Ask SyFy to Air Browncoats: Redemption by TDBrown

If I understood Fox's position correctly (Mike Dougherty would have to clarify), this won't happen. No one is allowed to make a profit off of Browncoats: Redemption. This is why it's not available on Amazon or any other site. And if the Sci-Fi Channel (I know they changed their name. I'm in denial.) aired it with advertisements, they'd be making a profit.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

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Monday, March 21, 2011 12:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by micjwelch:
If I understood Fox's position correctly (Mike Dougherty would have to clarify), this won't happen. No one is allowed to make a profit off of Browncoats: Redemption. This is why it's not available on Amazon or any other site. And if the Sci-Fi Channel (I know they changed their name. I'm in denial.) aired it with advertisements, they'd be making a profit.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

As much as I'd love to see Browncoats:Redemption on tv, I believe this is exactly right. Someone should invite Mike Dougherty to come comment so we'd know the straight of it. :)

They were allowed to make the film for charity only, I think any other viewing of it is impossible.
Also, I read the other day on Whedonesque that Universal no longer has the rights to Serenity...those have expired and Fox is now firmly in hand of the rights to the Firefly universe. ( Gossi said this in a thread- I consider his word impeccable. )

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Monday, March 21, 2011 1:35 PM

Wait... how could Universal lose the rights to Serenity BEFORE the rights to Firefly expire? And who has the rights to Serenity if Uni doesn't have them? To be honest, I think y'all are over thinking this. If you'd like to see Browncoats: Redemption on Television, where is the harm in bringing it to SyFy's attention? That's all we'd be doing. Let the powers that be tend to themselves; Let's just let 'em know what WE would like to see.

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Monday, March 21, 2011 4:34 PM

I'll try to find the thread where I read that, TD. So I'm quoting properly.

I still think it'd be worthwhile to ask Mike what he thinks about this.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone, TD. Just sayin' what I think, just like everyone here. :)

Edited: Because I found the quote and wanted to post it and decided against a new post. :)

http://whedonesque.com/comments/26133#408891

( I don't know how appropriate it is for me to post another's quote from another site without their permission. I will remove this post haste if anyone thinks this is inappropriate. But I trust Gossi implicitly ( he started and ran the old www.serenitymovie.com for the time it was up ) I hope he doesn't mind and if you do, Gossi, please let me know and I'll take it down. Hurriedly. )

I think regarding rights: there was a term that Universal had the ability to do something with Serenity....that has expired. Fox still has the rights to Firefly and there is no expiration date in sight I think. :) I know we've conjectured here a bunch about it, but after the recent HNBF brouhaha I think we've seen that Firefly is well within Fox's hands.

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Monday, March 21, 2011 4:46 PM

SILENTS

Its a valid idea. Syfy seems to be a cable channel that is willing to take chances on films and tv series. Some work out (BSG), some don't (Caprica). People had been saying all along that if Firefly had aired on Syfy the resulting story could have been greatly different.

Basically I wager BC:R's best chance of airing on TV probably lies w/ Syfy.

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Monday, March 21, 2011 5:06 PM

BIGZEKE

Definitely agreed! Not only would SyFy be the best bet to show the film... but with the Science Channel showing Firefly now... how great would it be to bundle Redemption with their Firefly offering!

Does anyone else know any other channels that are showing/have rights to show Firefly/Serenity?

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Monday, March 21, 2011 5:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MIKED:
Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:
Quote:
Originally posted by micjwelch:
As much as I'd love to see Browncoats:Redemption on tv, I believe this is exactly right. Someone should invite Mike Dougherty to come comment so we'd know the straight of it. :)

Ok I just got turned on to this page tonight and I have to say...Wow guys this is really gorram humbling.

I can't begin to presume what FOX would be ok with in this area because it's never been done before, but then again a completely crowd sourced feature length independent film for charity has never been done before either. What I've learned on this project is you will never get anywhere unless you ask.

Since you all, the Browncoat community, started this, I am going to totally let this be your campaign. Put the emails in and ping them on Twitter and see what comes of it. Who knows...you guys might make history twice. I'll help provide whatever info to SyFy that they need if you can make this happen.

There we go! Thank you, Mike. Now TD let's see where this goes. :)

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Monday, March 21, 2011 5:39 PM

Well you know me, FollowMal... I like to keep it simple. If you folks will simply e-mail syfy, we'll just see if they pay attention. If nothing comes of it, at least they will know what some of us "Crazy" Browncoats would like.

