| BLOG FOR APRIL 2013
TECHNICALITIES
Our new chilling tale...THE YELLOW WALLPAPER is online now on YouTube and on the website www.newchillingtales.com. I have gone the way of all worlds, caved in and the film is free to view. BEWARE OF WHAT YOU WISH FOR (THE MONKEY'S PAW) and the THE TELL-TALE HEART will shortly also be free to view. I had thought that online viewing was the way to go, that people might pay to see brand new productions online at my website . Well, in one way I am right, we are all watching films online and as always with the web, pricing is all ....and very difficult. However free is best and easier. No-one wants to mess with Pay-Pal etc for a dollar and then of course the video facilitator has to be paid. That is, unless you’re YouTube. I created my first commercial website, when I was running the family multilingual recruitment agency and quickly learned that the pricing is the trickiest part of running an online business. This is largely because the expectation of online is free!
I think Netflix has got it right so far....charge a low monthly fee for unlimited viewing and then load up the channel with as many films, television shows and documentaries as possible. Then dazzle everyone with a brilliant, brand new series....THE HOUSE OF CARDS. Distribute it all in one go...so you can gorge yourself in a TV series festival, like a rich box of chocolates, or ration yourself as you choose. It’s a business model that traditionalists may disagree with. I get ITunes, as well through my Television online viewing, courtesy of Apple TV and can rent first run films and TV shows for a modest cost and all in all the pricing seems to point in one direction...down.
So friends our industry is changing radically and fast, not the least for actors. As a star (A listed actor) you had better get into a big expensive blockbuster as fast as you can and get as much money as you can, fast! Because unless you are one of the smart A listers, like George Clooney, who actually Produces the film, ie: the one who actually does it (this is as opposed to actor/writer/director who has an ego Producer credit, just to have his name listed as such, but does nothing Production wise) your career in the Business may be a short one.
I know this rather a chest thumping blog, but I have been doing the same thing on a very minor scale. Finding any work I really wanted to do was a non starter as a actress of my age, so I decided to create my own. It's been a fascinating experience so far and I have seen my game plan change, as I have been working with young people, whose online experience overlap with their film making ambitions. Rather marvelous!
So there we are my friends, the entertainment industry is changing forever and quickly. Actors in LA must feel overwhelmed, those who made a reasonable living doing all sorts of Television and Commercials are seeing their jobs being taken by major names, big stars doing small parts for scale and so it goes on.
I am planning another chilling tale for later this year and the Idaho State Public Television Channel has picked up the first three films for screening, starting next month.
The name of the game is to get NEW product out there in the online world, choose a market that you understand and ensure the quality!
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I gave this interview in early November 2012 and it covers much of my career and activities over the years. It was shown exclusively at the first ZZUB Fest 2012 (www.zzubfest.co.uk) in Wolverhampton where they also screened the film, 'Night of the Big Heat' featuring me alongside Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The interview will also be screened at Portmeiricon, the 'The Prisoner' convention organised by Six Of One The Prisoner Appreciation Society, on March 15th 2013 held at Portmeirion, North Wales (left) which is where much of the live action of The Prisoner was filmed.
Further shorter clips from the interview will soon be online at njtvonline.co.uk as soundbite documentaries.
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| All content copyright Jane Merrow |
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