Just so we're clear on Universal.... by bad2verse

FIREFLY AND SERENITY GUERILLA MARKETING

Just so we're clear on Universal....

POSTED BY: BAD2VERSE
UPDATED: Thursday, September 7, 2006 01:51
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VIEWED: 12976
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 7:58 PM

There's been a LOT of talk lately about which "Universal" is good, and which F*X is bad, etc etc etc...

Universal is a MONSTER.. I "Followed the money", and the more I dug, the more pies I found their fingers in...

So if you're worried about why Sci-fi doesn't pick up the rights from F*X or Universal, etc.. It's ALL owned by the same people.. to include (But not limited to:
* MSNBC
* NBC
* Sci-Fi Channel
* USA Network
* Universal Studios
* Vivendi Universal
* Bravo
* Telemundo
* Universal Studios Theme Parks
* TRIO
* CNBC

And the list goes ON and ON and ON and just scratches the surface, and the PEOPLE behind these corporations ALSO have Holdings at F*X, and MANY other "Studio and TV type mediums"...

It may be different "divisions", but the MONEY ALL ends up in the same place... "Sci-fi" doesn't need to "Pick up the rights".. their parent company owns the rights... I'm sure all the legal separation and such applies, BUT, sometimes Universal "Rents" rights to it's subsideraries for ONE DOLLAR (The minimum needed for a binding contract).

So the "Rights" issue is a moot point... We shouldn't let Channels use that as an excuse... It Ticks me off when I get a form letter with the "Rights issue" in it when that's a blatant fabrication...

I see why Joss is burned out by F*X, they don't mind stretching the truth, as long as it's "Semi-true-on-some-thin-thread-way-down-the-line"

I'm gonna shut up now before I go off on a rant
(Need a smiley with a zippered mouth)

________________________
..but eatin people alive, where does THAT get fun?

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 8:19 PM

MARINE

I know you don't wanna get all pissed off and everything, but its nice to be informed. So the question, where do we go to make our "movement" to getting firefly back on TV or another movie?

Sounds like it gets complex and I do understand where that could go. Do we need to know any details to push for further stories of firefly?

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 8:37 PM

ZENGRRL

NBC and Universal merged several years back, producing the list of holdings you mentioned.

But NBC-Universal does not own Fox. Sci-Fi has to license the Firefly stuff because it is owned by NBC-Universal where as the series is owned by Fox.

Serenity, on the other hand, is all in the family, as Universal Pictures and Sci-Fi are part of the same company. That's why UP used Sci-Fi to hype the movie with the "making of" special and the "Firefly" marathon right before the film came out...and why, once it finishes it's HBO/Cinemax run, it'll have it's "broadcast network premiere" on either Sci-Fi or USA.

But since Fox and Sci-Fi are owned by separate companies, Sci-Fi could never make a new tv project based on "Firefly" until Fox either gives up the tv rights or negotiates for a cut, as a joint venture (which will happen sometime after hell freezes over, pigs fly and Jayne has a voluntary sex change -- in other words, probably never. LOL).

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 9:28 PM

FOLLOWMAL

Bad2Verse,

Zengrrl, is right. Exactly.

I wrote 11th Hour and told her of the conversations on the board ( she's here a couple of times a day, but a busy lady and I kinda keep her informed of what we're all talking about...)
regarding writing Universal for the Serenity 'Versary.

In her letter back to me she stressed some things. If we're gonna do this, we have to try to do it right. We start with making sure we have the right address to send to. We'd all look pretty foolish if we didn't know which one was the right one. You seem like just the person to perhaps find out. Would you like to try to find that out for me? I have some sources that I am writing to, but two heads are usually better than one. I'd appreciate the help.

Tomorrow I think that 11th will start a thread that lays out some of the things we need to be aware of when we do this. That'll go a long way towards allowing us to plan this.

