Film Distribution in the Digital Age

Virginia Crisp is Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at Coventry University, UK and co-editor (with Dr Gabriel Menotti Gonring) of Besides the Screen: Moving Images through Distribution, Promotion and Curation (2015). She is also the principal investigator on the AHRC funded International Network Grant, 'Besides the Screen'.

'Crisp offers us a vivid analysis of cinema's complex circulatory ecology, and the surprising links between its various participants from the Hollywood studios and the independent distributors through to fans and file-sharing communities. Full of fascinating stories and carefully researched case studies, Film Distribution in the Digital Age expertly updates screen industry research to respond to the new realities of the internet era; it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand both the history and future of film distribution.' -Ramon Lobato, Senior Research Fellow, Swinburne Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia 'This is a compelling study of the diverse ways in which films are now circulated and made available. Combining attention to Hollywood and the independent sector, to formal and informal economies, and to professionals and pirates, Virginia Crisp expertly grasps the full scope and complexity of the film distribution ecology in the digital era. Core conceptual issues and contextual matters are lucidly covered and effectively illustrated through well-chosen case study examples. A must-read for anyone interested in the growing field of media distribution studies.' - Paul McDonald, Professor of Culture, Media and Creative Industries, King's College London, UK

• Introduction 1. Formal Film Distribution 2. 'Independent' Distributors 3. Disruptive Innovators 4. Informal Distribution: Discs and Downloads 5. A Brief History of Film 'Filesharing': From Napster to Mega 6. Informal Distribution Networks: Fan 'Filesharing' & Imagined Communities 7. Intersections: Pirates Meet Professionals Conclusion: Ecologies of Distribution and Shifting Gatekeepers