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 Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:09 pm Post subject: FILMBAY.COM (The interview with Marc Wellington, VP Filmbay |
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Interview: Getting ready for the world - http://www.filmbay.com Topic
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Article Preview – Filmmaking Magazine, issue 5, 2007
Interview: Getting ready for the world - Marc Wellington on
Filmbay.com * April 2007
* Liam Conners * Magazine issue 5
Liam Conners, CanMedia, CC license (this article may be used anywhere
else in full or part, without making any changes to the original
text).
Marketing VP Marc Wellington (MW) turned down several job offers from
such renowned firms as Goldman Sachs, DaimlerChrysler and Onex to
take up a position at Filmbay.com When Wellington first started his
career he would never have thought he would work for an internet
company. Especially after the burst of the Internet bubble, he felt
quite at home in his job at Leo Burnett when he got a call from a
Canadian headhunter. What was proposed to him sounded more like
something out of the movies, and, in fact, he was going to be dealing
with the entertainment industry sooner than he could imagine. What
intrigued him about Film bay was to be part of a new kind of venture
and business model, so he signed on and has been making good headway
in his new position. So, what does he think about his new employer,
the Filmbay concept and its outlook? Liam Conners (LC) caught up with
him.
LC: Marc, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to
talk with us. How did you get involved with Filmbay and why did you
decide to leave your previous job?
MW: Sure. When I got the call from the headhunter...I was a bit
surprised. Not about getting the call – but what they were offering
me. I was supposed to head the marketing department of a new internet
venture, named Filmbay, which sounded a bit like eBay, but lets say,
it was an offer I couldn't resist.
LC: Can you tell us a bit more about Filmbay, what it does, how it
evolved and where it is heading?
MW: Filmbay was conceived as a necessity – filmmakers were unable to
properly distribute their own flicks and that was a situation calling
for change. How did the idea for Filmbay come about? The original
idea was to offer a platform for media creators to sell their
products directly to the consumer. Let me explain: A Direct to
consumer model (DTC) enables the producer of a movie for example to
maximize their profits, since there is no middleman.
LC: What does that mean?
MW: It's easy: Say for example you have published a book. If it is
listed on Amazon, you as author get a measly 10% of profits if your
book is sold, often even less than that. On our website, you get
75-80% depending on how many units are sold per month. If you sell
more, you get to keep more, in other words, you are rewarded a better
profit in addition to your minimum of 75%, which only makes sense,
since Filmbay wants to encourage you to sell, not the opposite.
LC: What else can you tells us about how your site works?
We have often been compared to IKEA. Basically, since our site is
also a community and collaboration platform you can go through the
personal profiles and hook up with artists you would like to
collaborate with, and, for example, make a new film.
Filmbay is horizontally integrated not vertically - the Hollywood
studio system has always been organized vertically... Don't get me
wrong, I have nothing against Hollywood, the Oscars or any producer
in America, but there exists a (mis-) perception today that anyone
who wants to be a filmmaker dreams of working for a Hollywood studio.
The same can be said of the independent film scene – they are all
into a "Hollywoodesque" way of making a movie.
The key issue is: if you let Wall Street Economics dictate what kinds
of films are made in Hollywood it always impacts the traditional
development process, funding, marketing and distribution. In other
words, moviegoers have to be "cheated" – at least taken in briefly –
by the marketing efforts of a studio, so they rake in their bucks on
the first or second weekend before viewers realize they have been
had. Surprisingly, Filmbay can be seen as median linking two
different strands: a niche market as well as a new mainstream
channel, it depends on your personal viewpoint, but the economic
reality is indeed looking up for Indy producers. With Filmbay a
marketplace of many independent voices is created, thus assisting
independents to create their films. In terms of Investing the
following stands: Instead of a filmmaker chasing a producer with
only a "great script," now investors will be able to see three vital
things: How their money will be invested, a proper sales projection
and, most importantly tracking the sales method employed, namely the
Filmbay shop.
LC: You seem to be talking about a shift in the film industry, can
you tell us more?
