Before The Music Dies At St. Edward's University
Chris Hyams, Joel Rasmussen, Deena Kalai
On Friday, November 17th, about 100 films fans crowded into Jones
Auditorium on the St Edward's campus to watch the amazing
documentary, Before The Music Dies.
The film tells the story of modern music...how corporations have
changed the model by which music choices are offered, and how
artists are developed. While the film does describe the negative
aspects of the current state of the music industry, ultimately it's a
story of hope. Hope represented in the form of new technologies
that are changing the way artists and their fans connect.
The final message of the film? Teach your children well, as they
are the future of our rich musical culture.
We were treated to an interesting panel discussion following the film,
which included producer Joel Rasmussen, distributor Chris Hyams of
Bside Entertainment, and legal council Deena Kalai. We got into some
very interesting areas of discussion, including the unique distribution
model being employed for this film by Bside Entertainment, an
Austin-based film distribution company.
Bside's strategy is to forgo the traditional theatrical screening model,
and instead build a word-of-mouth groundswell for the film through
alternative screenings, such as the event at St. Edward's. Bside has
screened the film 82 times worldwide in non-traditional settings thus far,
anything from a small gathering of music fans in a recording studio,
to full-blown screenings by the local chapters of the National Academy
of Recording Arts & Sciences (ie, Grammys.) The idea is to create the
same "buzz" that a standard Hollywood theatrical release would generate,
but avoid the exorbitant costs surrounding P&A (prints and ads)
normally associated with a theatrical release. Most importantly, Bside
allows the filmmakers to retain complete creative control, as well as
ownership of their copyrights.
The net result is a filmmaker friendly business model that allows the
filmmaker, rather than a studio, to see more of their hard-earned profits.
An important part of the filmmakers strategy is to have the film
shown as many times as possible, so if you or your organization
would like to host a screening of the film, we would encourage you to
contact Bside directly by visiting www.bside.com.
The DVD is available on amazon.com, and will be chock-full of
extras and special features.
