabeth and I might be on that.

Kathy said...

I haven't seen it yet (shame! But that's what happens with a toddler and not much in the way of either free time or babysitters). However, I have been telling people about it, and will def be buying the DVD.

Gil said...

Some people don't understand that stealing is stealing! I hope you get all your royalties.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

kathy - Thank you! I hope you enjoy our movie.

gil - grazie. Fingers crossed JTB does well on DVD.

Kim B. said...

OOh I can buy myself a copy on Amazon and watch it when I go home to the states . . .if I ever make it back. Do you know if it will get a UK DVD release? Then I could get it here and watch it here.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Kim B - I'm pretty sure there will be a UK/Region 2 DVD coming out later this year. Thanks for the support!

reyna said...

the real reason there is such an uproar these days over bootlegging and downloading free music and films isn't because the artist/director/writers aren't getting their share (although that's true too). but really it's because huge corporations like sony, epic, universal are really the ones who ever really profit from these industries, not the creatives. this was always the case, past and present. it's only when these corporations' vertical control of the entire process from production to distribution, exhibition to sales is threatened do we hear talk about the consumer "stealing." but this is the cyclical argument that keeps popping up throughout the decades. it has been the same old argument for ages. remember napster?

sorry but this is the nature of the beast. this is a weird industry and there's no set in stone science to it. the model will need to change. distribution and sales in the music, film, and even publishing has and will continue to change so creatives need to start thinking outside the box rather than just blame the consumers. do you know how much it is the watch a movie in a cineplex in most cities? almost $15 in most cases.

sorry the old model is a dinosaur. it's more than halfway out the window. and the truth is, historically recording artists or filmmakers really make the lion share of their money from record sales, film sales, or royalties. which is why most artists die penniless. creatives need to move into the future and start thinking about how to monetize in new, fair, and innovative ways from inside the industry and out.