Interview Interview with Twilight Time: Nick Redman on who they are, their business model and more. (1 Viewer)

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce


The Warner Archive was created specifically because there wasn't a large enough market go justify mass production of the films they offer. That by definition is a niche market.
Doug

One of the main reasons for the market being smaller was also because many of the shops that used to carry classic films have closed. The Borders, Circuit City, Tower Record and Virgin Records of the world have closed leaving smaller and smaller storefronts for the studios to sell their products. This doesnt mean that there is not a market for content or the content is somehow unpopular. The above mentioned stores didn't close because DVD was in decline it was because of poor management from within their upper ranks and competition from the likes of Amazon.com.


I believe the main goals for the studios over the next few years will be to try to get most of their content online for sale and rental. They are beginning to do this already with Ultraviolet. When the CFF (Common File Format) is approved for UV (hopefully announced at CES 2012) this will help as the CFF will make the files more like optical media with liner notes and extras.

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford



I believe the market is fragmented more than it is a niche one as people have different avenues to explore for their home entertainment. Reducing cost became more of a factor during the last three years due to the economy so people have changed how they obtain home entertainment with cheaper means of doing so as well as utilizing various forms of entertainment. Once the economy straightens, I'm not so sure the home entertainment market remains fragmented as people will vary their viewing habits across different formats just as they're doing now.







Crawdaddy

Good post Robert! I agree there are so many venues to get your home entertainment now and its just Grand! People like choice and having multiple choices to receive content weather you want to buy or purchase is wonderful in my opinion!

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Billy Batson /t/317186/interview-with-twilight-t...heir-business-model-and-more/120#post_3883185

 

[Jim_K]

Originally Posted by John Hodson /t/317186/interview-with-twilight-t...their-business-model-and-more/90#post_3882913

I own a Multi-Regional BD/DVD player. it is a Pioneer Elite BDP 31FD. A VERY excellent player! I purchased from a company called
regionfreedvd.net/ Just add on the www. to get there. The players are usually on sale for just above $300.

I owned an Oppo Multi-Regional DVD player. This Pioneer is BETTER IMHO.

Thank you! That's much more reasonably priced than the current Oppo BD player and I've always had good experiences with the Pioneer brand

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Jim_K



Thank you! That's much more reasonably priced than the current Oppo BD player and I've always had good experiences with the Pioneer brand

Jim I am looking forward to the canal horrors as well. I do have a question does anyone know of a website or thread that talks about DVD releases from region 2 that are not available here in region 1? I have been unable to find such topics of discussion.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Why did they change their mind? The movies are still popular and the stars - Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, William Holden and Frank Sinatra - still have a large following. The only sensible explanation is that Sony believe that Blu-ray is still a small market.

The sensible explanation is that someone came along and offered to pay up front for films that they weren't going to release right away. This whole notion of classic films NEVER coming to Bluray is a great justification for high pricing models, but I do not believe it is true. The studios will continue to release their catalogs in whatever form they can derive income from, and just because a deep catalog title isn't released this year doesn't mean it never will be. It may be true that there isn't a huge market for some of these older titles, and therefore a licensing deal, limited runs or disc on demand programs may make more sense, but trying to spell the demise of a format that is expanding exponentially is a bit premature. Is Blu still a small market? Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that it won't support catalog releases down the road. Taking it one step further, there is no way that physical media is going to disappear any time soon. With media companies and hardware manufacturers tied at the hip, you can bet there will only be an increase in content for all of the new hardware we are expected to buy.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Towergrove


and (2) the press just loves them:


[url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-is-dead-to-me-2011-12-30]http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-is-dead-to-me-2011-12-30

It's amazing how all the Blockbuster hate has been moved to Netflix. People just love to hate their video rental companies.

 

[Wade Sowers]

Try Blu-ray.com - in their Forum they have a section regarding International Blu-rays and talk about everything (well, almost) available from England, France, Germany, and various other countries - this is a very informative site.

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Wade Sowers

Try Blu-ray.com - in their Forum they have a section regarding International Blu-rays and talk about everything (well, almost) available from England, France, Germany, and various other countries - this is a very informative site.

Thanks Wade! I will check it out.

 

[David_B_K]

I've yet to take the plunge with a multiregion BD player. The only player I'd consider buying (Oppo) is a bit outside of my budget right now (as well as trying to justify yet another BD player in the house)

I own a Multi-Regional BD/DVD player. it is a Pioneer Elite BDP 31FD. A VERY excellent player! I purchased from a company called regionfreedvd.net/ Just add on the www. to get there. The players are usually on sale for just above $300. I owned an Oppo Multi-Regional DVD player. This Pioneer is BETTER IMHO.