MW: Look at Situation right here in front of you - Showcanada was
supposed to have over 800 exhibitors that deal with all kind of
cinema-related business. It actually looks like there are less than
50 here in total.
LC: What does that mean?
MW: The way I interpret the situation traditional cinema and all its
related business fields are in a decline. You could call it a crisis;
it is indicative of the constant loss of movie-theatre audiences.
Many people have a flat LCD HDTV screen at home, which can be used to
watch movies, similar to the movie screen. Films are more readily
available right now, and for the price of a cinema ticket you can buy
2 to 3 DVDs with movies to own yourself. Another aspect is the
emergence of Internet broadband through which one can get the films
from a computer right onto your HD television set.
LC: The name Filmbay reminds me of eBay. Tell us more how Filmbay.com
fits in with say, eBay or Amazon.
MW: There is really no comparison between our company and the two you
just mentioned; Just some thought on them: I see eBay going down
eventually, it is not a good company anymore, if it ever was. Their
stock is overrated, their management is bad, and they have a Swiss
bank account to collect their fees and PayPal fees, but are
registered as business in The U.S.? What is worse even, is that
buying and selling anything on their site is a nightmare for
consumers and sellers - they have horrific policies, which make up a
bigger book than a federal law bible - people get suspended for
listing in a wrong category, etc. There appears to be no interest in
true direct customer service, which makes buying/selling a sterile
and hostile experience. Preconceived responses to customer enquiries,
like "being a seller myself" is used as template even by senior
management. So, to cut a long story short: eBay is losing out and
eroding its customer base through its abundant clinical inhumanity.
EBay is almost like one big inhumane computer, which, to me, recalls
the WOPR war-simulation machine in the film Wargames. Technically,
eBay lacks cookie-based customer service offers, like on Amazon, for
example, a big handicap to grow a business. I guess I am getting
carried away here, but yes I sold all my eBay shares a long time ago!
LC: And what about Amazon?
MW: Amazon is a good platform for purchasing books; you could even
use it as a research tool, to brush up a bibliography in a research
paper. Their cookie-based customer offers system is neat and works
well. But buying anything else on Amazon is troublesome. Where I see
Filmbay as more innovative is that we do not store any items in huge
warehouses. The sellers themselves do this, that way we do not have
any additional overhead in this area and sellers can sell their own
films or music on DVD or CD at a much better price. This is the DTC
(direct-to-consumer) system we endorse.
LC: How do you see the Internet impacting current media business,
the economy – especially e-commerce and Filmbay?
MW: Those are several questions packed into one, well, let me say
this:
One of my favorite media visionaries and guru is Don "the great"
Tapscott. Just recently he talked about the net and said it is not
just about social networking - it has morphed into a new mode of
production. If I recall correctly he makes four valid points, which
are incidentally, all part of what Filmbay is about: These are the
emergence of Web 2.0, the advent of Net Generation, a social
revolution and finally an economic revolution. All four points have
one factor in common, collaboration. This new kind of collaboration
is establishing individuals who self-organize, self-market and self-
sell themselves, their work power and their own creations (texts,
books, music, films and art). As global player each individual will
have access to an open market, fostering global outreach, which will
also work economically (in both senses of the word, meaning:
producing at lower costs and making money). This is the core of what
Filmbay is all about.
LC: Can you tell us more about the direct to consumer model?
MW: It's easy: Say for example you have published a book. If it is
listed on Amazon, you as author get a measly 10% of profits if your
book is sold, often even less than that. On our website, you get
75-80% depending on how many units are sold per month. If you sell
more, you get to keep more, in other words, you are rewarded a better
profit in addition to your minimum of 75%, which only makes sense,
since we want to encourage sales.
LC: What else can you tells us about other site features?
MW: Our Academia Area offers academics the opportunity to showcase
and publish their essay, MA, thesis or PhD thesis online to an
interested film community. These works can include cultural studies,
media studies, film & TV studies, gender studies, communication
studies and many other related fields. The academic using Filmbay
retains all rights to the work and can use Filmbay as a useful
dialogue with filmmakers and vice versa. It also allows the online
publication of media-related essays, Masters and Ph.D. thesis papers.