Someone asked, you or Marine I'm not sure which if there was a way to join this up with all Browncoats.. how would we let them know? We have the Browncoat Signal Corps, a group of folks who have taken on the task of spreading news and gathering news across the Browncoat 'verse. We have the Browncoat Calendar that lists all of the stuff we know of and we add to it everyday or so. We also have our two awesome podcasts with their news sections to spread the news. We ( the Browncoat Signal Corps) aren't directly affiliated with them, but we send news their way and they then have the option of sayin'. The Corps makes posts on all the 'verse forums and also on some non 'verse forums. So we have a way of gettin' the word out, already in place.

We can get the word out... making the message be the right one and gettin' folks to understand the whys and wherefores will be the hardest part.

Go here to Boost the Signal!
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 9:37 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by Zengrrl:
NBC and Universal merged several years back, producing the list of holdings you mentioned.

But NBC-Universal does not own Fox. Sci-Fi has to license the Firefly stuff because it is owned by NBC-Universal where as the series is owned by Fox.

(Snip)
But since Fox and Sci-Fi are owned by separate companies, Sci-Fi could never make a new tv project based on "Firefly" until Fox either gives up the tv rights or negotiates for a cut, as a joint venture (which will happen sometime after hell freezes over, pigs fly and Jayne has a voluntary sex change -- in other words, probably never. LOL).

Yer probably 100% right, But SEVERAL of the chair holders for Universal also have Chairs in Sci-fi AND Chairs in F*X.

If you look at it on a flow chart, it looks like EVERYTHING is connected in some way to EVERYTHING in the TV/Movie industry... A LOT of Loop-backs, Dual Chairs, Multiple Major Share holders in Both Corps, Even Coke has a link in there amongst the confusion (Which branches out even more).

I WISH I could find the old website I had bookmarked at one time.. you could type in ANY corp/company and it gave you ALL of the branches of the tree.. each time you clicked on a person or Company, it expanded out to show what else they were linked to... It seems like a few "Big Power brokers" seem to hold most everything in the entertainment business.

The Reason I'd like to find out "Exactly Who" needs to be talked to is because in my business dealings, I deal with a lot of powerful people, and have good relations with them.. If I could find Even ONE that would say, "Oh, Mr. X? I play golf with him regularly".. THEN maybe we could get a bug in his ear and skip all the middle men...

For example, I have several Clients that have "Business cards" made of .999 purity Silver bars or coins... these folks have Serious clout. When A person hands you his Business card, worth between 120 and 500 Dollars, he's in BIG business.

I believe in going directly to the top whenever possible... A wise man once told me long ago "Stay out of 'channels', Channels are in place to guide you so that you don't bother the people that you REALLY need to talk to.. Stay out of the channels, and work from the top down".. that advice has served me VERY well over the years.. A job that's going to take 2 years of BS to get started on, suddenly gets started within the week.

________________________
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 9:51 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:
Bad2Verse,

Zengrrl, is right. Exactly.

(Snip)We start with making sure we have the right address to send to. We'd all look pretty foolish if we didn't know which one was the right one. You seem like just the person to perhaps find out. Would you like to try to find that out for me? (Snip)

Not a problem, Will Start on that Tomorrow, and should have an answer by the time we get back from Dragon*Con.. again, NOT a problem...

To make matters easier, or more correctly, "More precise", we need to know "Exactly" what the message we're sending is.. So far I get the impression it's basically "Thanks for the movie, We're still grateful a year later, and we'd like more"... and then the VOLUME of letters shows there's clout behind it, and an approximation of the support a new effort would receive (Usually companies like this have a ratio.. I.E.: for every One person that contacts them in some way, there's a percentage MORE people that DIDN'T write.. so EACH of our letters is actually representing MANY people IF we target the right place/person(s) to get our message to)

Quote:
Tomorrow I think that 11th will start a thread that lays out some of the things we need to be aware of when we do this. That'll go a long way towards allowing us to plan this.

That'll help immensely

Quote:
Someone asked, you or Marine I'm not sure which if there was a way to join this up with all Browncoats.. how would we let them know?

Wish I'd known sooner, We could have decided on some things and then I could have had business cards printed up to pass out at Dragon*Con.. that would have been a NICE start.. However, once we agree upon a format and place to have all the info (For future use also, more on that below), we can Have cards printed up and send them to Whoever is going to the "Next Big Con" a few hundred at a time to put on the "Cards table"... I can have that done, I can get my graphics people to make up a business Card template, and my printer can do most anything.

