Big Hopes for Hollywood Net Film
`
`GEAR SCIENCE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS SECURITY DESIGN OPINION VIDEO INSIDER MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBE
`
`CULTURE : LIFESTYLE
`
`Big Hopes for Hollywood Net Film
`
`Michael Stroud
`
` 03.23.00
`
`VALENCIA, California -- Coming May 5 to a computer near you: a serious stab by mainstream
`Hollywood at producing a film specifically for the Internet.
`
`Subscribe to WIRED
`Renew
`Give a gift
`Customer Service
`
`And, unlike the wobbly, streaming shorts that pass for film these days on the Net, Quantum Project
`will be designed to download and view on a monitor or a TV screen, theoretically giving viewers the
`same quality experience as a DVD.
`
`SERVICES
`
`Quick Links: Contact Us | Login/Register | Newsletter | RSS
`Feeds | Tech Jobs | Wired Mobile | FAQ | Sitemap
`
`The $3 million, 40-minute drama about a young physicist's journey into alternate realities stars John
`Cleese, Fay Masterson, and Stephen Dorff and is directed by Academy Award-winning director
`Eugenio Zanetti.
`
`"This so far exceeds what anyone else has thought of doing before that we really see ourselves in the
`same way as the gutsy people who developed and made [Hollywood's first serious sound-dubbed
`film] 'The Jazz Singer,'" said Quantum Project co-executive producer Stephen Simon. "Those people
`didn't view what they were doing as an experiment, and neither do we."
`
`Still, Quantum clearly is an experiment for Scott Sander, whose company Sightsound.com is
`bankrolling the film. In Quantum, Sander sees an opportunity to position his company at the center
`of a new market for downloadable film on the Net. It's also a way to bypass the traditional studio-to-
`theater distribution system.
`
`"The studio system is all about carefully controlling [the buzz] for an upcoming movie," Sander said.
`"We're opening the vault and passing around all that stuff normally controlled by the studios: the
`footage, the trailers and the electronic press kits."
`
`Viewers will pay to download the movie -- how much, Sander won't say. They're free to pass it on to
`their friends, but the movie's encrypted digital format will require successive viewers to pay, too.
`
`They will be able to do as they please with the promotional material. "They could create the world's
`most kick-ass Fay Masterson site," Sander said.
`
`Downloading the film will take up to half an hour over a broadband connection; with a 56K modem,
`it could easily take eight hours. The resulting file will eat up at least 150 megabytes of hard-disk
`space.
`
`Still, there's evidence that Net movie buffs are willing to take the plunge. An estimated 18.8 million
`movie fans scan the Web for their favorite film material, according to a recent survey by online market
`researcher Cyber Dialogue. Of 1,000 adults sampled from that group, 63 percent said they'd be "very
`interested" in downloading movies to their TV set, while 36 percent said they'd be interested in
`downloading to their PC.
`
`That number will skyrocket over the next two to three years as broadband takes off, predicted Cyber
`Dialogue analyst Peter Clemente.
`
`"We need a launch pad for downloading film on the Net and this film could be it," Clemente said.
`
`Much, of course, will depend upon whether viewers actually like the material they download. That's
`why Simon and producing partner Barnet Bain are treating their project just like a mainstream
`Hollywood production -- albeit one on an accelerated shooting schedule and shot in digital tape.
`
`Full Page
`
`|
`
`Page:
`
`1 2 next>
`
`See Also:
`See the Latest Entertainment Photos
`
`See the Latest Entertainment Photos
`
`See also: Sundance 2000: DV's Next Stand
`
`See also: Sundance 2000: DV's Next Stand
`
`Search Wired
`
`Top Stories
`
`
`
`Related Topics:
`Culture , Lifestyle
`
`
`
`http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2000/03/35076?[3/21/2014 7:10:06 PM]
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Apple Exhibit 4418
`Apple v Sightsound Technologies
`CBM2013-00023
`Page 00001
`
`

`

`Big Hopes for Hollywood Net Film
`
`Sitemap | FAQ | Contact Us | WIRED Staff | Advertising | Press Center | Subscription Services | Newsletter | RSS Feeds
`
`Condé Nast Web Sites:
`
`Webmonkey | Reddit | ArsTechnica | Details | Golf Digest | GQ | New Yorker
`
`Subscribe to a magazine:
`
` Condé Nast web sites:
`
`
`
`International Sites:
`
`WIRED.com © 2014 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this Site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (effective 3/21/12) and Privacy Policy (effective 3/21/12). Your California Privacy Rights.
`The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.
`Ad Choices
`
`http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2000/03/35076?[3/21/2014 7:10:06 PM]
`
`Page 00002
`
`