How will the disastrous economy affect the release of new catalog titles? (1 Viewer)

[Ockeghem]

I mentioned in another thread that I just picked up two box sets of the U.K. editions of VOY for less than $100 (including shipping) from Amazon.co.uk. I wonder why the prices of these boxed sets were approximately L23? They were around L50-60 not too long ago. I believe that this was quite a good deal.

 

[RickER]

Scott, you might have seen a similar deal on Trek in the States too. I got season 4 and 5 of TNG, and the 3 TOS sets for less than $25 a season on Amazon this last summer.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Warner but out two new box sets last Tuesday (The Homefront Collection and Classic Holiday Collection Vol. 2) and one the Tuesday before that (Gangsters Vol. 4)! All are filled with first time on DVD titles.

Regards,

 

[CineKarine]

Throughout history, people have always turned, in difficult times, to escapism, often in the form of nostalgia. It's a totally natural reaction - finding comfort in the past. If it's still true today, it could mean very good things in terms of catalog title releases.

 

[Ockeghem]

Rick,

Nice deal, eh? It's really good that the prices have come down as much as they have. Now only if the price of the ENT season sets would come down a smidge ... or two.

 

[Louis Letizia]

I do not think it's the struggling economy that is affecting the catalog market but, rather, the indifference of the 30 year old and under crowd to any movie not made post 1982. I have twentysomething nieces and nephews-all film buffs like myself-who I cannot convince to watch great 70's films such as DOG DAY AFTERNOON TAXI DRIVER and especially NASHVILLE (they all said they tried) . about the only pre 1982 movies they like are JAWS, STAR WARS and only recently when they got married, THE GODFATHER (the sense of family hit home after they thirsted after THE SOPRANOS).When THE EXORCIST was rereleased to theaters they were scared out of their wits -but, they also thought it was a "new" movie!
The truth of the matter is that the youth today do not embrace the favorite films of their parents, nor their television programs(thus the death in their tracks unfinished seasons of MTM, ALL IN THE FAMILY and MAUDE)-unless it's something as universal as I LOVE LUCY (whch in reality wasn't our program but our parents). They will try THE WIZARD OF OZ, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, GONE WITH THE WIND, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS because these movies ,whether through timeless special effects or raw emotion, feel relevant today. They cannot connect to the vagueness of the 60's and 70's films we all want so dearly on DVD because it was our experience-not theirs-and more importantly not our parents or any one elses. It was a tumultuous time to live (and an exciting one) but the films that reflected our lives were so personal and rigid to it's time that their are no universality to them. That 20 year block of films-arguably the best 2 decades in cinema-do not speak to any one else but us. It is as if we have our own little cult with our own little rules and no one "gets' it but us. Besides-the machine we ourselves are typing on at this moment to get our points across is the machine that has entranced our youth and made them desensitized to any fictional film of the past. Why watch ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN when they can Wikepedia the event told in the story? Why be shattered by Travis Bickle when at any given day there is some more real person on AOL's homepage that is more freakier than him? Why watch THE DEER HUNTER or APOCALAPSE NOW when they aren't even involved in their own war causes? It's a strange new world, and yet, it's their world like the 60s/70's was ours. And to them it is a better place because its the only place.
The only way we are going to see our films released -the back catalog-is to buy them in droves. Money-not nostalgia-is what speaks.

 

[Simon Howson]

Hey come on! Some of us here are under 30.

 

[Louis Letizia]

Hey come on! Some of us here are under 30.

What is the last 70's era dvd you purchased?

 

[CineKarine]

I'm 35 and have bought nothing but catalog titles from VHS to DVDs for the past 23 years! And no one pushed me into it, I fell under their spell myself on TV - most films I love best were made before my parents were born, so I actually introduced the films to them! And there are quite a few younger people who love the classics, not all pre-30s ignore the classics you know, although they are not the vast majority of course.

 

[Simon Howson]

In September I bought The New Centurions.

I don't buy many 70s films, mostly I buy 40s to 60s Hollywood movies.

 

[Louis Letizia]

THE NEW CENTURIONS is a perfect example-gritty, realistic filmmaking at its best.
I do not mean-at all- to imply that every under 30 something (35 is still "young" enough to appreciate what I'm trying to convey) dismisses what I feel is an important part of cinema history-there will always be a natural generation gap -but that sales for catalog titles have diminished since the beginning of 2007 and before and the economy was not the reason. The lack of interest in this is more the issue, in some cases very understandable. I cannot-no matter what spin I put on it-phiolosophically, intellectually or so on convince the younger people i know to savor VANISHING POINT as i always had (except for "cool Car" there is no further words) or bask in the ironies of LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (my 26 year old niece was outraged by that film). modern films leave no room for intellectual discussion or dissection (Pauline kael would have many blank pages if she were to write about film today). Films are more than ever commerce not art. Which doesnt mean i do not like movies anymore-i am still thrilled by them and as a 40something still manage to see-in theaters-6 or more per month. Nostalgia can take you away from your reality-but, i fear , looking at 70s era movies for nostalgic comfort will not happen. 80s movies, on the other hand....
What films of today-embraced by the moviegoers-will not be understtod by their children in 25 years? Any ideas?

 

[James 'Tiger' Lee]

I'm 21 and many of the films in my collection predate the 1970s, never mind the 1980s

And there are plenty of people over 35 who care not a jot for these films so lets not generalise here

 

[Richard M S]

Oh I think the economy definitely is having an impact; at least as far as I am concerned.