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Monday, March 21, 2011 6:24 PM

THEONETRUEBIX

I'm still confused how a commercial television network is supposed to air a film from which no one is supposed to profit.

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Monday, March 21, 2011 6:36 PM

I'm still confused how a show that was shown out of order, and only 10 episodes worth, with the Pilot being shown last, could become a Feature Film. I'm still confused how it could have sold hundreds of thousands of Box Set DVDs. I'm still confused how a Film that barely broke even at the Box Office could inspire several Major Charities, and have raised hundreds of thousands of Dollars for worthy causes. I'm still confused how this same film, poor money maker that it was, could inspire the first non-profit FanFilm to be made,with the backing of both the Film's Production Studio and the Show's Creator, with the proceeds going to 5 different charities.

Impossible!

...But it happened.

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Monday, March 21, 2011 6:39 PM

HEATHERA

Quote:
Originally posted by THEONETRUEBIX:
I'm still confused how a commercial television network is supposed to air a film from which no one is supposed to profit.

I think Tim's proposal is simply to let SyFy know that there are fans out here who would like to see BC:R on their channel. The best people to know the ins and outs of whether it's doable are the SyFy people themselves. The way I see it, they could air the movie without commercials, or donate all the advertising fees they receive during the airing back to Big Damn Fan Films to be distributed to the 5 charities, or donate the fees directly to the charities.

Now I realise that asking a commercial TV station to air something where they don't gain any income sounds a bit pie-in-the-sky, but they might go for it if they consider it self-promotion - making SyFy look good. There's no harm in bringing the idea to SyFy's attention, at the very least.

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Monday, March 21, 2011 6:42 PM

Thank you, Heather. Well said!

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Monday, March 21, 2011 6:42 PM

THEONETRUEBIX

You know these things are not comparable. Improbable events are different than what amount to de facto contractual restrictions. Firefly didn't come with rules attached that said "no one can make a movie of this". But BC:R comes with rules saying "no one can profit from this". What's more comparable is that we lost the rights to be able to screen Buffy, Angel, and Firefly episodes publicly (with rare exceptions) because someone tried to profit from such screenings.

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Monday, March 21, 2011 6:49 PM

THEONETRUEBIX

Quote:
Originally posted by HeatherA:
The best people to know the ins and outs of whether it's doable are the SyFy people themselves. The way I see it, they could air the movie without commercials, or donate all the advertising fees they receive during the airing back to Big Damn Fan Films to be distributed to the 5 charities, or donate the fees directly to the charities.

Granted. But it's also not particularly difficult to be able to tell how it'd go. (These things are not quite as mysterious as people like to make them out to be. Most of it is common sense.) Networks will offer to lose income for, say, a major disaster relief fundraiser. Not so much for some random fan film supporting literacy or equality for women.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing it's some sort of outright harmful endeavor. I just had to drop my usual two cents in that it's pretty much a waste of time. But, people are free, obviously, to waste their time in any number of ways. I'm sure I have my own.

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Monday, March 21, 2011 7:10 PM

Doing something because you feel it's right is never a waste of time. Even if you fail.

Huh. That sounds very similar to my "signature".

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 1:31 AM

Well, it doesn't sound entirely impossible, actually. This is one time that I'm glad to be wrong.

I will support this in full force. Let the network execs handle the details. Even if they don't get to air Redemption, they'll at least notice that we're here.

The link to the Facebook group doesn't seem to be working. I do think that a "group" may not be the best way to do it either, since there's no way to post anything that shows up on your news page. Facebook "likes" seem to go a long way toward convincing people lately, so that may be a good way to go.

Have we considered a petition? I know they haven't been terribly effective in the past, but it's an idea.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:13 AM

There are divided schools of thought on letter campaigns, even e-mail ones. Do we announce a set date, and everyone e-mail on that date, or do we casually e-mail them individually, creating a prolonged stream of suggestions? I prefer both, myself. I've sent them my (overly long) cover letter, similar to that at the start of this thread. I will gladly send another on a set date, if folks want to do that.

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:25 AM

I'd say we need to go nuts on Twitter and Facebook. I've created fan pages on Facebook before. I could make one.

