Firefly-Season Two, Straight to DVD. by BlackoutNights

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Firefly-Season Two, Straight to DVD.

POSTED BY: BLACKOUTNIGHTS
UPDATED: Sunday, December 14, 2003 19:58
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VIEWED: 4205
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Thursday, December 11, 2003 8:50 AM

You know, I've been thinking. (Oh, no. Not again). If the DVD's do well, and it's determined there is a viable market for Firefly, would it not be possible to do strait to DVD episodes of the shows?

That way, it would be support by us fans, and possibly develop more as it goes along? Is this do-able? Anyone ever attempted anything like this?

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Thursday, December 11, 2003 9:16 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Nope, but dude... if we could find out how much an ep costs, WE could finance the damned show.

Given how truly AWFUL movies have become, and ticket prices being outrageous for this crap, I can see the value in fan-finance, I know I'd throw $10 an ep or more just to have this to watch instead of the reeking slimy sludge of 'reality' television pouring out of my screen like some pus-and-hate filled blister popping.

We cut out the middleman, we could prolly do it relatively cheap too, I'm certainly up for it.

-frem
diefuxDIE!!

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Thursday, December 11, 2003 9:18 AM

SLOWSMURF

2 million an episode.

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Thursday, December 11, 2003 9:22 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Well, hell, how many of us are there ?

250,000 of us, that's like eight bucks each, easy as pie.

-frem
diefuxdie

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Thursday, December 11, 2003 9:49 AM

SERGEANTX

That'd be one hell of a pie.

This was discussed ad infinitum last spring. Several viable plans were discussed from fan financed shows to subscription plans, etc. etc. The biggest problem seems to be that even if they can get a few episodes financed it's still a fairly risky venture and doesn't really have the potential to reach the kind of numbers broadcast or cable television does.

Also, I don't think that $2 million price tag includes up front costs, or the added expense of distribution. And even though there's a growing number of fans, I think it would be pretty tough to find 250,000 people who would be willing to commit $8/episode up front for an entire season. I certainly would, and I'm assuming you would. Well that's two.

There was a group of people led by some guy who produced DVD's who tried pitching this idea to ME around April I think. Not sure whatever became of that.

SergeantX

"..and here's to all the dreamers, may our open hearts find rest." -- Nanci Griffith

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Thursday, December 11, 2003 10:05 AM

BLACKOUTNIGHTS

The thing that first struck me was that distribution would be tough. But, mark my words, the day's coming when more and more artists are going to by-pass the middle man and start selling directly through the Internet, meaning they'll make more money and we'll bypass overhead costs.

That means production's going to be the main cost. And, as with any venture, producers would have to be willing to risk their cash in the hopes of making it back.

Disney's doing a lot of straight to video sequels. It'd be interesting to know how well those fair.

I'm sure there's a market for Firefly. Question is does anybody have the bucks it's going to take to produce it? I wonder if Whedon's made enough to risk it? With Firefly selling so well on Amazon, it certainly stands a good chance of doing extremely well. I know I'd buy it even if there was only one episode released every few months.

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Friday, December 12, 2003 2:56 PM

HARLOCK

I think this is a good Idea, How much you be willing to pay for two eps on a dvd 90 minutes long at 19 dollars would be 4 million 750 thousand, and that is if only 250 thousand people bought it, I think you could do that. That is for a 90 minute on the dvd. I am a big anime fan and one of my favorite shows is Legend of Galactic hereos, they did the fan subscription and it was a big succes, it was just that nobody has tried it before. I think the problem is that nobody wants to be the first to take the big leap.

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Friday, December 12, 2003 5:35 PM

CAPTAINMAL

Well, if it were only "want to" standing in the way, it'd be a Go because Joss has already demonstrated a fanatical desire to keep it going - IF it can be done, it's on his list.

Not first on the list, I'm sure...but on there.

"Why we still discussin' this?"

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Saturday, December 13, 2003 4:36 PM

INDIANABANZAI

I read somewhere on the web that FOX was toying with the idea of producing an entire season of 24 for DVD only, with a different cast, but set in the same universe as the broadcast version of the show.

If this idea succeeds, a Firefly season 2 release doesn't sound so far fetched.

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Sunday, December 14, 2003 6:22 AM

KELSO

^

I believe that the 24 spin-off will only be 8 episodes to start off with.

Just FYI

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Sunday, December 14, 2003 9:43 AM

KELSO

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
That'd be one hell of a pie.

This was discussed ad infinitum last spring. Several viable plans were discussed from fan financed shows to subscription plans, etc. etc. The biggest problem seems to be that even if they can get a few episodes financed it's still a fairly risky venture and doesn't really have the potential to reach the kind of numbers broadcast or cable television does.

Also, I don't think that $2 million price tag includes up front costs, or the added expense of distribution. And even though there's a growing number of fans, I think it would be pretty tough to find 250,000 people who would be willing to commit $8/episode up front for an entire season. I certainly would, and I'm assuming you would. Well that's two.

There was a group of people led by some guy who produced DVD's who tried pitching this idea to ME around April I think. Not sure whatever became of that.
]

It is a very interesting idea. I think that someone should look into it. Perhaps contact Whedon's prod. company and at least if it would be feasible, even for just one episode, and if TPTB would allow us to try it.

Does anyone know how much "Serenity" cost? We wouls probably be looking at a pricetag slightly less than that... assuming there weren't any lucky breaks (like partial sets still existing or Actors taking pay cuts).

Also, there may be other ways to generate the money, like auctioning FIREFLY memorabilia, selling actor's autographs, etc.

I know I would add at least $50 to the pot if it meant I might get a new episode of FIREFLY

I think it is at least worth looking into.

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Sunday, December 14, 2003 3:28 PM

FRV

Ah, but you are overlooking non-commercial commercial subsidies. (sp?)

Consider Reeses Pieces and ET. Taco Bell and Demolition Man. Many corporations will pay to be features prominantly in a show in lieu of commercial air time - if a show is a hit, the show can be a catalyst for sales. How many here would drink more Coke than Pepsi if Coke machines were on every frontier world?

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Sunday, December 14, 2003 7:58 PM

MICRONAUT

This topic has been kicked around for a while, and while a fan-sponsored show is probably out of the question (unless Joss & Co. put out an IPO on the Dow Jones or NASDAQ), just look at all the direct-to-video material cluttering the shelves of your local Blockbuster... SOMEONE out there has the capital to finance this crap - someone is taking a gamble that several million dollars of celluloid putrescence will translate into several more millions of dollars worth of video rentals and/or sales.

And while I am by no means comparing Firefly to the aforementioned garbage, the same dollars that produce two or three cheap-ass direct-to-video movies (what does a low budget flick cost these days? $15 million? $25 million?) could just as easily be spent on an 8-13 episode DVD set of Firefly episodes.

Also, now that the set is selling well (the local Future Shop - Canada's Best Buy equivalent - was down to one copy left as of Friday evening), studios have even more incentive to sink money into a project of this nature - unlike many direct-to-video releases, Firefly has a built in audience... considering the passionate nature of the fans, sales should at least equal if not surpass the first release (yes, I know that the standard Hollywood accountant mentality is to automatically assume that a sequel will not do as well as the orginal, but we're talking about Joss Whedon and Firefly here - a totally different kettle of fish...).

"Just remember... all success is illusion: what has really been accomplished is the displacement of an area of specific failure to somewhere else... or is it the other way around?"

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