If desired a book or thesis can also be sold directly at our shop.
LC: How does your site differ from say youtube, ifilm, and mandy?
MW: The sites you mentioned are different than Filmbay. Filmbay
offers self-distribution; the ability to fill orders yourself,
similar to books-on-demand. You can also pitch a project, self-market
yourself and your media products and engage in optioning to get your
project funded.
LC: Can you tell us a little about Filmbay's corporate structure?
MW: Filmbay is 100% Canadian and Canadian-owned. We currently have
35 full-time employees and 20 part-timers, working for us as
freelancers. We are, however, growing fast and these figures will
change within the next few months. The next big hiring phase will
include positions in sales, marketing and teaching - to supervise our
forthcoming online film school.
LC: Have you had offers from investors to buy the entire company?
MW: Indeed, we have. I cannot disclose anything about this at this
time, but if our lawyers receive a significant offer there may be
some major changes happening soon, since we are not yet publicly
traded.
LC: Are there some other features of Filmbay you like personally?
MW: Filmbay is neat in that it is fast, direct and easy to use. It
also allows a user levels of freedom and creativity unheard of to
date. There is a clear logical thought process inherent here which
also makes sense economically; If you take a step back and look at
short-term cash flow management it can be said that electronic
commerce and the Internet have a huge impact on today's business. The
new economy is knowledge-based, and companies must evolve to succeed
in this highly competitive global marketplace. Small companies have
an even greater need to be aggressive when pursuing new markets for
their products and services. Canadian firms need to adopt
technologies and implement innovative business practices to take
advantage of electronic commerce opportunities.
Another aspect is online education and training – our forthcoming
film school allows users to enter and engage in online courses
through our professional online film school aimed at beginner,
intermediate as well as advanced students.
I believe that Filmbay offers a unique opportunity for artists,
writers, directors, actors and producers. It's a real-life, nitty-
gritty, "let's see how well you think" approach. The logical thought
process here is: how do you go about arriving at a solution,
identifying key concepts, and implement analytical ability? These are
all factors that will impact the consumer's assessment of your
product.
From a business standpoint there are different neat implications
arising for the artist or producer who sees himself as entrepreneur:
there is a growing demand for new content, as current market sizing
shows. This is not a rough, back-of-the-envelope calculation, but
arithmetic – if you have 65% margins on a $20 good (widget) that
you're selling, and you sell 3,000 units – what is your profit? If
you perform the same calculation selling on Amazon, you will have to
reduce your margin from 65% to 10% or even less. This is no rocket
science, but a simple economic reality.
LC: Apart from these figures, what else is there to say?
MW: I think the biggy here is that Filmbay allows virtually unlimited
creative freedom. Taking a new approach to a problem, an insightful
remark, finding a hurdle that nobody else had noticed, using a
strategy that worked for you in a similar situation – this is what
consultants do. If you can demonstrate your creativity, you will
surely impress and sell, too. An artistic quest for creativity does
not end there. The key to all of this is communicating a message. You
could be the most intelligent person in the world, but if you can't
communicate your ideas, sell your ideas, your films or music, you
will not be successful. There's no way around this one.
LC: where is Filmbay heading from here?
MW: The Internet is obviously experiencing a new wind, something of
a renaissance. Investors interested in Internet sites are much more
careful these days and rightfully so, given what happened in the
past. However, when there is a solid business, with good numbers and
sophisticated finance and management there is a good incentive to
take a closer look. In fact, some see Filmbay as changing the way
filmmaking, distribution and sales will be done in the future.
LC: any last thoughts on film, filmmaking and Filmbay?
MW: Filmbay is fun, and easy to use. What I personally like about it
is the absence of Traditional hierarchies and the direct media
distribution model.
LC: Thank you for your time.
MW: My pleasure – and, of course, visit us at http://www.Filmbay.com
Referenced XIV, May 2007 – 0514072HKG – AP – Reuters PLC NW-0J88341
Liam Conners, CanMedia, CC license (this article may be used anywhere
else in full or part - without making any changes to the original
text). |
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