Just let me know what else needs to be done.. If *I* can't do it, I have people that CAN.

One thing I know we DO need to do is to keep the Effort in one or two convenient places so it's ALWAYS easy to find until we get finished with it, and someplace where we can send the people whose attention we get... ONE agreed upon page where the links to the other sites/efforts can be found.

If we can all agree on ONE place, then ALL future projects can be placed there also, which will keep us from wasting time reinventing the wheel each time we start a new project.
________________________
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:13 PM

GOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by bad2verse:
Universal is a MONSTER.. I "Followed the money", and the more I dug, the more pies I found their fingers in...

You do realize who Universal's corporate parent is, right? None other than GE who does just about everything from locomotives, water purification systems and MRI machines to aircraft leasing, credit cards (like American Eagle's credit card) and corporate finance. If you want to talk about monster corporations, GE will probably come up (The second biggest company in the world (1)).

When I was working for GE, I had access to their email database which included all the staff and permanent talent at NBC. Ahh, corporate behemoths...

(1) according to forbes 2006 list of the 2000 biggest companies: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/18/06f2k_The-Forbes-2000_Rank.html

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:14 PM

DRWILL

if you are concerned with spreading the word of your cause you might want to consider sending a representitive to the forums at www.redvsblue.com the home of a popular machinama series they have almost 500,000 members

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:20 PM

FOLLOWMAL

Quote:
Originally posted by DrWIll:
if you are concerned with spreading the word of your cause you might want to consider sending a representitive to the forums at www.redvsblue.com the home of a popular machinama series they have almost 500,000 members

Thanks for the tip. Made a note of that. Are you a member of this forum? Or do you know someone who is?

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:24 PM

FOLLOWMAL

Bad2Verse,

Quote:
If we can all agree on ONE place, then ALL future projects can be placed there also, which will keep us from wasting time reinventing the wheel each time we start a new project.

From now on all the projects will have their own thread or one final thread under the Guerilla Marketing Forum. We'll also have our guerilla marketing website up soon.

Good point about the cards. We'll have that squared away next time.

Thank you!

Ok, off to bed, I'm beat.. it's 3:30 a.m. here!
I'll try to answer some more questions tomorrow.

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:43 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:
From now on all the projects will have their own thread or one final thread under the Guerilla Marketing Forum. We'll also have our guerilla marketing website up soon.

Good point about the cards. We'll have that squared away next time. Thank you!

We may want to go one step further if we plan to do more of this in the future... I own several Servers around the country, and we can get a webname and park it on any one of them, with enough space so that "Whoever" can use it as a base of operation.. Piece of cake... Or we can link to a webspace from here, or whatever..

As you and several others have said, If we're gonna do this stuff, we need to be coordinated, and we need to have ALL of the different Fansite owners able to meet under one virtual roof so they can carry the word back to their various forums..

FFF.net seems to the Biggest and highest ranked in the search engines, so it is the logical place to do it... One unifying "Current projects" area, and then we can all spread the word to the various forum and site owners about the area, and maybe a private message board for all the heads of the various sites to meet and hash out our campaigns, then (again) each owner can carry the decided upon project back to their own forums..

MUCH easier than trying to herd thousands of people individually.. simply hand the info out to the top dogs of each site/forum from ONE main site/forum, and let them carry it home.

Then the FFF.net people are on the same page with the various browncoat orgs, Serenity orgs, etc etc etc... FFF.net is in a unique position to take the lead on this.

As far as the cards.. We need to stay within Copyright laws, so we'd have to decide on a graphic, and then give the web location on the card. I don't mind having the Cards made up and sending them out to whomever, once we have the "one project place" nailed down (If it is decided to go that route)...

Again, I have people that design our Logos on .AI or .PDF format (which is what most printers want, if you want to avoid a setup fee) that can polish up whatever is decided upon.

