Karina over at Spout posted an interesting piece about the importance of a film being released theatrically when it comes to success and reputation:

Since the conversation about internet and day-and-date distribution really started to heat up in 2005, the alternatives to theatrical distribution have seemed to only multiply and evolve, while the general perception of public exhibition has remained about the same: filmmakers like it, but in terms of bottom line, it’s only useful as an extended commercial for ancillaries such as DVD. But is that perception changing?

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The auction for you and a guest to meet actor Djimon Hounsou at the premiere of his upcoming film Push and attend a press junket with him in 2009, or take home signed DVDs with personal notes from Djimon, ends tomorrow. Learn more in this video.

All proceeds will benefit Oxfam America. and visit http://www.ebay.com/oxfam to join the ebay auction or and visit http://www.oxfamamerica.org to get involved in the fight to end poverty and injustice.

This is just one of the many charitable auctions Ebay is sponsoring for Oxfam America. Check out the link above to see what other star-studded selections are available.

Come November, these famous friends of TakePart and the I Am Voting For campaign will be all about what (not who) they’re voting for, and encourage you to vote the issues ” not the personalities ” this election season. Forget about race, gender, campaign contributions and ill-spoken statements by loose-lipped advisors. It’s time to distinguish the candidates by the issues we care about, and the platforms that they stand on.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld fame is voting for “a greener world, less carbon emissions and more fuel efficiency” :

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With technology becoming more and more accessible, we have more movies and media in general being created than ever before. Likewise, we have more and more ways to distribute that media, but while there is no one policing the making of media, those that control distribution of major motion pictures have been pretty keen to stick to the same old - except for now. Paramount is stepping out alone and releasing one of their major releases films, Jackass 2.5 on the internet before it goes to DVD.

The Jackass internet release comes as the DVD market, which for 10 years has been a cash cow for Hollywood, declines. Sales for the first nine months of the year are down 3.5 per cent on 2006.Studios are keen to find new ways to distribute content, although none has, to date, involved the free release of a film on the web. It is expected that commercials will appear before and after the film has played.”Most of the content being consumed on the web has been short form,” said Mr Lesinski. “The fact that this is long form, and it’s free, makes this compelling.” [ The Financial Times]

It will be interesting to see what happens, although I wonder if Jackass 2.5’s debut online will really have an impact on distribution - it has such a set demographic in terms of who will watch, that I wonder if it can actually serve as an example of how other films might do.About 2 years ago, Steven Soderbergh attempted to shake up the world of distribution when he released his film Bubble in theaters while on the same day broadcasting it in HDTV and four days later releasing it on DVD. The film didn’t do much, and there hasn’t been a release like it since. But judge for yourself - check out the trailers below by clicking on the pictures (they were distributed in the one way that is still open to all, the internet)