AVS Forum banner

Feel sorry for studios?

9K views 122 replies 44 participants last post by  Rob Tomlin 
#1 ·
Am I the only one getting fed-up with hearing the studios whine about profits and withholding diverse content? I levy this complaint at both SD and HD releasing strategies.


I recently just bought a second-volume boxed-set of experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger's work lovingly restored ($29), A terrific 3-disk anthology of rare nitrate-film obscurities from 1900-1942 called SAVED FROM THE FLAMES ($49.96), and killer restoration of the 1922 NOSFERATU with tons of extras and a eighty-page book ($39). While at the same time I heard Warner Brothers was disappointed in the sales of a box-set of POPEYE ($64.98) cartoons the released summer, and it may hinder the release of a second set.


What does any of this have to do with anything? My point is that I frankly getting pretty weary of studios crying about sales on this sort of venture, when there are many smaller labels dealing in very obscure material that must be seeing a profit or they couldn't hang in there. I loved the Popeye box, and I'll venture it sold fifty-fold what some Kino silent, or Criterion Collection DVD of experimental shorts, yet to hear the studios tell it, you'd swear it was putting them in the poorhouse to put this stuff out.


It kind of makes me wonder when I hear all the major studio's whine about how they are disappointed with sales on vintage titles on SD and HD, and threaten us with only offering it in no-frills downloads, yet, here there is still specialized content, released by dinky labels, with no where near the infrastructure to deliver it that the major's enjoy springing up all over the place.



You can argue that they have to go through the task of restoration an HD mastering, but it was my understanding they are doing so for TV syndication packages anyway, and the DVDs an HDM are yet another way to earn some revenue.
 
See less See more
#103 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by whippersnapper /forum/post/13007252


Seriously, you can contribute (your money) to a number of groups dedicated to saving old films. A quick GOOGLE search will help you find such worthy groups. That's a first step.

The vast majority of movies have not fallen into the public domain and are not available for restoration. For the most part the movie catalogs are held firmly by the studios even if that means they sit on 100s or 1000s of movies for years or decades. If they opened up access to catalog titles for licensing, perhaps in auction then the scenario you suggest could actually work. However that is not the case.
 
#104 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by user4avsforum /forum/post/13033518


The vast majority of movies have not fallen into the public domain and are not available for restoration. For the most part the movie catalogs are held firmly by the studios even if that means they sit on 100s or 1000s of movies for years or decades. If they opened up access to catalog titles for licensing, perhaps in auction then the scenario you suggest could actually work. However that is not the case.

Agreed, I'm not really getting the scorn some people have for older films, it as if they want to see them languish just because they are uninterested or unwilling to partake of anything that's outside of their realm.
 
#105 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by user4avsforum /forum/post/13033518


The vast majority of movies have not fallen into the public domain and are not available for restoration. For the most part the movie catalogs are held firmly by the studios even if that means they sit on 100s or 1000s of movies for years or decades. If they opened up access to catalog titles for licensing, perhaps in auction then the scenario you suggest could actually work. However that is not the case.

Say a loud and resounding 'thanks' to your corrupt lawmakers - American copyright laws are BEYOND RIDICULOUS. It's never intended to be this extremely excessive, let alone this long lasting 'protection' - it's purely the end result of the studios' money (a.k.a. parasites).

FYI: US Congress has extended the term of existing copyrights 11 times in the past 40 years. Last time it was extended by another 20 years (a.k.a. Mickey Mouse Protection Act of 1998) and you bet in 2018 they will get ANOTHER extension (well, if they will be around at all - hopefully they will be long gone by then, no need for middleman, as most studios are mostly giant parasitic corporations with zero creative role.)

In other words don't expect any of those catalog movies to move into the public domain anytime soon...

PS: a shocking and still relevant 2001 article about the surreal world of US copyright laws: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/30/op...b26f5f&ei=5070
 
#106 ·
Looks like the "classics won't come to HDM!" argument, especially for Warner, was once again shut down. Last night Warner announced "Gone With the Wind", "North by Northwest", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Woodstock" for Blu-ray, as well as a modern classic in the form of a Dirty Harry Box Set that includes "Dirty Harry", "Magnum Force", "The Enforcer", "Sudden Impact", and "Dead Pool".
 
#108 ·
#109 ·
Check The Digital Bits' most recent post from the Warner 85th Anniversary press event that went on last night:
Quote:
The Dirty Harry promotion will include the Dirty Harry: 2-Disc Special Edition, the Magnum Force: Deluxe Edition, The Enforcer: Deluxe Edition, the Sudden Impact: Deluxe Edition and the Dead Pool: Deluxe Edition. All five films will also be included in a Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector's Edition box set (available in DVD, Blu-ray and HD-DVD), which will also feature the Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows bonus disc.
Quote:
Finally, studio reps revealed that 4 major catalog titles (The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Woodstock and North by Northwest) are all soon going on moratorium. The good news is, each will reappear in 2009 in day-and-date DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases, complete with stunning new high-definition restorations to celebrate their own individual anniversaries.
 
#112 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by markrubin /forum/post/13007536


Feel sorry for the studios?