________________________
..but eatin people alive, where does THAT get fun?

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 10:57 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by goat:
You do realize who Universal's corporate parent is, right? None other than GE who does just about everything from locomotives, water purification systems and MRI machines to aircraft leasing, credit cards (like American Eagle's credit card) and corporate finance. If you want to talk about monster corporations, GE will probably come up (The second biggest company in the world (1)).
(Snip)

My Company handles MUCH of their Server maintenance and security here in the USA and abroad.. they have an in-house division for it, but they step outside of that division to make sure that their people are kept honest ("Once Root, Always Root", as the saying goes... and one of my Jobs is to make sure the various server people don't get tempted to go that route, OR go into areas where they shouldn't be).. You obviously know how compartmentalized they are, and how they try to keep one hand from knowing what the other is doing.

You might Say "GE" is "in the family" since I have Family that have been there YEARS, some are various VP's in charge of______ (Insert division).. My father retired as one of the VP's from their Turbine division on his 45th Birthday.. He's still got LOTS of pull and is a major shareholder.

GE is probably a bigger bite than we're prepared to take at this point, but if the idea is put in the right hands, It's not far fetched for a VP in Corporate to ask about an idea from a Child company... in fact it happens rather often. I'll talk to Dad and see what he says on the matter.. he stays in touch and semi-involved, but his major profession is (As Patience says) "Trout Fishing".. and he says if you do it right, the trout don't bother you at all.. I've known him to fish with no hook on his flies. ;)

We probably need to stay down a few rungs in the Film business, rather than go THAT far up the food chain.

________________________
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 11:06 PM

MALBADLATIN

World of Warcraft was developed by Blizzard, which is owned by Vivendi which happens to be.....

* MSNBC
* NBC
* Sci-Fi Channel
* USA Network
* Universal Studios
* Vivendi Universal
* Bravo
* Telemundo
* Universal Studios Theme Parks
* TRIO
* CNBC

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 11:20 PM

TDBROWN

Hi, y'all.

I'm TDBrown, the guy who started all this over on the serenitymovie.org Board. Kari, who hosts "The Signal", is a crewmember of mine there.

The whole point behind "The Anniversary Job" is it's simplicity. It's a "grass roots" effort to let Universal Pictures know that we're still out here, that we're grateful, and that we're ready for More.

"The Job" is three-fold:

1) Send snail mail to Universal a few days before Sept 30th, so that it will arrive as close to Saturday as possible. When addressing snail mail, make it c/o Mary Parent, or Attn: Mary Parent. She's the #2 over at Universal, and is responsible for Serenity being made in the first place. (Some have suggested the PR department; It's a thought)

2) send an e-mail to Universal's "contact us" address on the 30th. The idea for this is sheer Volume; It Will get their attention!

3) Have fun; watch the Movie or the Series with a Newbie on Saturday. Enjoy what we all Love, and recruit new Browncoats in the process! This can be as simple as a small party at your house, or as grandiose as renting a small theater venue. Use your imagination and Shindig like there's no tomorrow :)!

IMO, we shouldn't make this any more complicated than that.

Thanx for all your efforts! :) TD/Tim

ps: NBC is owned by the Ultimate Corporation: My Employer, General Electric. I build refrigerators for them in Bloomington, IN. Just one of the nameless faces...

GE is a Monster; a Net Worth of 90 Billion Dollars yearly. They'll never hear us at the top unless we shake the roots at the bottom.
*************************************************
"Done the impossible"? We're still doing it!

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 3:37 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Mary Parent is no longer with Universal, even though she probably has offices on their lot. She left the position she held with them shortly after the BDM was released (or shortly before, I can't recall), in order to start her own production company with a partner I also can't recall at the moment.

So, in order to appear "in the loop" so to speak, her name should not be on the envelopes anyone sends to Universal.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 3:39 AM

FOLLOWMAL

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Mary Parent is no longer with Universal, even though she probably has offices on their lot. She left the position she held with them shortly after the BDM was released (or shortly before, I can't recall), in order to start her own production company with a partner I also can't recall at the moment.

So, in order to appear "in the loop" so to speak, her name should not be on the envelopes anyone sends to Universal.
wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

Thank you ECGordon.. 11th Hour expressed concern with the " in the loop " thing too.

Appreciate that.

