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Commentators 1 and 4 are both wrong, especially 4. This talk of the enormous opportunity of new media is an expression of naïve blind faith. There has always been new technology that's never translated into a profitable product and new media is no different. In reality new media has been burning through the money of investors for the past 15 years and genuine profit is elusive, but there the constant promise of 2 or 3 years time. Those of us who have been in the business long enough just roll our eyes.

Returns for producers have been small. Times have changed and technology has changed and nobody suggests turning the clock back on that which can't be done anyway. But it's a case of technology taketh away when it comes to how much money one can make from films. VOD is finally taking shape and its a medium from which much less money can be earned, no matter how popular it becomes.

The public at best sees much the same number of films now as it did in the past. There are still only so many hours in the day, and only so many films worth seeing, and intense competition for their time and attention from other mediums. However when more & more of the audience are spending £3 (or less) for a download or stream instead of £12 for a DVD as they might have done 10 years ago that just means less money can be made. The industry has to get used to the fact that due to technology making films a cheap product ultimately fewer people will be genuinely be able to make a living from it.