Table of Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
Why distribution? 2
Formal and informal film economies 3
Shadows, sites and circuits 4
1 Distribution from Above and Below 9
Redefining distribution: theory and practice 10
Distribution from below 13
The cultural politics of distribution 14
Conclusion 19
2 The Straight-to-video Slaughterhouse 21
'Anything with sprocket holes' 22
The STV aesthetic 24
Transnational STV circuits 26
Shooting and selling STV action in the Asia-Pacific 30
The slaughterhouse of cinema 32
Conclusion 36
3 Informal Media Economies 39
The formal and the informal 39
The centrality of informality 41
Informal economies of cinema 43
Informality, cinema and the state 47
Between formal and informal distribution: Tropa de elite 49
4 Nollywood at Large 55
A short history of the Nigerian video boom 56
The formalising imperative 59
Formalising international distribution 63
Conclusion 66
5 Six Faces of Piracy 69
Copyright and the construction of piracy 70
Piracy as theft 72
Piracy as free enterprise 74
Piracy as free speech 76
Piracy as authorship 78
Piracy as resistance 80
Piracy as access 82
Everyday ethics of piracy in Tepito, Mexico City 85
Tepito postscript 2010 91
6 The Grey Internet 95
Mapping the online distribution ecology 96
Linking sites 100
Video-hosting sites 101
Cyberlockers 104
Informal enforcement on the digital frontier 106
Conclusion 109
Conclusion: Coordinates for Studying Distribution in a Digital Age 111
From pipelines to swarms 112
Rethinking informational freedom 114
Appendix: A Film Distribution Research Guide 119
Notes 129
Bibliography 149
Index 163