I admit I was on the fence about Blu-Ray becuase I was not crazy about another new format; but I probably would have bought a player in January......but since I work in a field related to the financial services industry, there is no way I am going to buy a Blu-Ray player for a long time.

However I hope Warners continues to produce these great box sets, which if you get a good price on Amazon, really are incredible bargains, when you think about it.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

You need to work in a more stable sector like I do


...


automotive.

Regards,

 

[serenapowell]

I also think that we'll need and turn to more movie escapism in these tough times, and if the studios want to take advantage of that and release more dvds, I'm all for it!

Maybe rush releases with less money spent on restorations or bonus features, but I'm fine with that...The film is the thing.

I appreciate great picture quality, but at the same time I usually don't notice print flaws and so on, because if the movie's good, I get sucked into the story and I'm not watching with a detached, critical eye. I remember that someone else watching "Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel" with me, had to point out the compression/blockiness of the leaves in the trees, for instance. Sorry, off-topic babble.

And I hope I haven't offended any videophiles here!

Just for the record, I'm 33 and I've watched mostly older films from the 1930s-60s, ever since I was a child... probably starting with those TV traditions, "The Wizard of Oz" and "It's A Wonderful Life". I do enjoy some movies from the 80s & 90s, and a few from this decade, but if it was made during the Golden Age of Hollywood, it's almost a sure thing that I'll like it. I've just realized that even with my favorite "modern" movies, many of them seem to involve time travel to the past ("Back To The Future"), something from the past interacting with the present ("Jurassic Park", "Blast From The Past") or are just set in an earlier time...("The Rocketeer", "Newsies", "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken"). It wasn't a conscious decision - just drawn to that era for some reason. And I guess you can tell I prefer "family-friendly" films, so that rules out the majority of today's vulgar and violent content (although I'm developing an appreciation for pre-codes and gangster films thanks to TCM and Warner's DVD releases... so I don't expect everything to be completely wholesome, but when classic films explore sex and violence, it doesn't feel as gratuitious somehow...I guess the writing (and acting) is just...better! There's my brilliant analysis.

Sorry if I've strayed off-topic again with too much personal info. My point was that younger folks can definitely get into, even prefer older films, and (I know I've said this elsewhere) sometimes we just need exposure on television or availability on home video, to discover what we've been missing and provide an *alternative* to newer movies. I've seen lots of comments on the IMDb from teens/young adults marvelling over the classics, once they happen to discover them. I believe the studios (and TCM) are creating a market for classic dvds, and I hope they keep on opening their vaults!

 

[Simon Howson]

I don't understand why people think the economic down turn may HELP improve DVD sales when the article at the start of this thread reveals a 2% year on year drop this year, on top of a 3% drop last year. That's a 5% drop in almost two years, which equates to a hundreds of millions of reduced profits. Of course that will have an impact on what gets released, how could it not?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

True, but decisions about what gets released can be pretty complex. If production is slashed and there are fewer new releases, they may be inclined to fill the gaps with catalog titles. On the other hand, titles requiring a lot of work to make them releasable may get pushed to the back-burner.

Regards,

 

[Coopsgirl_31]

The same thing happened during the Depression, obviously not for dvd releases but with decreased movie attendance. However, the studios were able to draw people back in with more films featuring sex and violence (what most of us would think of as the typical pre-code film). It was still a relatively cheap form of entertainment and once they drew people back into the theaters, attendance skyrocketed and didn’t have another downturn until TV came along.

The same may happen with dvd releases. There may be an initial drop off but after a while it could pick up again with more people choosing to stay home and find entertainment there. So many people nowadays, myself included, have state of the art TV’s or full home theater systems so why not get the most out of them. Either going to the movies or buying/renting a dvd is far cheaper than many other forms of entertainment like concerts for example, so we may yet see those numbers bounce back. I think Ken is also on the right track when he says films that need major restoration work may be pushed to the back burner and those in better condition will be bumped up. Also I would expect to see more films released via on demand where you can download and burn it yourself.

 

[Mark_TS]

Bill is obsessive.
All the respected POS-Point of sale scan numbers show that BR can never quite seem to crack 10% as an average. And DVD hovers at around 90%
Where that guy on ZDNet got only 4% of market I dont know

I personally dont think it will ever cross that line what with the economy and the box stores closing or in trouble (seems Best Buy has some problems they didnt expect)-Cant find source but it looked bad-not quite like CC-but since there is a credit freeze-they cannot borrow money to buy new stock-which wont move because of consumer spending cutbacks which cuts off liquidity-and spirals downward. You have to read financial forums to get a true picture-
people are being laid off by the thousands, and it will domino. 200,000 will have been laid of from Wall Street alone by end of year etcetc
And people who know better than I-not Cramer-say we aint seen nothin yet

Even the "Everythings Peachy-back to normal soon" bunch on MCN-BS are starting to look panicky. I think BR will soon be the LAST thing on peoples minds. Ya just might wanna prepare...

 

[Simon Howson]

Another issue is that there is a big lag between a decision to release a title, and the actual release.

So it would be silly for the studios to stop or even slow down their restoration and preservation programs, because they will need things to release when the economy does improve in say a year from now.

I mean, the Natalie Wood box, and the Newman films Warner are releasing in Feb, they probably started working on them a year ago.