One week after YouTube's first ever feature of a full length film, Four Eyed Monsters (www.foureyedmonsters.com), the future of films and filmmaking has made a dramatic shift. According to a new survey conducted by Spout (www.spout.com), a gathering place for movie-lovers spreading word about great films, this shift is in line with consumers' desire for more independent films and their dissatisfaction with current film choices.
The success, and subsequent extended feature of Four Eyed Monsters on YouTube through August 15, 2007, points to a future where audiences can not only choose where they find films, but how they interact with filmmakers and become a part of an evolving story. And, as part of this story, spout.com has added a new dimension of filmmaker financing by donating $1 for each of the 23,000+ film fans that joined this online dialogue via www.spout.com/foureyedmonsters. The campaign has raised $23,644 to date and will continue through the YouTube run.
"In one week on YouTube, Four Eyed Monsters was seen many times over by more than the amount of people who saw it in two years of traveling to over a dozen film festivals and self-distributing the movie," says Arin Crumley, co- creator of Four Eyed Monsters.
The YouTube launch of Four Eyed Monsters, and Spout's monetizing support, has been heralded by the likes of Wired, Cinematech and others as the future of film and media distribution. And it could not have come at a better time. A Spout consumer survey of 1000 consumers uncovered that 80 percent of filmgoers today are dissatisfied with the current selection of Hollywood movies, and 50 percent of those surveyed would rather take in an independent feature than a hyped-up summer blockbuster.
"Filmmakers have long fought for this day. The success of this film and the number of fans viewing it is proof that filmmakers can reach audiences through methods outside of the traditional Hollywood model. And, according to our survey, mass consumers are seeking out them out as well," said Rick DeVos, CEO of Spout. "If we can build community around movies like Four Eyed Monsters and come up with creative ways to help filmmakers make more movies, then we're fulfilling our mission at Spout."
Four Eyed Monsters, which blurs the lines between the audience and creator, speaks directly to Spout's vision of taking the experience beyond the film itself, making the two perfect partners in this next step of film distribution. Following a premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival and an Undiscovered Gems Showcase Sundance Channel Audience award, Susan Buice and Crumley, creators of Four Eyed Monsters, broke new ground as the Internet video sensation of 2006 when their short podcasts about making the movie were viewed millions of times all over the world. To further spread the Four Eyed Monsters word, they also created software where their audience could request the movie to play in different cities. But still, this innovative method of do-it-yourself movie distribution left hundreds of thousands of potential fans unable to view it, until the YouTube premiere.
For more details about Spout and Four Eyed Monsters go to spout.com/foureyedmonsters.