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:19 AM

DRWILL

i am a member yes

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:22 AM

FOLLOWMAL

Would you consider being our representative to that forum?

You could post about us and post our messages from the BSC.

If you'd be willing to?

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:32 AM

DRWILL

yeah i'll do it

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:37 AM

FOLLOWMAL

Excellent DrWIll!

Do you mind sending me your email address so that the head of the BSC ( Browncoat Signal Corps) can send you the posts when we send them out?

My address is followmal@gmail.com.

We very much appreciate this DrWIll. 500,000 people are a lot of folks.

I take it you like Firefly a lot? And Serenity?
Maybe some other folks over there are fans too.

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 9:49 AM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:
Bad2Verse,

Zengrrl, is right. Exactly.

In her letter back to me she stressed some things. If we're gonna do this, we have to try to do it right. We start with making sure we have the right address to send to. We'd all look pretty foolish if we didn't know which one was the right one. You seem like just the person to perhaps find out. Would you like to try to find that out for me?

Universal Presidents of Production are Donna Langley and Jon Gordon, who oversee all development and creative aspects of production.

There's also Rick Finkelstein, Jimmy Horowitz and Michael Joe who work under Chairman Marc Shmuger and co-chairman David Linde.

But it looks like, if we want the person that filled Mary Parent's Shoes (Along with her partner, Jon Gordon) it would be Donna Langley.

Mary Parent and Jon Gordon Signed on to a 7 year contract, their first two years were to get the 2005/2006 movies out the door (Which they did) and then were slated to move into a joint production venture under Universal... that was percolating along just fine, and then for some reason Jon Gordon ended up staying with his slot, but with Donna Langley.

So, The Correct Addy, Assuming we want the people responsible for FUTURE productions is:

Universal Pictures
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

Attn: Donna Langley

OR If we want to thank someone that was involved in the Serenity Release and is STILL in a production position (Along with Donna Langley) we can make letters Attn: Jon Gordon

I have two schools of thought on that route... Jon May not be in a position to do anything other than relay our thanks to Mary Parent (He's still in contact with her on a regular basis)... but If we make letters ATTN: Donna Langley then we'll have fresh eyes that may be able to influence a future production of another BDM, AND she is also in touch with Mary Parent (but not as Often as Jon) and can relay our Thanks.

The first thing Donna Langley will do is pull up the records for "Serenity" and look at the Short review and how much it made (And most production execs only looks at the first two week's income gross), but with letters coming in "en masse" she may look at the total numbers and the fact that sales of the move on DVD are actually increasing still.

So there it is, Ya'll can make the call on who we write to...

That is the Gospel as of August 29th 2006... But things at Universal are VERY fluid and can change fast because General Electric seems to take a personal interest in these matters (Execs love to play with their toys). AND Universal is bad about making plans and not telling anyone.. They knew when Mary and Jon were put in place with their 7 year contract that they'd only ACTUALLY serve TWO years, but didn't want people looking at them as "We don't need to pay attention to them, they won't be here long", so they didn't tell anyone about their plan to move them after two years... and no one seems to be talking about why Jon bailed out of the move, or IF he even bailed out at all.. some think he may be doing BOTH jobs (Working with Donna AND Mary, and you can't get a straight answer out of him).

There ya go.. more info about the inner workings of Universal than anyone EVER probably wanted to know ;)

________________________
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Thursday, August 31, 2006 9:58 AM

FOLLOWMAL

OK, I just gotta know.. how do you find out these things?

I'll direct 11th Hour to your post. She wanted us to be very precise about this, so we are current and not "out of the loop" as mentioned above.

Thank you for your research, Bad2Verse.

We'll be talking more.

Hoping to still have those threads started for new folks and a q an a done before the day is out.

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 10:40 AM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:

OK, I just gotta know.. how do you find out these things?
(Snip)

I'm twice retired, and still have my hands in a LOT of pies (But not nearly as many as General Electric does ;)

Plus I network with people all over the planet on a daily basis in my current businesses. Usually I either know somebody, or know somebody that knows somebody that can get whatever Info/Intel is needed. In This case it was easy to get since I know a few people from GE that handle that part of their holdings for GE.

