Unavailable movies, worth screening, that can be legally shown?
September 16, 2013 5:51 PM Subscribe
What movies aren't readily available via Amazon, Netflix, or similar, but are worth watching and can be booked for a legal public event in the US?
For example, Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation.
Secondary question: any experience legally screening movies with unauthorized alternate audio tracks, such as Wizard People, Dear Reader? Is it as simple as arranging for the rights for Harry Potter and switching out the audio tracks (having obtained those rights separately), or do distributors guard against that in their contract boilerplate language/get testy about it afterwards even if it's technically legal?
For example, Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation.
Secondary question: any experience legally screening movies with unauthorized alternate audio tracks, such as Wizard People, Dear Reader? Is it as simple as arranging for the rights for Harry Potter and switching out the audio tracks (having obtained those rights separately), or do distributors guard against that in their contract boilerplate language/get testy about it afterwards even if it's technically legal?
I would also suspect a lot of foreign films, especially those without U.S. distributors, fall in the same category.
posted by applesurf at 8:19 PM on September 16, 2013
posted by applesurf at 8:19 PM on September 16, 2013
If you mean documentaries: I'm a board member for a group that is doing a lot of showings of Shift Change, a 2012 film that talks about how successful employee owned businesses are ensuring jobs and democracy in the workplace. I kind of love it, though I am a big co-op geek so that's totally unsurprising. We always follow a screening with a discussion and everyone leaves a whole lot smarter than when they came in.
posted by deliciae at 9:00 PM on September 16, 2013
posted by deliciae at 9:00 PM on September 16, 2013
Response by poster: I'm mainly interested in films with very limited distribution in the US, particularly if they have an interesting or bizarre pedigree. Song of the South, for example, would be a great response, assuming Disney actually licenses it for screening (does anyone know?).
"Foreign films" and "documentaries" as broad categories are already regularly screened by my group, though of course specific recommendations (thanks deliciae) are welcome.
posted by jsturgill at 9:19 PM on September 16, 2013
"Foreign films" and "documentaries" as broad categories are already regularly screened by my group, though of course specific recommendations (thanks deliciae) are welcome.
posted by jsturgill at 9:19 PM on September 16, 2013
Escape From Tomorrow - the movie that was guerrilla-filmed in Disney World - may be worth looking into. It's almost certainly going to be sued into oblivion by Disney at some point. In addition to Sundance, I believe it was screened at Ebertfest this year.
posted by naju at 9:44 PM on September 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by naju at 9:44 PM on September 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
Find inspiration looking at what small independent theaters outside of your area are showing.
posted by yohko at 10:04 PM on September 16, 2013
posted by yohko at 10:04 PM on September 16, 2013
In several years of film programming experience, I've never come across a "master list" of films that fit your bill. Regrettably - and annoyingly - you really have to figure this out on a case-by-case basis: seek out interesting films, and then inquire about the logistics of screening them.
Even "unavailable" movies will often have distributors -- in many cases, the filmmakers ARE the distributors.
You probably already know this, but it bears mentioning, especially since you seem interested in the legalities of this matter: To screen a film legally means that you are effectively paying two costs (usually, but not always, bundled into a single fee by film distributors): the rental or purchase of the copy of the film that you will show, as well as the cost of that film's Public Performance Rights (PPR), which is the fee you pay for the right to show the film. PPR is arrived at upon consideration of the type of venue (e.g., profit, nonprofit, charity, etc.), the number of expected spectators, admission fee, and level to which you will be advertising the film's exhibition. (The more widely you advertise, the more money you're likely to make, so the PPR is adjusted upwards accordingly.)
I don't know anything about the "alternate audio track" part of your question, though it's a fascinating one. Essentially, it's a legal/copyright question about whether the addition of a new soundtrack "substantially changes" the original film so as to render it effectively an entirely new work. One for the copyright attorneys and/or the vanguard of the Creative Commons movement.
posted by Dr. Wu at 5:03 AM on September 17, 2013
Even "unavailable" movies will often have distributors -- in many cases, the filmmakers ARE the distributors.
You probably already know this, but it bears mentioning, especially since you seem interested in the legalities of this matter: To screen a film legally means that you are effectively paying two costs (usually, but not always, bundled into a single fee by film distributors): the rental or purchase of the copy of the film that you will show, as well as the cost of that film's Public Performance Rights (PPR), which is the fee you pay for the right to show the film. PPR is arrived at upon consideration of the type of venue (e.g., profit, nonprofit, charity, etc.), the number of expected spectators, admission fee, and level to which you will be advertising the film's exhibition. (The more widely you advertise, the more money you're likely to make, so the PPR is adjusted upwards accordingly.)
I don't know anything about the "alternate audio track" part of your question, though it's a fascinating one. Essentially, it's a legal/copyright question about whether the addition of a new soundtrack "substantially changes" the original film so as to render it effectively an entirely new work. One for the copyright attorneys and/or the vanguard of the Creative Commons movement.
posted by Dr. Wu at 5:03 AM on September 17, 2013
The film festival circuit is a goldmine of this. I would look at the award-winners for the various big film festivals out there. (Here's my city's.) Plenty of things were always on track for wider release, that did the film-festival circuit anyway (pretty much anything with an A-through-C-list castmembers in the main roles), but it's the sleeper hits, the documentaries (which seem to have additional challenges in finding an audience), and the non-blockbuster foreign gems that I'd be looking for. I'm trying to track down a showing or copy of "Mistaken for Strangers" (a doco about the band The National on tour, filmed by the lead singer's brother, interesting because of his ambiguous status of both insider and outsider, and the shadow being cast by his brother's success).
posted by Sunburnt at 6:55 AM on September 17, 2013
posted by Sunburnt at 6:55 AM on September 17, 2013
Response by poster: In several years of film programming experience, I've never come across a "master list" of films that fit your bill. Regrettably - and annoyingly - you really have to figure this out on a case-by-case basis: seek out interesting films, and then inquire about the logistics of screening them.
So do you have any films you've personally arranged a screening of that fit the bill?
Raiders, to return to the film that basically prompted this question, is many years past its initial rediscovery, and has been shown a bunch of places, but is still a "new" film for our area. Surely there are many other such films out there?
Essentially, it's a legal/copyright question about whether the addition of a new soundtrack "substantially changes" the original film so as to render it effectively an entirely new work. One for the copyright attorneys and/or the vanguard of the Creative Commons movement.
I wouldn't feel comfortable just shouting "Fair Use!" and going for it; I was wondering if anyone had experience arranging for the rights to screen a film using an alternate audio track.
posted by jsturgill at 8:11 AM on September 17, 2013
So do you have any films you've personally arranged a screening of that fit the bill?
Raiders, to return to the film that basically prompted this question, is many years past its initial rediscovery, and has been shown a bunch of places, but is still a "new" film for our area. Surely there are many other such films out there?
Essentially, it's a legal/copyright question about whether the addition of a new soundtrack "substantially changes" the original film so as to render it effectively an entirely new work. One for the copyright attorneys and/or the vanguard of the Creative Commons movement.
I wouldn't feel comfortable just shouting "Fair Use!" and going for it; I was wondering if anyone had experience arranging for the rights to screen a film using an alternate audio track.
posted by jsturgill at 8:11 AM on September 17, 2013
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posted by aimedwander at 7:48 PM on September 16, 2013