It has been two months since we launched the new Madrid en corto folder with a DVD-free version, and after this submission period we do not miss the disc. However, we have had to make a small run for festivals that require it in their regulations: what is happening with DVDs at festivals?
The decline in DVD use has been unstoppable over the past year. In mid-2013, we could estimate that 30% of festivals did not use the disc; at present, the average would be 85%. It seems we are now reaching a medium-term floor, as festivals that still require DVDs do not appear likely to change this year. In any case, if this trend continues, we could be talking about the total disappearance of DVDs as a submission format for festivals by the end of 2015. The most curious aspect of this process is that festivals that do not use DVDs for submissions or screenings end up requesting them for other reasons, whether to provide screeners to the press, to have them as backup for screenings, or even for the festival archive.
Last year’s Clermont-Ferrand Market was very revealing in this regard. Most agencies and film institutes from different countries came to the market with their short film catalogs, but without DVDs—all of them with private links. Some had passwords that expired in two weeks, and others had maintained the same catalog format, but without discs.
The reasons for this rapid change have been the emergence of new distribution platforms for festivals (I already discussed them in the previous post) and private viewing links. Certainly, these links offer nothing but advantages over DVDs: immediacy, security (the disc is a very unstable medium), ease of sharing with the jury and programmers, and above all, quality. At present, DVD quality is the lowest we can have (SD, standard definition), while vimeo links typically use HD (720p standard or full 1080p). We must not forget that DVD is a technology over 14 years old; the standard emerged in 1995 (according to Wikipedia). Furthermore, new computers (especially Apple) no longer include optical DVD drives, and Sony closed the manufacturing of DVD, CD, and Blu-ray optical drives in 2012, which may mean that in a few years it will not be easy to play DVD discs.
While the DVD disc is already in full retreat, it is the DVD player (DVD with menus) that has practically disappeared in festival distribution. If the goal is to access the video easily, the initial menu must be very simple, allowing immediate access, and if we can do without it, all the better. It turns out that a percentage of festivals that require DVDs in their regulations then rip these discs to transfer them to a hard drive, so it makes no sense to incur authoring costs for a minimal percentage of festivals that request it (we are talking about an average of one or two festivals out of every 100).
It is now a reality to be able to distribute a short film, and even a feature film, without having to make physical DVD copies, and if they must be made, a few would be sufficient and without a menu. Those festivals and programmers that still “prefer” DVDs are the ones that will have to change gradually. The DVD-free future is increasingly near.