The e-mails can't hurt at all, but I have no experience in that area.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by micjwelch:
I'd say we need to go nuts on Twitter and Facebook. I've created fan pages on Facebook before. I could make one.

The e-mails can't hurt at all, but I have no experience in that area.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

Thank you! I am, as my shipmates will tell you, Captain Dummy. By all means, start a FB page, and I will inform and divert everyone in the group to "like" it.

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:46 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by micjwelch:
I'd say we need to go nuts on Twitter and Facebook. I've created fan pages on Facebook before. I could make one.

The e-mails can't hurt at all, but I have no experience in that area.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

The HNBF Facebook page really took off, I'd try something like that... ( a fan page? ) only of course directed towards this action ( which is much less harmful to the fandom and slightly more plausible. ) ( Also, charity-centric, which to me is very important. )
Twitter and FB get more traffic than anything else these days. Reddit and Digg might add to it.
Emails are always good to do and targeted for a certain date and spread out both are ok. Most important thing...be polite and non fanatical.
IMHO.

I think a mention of a petition has been made? I'd not do that...it's a total waste of time. Sorry, :(
They don't pay attention at all to petitions.

If you could get the kind of #'s on FB - 100,000 or so...to write in, being polite and intelligent- it would make at least an impression of our sincerity about the movie and charity. There is also a SyFy FB page where people could go and post. :)

The above mentions of The Science Channel being a prospect to ask is as plausible as the SyFy channel.

(Let me caveat this by saying I think this has very little chance of working- however it's not harmful, might benefit charities and it's fun for the fandom to do this kind of gathering together and doing something from time to time. :)

A push to buy Browncoats: Redemption on a certain day- fandom wide- would also be a nice thing to consider. :)

ETA: I see a FB fan page is being volunteered for. Good. :)

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:49 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DOME:
Mike Dougherty will be on our show this Saturday to discuss this. Join us with any questions for him live @ 8pm est.
http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/]

I'd suggest folks promote this for Mike's/Browncoat: Redemption's sake as well as this movement's on Twitter and Facebook. :)

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:57 AM

ZEEK

I admit I haven't watched Browncoats: Redemption myself. Is it a stand alone story? Would people unfamiliar with Firefly/Serenity understand it? Is it of a high enough quality that we would want it to represent Firefly/Serenity? I heard enough "looks like a made for TV movie" comments about Serenity itself. With the way everyone complains about Fox confusing viewers, it just seems like this would serve to add to the confusion.

I'll try to find some time to watch it and make a better judgment call on this. I'm just not sure all publicity is necessarily good publicity.

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 7:12 AM

I have created a facebook page that you can simply "Like." I know we have a group page, but it's not nearly as easy to get people's attention with.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ask-SyFy-To-Air-Browncoats-Redemption/20
1872099836732

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011 5:50 AM

Had to wait until we had enough fans, but we now have a shorter, much easier to share URL.

http://www.facebook.com/BrowncoatsonSyFy

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011 7:43 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DOME:
Some thoughts:
Would you mind going around to the Browncoat Groups you're on/aware of and asking them to take one or all of the following actions:

Comment on the original post:

http://beta.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=2&tid=47911

Join the facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_186801251363007

And if all possible, would you tweet this out?

RT @FIREFLYFANSNET: Ask @SyFy to Air Browncoats: Redemption http://bit.ly/eQoZz6 #firefly @BrowncoatsMovie Pls RT

I don't use twitter, but did all the rest of that stuff. I highly recommend that folks Buy the Director's cut of Browncoats: Redemption: It's all kinds of Shiny!

http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/?p=2871

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011 2:28 PM

CHRISISALL

I'm with MightyH here!

The laughing Chrisisall

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011 7:57 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Even though I didn't really enjoy Browncoats Redemption all that much (sorry) I really respect the effort that was put into it and would like to see Syfy air it as recognition for that effort and to support the charities etc. plus to show the world that there are still browncoats out here who are excited about the verse.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:59 AM

Thank you to everyone who is backing this movement. As I write this, I notice that the thread has received over 2300 reads. Wow! Now if only Half that # of people were to e-mail SyFy in the next couple of days...! As Jayne would say, "Well, that's sumpthin'!"

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Friday, March 25, 2011 1:54 AM

Like I posted above, lots of folks have read this thread.
I say, it's time to misbehave...

