Re: *** Official HTF HD Formats Industry/Retailer/Studio Support Thread
Quote:
I must say, it looks like Ben Williams was right after all and it is a shame that he was lost for HTF as reviewer as a result as he told me.
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Your response has made me quite angry.
For you to come on this forum and accuse us of wrongly
misrepresenting a video presentation and letting a staff member
go under false pretenses is an insult of the highest order.
I am the guy that videotaped that entire event. As noted on
the presentation page itself this represents the first 63 minutes
(more or less) of the debate. I estimate the debate went on
approx. 15 minutes longer, but shooting in HD, I did not have
enough storage to capture it all.
Yes, there is an edit in the tape. I had to put the camcorder down
and switch to a body tripod because my back was giving out from
holding it in my hand. It took me approximately 2-3 minutes to
change to a body tripod, and by the time I resumed the video I
was in the middle of Ken discussing (I believe) a particular release.
It certainly was not during any of the crucial statements that have
been questioned.
Nothing was intentionally removed from that video at anyone's
request. To even think that we would blatantly misrepresent an
event such as this one in order to preserve the integrity of a
particular studio or format is ludicrous.
Furthermore...
I wasn't going to talk openly about this because there is no need
for us to badmouth anyone that we let go as a reviewer. However,
in light of accusations being made at us, let me reveal some facts.
Ben Williams absolutely, positively and without a doubt went on
a message board and misrepresented the facts concerning this debate.
Since you weren't actually at the debate Mr. Hanser, I'm surprised
that you could make a judgement so quickly and with much confidence.
Did you know that Mr. Williams claimed in his post that Ken Graffeo
was so frustrated with all the abuse he was getting that he just walked
out of the room? I think the videotape will show that it was announced
that Ken had a plane to catch. You even see Ken walking out of the
room with attendees applauding as he shakes hands.
Mr. Williams also claims that Bill Hunt was out of control, lashing
out repeatedly at Ken Graffeo. Watch the video and I think you'll
see that Mr. Hunt was rather polite and that this wasn't a Bill Hunt vs.
Ken Graffeo event.
Furthermore, Mr. Williams made slanderous remarks about Robert
Zohn from Value Electronics saying that he was calling Sony "jerks."
While there was no camcorder rolling when he stood up and made
remarks about Sony, anyone in attendance can tell you that he certainly
did not call anyone "jerks."
To me, it looks like we had an individual in the audience who could
not wait to get on his computer, go to the Blu-Ray forum and post
absolute lies about what happened at this event in order to bolster
support for his format of choice.
I personally called Ben Williams immediately after his remarks
were posted and confronted him about the lies. Ben admitted to
me that he did not know that Ken Graffeo had a plane to catch
and perhaps misunderstood Robert Zohn's remarks about Sony.
Yet, despite this, there is absolutely no apology being offered to
either one of them.
As a then representative of this forum, Mr. Williams put us in a
very bad position with his remarks. Do you know how difficult it
was to get Mr. Graffeo to our event? He came to the panel knowing
damn well that he would be attacked. In fact, what you probably
don't know is that the HD-DVD group invited the Blu-Ray group to
openly debate them at this event, but unfortunately, Andy Parsons
and his team were overseas. Ken Graffeo and his group opened
themselves up to be taken to task, so don't think for a second that
anyone went running away.
If Mr. Williams has failed to issue an apology at this point for
statements he knows damn well were wrong, then I don't expect
him to be man enough to do it now. Personally, after I post this
statement, I don't give a damn if any of you take his side or ours.
If the original postings still exist on the Blu-Ray board, those that
were actually in attendance can read it for themselves and make
their own judgement. I have at least 65 other people that can back
up my statements and can tell you that what was posted to the
Blu-Ray forum immediately following our event was total BS.
What sickens me the most is the way this format war has twisted
people to the point where they feel the need to make childish
attacks on the opposing format. For someone to be determined to
undermine another format and studio by misrepresenting facts the
way it was done at this event is rather disheartening.
Alot of these studios release their films again and again.
