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BFI to digitise 100,000 old TV shows before they disappear
The British Film Institute (BFI) has a plan in motion to save old, at-risk TV programmes stored on obsolete video formats. As part of a new five-year strategy, the organisation has vowed to digitise and preserve "at least 100,000" shows for future generations. These include children's TV programmes Rubovia, the Basil Brush Show and How, and comedy series Do Not Adjust Your Set and At Last the 1948 Show, which featured Monty Python duo John Cleese and Graham Chapman. Regional dramas such as Second City Firsts and Rainbow City have also been earmarked.
Watch thousands of unseen British films released by the BFI
For decades now, Brits have been shooting amateur movies about their holidays, personal celebrations and experiences at huge, historic events. They're valuable snippets of UK history, but often they're never seen by the wider public. Today, the British Film Institute (BFI) is launching a project called "Britain on Film," which offers free online access to thousands of archived videos. Some were shot by amateurs, while others, such as this tour of Edinburgh by Sean Connery, were commissioned for professional projects. Roughly 2,500 film and TV titles are being released today, with 90 percent of them being free to watch. Many have never been seen before, or not since their first showing, and reveal unique, personal perspectives of how British life has changed over the years.
British Film Institute to launch streaming video service on October 9th
The British Film Institute promised that it would put 10,000 movies online as part of the Film Forever initiative, and it's now making good on its word -- if slowly. The Institute will launch the first phase of its BFI Player streaming service on October 9th with a library of more than 1,000 videos, including movies, behind-the-scenes clips and archival footage. About 60 percent of the content will be free, with the rest available as pay-per-view. As for those remaining 9,000 videos? The BFI expects those to appear in the months ahead, and it's launching BFI Player's second phase in early 2014.
BFI to digitize 10,000 British films as part of Film Forever investment plan
The British Film Institute plans to digitize and provide easier access to 10,000 British flicks as part of a new £500 million (approximately $800 million) "Film Forever" initiative. In addition to driving growth in the UK industry by investing in education, filmmaking and the like, the institute wants to put a mixture of free and paid content on its website, YouTube and VoD services. A BFIPlayer app will be providing a similar service to Samsung Smart TVs, PCs and mobile devices. Cinemas, DVDs and TV channels will also play host to the films, selected for digital rebirth by a bunch of experts and in part, by the general public. And, in the spirit of digitization, full details of the ambitious Film Forever enterprise (slated to run from 2012-2017) are available in e-brochure format at the source link below.
