Media Industries Project - Carsey Wolf Center

Both Cantor and Veriana say that their exchanges are intended to give Hollywood investors a way to mitigate their risks. If a distributor has second thoughts about a movie, the company could short it on the exchange.

Both Cantor and Veriana say that their exchanges are intended to give Hollywood investors a way to mitigate their risks. If a distributor has second thoughts about a movie, the company could short it on the exchange.

Both Cantor and Veriana say that their exchanges are intended to give Hollywood investors a way to mitigate their risks. If a distributor has second thoughts about a movie, the company could short it on the exchange.

However, unlike Warner Bros., which announced its deal with Blockbuster two weeks ago, 20th Century Fox hasn’t inked agreements with Netflix or Redbox that would delay their own new release windows. In fact, Redbox is still in the midst of a legal battle with Fox, after the studio sought to keep retailers from selling DVDs that the company could put into its kiosks.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and 20th Century Fox are at the heart of today’s news, which, combined with an earlier deal struck with Warner Bros., will extend Blockbuster’s ability to rent movies on the same day and date that they go on sale at other retailers.

But Comcast had argued that the FCC order was illegal because the agency was seeking to enforce mere policy principles, which don't have the force of regulations or law. That is one reason that Genachowski is now trying to formalize those rules.

With so much at stake, the FCC now has several options. It could ask Congress to give it explicit authority to regulate broadband. Or it could appeal Tuesday's decision to the Supreme Court.

The more likely scenario, Scott believes, is that the agency will simply reclassify broadband as a more heavily regulated telecommuniciations service. And that, ironically, could be the worst-case outcome from the perspective of the phone and cable companies, he noted.

The ruling would allow Comcast and other Internet service providers to restrict consumers’ ability to access certain kinds of Internet content, such as video sites like Hulu.com or Google’s YouTube service, or charge certain heavy users of their networks more money for access.

omments (23)

Furthermore, complaints about releasing data are laughable, because the data is already released, and a virtual trading system has existed for a 13 years without any problems (HSX). Cantor owns HSX, and HSX often predicts movie results more accurately than studio estimates, so the idea that these trading systems are designed around a faulty understanding of the movie industry is laughable. If anything, this is one of the most tested trading systems in the history of this country to ever go live. I cannot think of any other trading system we have that had 13 years of data on before people started trading it for real money.

I have worked in both industries as a futures trader and film producer. The people who criticize this practice don’t understand it. Futures markets where designed to reduce risk, starting with the grain markets a long time ago. If you could lock in a good price for grain and didn’t know what the future would be, but you knew what your costs were, you could lock in a profit while speculators could take on that risk. It’s a great idea for the film biz. There will be fewer box office disasters and more films greenlit because of the influx of investor dollars. Those who don’t want it are nervous that their accounting practices will be scrutinized and they SHOULD be nervous. I say bring this thing on!!

April 2 on an application by Media Derivatives, Inc. (MDEX) to create a designated contract market for film futures.

The groups said that the proposal by MDEX and a separate plan by Cantor Futures Exchange, L.P. “are based on faulty understanding of the film industry and create a risk of rampant speculation and financial irresponsibility at a time when the nation is still seeking to recover from an economic meltdown of the financial markets.”

More importantly, for the first time in the guild’s history, they voted on and ratified a new credit -- that of the Transmedia Producer -- which had been shepherded by such Hollywood names as Mark Gordon, Gael Anne Hurd, Jeff Gomez, Alison Savage, and Chris Pfaff.

More importantly, for the first time in the guild’s history, they voted on and ratified a new credit -- that of the Transmedia Producer -- which had been shepherded by such Hollywood names as Mark Gordon, Gael Anne Hurd, Jeff Gomez, Alison Savage, and Chris Pfaff.

A Transmedia Narrative project or franchise must consist of three (or more) narrative storylines existing within the same fictional universe on any of the following platforms:  Film, Television, Short Film, Broadband, Publishing, Comics, Animation, Mobile, Special Venues, DVD/Blu-ray/CD-ROM, Narrative Commercial and Marketing rollouts, and other technologies that may or may not currently exist. These narrative extensions are NOT the same as repurposing material from one platform to be cut or repurposed to different platforms.

Among the specific concerns is that Trend is asking studios or distributors "to provide evidence to support its public boxoffice number when it falls outside the standard deviation level."

More vague concerns also are raised in the letter, including that it places movie industry jobs at risk. The letter even alludes to "abusive practices that triggered our nation's economic crisis," though without specifying how that crisis relates to boxoffice futures.