The Oppos also play SACD and DVD Audio; so it is not realy an apples/apples comparions if, like me, you have a lot of those niche discs.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Good points Douglas but the problem with Netflix is that if you like films they are no longer focusing on Movies but more on Television, not good for those of us who like Classic film: Netflix Chief Financial Officer says this as well: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20109749-266/netflix-to-focus-on-acquiring-tv-content/ And in another month (February 2012) a large chunk of their movie library (approx 2500 titles from many different studios) will be leaving when the Starz deal expires and is not to be renewed: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/01/starz-netflix-contract_n_945715.html While there are many films in High Definition, I also find the quality of many of the films that are shown to be subpar with aspect ratio issues, audio and video being out of sync, lack of closed captions on ALL of their streams and just plain poor quality transfers (are we watching VHS?). at least in this report just published yesterday, (1) they have good customer satisfaction : http://www.thestreet.com/story/11360029/1/netflix-plummets-in-customer-satisfaction.html and (2) the press just loves them: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-is-dead-to-me-2011-12-30

I actually love classic movies, and classic Television, and lately I've been finding more and more of both on Neflix. I've found so many old films noir that I didn't even know existed before. Its actually been really exiting. Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

  One of the main reasons for the market being smaller was also because many of the shops that used to carry classic films have closed.  The Borders, Circuit City, Tower Record and Virgin Records of the world have closed leaving smaller and smaller storefronts for the studios to sell their products.  This doesnt  mean that there is not a market for content or the content is somehow unpopular.  The above mentioned stores didn't close because DVD was in decline it was because of poor management from within their upper ranks and competition from the likes of Amazon.com. I believe the main goals for the studios over the next few years will be to try to get most of their content online for sale and rental. They are beginning to do this already with Ultraviolet.  When the CFF (Common File Format) is approved for UV (hopefully announced at CES 2012) this will help as the CFF will make the files more like optical media with liner notes and extras.

Those stores closed because the market that they served changed, and they didn't change with it. I think Robert is right when he says the the market has splintered. Call it what you will, splintered or a niche, it adds up to the same thing. Fewer people buying the product. As a result the studios respond by producing less of that particular product. Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

I stated this in another threat, but I think its work repeating. I recently worked a temp job at a cardiologists office, digitizing their medical records. I worked with a group of people who's ages ranged from about 23 to 60, but the majority of them were under 35. All of them were college graduates. Naturally I brought up the subject of classic films, and the movies of Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Betty Davis, Rita Hayworth, even Steve McQueen. Only the 60 year old knew who these people were, and even she hadn't seen a film with Davis or Bogart. Now all of them had heard of John Wayne, but hadn't seen any of his films. When I brought up Jimmy Stewart, I had to tell them that he was the guy in Its A Wonderful Life, and only then did they know who I was talking about. I was startled. I was shocked to find that most of them considered movies from the 80's as "old movies", meaning that they really weren't interested in watching them. The reality is that these are the folks with the buying power, and the audience that the makers mass of entertainment are catering too. This doesn't mean that there isn't a market for classic films, I think its just a matter of the studios figuring out how to serve that somewhat limited market in a way that is profitable to them. Hence experiments like the Warner Archive and venders like Twilight Time. Some of these will find their audience, and some will fail. Doug

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I stated this in another threat, but I think its work repeating.

I recently worked a temp job at a cardiologists office, digitizing their medical records. I worked with a group of people who's ages ranged from about 23 to 60, but the majority of them were under 35. All of them were college graduates. Naturally I brought up the subject of classic films, and the movies of Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Betty Davis, Rita Hayworth, even Steve McQueen. Only the 60 year old knew who these people were, and even she hadn't seen a film with Davis or Bogart. Now all of them had heard of John Wayne, but hadn't seen any of his films. When I brought up Jimmy Stewart, I had to tell them that he was the guy in Its A Wonderful Life, and only then did they know who I was talking about.

Wow. How sad. I would love to see some of Wayne's war movies (They were expendable, Sands of Iwo Jima, Operation Pacific) on Blu-ray.