Aren't they the ones who have given us Copy Protection for both audio and video and the promise of downrezzing unless you use the HDMI interface which is a connectivity nightmare?

Is there a studio who is enforcing "downrezzing" unless you use the HDMI interface?
 
#113 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin /forum/post/13050506


Is there a studio who is enforcing "downrezzing" unless you use the HDMI interface?

Well, all of them if you count the unpublished but widely known rules of going straight to HDMI-only on PC's. And there the audio is downrezzed also, always. And in 2010 (2011?) all new players must do HDMI video only. I think that date is also the end of the current informal moratorium on ICT but I never seem to remember those dates.


Not to mention the restriction that the studios claim you cannot even legally upscale DVD above 480p without using HDMI.


- Tom
 
#114 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by trbarry /forum/post/13050782


Well, all of them if you count the unpublished but widely known rules of going straight to HDMI-only on PC's. And there the audio is downrezzed also, always. And in 2010 (2011?) all new players must do HDMI video only. I think that date is also the end of the current informal moratorium on ICT but I never seem to remember those dates.


Not to mention the restriction that the studios claim you cannot even legally upscale DVD above 480p without using HDMI.


- Tom

Tom, for clarification I was referring specifically to Blu-ray and HD DVD. As far as I know, you can use component and still feed the display 1080i (at least), correct? And analog audio connections would still get you lossless sound (assuming an LPCM track), correct?
 
#115 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by JBlacklow /forum/post/13034918


Looks like the "classics won't come to HDM!" argument, especially for Warner, was once again shut down. Last night Warner announced "Gone With the Wind", "North by Northwest", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Woodstock" for Blu-ray, as well as a modern classic in the form of a Dirty Harry Box Set that includes "Dirty Harry", "Magnum Force", "The Enforcer", "Sudden Impact", and "Dead Pool".

This is excellent news. And that's just one studio. Even with modest penetration numbers, it looks like we'll see some of the true gems of the Warner catalog.
 
#116 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin /forum/post/13051027


Tom, for clarification I was referring specifically to Blu-ray and HD DVD. As far as I know, you can use component and still feed the display 1080i (at least), correct? And analog audio connections would still get you lossless sound (assuming an LPCM track), correct?

With the ict flag enabled on a disc the video output is downrezzed if there is no hdmi connected or if there is a hdmi device connected that is not hdcp compliant.


Studio's have stated that they intend not to use the ICT flag.

But once the analog hole is exploited by pirates that could change.
 
#117 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Timothy Ramzyk /forum/post/13025275


So your telling me Kino is selling over 1500 copies of a DVD of some third-tier silent comedian's shorts, or a collection of silent Avant Garde films from the 20's? Somehow I doubt this.

Your taste is even more eclectic. I did say some releases are done out of goodwill and may not turn a profit.



Some authors pay to get their books published and don't break even. Some bands create CDs and don't break even. Such gestures of goodwill are rare. Studios do release the occasional Battle of the Bulge, and presumably noone there likely have any illusion of breaking even there, but they do it for strategic reasons (my guess).
 
#118 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Derks /forum/post/13051679



Studio's have stated that they intend not to use the ICT flag.

And that was the direct answer to my question.
 
#119 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin /forum/post/13059264


And that was the direct answer to my question.

I think the more complete answer is studios have stated they will not use the ICT flag before 2010 or perhaps 2012, after the analog sunset on new players.


- Tom
 
#120 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Neo1965 /forum/post/13052393


Your taste is even more eclectic. I did say some releases are done out of goodwill and may not turn a profit.



Some authors pay to get their books published and don't break even. Some bands create CDs and don't break even. Such gestures of goodwill are rare. Studios do release the occasional Battle of the Bulge, and presumably noone there likely have any illusion of breaking even there, but they do it for strategic reasons (my guess).


Sorry, but I think because this content doesn't interest you, your unaware that there are whole labels which specialize in it, they aren't vanity presses, charities, or eccentric philanthropists. They are literally labels that have learned to make a profit of of vintage and "art-house releases.


Here are but a few (with links)
KINO
BFI
Eureka! / Masters of Cinema
Criterion
Flicker Alley
VCI
Facets
Synapse
Milestone

BCI Eclipse
Hen's Tooth
Dark Sky
Image
Blue Underground
Media Blasters
First Run Features
Mondo Maccabro
zeitgeist films
 
#121 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Timothy Ramzyk /forum/post/13063007


Sorry, but I think because this content doesn't interest you, your unaware that there are whole labels which specialize in it, they aren't vanity presses, charities, or eccentric philanthropists. They are literally labels that have learned to make a profit of of vintage and "art-house releases.


Here are but a few (with links)
KINO
BFI
Eureka! / Masters of Cinema
Criterion
Flicker Alley
VCI
Facets
Synapse
Milestone

BCI Eclipse
Hen's Tooth
Dark Sky
Image
Blue Underground
Media Blasters
First Run Features
Mondo Maccabro
zeitgeist films

It will be great when (if?) these companies start releasing on Blu-ray, especially Criterion.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top