Michael Backes' vision of an ideal future for filmmakers is one in which there are no hard drives. "If you have access real-time any time you want it, and the Net gets fast enough, what's the point of hard drives - except to keep copies of work that you would otherwise only be able to view?" he asks.
While some embrace the complete freedom of information on the Internet, this year's Artists Rights Symposium, chaired by Backes, is casting freedom of information as a threat to creative control. Taking place Thursday and Friday, the symposium is a yearly gathering of Hollywood's top directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors to discuss how works are distributed and manipulated on the Internet. Backes - co-founder of Rocket Science, screenwriter of Rising Sun and Congo, digital effects supervisor for DreamWorks SKG, and producer of two upcoming Universal Studios films - has chosen topics and panelists that will focus on how digital technology threatens, but also empowers, filmmakers.
"One of the panels is 'The Internet: the Ultimate Megaplex,' and I think that's relatively accurate," says Backes. "Some form of video-on-demand is going to come to the Internet, it's just a matter of time. There's no question that more and more broadband technologies are being put in place - cable modem, satellite, wireless."
Despite the "cool" factor of a future in which a click of the mouse will bring Terminator to your desktop, such a film has the potential to be tweaked by anyone who gets a copy - and can then be redistributed it over the Net, Backes argues.
Among this year's panelists are Microsoft senior VP Nathan Myhrvold, director Alan Parker, Motion Picture Association of America chair Jack Valenti, and New Line CEO Robert Shaye. Topics range from a debate on intellectual and property rights between Alex Kozinski, judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and attorney Alan Dershowitz, to a discussion of film revision and manipulation.
Already, Hollywood is concerned that DVD content filtering will degrade artists' vision by allowing audiences to rearrange or censor portions of the films. Although audience control over the way a film is viewed has been enhanced by fast-forward button on a VCR, digital technology and DVD take it to a whole different level.
"Digital media is pretty easy to manipulate, and the thing that we're concerned with is ... that the work done by the artist keeps its integrity," explains Backes. With digital formatting, "It's very easy to deliver the movie at a substandard frame rate, substandard resolution."
But Backes asserts that the Internet also offers the ability to empower filmmakers. "What's great about the Net is that it de-emphasizes the role of the distributor, especially for independent work. You get access to a server and you get out there," Backes adds. "You potentially have a many-to-many medium landing on our doorstep, and we've never had that before."
