I recently got a chance to check out RiP: A REMIX MANIFESTO, the Canadian documentary that takes a look at copyright (and the mashup artist Girl Talk) in a kind of method way- the producers, EYESTEELFILM, and director, Brett Gaylor decided that since the costs of licensing all the expensive music in the film would be prohibitive, and since the film was about these costs, it would essentially be fair use to go ahead and use whatever they wanted (including network footage, usually very expensive) and just see what happens.

It’s a pretty interesting concept, and though the film does paint the issue in overly black and white terms (the CopyRIGHT vs. the Copy LEFT), by the end, Gaylor has raised some interesting issues about the state of copyright, though I’m not sure many of them are answered. Hope to have a discussion with one of the producers which will be here soon.

It’s definitely worth seeing especially if you enjoy the Girl Talk phenomenon- I met him a few weeks ago at a show and was impressed- he’s totally into giving a great performance- which is all the more remarkable given that his performance is pushing some buttons. And, in keeping with the mashup philosophy, if you don’t like the film (or especially if you do) you can make your own version at OpenSourceCinema.

I haven’t had a chance to write about many notable recent articles about the digital distribution scene, but some highlights:

It seems like the idea of digital distribution has enough traction to serve as a seductive cover come-on, but like “10 New Cellulite Cures” or “Are Jen and Brad and Angelina Buddies?”; “Internet for Indies: The Future of Distribution” (HDVideoPro) basically serves to tell us there is a whole lot we don’t know yet.

The New York Times dedicated an issue of its Sunday Magazine to “screens” small and large. A.O. Scott’s article “The Screening of America,” which might be described as “sweetly naive,” praised the emergence of new ways to watch movies while totally ignoring the production mechanism behind the favourites he cites. If the plan is to only watch high-budget studio films, existing work, and YouTube, Tony is definitely in business.

Over at Filmmaker Mag, Editor Scott Macaulay invites five other white guys (distinguished ones) to discuss the emerging/dying state of distribution as we know it. The beginning of that article is here- the basic gist is that things have to go back to being cheap. With the current state of the economy, there’s little choice.