Pimpage: Evil Genius has part one of a podcast interview I did with them about 4GM and the Global Frequency situation. Download here in both BitTorrent and Mp3.
I took a good listen tonight John and it was very informative and sparked a few storms in the frontal lobes. I agree that studios aren't in the business to be innovative, but they are in the business to manage properties and brands they already own. This is a new market for them to explore/ploit.
But again, it's going to take an entrepeneur to blaze a trail toward true subscription TV/DVD. I think the idea of content on DVD available via subscription is a good one. It works for a couple of specialty DVD Magazines.
Couldn't there be a model for both box sets and Syndication where a show is release as one or more discs at the beginning of the year and is later shown on TV?
Money could be made from the DVD and then further income from airing the episodes on Sci-Fi/Comedy Central/local TV stations as a syndicated show. The re-airing of Firefly on Sci-Fi hints at this idea.
Or maybe Netflix and TiVo need to become content creators...
Nice work on that Show I've Never Seen by the way.
So... that cuts off just as you start to get animated doesn't it?
If I had millions of pounds/dollars/euros, whatever, I'd be a content creator right now and I'd step in and take advantage of the gap in the distribution market. Someone out there must have both money and... cahones. Then again I wish someone like that existed and I was best friends with them since I have more stories in my head than I'll be able to type before typing becomes obsolete.
That's not what I'm here to say. I was looking at a DVD I got with the Scottish Daily Mail and for the first time noticed a curious thing. Oh, it should be noted, it's a free DVD I got with the newspaper that contains 4 episodes of "The West Wing" with the disclaimer on the back, "This disc is for sales/publicity use only and not for rental, sale or public demonstration." (DVD by mail, it already exists... even if it's the Daily Mail and not postal mail.) The two episodes from the end of season 4 you can watch happily but the two from the start of season five have codes which were given in the paper on subsequent days. You type in the code when you run the DVD and you get to see that episode. There's a nice space on the back of the disc to write down your codes so you don't forget them. Nice way to sell a couple of extra newspapers. Instead of only increasing sales on the day of the promotion, you add a catch and get a couple more. Also, in a defacto way they get to control the earliest date you can watch the shows. (Unless you stick it in your computer and bypass the code thing by clicking past the code entry screen on your playlist.)
It seems companies are already using all kinds of distribution schemes, but only for promotion of previously released materials. There is a seemingly endless supply of viable models. Let's play with analogies.
We were young once, we ate with our parents. We would sit at the table and they would talk to us giving us ideas on the world in the way they thought we should learn it. We got our food for free at this time.
Rich kids, whose parents were working all the time, got fed by their servants who, being employed by us, only served us what we asked for out of the available options, which were greater than whatever mum and dad felt like cooking tonight, but were still limited by what the servants could cook. They took over the message giving, but at least the food was better. The super-rich kids hired mute servants.
Then we grew into rebellious teenagers. We wore headphones at the table, skipping the messages our parents tried to give us. Some of us (heaven forbid) even stole food from the table and went to eat it in our rooms, storing some in tupperware for later consumption. Using this method it was possible to take some of the food our rich neighbours servants had prepared, for free, which was wrong, but tasted so right.
We knew this was wrong and looked for alternatives we could afford, which weren't there.
Finally, in our poor neighbourhood a new store opened selling ready meals. For a price, all the hassle was gone along with those messages we didn't want to listen to anymore. Sure, sometimes grandad's stories were funny, but not often enough. Of course ready meals were only available as meals we'd already tried at the table, and we stuck to the ones we knew we liked.
So that's where we are. Teenagers.
But you know what we still can't get, and I'm sure everyone wants the option of? Good, cheap pizza, with countless toppings, delivered straight to our doors any time of the day or night. If it's cheap enough you can experiment, and buy packs of your favouites in store. Certain flavours could be free tasters... All we'd need is an endless stack of tupperware and really good preservatives... okay the analogy has a few flaws... some flaws... many flaws... I mean your pizza shop and your store, when you go there to pick up your meals you'd kind of be buying a lifetime subscription to that flavour or the DVD analogy ... you get the idea.
I liked the iTunes analogy. Why doesn't Warner's toss ALL of the pilot's they don't pick-up and sell the downloads for $9.99? Hell, toss in a printout that can be used as the dvd case cover. Make back some of the money spent on the pilot, and the sales figure makes for some pretty solid marketing info.
What you're talking about 3 is pulp - cost effectively produced entertainment for the masses. Delivered to your door, mailbox or in this case, computer.
How about a Netflix exclusive release for a program? Delivered to your door when you want it. What about Coke or Pepsi putting a 3 minute commercial at the beginning of the program, (similar to what was done when Ford sponsored 24) but on the DVD? Have DVD-R content that takes you to the website to win free stuff. Or better yet, get the frickin' GAME COMPANIES to put demos on the DVD's so kids can play the demos on the PS3's. They have the $$$ to do something like that and it dovetails the whole GF audience.
I'm going to guess that John's been busy and that's why he'd missed my emails, begging for an interview (I know it's not personal... it took about a month to get Bruce Campbell on the show!)
I just thought it was wild that I was trying to get ahold of him about a week or so after I'd gotten permission from Ellis to read one of his old essays on the show, so I thought the timing was serendipitous.
Glad some of you liked the interview. Part two has just been published. 3, you are right that it cut off right as it was on the corner of getting crazy. Now the craziness is available for all.