You can do a google search, but about all you get is outdated news, and I know we needed the most up to date info since Universal is so fluid with GE taking a "Personal Interest in it's direction"... So I just went as high up the food chain as I could last night, and then verified the pertinent info with a Phone call to Universal early this afternoon. Piece of cake.

________________________
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Thursday, August 31, 2006 11:07 AM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by MalBadLatin:
World of Warcraft was developed by Blizzard, which is owned by Vivendi which happens to be.....
(Snip)

Vivendi is a 20% shareholder of Universal, with General Electric being the other 80%..

Like I said, When you start making flow charts out of who owns what in the entertainment industry, it looks more like a bush. And they try to further add to the confusion with obscure tiles that ONLY make sense in the entertainment industry.. We'd THINK that "president of Productions" would be "Top dog", but it's actually 3 rungs DOWN the ladder (Not counting the GE/Vivendi associations).

They also confuse the issue with Holding companies, and using Initials rather than full names, and full names elsewhere...

Once you start tugging the thread to unravel it, it's a LONG and knotted thread ;)

________________________
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Thursday, August 31, 2006 12:24 PM

TDBROWN

Thank you for the address update. It might not be a bad idea to make letters ATTN: Donna Langley & Jon Gordon...

A Sneaky way of making sure it gets to at least ONE of them ! :)

As soon as serenitymovie.org is up and running again, I'll get that address correction out to my "troops".

Thanx again! :) TD/Tim

---- "Done the impossible"? We're still Doing it!----

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 1:26 PM

JTSKIER1200R

Bad2Verse,

I have to say that I am amazed at all the info you were able to collect. Thank you! I always felt strange writing letters about Firefy when I had no idea I had the correct address. I really appreciate all of your work. You are a huge asset to this community - I hope you will keep up the fight with us!

On that same note, do you know who to write at Sci-Fi? Is it even worth writing them? Save Stargate has found the following contact info, is it any good for Firefly?

FAO: Bonnie Hammer, President
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel
Fax: (212) 664-3890
Tel: (212) 664-4444

FAO: Mark Stern, Executive VP Original Programming
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel
Tel: (818) 777-1000

Thanks again for all of your help! Id love to hear your thoughts on which networks are the most likely to put Firefly back on air and which we should contact. (Please dont say its hopeless...because doing the impossible makes us mighty.)

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 4:22 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by jtskier1200r:
Bad2Verse,

(Snip)(Please dont say its hopeless...because doing the impossible makes us mighty.)

"Hopeless"? Is that even a real word? If so it shouldn't be!!!! ;)

Facta Non Verba - DEEDS, Not Words.

I'll work on it when I get back from Dragon*Con Because I have a feeling Sci-fi is going to be an important part of this overall campaign...

11th Hour has some Great threads in the Guerilla Marketing section... I wouldn't doubt that She moves this thread over there also..

Once we ALL get on the same page, headed in the same direction, and establish representitives from all the other fansites, "No power in the 'verse can stop us". FFF.net is in a great position to lead the way on anything Firefly related!

One project at a time, or multiple projects at a time... we're up to it!!!!!

Also folks, Keep in mind that people from the Networks WILL be strolling around (Mostly unnoticed) at Dragon*Con, And F*X is supposed to be switching back and forth from their studios to the *con and Back.. So make SURE your Serenity/Firefly Gear is IN FRONT of the Cameras!!!! T-Shirts, Costumes, Whatever.. Get it in front of the cameras, and in front of the Execs milling around in the crowd.

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Thursday, August 31, 2006 5:50 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by jtskier1200r:
Bad2Verse,
On that same note, do you know who to write at Sci-Fi? Is it even worth writing them? Save Stargate has found the following contact info, is it any good for Firefly?

FAO: Bonnie Hammer, President
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel
Fax: (212) 664-3890
Tel: (212) 664-4444

(snip)
Thanks again for all of your help!

"Before you deal with a person, UNDERSTAND the person, get inside their head"

So first step is to talk to someone that knows the person... So I put out feelers to friends...

