The Bleinstein Company, no stranger to disappointing revenue, now plumbs its reputation as a champion of independent cinema and the voices behind them in press releases for their DVD distributions banner, Third Rail Releasing (not an offending party). That reputation, however, was earned back when the Bleinsteins ran Bliramax. Now, with their chips relatively down and no Oscar prospects on the foreseeable horizon, they’re quick to regard their straight-to-DVD acquisitions as mere cash grabs, and Third Rail’s work as “a good way of differentiating between what we really believe in, and what has been for ancillary value.”

I am quick to respond.

Look, I get it. Every burgeoning outlet for struggling independent filmmakers gets laughed at, almost as a point of necessity. Most people who watch movies on their iPhone aren’t necessarily quick to admit it. A Craigslist post looking for editors on a “dramedic web series set in high school circa 1980” is like the professional kiss of death to smug freelancers. We remain in love with the thought of a theatrical premiere. You won’t find searchlights and red carpets at Mooviez4Phree.com, or near the monitors of an upscale Starbucks. You’ll just find eyeballs, watching your work for what it is. And who wants that, since everyone’s a comment box critic these days, and meaner too? I’ll take Michael Rosenbaum, Jan Stuart and J. Hoberman, thank you.

Those who are opposed to their life’s work beaming out of unvarnished digital screens to a crowd of disinterested Chipotle victims (and one or two attentive young viewers in the back) have taken to self-distribution, a method so fantastically rebellious and astonishingly ill-advised that it just might work…that is, if you have a cast that includes Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman and Eliza Dushku. Not to slight the makers of Bottle Shock, the film which I reference and haven’t even seen, but casting Severus Snape and the president from Independence Day can’t help but grease the wheels at a few LA art houses here and there. If director Randall Miller settled for faceless, summer stock mannequins instead, I would think it hard just to finance a living room screening in Des Moines.

But that’s another rant devoted to the commercialization of indie film. It must be said: the accomplishment involved in designing, approving, and financing the rollout of your own film is genuinely impressive.

However, it seems the drive to do that stems from the disgust indie filmmakers nurture by falling in love with their art, to the point that they can’t stomach releasing their baby through DVD outlets or streaming it for ad space pennies. The way I see it, if you have a property so genuine, exciting and fresh, there’s no harm in opening the source and letting Netflix vultures eat it up like so much carrion. I’m not suggesting one has to devise the killer business model and direct the best movie they can at the same time, but even if it just means piggybacking your way into Old Media, the first person to approach new methods of distribution with confidence and swagger is going to make a killing. My worry is I won’t get the script for my violent barbarian action flick ready in time to be at the frontline.

Third Rail, you know my name.

I still think it’s a viable resource for advertisers, but some of them are starting to sweat the advent of DVR culture. To them, that’s thousands of potential consumers, breezing past entire pods, catching only a glimpse of the last spot before Heroes resumes. As usual, sea change in response to new tech is just not an option. Small, petulant resistances are the order of the day.

Early on in the short history of DVR, TiVo offered a feature involving a five-button code that could “click” right past every 30-second ad. They didn’t promote the function, and referred to it as something designed for internal use that hackers simply discovered on their own. This, of course, is akin to the secret menu at In-N-Out Burger, in that everyone knows about it – except when you order a double-double “protein style,” you’re theoretically not screwing over the factory that makes the buns.* TiVo’s as much of a brand as any of the others, with their own product to sell, but they understood the latent animosity viewers had toward ads and they worked it like a punch press. Go them.

So advertisers had to spread their messages elsewhere, meaning Mountain Dew poured into our movie theaters with pre-pre-show spots, online pop-ups appeared with more frequency than Suck in Deep Impact and even seemingly friendly drinkers at clubs and bars could now be “undercover marketers.” Lately, it seems they’re more intent on tracking us than ever (see: Viacom ordering access to YouTube user data) to achieve that holy grail known as targeted marketing. If we’re not going to give them our eyeballs for thirty seconds, then by God, they’ll take whatever we’re giving YouTube!