Please e-mail feedback@syfy.com on Monday, March 28th, and ask your friends to do it too. Just politely suggest to syfy that they would generate a lot of good will by having a Charity Broadcast of Browncoats: Redemption.Several hundred (or more!) e-mails all arriving on the same day might get their attention!

Does that sound doable?

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Friday, March 25, 2011 3:47 AM

Everyone please make sure you share this on any yahoo groups or other sites that may be willing to help. You can send them directly to this page or to the facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BrowncoatsonSyFy for more information.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 1:44 PM

I have been asked by some folks to make a clarification: The chances that this will actually Work are slim to none. I expect y'all already knew that, but I want to be sure you all realize that. But... Isn't Monday going to be FUN?? Let's drown SyFy in e-mails. Even if we don't get a response, I'm sure we will have gotten their attention. :D

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 4:11 PM

Here is the link for the podcast if you were unable to listen ( I was out of town so had to hope they would have it up.)
Enjoy. :)

http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com/?p=2937

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 4:18 PM

While listening to the podcast I was struck by something... that I first saw on the deleted post on Whedonesque.
Someone posted over there before it was taken down ( for rules violation ) that they were worried SyFy would get some flak for not airing this if they choose not to or are unable to negotiate to be able to. Some of the comments on the podcast were a bit SyFy condemning and it now concerns me too.

If SyFy won't air BC:R or is unable to work out a deal to be able to despite their best hopes to do so...they should not be bashed because of it. They get a lot of bashing for changing their name, for airing more fantasy than they did, for including wrestling in their programming, etc. I don't always agree with what they do, don't get me wrong, but bashing the network you're wanting to do something nice for you seems a little counterproductive.

Bashing them afterwards if they don't do what you want them to, would be classless. So I hope folks will keep that in check. :) Not trying to be judgmental, trying to appeal to our better selves so that we can appeal to SyFy's better nature as well.

If I were with SyFy and I were sent that podcast as evidence of the fandom's wishes for this and their good intentions, I might be a bit offended. Just sayin'.

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 4:22 PM

By the by, TDBrown, I don't think you said anything too harsh against SyFy...it was your fellow discussion members ( not Mike either ) who came off that way...

You two were awesome and explained things quite well and were very comfortable and Browncoaty. :)

I just wouldn't want anything said or done that would harm the good will that this campaign so obviously has in it's intentions. :)

ETA: Yeah, I'm a hard ass about good manners...no apologies here.
( My daughter just pointed out to me that I'm being a bit "mothering". Can't help it, seems clever and right to me to be polite to folks you're asking something of. )

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org

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Monday, March 28, 2011 2:17 AM

I'm with you on that, followMal... we need to be as courteous to others as we want them to be to us.

That being said... It's time to Misbehave!

Please send syfy an e-mail today, politely bringing Bc:R to their attention, and asking them to Air it on their Network. If they don't respond, the polite thing to do is to just... move on.

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Monday, March 28, 2011 2:22 AM

Followmal, I am with you on that too. We need to ask SyFy to air Redemption not because we think they don't know how to run their channel, but because we think it's a good fit for them.

Everyone, please, e-mail SyFy today and ask them politely to air Redemption. Remember that it's all a numbers game to them, which means that above all else they'll want to know that enough people will watch it if they air it.

"Always be yourself. Unless You suck." - Joss Whedon

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 5:04 AM

Thank you, everyone, for sending your e-mails to SyFy yesterday. They might have paid attention, they might not have. But this much is certain:

We're not done yet.

There is much more to do when it comes to raising awareness of Bc:R. Keep tweeting, send e-mails whenever you wish. But please keep in mind that campaigning is all about numbers, about Buzz. Tell everyone you know about Browncoats Redemption, Firefly and Serenity.

There are many venues where you can post about this, if you wish. syfy.com has a Firefly Forum Board, as does universaltv.com. Here are just a few more:

http://popculturegeek.com/
http://www.sliceofscifi.com/
http://io9.com/
http://blastr.com/
http://www.tgdaily.com/
http://nerdapproved.com/
http://www.scifitv.com.au/
http://www.scifinow.co.uk/
http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/
http://geeksofdoom.com/

Please encourage folks to contact syfy about Airing Bc:R, and feel free to pitch the purchase of the film as well. After September 1st of this year, the film won't be available to purchase, so our window is small if we want to help Bc:R and it's Charities.

Thanks again for your help!

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 8:45 AM