Too many b/o/o/k/s/ movies

[ksmith]

An interesting article, swiped from dtaylor, lamenting the fact that good small movies can get buried in the avalanche of new releases for any given week. If something doesn't fill seats right away, exhibitors get rid of it and bring in something that will fill seats, like, frex, the latest b/e/s/t/s/e/l/l/e/r blockbuster.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1769354,00.html

It caught my attention because it seems analogous to the argument that good books are being overlooked/overwhelmed in part because there are too many books being published.

Comments

Apples and oranges

[jodi-davis.livejournal.com]

I don't think you can compare the two medium like that. There may be a lot of books - but there are still a lot of readers (and don't let someone tell you otherwise) If I don't find out about a book til say, maybe a month after it's released - I can still go to my library or amazon or local bookstore and buy it. When a movie isn't being exhibited anymore (1 week) - there is no place to go see it unless I can catch a festival viewing or wait for the DVD release - where all truly good movies - do find an audience. More bottle necked than this even is a film *finding* distribution, to even get into the theatre to begin with. Even though I make movies and write - and have tons of friends that make movies and write - I really don't believe that there are a lot of great or even good movies or books that are truly being passed over.

JD

Re: Apples and oranges

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Distribution can actually be a problem for some small presses. And it's my understanding that it was the implosion in the distribution business and channels that impacted the sales of mass market paperbacks so unfavorably. Books were chosen differently, racked differently, and sold in more varied outlets before this implosion. HC and Trade may be doing well, but I haven't heard anyone in the business say that mmpb sales are doing well. Since that's my format, it's a concern.

I was also comparing the one week movie tryout to reduced time an average new author is allowed to build an audience. One week for a movie, 2 or 3 books for an author, then out. I was thinking of the overall reduction in the time allowed for a new work to build an audience, and the emphasis on blockbusters.