“All right staff, I’ve been perusing this user data and apparently America loves watching bunnies get policed by irritable chickens…What are you waiting for? Get out of here! I want thirty solid gold chicken-and-bunny ideas by 3 PM sharp!”

I say these advertisers are too quick to assume the role of Decency-Smashing Corporate Monoliths, especially if they hope to earn our trust. Some (many) actually like to watch Super Bowl ads because the joy taken in those spots’ creative processes is visible. Also, Burt Reynolds might show up. But when you can’t guarantee a Super Bowl-sized audience to match what you’re paying your team, you can simply develop new and interesting ways of presenting pretty mediocre content.

That means intriguing (read: often confusing) narrative segments, dispersed in multiple short-form bursts over the course of an entire show, or sometimes taking place during an entire pod, as Orbit gum did for the 2008 MTV Movie Awards. As long as they seem less like ads and more like viral comedy bits, the better.

The CW, who’s got to be eager to attract advertisers**, has predictably been leading the charge with this stuff. They debuted “content wraps,” which disguises product marketing within 2-minute story segments, somewhat like Orbit’s work but less overt. Included is an excerpt from the LA Times, due to its hilarity.

It helps to think of a content wrap as a sandwich. The products that advertisers want to sell are the meat. The mini-programming elements wrapped around them are the bread that holds it all together and – in CW executives’ dreams, at least – makes consumers want to take a bite and keep on eating.

Last year, the CW rolled out a similar concept but for ten-second spots, branded them “CWickies” and Electronic Arts went for it. Large filmic advertising blocks make sense, but why would companies pay for less airtime?

Part of it may have to do with research on attention spans, or market testing that shows auds respond better to faster, punchier ads. But I think these are more logical byproducts of a greater source known as Corporate Panic. Shakeups like DVR convince advertisers to try something, anything new. They store up money for days like these, and now they’re throwing it at the wall to see what sticks, what “engages” us.

Then again, I suppose it’s easy to say that bigwigs will do anything but cooperate with the tide of technology, when trade publications did their best to integrate the internet as part of their identity – and we all know how that’s turning out.

Oh well, the omelet’s almost done anyway.

* And that’s assuming you and everyone else in the restaurant hates the buns and considers them a burden on your otherwise delicious burger. When really, the bun’s one of the best parts.

** Aliens in America is a good show. Or was. I don’t know if it’s still on.

Their selection is not large. They only carry a selection of new releases from the past couple of months. But in some ways, that impresses me even more. Where can you find a new release for $1 anywhere? Even iTunes charges $3.99 for this, and Blockbuster and crew charge even more.

The only issue, perhaps, is time. You only have until 9pm the next day to return the movie. I still think this is fine, as the system is quick and easy enough that you can go grab the movie only when you’re about ready to watch it. Redbox will charge your credit card for the DVD if you do not return it on time, so if you’re bad at remembering to return things, I suppose that is the downside. But if you want to go grab a new release to watch tonight and return tomorrow, this system rocks. The machines are totally automated and totally simple. When I went in to use it, I was in and out in under a minute.

I’m always looking for new ways to get my media. Some say physical media is dead, and it might be someday — if digital downloads ever actually become prevalent enough for that to occur. Most movies I find myself wanting to watch are not available on iTunes. Although at this point, even if new releases were available on iTunes, it’s hard to compete with $1. I think I’ll be using Redbox when I feel like watching a new release.

Whenever a song is playing in the background of an episode of The Hills, MTV overlays the title and artist, as well as a short URL you can use to later to find out more. This is brilliant! I cannot recall the number of times I have been watching a television show and wondered what the background music was.

Clearly, this is a market worth tapping into, as sites like What’s That Called? have been around for years, not to mention tons of forums, blog posts, and Yahoo! Answers questions on the subject.

I only hope this method of marketing expands to other television shows and forms of media, and that people figure out how to make money from this promotion.

Oh, and yes, I apologize for my lack of posts, and you can consider this one to be the first of a long stream of regular content from now on.