July 3, 2008 at 15:43Co-producer of "Heroes" and Lost talks about torrents
It's no secret that it’s the series that make up the lion's share of traffic in torrent networks. According to statistics from foreign trackers, some episodes of popular TV shows, such as “Heroes” and Lost, were downloaded by up to 10 million people.
In this regard, it is quite interesting to read an interview with Jesse Alexander , co-producer and one of the authors of the script for both of the above series, which he gave to TorrentFreak.
Torrent geeks are sure that the so-called "piracy" through torrents actually benefits the series. The popularity of films is growing, and the army of fans is guaranteed not to miss a single series, thanks to which interest is maintained. Through torrents, the series receive free advertising: it, like viral marketing, reaches millions of new viewers who would otherwise never watch this series. When Jesse Alexander was directly asked if torrents help expand the audience of the series, he did not bother and answered directly: "Yes, they help."
And this is said by the co-producer, who is directly responsible for the commercial success of the project.
Of course, Jesse would not want absolutely all viewers to watch the series only from torrents. But, in his opinion, it is useless to fight this reality. This popularity of P2P signals the potential demand for next-generation television services: interactive television and video-on-demand. TV channels should understand this and offer the market new interactive services, let the fans of the series communicate with each other and find ways to earn income from each viewer around the world, no matter what way the video is uploaded.
“It's like in the music industry,” says Jesse. - The reality is that people share music. Musicians now make money by attracting people to concerts, through fan sites, as well as organizing some premium parties. TV channels are too focused on exclusive content instead of engaging in community building. I think this is a mistake. "
The success of "Heroes" in torrents did not go unnoticed by the creators of the series. The whole crew and the actors themselves often discussed this during the filming, Jesse admits. No one was surprised when hundreds of fans recognized the actors in France on the streets , although the series was not officially broadcast in this country. Actors themselves have become world stars thanks to torrents, and they understand this very well.
The reasons for "piracy" on such a huge scale, according to Jesse, are partly due to the slowness of copyright holders who show the series in other countries about six months after the United States. Naturally, in our time, people simply cannot wait for so long. In the future, this period should be significantly reduced.
The television of the future will become more interactive and will work in an international format, as well as support the community. The series themselves will gradually become an increasingly important part in the work of these social networks.
When asked if he downloaded movies from torrents himself, Jesse said that he could not directly answer this question, but was well versed in technology (it is clear what it means - definitely downloaded).
It is not surprising that Jesse Alexander is better than other representatives of the television industry versed in modern technology. Recently it became known that, with his participation , the filming of the new 13-series Pirate TV series began, dedicated to ... namely, video pirates and how important they play in modern society (the teaser of the series , as well as in the public domain, is a book that formed the basis of the plot ) “Society needs serious discussion about the future of intellectual property,” says Jesse.
In this regard, it is quite interesting to read an interview with Jesse Alexander , co-producer and one of the authors of the script for both of the above series, which he gave to TorrentFreak.
Torrent geeks are sure that the so-called "piracy" through torrents actually benefits the series. The popularity of films is growing, and the army of fans is guaranteed not to miss a single series, thanks to which interest is maintained. Through torrents, the series receive free advertising: it, like viral marketing, reaches millions of new viewers who would otherwise never watch this series. When Jesse Alexander was directly asked if torrents help expand the audience of the series, he did not bother and answered directly: "Yes, they help."
And this is said by the co-producer, who is directly responsible for the commercial success of the project.
Of course, Jesse would not want absolutely all viewers to watch the series only from torrents. But, in his opinion, it is useless to fight this reality. This popularity of P2P signals the potential demand for next-generation television services: interactive television and video-on-demand. TV channels should understand this and offer the market new interactive services, let the fans of the series communicate with each other and find ways to earn income from each viewer around the world, no matter what way the video is uploaded.
“It's like in the music industry,” says Jesse. - The reality is that people share music. Musicians now make money by attracting people to concerts, through fan sites, as well as organizing some premium parties. TV channels are too focused on exclusive content instead of engaging in community building. I think this is a mistake. "
The success of "Heroes" in torrents did not go unnoticed by the creators of the series. The whole crew and the actors themselves often discussed this during the filming, Jesse admits. No one was surprised when hundreds of fans recognized the actors in France on the streets , although the series was not officially broadcast in this country. Actors themselves have become world stars thanks to torrents, and they understand this very well.The reasons for "piracy" on such a huge scale, according to Jesse, are partly due to the slowness of copyright holders who show the series in other countries about six months after the United States. Naturally, in our time, people simply cannot wait for so long. In the future, this period should be significantly reduced.
The television of the future will become more interactive and will work in an international format, as well as support the community. The series themselves will gradually become an increasingly important part in the work of these social networks.
When asked if he downloaded movies from torrents himself, Jesse said that he could not directly answer this question, but was well versed in technology (it is clear what it means - definitely downloaded).
It is not surprising that Jesse Alexander is better than other representatives of the television industry versed in modern technology. Recently it became known that, with his participation , the filming of the new 13-series Pirate TV series began, dedicated to ... namely, video pirates and how important they play in modern society (the teaser of the series , as well as in the public domain, is a book that formed the basis of the plot ) “Society needs serious discussion about the future of intellectual property,” says Jesse.