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce


Those stores closed because the market that they served changed, and they didn't change with it. I think Robert is right when he says the the market has splintered. Call it what you will, splintered or a niche, it adds up to the same thing. Fewer people buying the product. As a result the studios respond by producing less of that particular product.
Doug

Its been called out numerous times in the media that the above mentioned companies were poorly managed. Circuit City didnt close because fewer people were purchasing classic cinema on shiny discs.

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I stated this in another threat, but I think its work repeating.
I recently worked a temp job at a cardiologists office, digitizing their medical records. I worked with a group of people who's ages ranged from about 23 to 60, but the majority of them were under 35. All of them were college graduates. Naturally I brought up the subject of classic films, and the movies of Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Betty Davis, Rita Hayworth, even Steve McQueen. Only the 60 year old knew who these people were, and even she hadn't seen a film with Davis or Bogart. Now all of them had heard of John Wayne, but hadn't seen any of his films. When I brought up Jimmy Stewart, I had to tell them that he was the guy in Its A Wonderful Life, and only then did they know who I was talking about.
I was startled. I was shocked to find that most of them considered movies from the 80's as "old movies", meaning that they really weren't interested in watching them.
The reality is that these are the folks with the buying power, and the audience that the makers mass of entertainment are catering too. This doesn't mean that there isn't a market for classic films, I think its just a matter of the studios figuring out how to serve that somewhat limited market in a way that is profitable to them. Hence experiments like the Warner Archive and venders like Twilight Time. Some of these will find their audience, and some will fail.
Doug

Have younger folks ever purchased classic cinema on shiny discs in droves? When DVD first came out and I was in my teens I don't recall anyone I knew purchasing Casablanca or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. They were purchasing movies like Batman or Blade Runner. Being the "folks with the buying power" I find it hard to believe that in the heyday of DVD younger folks in their teens and twenties were purchasing classics in droves. Heck most of my friends probably thought Elizabeth Taylor was just a perfume, not a person of classic cinema.


With a few of my colleagues several years ago we started our local Saint Louis Film Society which became a big success. I would say during my tenure I noticed that many many people didn't discover classic cinema until they were in their 30's. We had a major drive to get larger percentages of our membership from the 20's crowds and we were fairly successful. We would show cinema outdoors in parks, coffee shops and public spaces. We did some adapting outside of the usual means of watching film. I would say you are correct with the studios figuring out how to serve that crowd. Its not an impossible endeavour but they will need to be very creative for sure!

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce


I actually love classic movies, and classic Television, and lately I've been finding more and more of both on Neflix. I've found so many old films noir that I didn't even know existed before. Its actually been really exiting.
Doug

I "HEART" classic movies and television as well. My husband and I are avid lovers of the classics but the reality of the situation according to Netflix Chief Financial Officer David Wells (see Post #140) is that fewer and fewer of Netflix dollars will be going to film and they will instead be going to television- You know for example, great series that are sure to pull in big crowds, shows like Joanie Loves Chachi.

 

[Jim_K]

Originally Posted by Towergrove


Jim I am looking forward to the canal horrors as well. I do have a question does anyone know of a website or thread that talks about DVD releases from region 2 that are not available here in region 1? I have been unable to find such topics of discussion.

For Blu-ray releases I'd have to second the recommendation of Blu-ray.com's other region forums Sarah.

R2/other region DVD discussion is a little tougher to nail down to one specific site.


If I want info on specific DVD's from other regions I tend to gravitate to specialty sites like Classic horror film board for vintage Horror/Sci-fi & fantasy films, Spaghetti Western Board, Back Alley Forum for film Noir & Kung-Fu Cinema forums for classic Hong Kong Martial arts & classic Japanese/Samurai, etc.

 

[Towergrove]

Originally Posted by Jim_K


For Blu-ray releases I'd have to second the recommendation of Blu-ray.com's other region forums Sarah.

R2/other region DVD discussion is a little tougher to nail down to one specific site.


If I want info on specific DVD's from other regions I tend to gravitate to specialty sites like Classic horror film board for vintage Horror/Sci-fi & fantasy films, Spaghetti Western Board, Back Alley Forum for film Noir & Kung-Fu Cinema forums for classic Hong Kong Martial arts & classic Japanese/Samurai, etc.

Thanks Jim. Im going to try all the ones you suggested! Looking at Region 2 truly does open up a whole new world of collecting. Thanks again!

 

[John Hodson]

Thanks Jim.  Im going to try all the ones you suggested!  Looking at Region 2 truly does open up a whole new world of collecting. Thanks again!

Sarah; the HTF has a very useful R2 DVD thread here.