Heard back from a friend about Bonnie Hammer already.. She's in charge of USA as well as Sci-fi... In fact she only took over Sci-fi with the understanding that she got to keep her hands in USA... USA is her baby... But When she talks, the execs listen because Universal hasn't been doing exactly great lately, and USA and Sci-fi have been responsible for more than a third of their total income... Both under her direction... So she's almost single handedly propping up the group, and they know it.

She's the one that canceled Farscape, and she took a LOT of heat from fans about that decision.. She's very "Female" and seems to be trying to gain more of a female Audience at Sci-fi... Which is one of the reasons Farscape was canceled, since it was (wrongly) viewed as having an almost totally male demographic (Another "Neilsen failing", as I discussed previously... Lots of Females watched it also, but she didn't know that at the time.. fans proved it to her by having the women send her their Bras.. she got THOUSANDS of bras.. WRONG THING TO DO, but I'll discuss that in a sec..)

She was one of the factors that caused "Starbuck" to be a woman in the BSG series remake... she wanted it to bring more females to the channel (Which it's done).

But that's also good business sense, for reasons I won't go into detail on here, but suffice it to say, the advertisers they draw seem to think women spend more money on their products.

Anyway, She seems to be more interested in hearing from the Females about shows, especially on sci-fi, since "Sci-fi" is seen as a "Male Genre" and her pet project seems to be to change that..

So to get to Bonnie, Rule of thumb, "Female is better".

The Angle needs to be "This will help draw females to Sci-fi"...

So if you're starting any campaigns directed at Sci-fi, She's the go-to person.. of course her mail is screened, BUT AGAIN, female letters talking about Sci-fi have a better chance of actually making it to her desk... Especially if the letter is from someone in the 29-50 year old demographic (Hey, we have disposable income, and we spend it)

Whatever is done, DO NOT make it a contest or confrontational.. She's one of those "I WILL Win" types, Which is why Farscape is sitting dead in the water.. the fans took the wrong tack with her... They didn't do their homework and study her first.. a mistake WE shouldn't make.

But she does like Other strong confident females. She DOES NOT like the "Timid little females". So letters need to be strong, Polite, and confident.

Still waiting to hear back about Mark Stern, "Personally".. I discussed him slightly in this thread already, but I haven't yet "Gotten inside his head"... But I will ;)

(ETA) I see I DIDN'T discuss Mark Stern in this thread, That was a discussion with someone else Via E-mail.. sorry.. more as *I* get it though.)
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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 6:31 PM

KURYA

i think that in terms of writing to Sci fi, we should first focus our efforts to universal. One mission, one goal, keep it simple. Its not a demand for more sequels, but rather a big THANK YOU for making serenity and how much we appreciate it, and the fanbase is still active and if they ever decide to make more, the fanbase will not be going anywhere....

If we want to send stuff to Sci Fi, maybe we can make that the next mission, after sept 30th. Maybe Dec 20th, the release of Serenity DVD maybe... or whatever.. just right now lets concentrate on Universal... I honestly think thats the best, although my opinion dont count for much, since Im no bigwhig
Prakash

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 6:36 PM

REDRIVER

how 'bout we all go back home to Canada?
here we have a nice little tv channel called Space. is it tied to Univ. too?

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 6:48 PM

CHINDI

Hey Bad2... uhm... can I have one of those interesting little business cards?? The silver colored one...

Chindi (ten of those and I can take a vacation....)

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 7:09 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by kurya:
i think that in terms of writing to Sci fi, we should first focus our efforts to universal. One mission, one goal, keep it simple. Its not a demand for more sequels, but rather a big THANK YOU for making serenity and how much we appreciate it, and the fanbase is still active and if they ever decide to make more, the fanbase will not be going anywhere.

I think that's the general idea we've been pushing in these threads, "Thank You", not "Demands".. Demands don't work with Bonnie Hammer (Ask the Farscape Crowd).

Sci-Fi IS Universal.. Universal is their parent company... USA and Sci-Fi make up over 1/3 of Universal's profit each quarter right now (which is IMPRESSIVE since Universal has a LOT of other "children" which have been partially listed in this thread (I think it's in this thread)) USA and Sci-fi are propping up the rest of Universal DIRECTLY because of Bonnie Hammer... She runs USA and Sci-fi... When Ms. Hammer Speaks, Universal LISTENS.

