Chuck Olsen’s Blogumentary Online
Blogumentary, a film about the emergence of blogging that was finished over a year ago but not distributed widely, was posted to Google Video late last week by its producer and director, Chuck Olsen of Minnesota Stories. Why did it take so long to get online?
There’s a fair amount of copyrighted material in the film, particularly music. This is what’s prevented me from putting it online, trying to sell DVDs, or even promoting it all that much. Now, in the YouTube era, I’m not as worried. So I’m taking a chance and putting the whole thing online, with the disclaimer that it’s intended for non-profit educational use only.
Rights clearance has become the biggest hurdle facing documentary film production. That great family scene that marks the emotional high point in your film? If there’s a television on in the background, and if you can’t clear the rights to the show, you have to cut it. And if a documentary wants to make the jump from TV or DVD to online distribution, all the rights agreements would have to be renegotiated.
One of the funniest moments in the film is during the credits, when Olsen lists clips from CBS News as “Courtesy of Fair Use.” Olsen’s argument is that he’s making it available only for educational, non-commercial use, but I doubt that would hold up if a rightsholder complained. Eyes on the Prize, the acclaimed civil rights documentary, had to cease distribution when their original rights agreements expired.
In the meantime, watch it online while you still can — it’s a wonderfully accessible and entertaining look into the rise of blogging.
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thanks for posting about it JW!
chuck on February 6th, 2007 at 10:32 am - Permalink
Umm… if it’s a great family moment (and you must have been anticipating that – you’re standing there with a videocamera), why is the TV on in the first place? Unless watching TV is the great family moment, which would be a sad commentary on the state of the family…
Deirdré Straughan on February 6th, 2007 at 12:28 pm - Permalink
Deirdré, you’re being awfully European. ;-)
Lots of families have the teevee on all the time, and anyone documenting their life is bound to catch a TV, a cell phone ring, music coming from somewhere — in other words, reality.
chuck on February 6th, 2007 at 1:20 pm - Permalink
Actually, Deirdré, I was using an example from an actual documentary that a friend of mine produced — they had this great scene that really made the film, but they had to choose between keeping it in the film and blowing their budget or cutting. It ended up being cut.
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