Historically, a few months before a film is getting ready for release, the studio tests it out in a theater in Los Angeles. Scoop has built a secure screener platform so they don't have to test it in one corner of the world, but can test the film out anywhere in the world to get a broader reach.
Now if you like early access to movies and love critiquing them, you can do it from the comfort of your couch. 🎬 🎥 📺
@kwdinc I really like that you point out the global aspect to this. I see that as the biggest opportunity here. Indie films are the ultimate startups with insane CPAs relative to LTV. How do you allocate marketing money on a film that only nets $5 or $10 per customer?? Understanding how a country or culture responds to a particular film would be extremely valuable to an independent movie house trying decide which markets are the best to pursue.
Hello Product Hunters, and thanks @kwdinc for hunting Scoop!
We built Scoop for very selfish reasons; while I was a student, I would scope out and attend test screenings for movies. They were free and chancing upon a great movie well before release date was a sense of immense pride.
Once I started working in the film and TV industry I realized that they were only testing their content in Los Angeles as they couldn't do online testing for piracy reasons. We spent a few years fine tuning our security and launched Scoop recently.
We've had great initial success with some Sundance films and some of the largest production companies and studios in the world using our security and testing products.
I should mention that there is a lag between signing up and actually receiving a film or show. Once you signup we wait for a film or show that's looking to test with your demographic profile - once there is a match, we send you an NDA and a link. It might be a few days or weeks before you receive an invite, but you can trust us that you will.
Thanks for checking out Scoop. We're kicked to hear your thoughts! :)
@sharanr@kwdinc Surprised this idea wasn't developed before now. It looks like you've taken great care in making sure this works securely for the viewer and production company alike. I assume there is still some skepticism from some studios in testing out their films on this platform, yes?
@bentossell Hi Ben. The studios are quite picky on the demographics they want to test with. For example, if they're testing a superhero film, they'll either ask for people who are fans of comic book films (if they're testing to cater to the core fanbase), or on another test could also ask for someone who hasn't listed any comic book films (if they're testing for wide appeal and not core base). So the more info we have about the viewer the better data we can give them on who the film is catering to.
We've tried really hard to whittle this list of questions to only the core ones though. They usually ask for more info on education and wage earned traditionally. We've tried to remove as much as possible but still require this rather lengthy form early on.
@sharanr yeah I understand that and obviously makes sense!!
I did feel like the questions perhaps don't consider applications outside of the US. Is this standard?
@bentossell You're right, the at home viewing options are very US skewed, but that's predominantly because of our own experience. But companies increasingly want international audiences, so international signups are most needed.
@sharanr ahh I see....then can I suggest editing the location section of the Typeform.
I don't live in a 'State' - like many others outside of the US :)
@ourielohayon Hi Ouriel, It's a huge focus for us to ensure we aren't compromising the films or shows ever. So far, we've won the trust of stalwarts like 20th Century Fox and IM Global and vetted by their security teams.
But we know anything we build is never enough. We're constantly building new tech and patenting new ways to secure content while running this. Thanks for your validation and voicing a very legit concern. : )
@sharanr yeah i here you. unfortunately nothing is secure enough and anything can be cracked. for eg anyone will be able to do a screener version by recording from another camera...unless you found a way to block that possibility
@ourielohayon We use forensic watermarking for that. We alter several pixels to indicate a code that isn't visible to the naked eye, but can clearly identify the copy that was leaked.
This is specified in the NDA that the viewers sign as well. So unless you're familiar with the exactly which pixels cause the signature at what point in the video, it will identify the copy which was leaked and subsequently the recipient.
We're working on some other concepts which will even thwart the recording. But that's still in development.
It's the hardest aspect of tech to solve, but positively the most interesting as well. : )
@danr_4@ourielohayon You're right, but it hugely depends on how much you're ok altering the quality of the final stream. In order to hide the forensic w/m you need to depreciate the visuals by a perceptible quality.
It's not a 100% failsafe system and by no means are we trying to make that claim. But given the benefit of testing with a worldwide audience, we're continuing to improve our security along the way to get as close to failsafe as possible.
Well played. While much smaller, the barriers to entry in the indie film world are considerably lower. And the market is predicated on pre-sales, which are still based on fairly arbitrary values. Some pre-sales involve finished cuts and they're raising for P&A. Those could be interesting and given the lack of bureaucracy relative to majors, may be lower hanging fruit. Spent time in the space...hit me if you need help.
Quick Question @Sharanr: I would imagine that the individual data + email addresses of movie lovers would be even more valuable for studios than having people preview and rate their films. What are your commitments around privacy/marketing for those who sign up for Scoop? Will this data be sold?
@lwesleylittle Hi Wesley, A very valid concern. But the email addresses sale game will not gain us anything of significance. Quite the contrary. Each test screening costs the studios about $50-80 per viewer currently. Far beyond what an email address will fetch us.
And people willing to commit to watching a film within a small time window and then providing a lot of feedback is far more valuable to us than just movie lovers.
Having a large base of testers that we can reach out to is a huge competitive advantage for us. You can be assured that we'll protect this data with every tech we have to ensure we don't lose our test user base to a competitor (which includes the studios running their own tests).
very surprising to me that movie studios are apparently on board with this (despite it being a good idea, they are just very restrictive with technology often)
@plurnt Did you receive any email after completing the signup process? I didn't. The page said "your responses have been successfully submitted" or something, but I didn't get any email saying "thanks for signing up, we will let you once we are live" or anything.
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