So basically, Either/or/or-BOTH campaigns will end up getting the attention of Universal.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 7:12 PM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by Chindi:
Hey Bad2... uhm... can I have one of those interesting little business cards?? The silver colored one...

Chindi (ten of those and I can take a vacation....)

You take EXPENSIVE Vacations, I spent less than that for 7 days on a cruise ship, in their best suites, in the Southern Caribbean late last year ;)

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 7:56 PM

CHINDI

Quote:

You take EXPENSIVE Vacations, I spent less than that for 7 days on a cruise ship, in their best suites, in the Southern Caribbean late last year ;)

well... DUH!? lol... a gal can dream.. one trip around the world... or maybe every con for the next three years.. or ah heck.. passage on a firefly????

Chindi

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 7:48 PM

JTSKIER1200R

Bad2Verse,

You amaze me...I know you told us how you do it, but I still cant believe that you can actually get information like that. It blows my mind. Please, please, please stay around. HAving you here makes any work we put into helping Firefly 5x more valuable because you can help us focus our efforts into valuable projects.

One more question: Im not sure if you can answer this, but I thought maybe you could have a contact who could. Do projects such as having everybody send pinecones (I think Save Everwood did this) to a certain exec work? It is memorable to have 1000 pinecones show up in one day, but does it just make the execs mad? Is there some publicity stunt like this that would actually impress them in a good way?

Along the same lines, would an ad in Variety be worth the money we spend?

Again, I know you cant answer every question, but these are some of the bigger projects I have heard being thrown around. I also understand that you cant use your contacts too much, but, I thought I would ask and leave it up to your judgment.

Thanks!

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 1:51 AM

BAD2VERSE

Quote:
Originally posted by jtskier1200r:
Bad2Verse,

One more question: Im not sure if you can answer this, but I thought maybe you could have a contact who could. Do projects such as having everybody send pinecones (I think Save Everwood did this) to a certain exec work? Thanks!

It doesn't seem to work, because they have Mailrooms, and it Varies WIDELY between companies what they WILL and WILL NOT like.

For Example, Sending Bonnie Hammer (USA and Sci-fi Divisions) thousands of Bras was NOT a good idea.. the Farscape crowd went 180 degrees in the WRONG direction in handling Ms. Hammer.

MOST Big Businesses have codes that they ask employees to put on the Envelope, or even "Internal addresses" rather than the public ones so "important mail" can get right through.

Some Execs LIKE to see ALL the fan mail, Bonnie Hammer started out that way, she opened literally thousands of packages with bras in them.. but soon after that she started having the Universal mail rooms divert that kind of stuff.

The mail rooms open the "Generic mail" and check it for anything dangerous, and then (depending on the exec) send the item on up, or diverts it to An assistant, "trash" or "Storage" or even "Security".

Usually fan mail is simply opened, checked, and then sent on to the person it's intended for, and winds up on an assistant's desk.

In the case of a hate mail campaign, they divert mail to the garbage, or to their security department.

And usually ALL letters and packages that make it to the exec's office is handled by an assistant (to be further weeded), and the ones that actually make it ALL the way to an exec, just get skimmed because the exec is so busy (Which is why we've been asking people to keep the letters short).

Our letter writing campaign is designed SPECIFICALLY to get past the mail room sorters, and to get the assistant, who will hopefully actually put the letters on Ms. Hammer's (or Donna Langley's, if writing to Universal's Movie division) Desk.

90% of it is simply knowing WHAT they WANT to see, and giving it to them, and keeping it SHORT while getting the point across fast.. also saying "No Reply Necessary" helps, because usually an assistant has to send you back a form letter otherwise, which costs them a LOT of time and money.

It really just depends on the company, the exec's likes and dislikes, Company policies, etc.. it varies widely.

If you can give me an exact campaign idea, and WHO it's going to, I can easily find out what that person likes and doesn't, whether they read mail, or simply "Let the mail room handle it", or have an assistant handle it.

Basically, the more specific your question is, the more specific my answer can be.

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