• by Kathy Sharpe , April 26, 2007

Under-30 audiences clearly prefer content that's short

Imagine if this summer's biggest moneymaker turns out to be a 13-minute video on iTunes. Maybe that's not likely for this summer, but it's far from mission impossible for summers ahead. That's because the Internet is driving warp-speed changes in movie distribution models.

Even more significant is the Internet's impact on content formats. A story told on video or film of any length now can reach an audience and, thus, also make money. How much money is a function of the reach of the distribution - that is, how many people have subscribed to it on iTunes and how much they're willing to pay.

Today Hollywood may not care; last year, box-office receipts were up 5.5 percent over two years ago and this summer's roster includes Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Bourne 3 and Spider-Man 3 - all guaranteed blockbusters. It looks like the studio moguls have the goods to pull people into theaters.

But sometime in the middle of last year, we all went from talking about movies, television shows and video to talking about content. The industry leaders pragmatically grouped together the various entertainment formats, because doing so facilitated discussions of new distribution models, technologies and rights management.

For the rest of us, this seemingly innocent semantic change highlights a shift in evaluating all entertainment media. Now everything from the blockbuster to a 2-minute video on YouTube is content. Historically we have been told to put different values on content appearing in different places: TV shows, full-length feature movies, short films and lonelygirl15. What is art? What is worth leaving the house for? What needs to be viewed on a big screen? What do you pay for and what is free?

Now it's all content, regardless of venue or length. The only real differences separating these types of content are their modes of distribution and the associated revenue models. Those don't actually matter to average 25-year-olds watching a video on MySpace or downloading a short film from the Internet. For them it's all about which content is entertaining.

Here is where the Hollywood moguls may want to step back from planning the next three-hour CGI car chase extravaganza. Increasingly, the preferred content is short. The short-format trend is most apparent in the demographic that feeds the Hollywood machine - the under-30s.

A preference for short clips can't be attributed to YouTube, iPods or even the Web itself - all of which have made short-form content widely available. Rather, it's the fragmented, multitasking lives of Gen Y and, frankly, most of us, which makes the short form so appealing. The Oscar nominees for Best Short Film are popular downloads wherever available.

At this rate, Hollywood studios are at risk of being the sole source for long-format content, leaving the increasingly attractive - and lucrative - short-format content in the hands of amateurs and more flexible newcomers. That may not be bad for the audience, but it will negatively impact long-format content ticket sales.

So what should Hollywood do? Return to its roots and start making eight-minute one-reelers. To do so, the studios must throw aside their biases that short-format content is necessarily low quality and that home movies could never have the appeal of a Spider-Man 3. Instead they may want to start thinking about serials and creating new in-theater viewing experiences that don't require commitments of three hours at a time.

They also should look at their considerable resources as assets that can enable them to make the most and best short content in the world. Different types of writers, born in the short format, different stars who can live on the Internet. These factors will determine if the wooly mammoth that is Hollywood can adapt to the content preferences of today's audience and create the summer blockbusters of the future.