A blog post by Frederic Filloux at the Guardian.uk.co laments the fact that staggered release windows force “honest viewers” into piracy, particularly when it comes to television:
As for the TV shows such as Homeland and others hits, there is not justification whatsoever to preserve this calendar archaism.They should be made universally available from the day when they are aired on TV, period. Or customers will vote with their mouse anyway and find the right file-sharing sites.
Though I think he’s absolutely correct in his analysis, I believe we are seeing an evolution as to how release dates are managed. The notion of “territories” is quickly becoming obsolete–audiences are no longer regional, but global.
Were we releasing our film today, non-theatrically, I’d push for a worldwide, immediate release, if possible. While it would make good business sense, logistically it might be more difficult in that various platforms (ie iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) often have their own timetables. Larger companies have the power to mandate release schedules, but for independent producers, it’s not so simple.
Indie filmmakers are stuck between a rock and hard place. In order reach as wide an audience as possible filmmakers are often beholden to distributors that offer ready access to popular online platforms but unfortunately, most of those same distributors only operate in limited countries/territories. Ultimately a film’s distribution patterns can resemble a patchwork quilt of availability across the globe.
I expect this to change over time. To mitigate the the impact (and attraction) of illegal downloads, content should be released globally (with subtitles in major languages) to worldwide audiences simulatenously on as many platforms as possible.