The published writing, research and development projects of Nicol Wistreich, in two areas:
Independent film funding & distribution online
For over 22 years I've been researching, publishing and developing projects around the crossover between the open web and the indie film business.
Indie films were once to Hollywood what Open Source is to Microsoft..
Now indie film sits in a grey zone between 'user-generated content' (which earns nothing unless it's hugely popular), and streaming and studio media (which pays well, but demands all rights, in all territories, forever). The distribution and revenue-generating spaces for film are not interoperable, and are heavily monopolised from production to platform. It's as if the birth of TV had led to a Disney TV set, only showing Disney films and ABC; a Warner Bros TV set, only showing Warners Bros & HBO and so on. This centralization has happened once before in the history of cinema, and the response was the birth of Hollywood.
Open Source and Civic Tech
"If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality."
— Professor Stephen Hawking
For design & video, see visuali.st. hi@helloideas.com