The internet, for all its flaws, is changing the way we make films and create stories.
And it’s starting to change the way people make movies.
On Monday, Warner Bros. announced that it’s launching a new premium service for its film and TV productions.
The service will include everything from new cameras and editing software to advanced effects and production techniques.
It will offer a “premium” premium subscription, priced at $10,000 per month, for “filmmakers with an eye for creating the kind of cinematic universes that the studios want to see.”
Warner Bros., a major player in the home video and digital distribution business, is the second major Hollywood studio to launch a premium subscription service, following Lionsgate’s “Premiere Cinema Now.”
The premium service, which Warner says will “provide a new way for filmmakers to get their films made” and “provides additional access to cutting-edge technology,” is expected to launch in the coming weeks.
In other words, you can expect to see the premium services roll out by the end of the year.
The new service, called Warner’s Premium Movie Production Service, will include a number of new features that have been a bit of a disappointment for some of the more traditional filmmaking companies in the business.
“The premium movie production service will provide access to new cameras, editing software, advanced effects, and a premium suite of production tools and techniques,” Warner Bros said in a press release.
“It will also offer advanced post-production services that will ensure filmmakers with a passion for cinema have the tools they need to create worlds they can share with their audiences.”
But Warner’s new service won’t be the only thing it adds to the already-stellar roster of Hollywood’s premium filmmaking tools.
The company also plans to add a number more “premiere-quality” tools and services to the list of premium features.
For starters, the new service will offer “enhanced post-processing,” the ability to create “pre-visualized, high-definition, 3D, and 360-degree shots with high-resolution cameras.”
That means that films will be able to be shot in post production, even though they will be in digital post, and it’ll be possible to record the whole process at once.
“As we go forward, we’re also excited to continue working with Warner Bros to further develop our Premium Post-Processing suite and deliver more advanced post processing features,” Warner said in the press release .
The premium feature will also allow filmmakers to “create worlds that look and feel like they’re being filmed in the theaters.”
Warner said the new “premier” feature will “give filmmakers the ability … to create their films on a scale that was never possible before.”
And the company said that its new “high-end” feature, which it calls “premiers,” will allow filmmakers “to make films that are both cinematic and beautiful to behold,” including “premies with an unparalleled level of detail and visual impact.”
That will include, for instance, “real-time dynamic color grading that lets cinematographers create their images with unparalleled detail and clarity.”
Warner’s premium feature is a step in the right direction for filmmakers, but it’s not without its challenges.
For starters, Warner says that its premium features will not be “compatible with existing Warner Home Entertainment content” such as DVDs or Blu-rays.
And while there’s no word yet on when the feature will be available for purchase, Warner said that the premium features “are designed to provide a cinematic experience for filmmakers that is at least as rich and expressive as the films they are creating.”
That means that you won’t have access to the full array of features offered by other premium services such as Cinema 4D, which offers a suite of effects that are only available for films that have a theatrical release date.
But you’ll also not be able buy the effects for your film, either.
In fact, it looks like the Warner premium feature may only be available on “premises” — that is, on the web — until the Warner Premium Movie production service launches later this year.
But it’s also not just that the feature won’t work on existing Warner content.
There are also some technical hurdles that filmmakers will need to navigate.
There’s no “premo” for the premium feature, but Warner says the feature “will work with existing film and television content, including Warner Home, Warner Classic and Warner Classic Home.”
So you’ll have to get a new copy of the film you want to make, as well as any pre-existing movie that you might want to share with your audience.
Warner’s press release says that “the Warner Premium feature will work on both Blu-ray and DVD, and will also work on Warner Home and Warner Classics.”
That makes it more difficult to find the feature if you’re looking for a particular version of a film you’re going to