8 comments:
I took a good listen tonight John and it was very informative and sparked a few storms in the frontal lobes. I agree that studios aren't in the business to be innovative, but they are in the business to manage properties and brands they already own. This is a new market for them to explore/ploit.
But again, it's going to take an entrepeneur to blaze a trail toward true subscription TV/DVD. I think the idea of content on DVD available via subscription is a good one. It works for a couple of specialty DVD Magazines.
Couldn't there be a model for both box sets and Syndication where a show is release as one or more discs at the beginning of the year and is later shown on TV?
Money could be made from the DVD and then further income from airing the episodes on Sci-Fi/Comedy Central/local TV stations as a syndicated show. The re-airing of Firefly on Sci-Fi hints at this idea.
Or maybe Netflix and TiVo need to become content creators...
Nice work on that Show I've Never Seen by the way.
So... that cuts off just as you start to get animated doesn't it?
If I had millions of pounds/dollars/euros, whatever, I'd be a content creator right now and I'd step in and take advantage of the gap in the distribution market. Someone out there must have both money and... cahones. Then again I wish someone like that existed and I was best friends with them since I have more stories in my head than I'll be able to type before typing becomes obsolete.
That's not what I'm here to say. I was looking at a DVD I got with the Scottish Daily Mail and for the first time noticed a curious thing. Oh, it should be noted, it's a free DVD I got with the newspaper that contains 4 episodes of "The West Wing" with the disclaimer on the back, "This disc is for sales/publicity use only and not for rental, sale or public demonstration." (DVD by mail, it already exists... even if it's the Daily Mail and not postal mail.) The two episodes from the end of season 4 you can watch happily but the two from the start of season five have codes which were given in the paper on subsequent days. You type in the code when you run the DVD and you get to see that episode. There's a nice space on the back of the disc to write down your codes so you don't forget them. Nice way to sell a couple of extra newspapers. Instead of only increasing sales on the day of the promotion, you add a catch and get a couple more. Also, in a defacto way they get to control the earliest date you can watch the shows. (Unless you stick it in your computer and bypass the code thing by clicking past the code entry screen on your playlist.)
It seems companies are already using all kinds of distribution schemes, but only for promotion of previously released materials. There is a seemingly endless supply of viable models. Let's play with analogies.
We were young once, we ate with our parents. We would sit at the table and they would talk to us giving us ideas on the world in the way they thought we should learn it. We got our food for free at this time.
Rich kids, whose parents were working all the time, got fed by their servants who, being employed by us, only served us what we asked for out of the available options, which were greater than whatever mum and dad felt like cooking tonight, but were still limited by what the servants could cook. They took over the message giving, but at least the food was better. The super-rich kids hired mute servants.
Then we grew into rebellious teenagers. We wore headphones at the table, skipping the messages our parents tried to give us. Some of us (heaven forbid) even stole food from the table and went to eat it in our rooms, storing some in tupperware for later consumption. Using this method it was possible to take some of the food our rich neighbours servants had prepared, for free, which was wrong, but tasted so right.
We knew this was wrong and looked for alternatives we could afford, which weren't there.
Finally, in our poor neighbourhood a new store opened selling ready meals. For a price, all the hassle was gone along with those messages we didn't want to listen to anymore. Sure, sometimes grandad's stories were funny, but not often enough. Of course ready meals were only available as meals we'd already tried at the table, and we stuck to the ones we knew we liked.
So that's where we are. Teenagers.
But you know what we still can't get, and I'm sure everyone wants the option of? Good, cheap pizza, with countless toppings, delivered straight to our doors any time of the day or night. If it's cheap enough you can experiment, and buy packs of your favouites in store. Certain flavours could be free tasters... All we'd need is an endless stack of tupperware and really good preservatives... okay the analogy has a few flaws... some flaws... many flaws... I mean your pizza shop and your store, when you go there to pick up your meals you'd kind of be buying a lifetime subscription to that flavour or the DVD analogy ... you get the idea.
I liked the iTunes analogy. Why doesn't Warner's toss ALL of the pilot's they don't pick-up and sell the downloads for $9.99?
Hell, toss in a printout that can be used as the dvd case cover.
Make back some of the money spent on the pilot, and the sales figure makes for some pretty solid marketing info.
What you're talking about 3 is pulp - cost effectively produced entertainment for the masses. Delivered to your door, mailbox or in this case, computer.
How about a Netflix exclusive release for a program? Delivered to your door when you want it. What about Coke or Pepsi putting a 3 minute commercial at the beginning of the program, (similar to what was done when Ford sponsored 24) but on the DVD? Have DVD-R content that takes you to the website to win free stuff. Or better yet, get the frickin' GAME COMPANIES to put demos on the DVD's so kids can play the demos on the PS3's. They have the $$$ to do something like that and it dovetails the whole GF audience.
All it takes is one...
I know the Dragon Page has been trying to get an interview with you as well. Any chance we'll be hearing you on there?
I'm going to guess that John's been busy and that's why he'd missed my emails, begging for an interview (I know it's not personal... it took about a month to get Bruce Campbell on the show!)
I just thought it was wild that I was trying to get ahold of him about a week or so after I'd gotten permission from Ellis to read one of his old essays on the show, so I thought the timing was serendipitous.
Summer
Producer, Dragon Page Radio Talk Shows
Glad some of you liked the interview. Part two has just been published. 3, you are right that it cut off right as it was on the corner of getting crazy. Now the craziness is available for all.
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