As one of the most experienced UK script consultant’s my website is usually pretty busy, but a couple of weeks ago, my Google Analytics went into meltdown. As did sales of my low budget horror feature film ‘Markham’.
It appears that over in the USA another Matthew Cooper announced he was to produce and develop a TV series called ‘To The Moon’ about the GameStop stock controversy. I can only assume the Reddit lads and lasses did a quick Google and assumed (at least for a while) that I was the Matthew Cooper in question. I am not.
However, the extra sales of my low budget horror film‘Markham’ were very welcome – indeed you can buy the film on Vimeo to stream and on DVD here, over on my director’s website.
But then, something else happened. ‘Markham’ was pirated and suddenly, for a few days, became one of the biggest films on various torrent sites, where it sat alongside big budget Hollywood films, and had thousands of views.
I was sent a few links by friends who use these illegal websites, and I could even see a few positive reviews.
So, I suppose the question is – how do I? As Producer and Director of ‘Markham’ feel about it being pirated on a grand scale? Well, the film was very low budget, and has more than made back its costs, so lost revenue is not really an issue. And, I’m actually quite pleased that so many people seem to have seen it now.
There’s actually a very interesting story about writer/director Paul Schrader and torrent site Pirate Bay. Schrader actually gave one of his own films to the site (it was the director’s cut of ‘Dying of the Light’). He happily let the film be pirated, because he felt it was the only to release his ‘directors’ cut’ of the film.
Anyway, it’s all a bit ‘punk’ fanziney and that’s kind of fitting for ‘Markham’ which was a very low budget film, shot without a script, and put together with superglue and hope.
So, I’m not the Matthew Cooper involved with the Gamestop TV series, but the Reddit army can watch and pirate my film all you guys want, and I like and respect that you guys spanked Wall Street like a red-headed stepchild.
Matthew Cooper has been a scriptwriter for hire, UK Script editor and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. His UK script coverage service, Script reading service and script development service are highly sought after.
You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.
His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham was released in 2020. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.