The Ti West Piracy Statement

http://www.glasseyepix.com/html/PiratesOfTheCaribbean.html

Above is a link to the statement made by Ti West pleading with fans not to pirate his new film The Innkeepers.  Now, I'm not going to be a hypocrite and act like I haven't watched a pirated movie before, but I am proud to say that I buy the majority of movies I watch, whether it be in cinemas or on a physical format.  The only movies I've ever pirated are the ones that have never had a physical release, or are so rare it's impossible to find one.  I don't enjoy doing it but sometimes it's the only option in order to see certain films.  But Ti West's new feature, like many other independent films, will be released and I for one will pay for it.

Ti West's plea really touched me.  Honestly my heart goes out to the guy because it seems piracy has really affected him.  He talks about how he never made a dime off House of the Devil, which really is a shame considering the huge success of the film.  Being a fan of Ti West and other indie filmmakers, I don't mind paying a mere £10 to watch a film if it's going to help them put food on the table.  I also don't mind paying it because, like Ti said, if we show support for these movies then it means that studios will put more faith in interesting movies, instead of the run-of-the-mill, predictable movies we see these days, whether it be remakes or just standard movies we've seen over and over again before.  When it comes to studios it's financial gain they focus on, which is understandable as at the end of the day it's a business.  But if we showed more financial support towards guys like Ti West then perhaps we'd see a new era of original and interesting horror films, as well as other genres because studios would have the faith to fully back them with better budgets.

As soon as The Innkeepers is in theaters I'll be going to see it.  If it doesn't make theaters then I'll be buying the DVD asap.  I don't have VOD here in Scotland so it looks like I have to wait a month or 2.  As tempting as it would be to pirate it (because I really want to see it more than anything), I'm going to resist and wait until it's released here in the UK.  I hope West's plea catches on and affects others because it would be strong for the future of genre cinema.  It broke my heart that Roger Avary's script for a Phantasm sequel was rejected because the cost was too high and the studios didn't have faith in it.  Maybe with more financial support then we'd get to see these types of films without studios needing much convincing.  We know there's a market for them, but unfortunately we live in a world where money talks and movies are no different.

I'm not trying to preach or anything, just giving my thoughts on the matter.