HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Thank you very much to everyone at Paramount for the VIP treatment accorded the Home Theater Forum. All of the studio staff from the executives to tour guides to security staff were exceptionally cordial and hospitable, making for a memorable and entertaining morning.
Thank you also to Ron, Adam, Parker, and the rest of the HTF team for arranging and coordinating these events!
The studio tour was very interesting and included a number of famous landmarks from motion pictures and television. Our tour guide, J.P., was very knowledgeable about film history and went out of his way to make our excursion fun and interesting. I cannot wait to watch "Sunset Boulevard" once again to see how the studio looked similar and different in the 1950s.
It was a terrific surprise for Ben Stiller to appear personally to introduce the extended director's cut of "Tropic Thunder" to the Home Theater Forum. This was my first opportunity to see this movie and I enjoyed it very much. Even though I had not seen the theatrical cut, I can make some educated guesses regarding the 14 minutes of footage that had been previously unseen in the theatrical release. The director's cut definitely heightens my interest regarding the out-takes, deleted scenes, alternate ending, and other extras on the forthcoming Blu-Ray and DVD release of "Tropic Thunder."
The catered breakfast and lunch meals in the Paramount dining rooms were also first rate. I cannot think of anything that Paramount might have done to make our group feel more welcome on their studio lot.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

The Paramount Studios visit was a lot of fun, as we were treated to a sparkling breakfast buffet that I even managed to sampled twice. After breakfast, the group was split off into smaller groups headed up by Paramount tour guides. These guides were more than happy to give us an informative tour of the history of Paramount, providing anecdotes of past performers and productions. We got to see quite a few of the outdoor sets for the exterior shots, and other created landmarks and building facades for various shows and films.

Once the tour was over, we were invited to the Paramount theater, an extremely well thought out large theater that was very inviting and comfortable while providing a great cinematic venue to watch films. We were not only treated to the director's cut of "Tropic Thunder", but writer/director/actor Ben Stiller showed up to also introduce it (much to the surprise of all in our group), and to top it off, we were the first public audience to see this particular cut of the film that is slated for release on Blu-ray in the very near future. The group enjoyed the film, laughing along with the film during its running time, which had about 14 minutes of footage integrated back into the director's cut. After the film, Paramount wasn't done with us, as they provided a very tasty lunch for our grateful group. Paramount wasn't done with us, as they were kind enough to provide each participant with a Paramount shoulder bag filled with a couple of shirts, and the Iron Man Blu-ray title.

Paramount really pulled out all the stops for our group, and it was very much appreciated for such a combination of wonderful hospitality and surprises on their part.

Thanks, Paramount!

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Just to add to what everyone else here has been saying, I would have to say that I was very encouraged and extremely pleased to see that the Paramount Home Video executives took time out of their busy schedules, joined us for lunch and sat right next to us at the various tables to simply engage us in conversation about their products. They were all very down to earth and completely open to our suggestions and feedback on pretty much anything. This was huge folks. It was not just a PR team presenting to us, although they were very nice and open to feedback too. But, the top level decision makers were actually in the room interacting with us!

This fact alone (as well as how wonderful we were hosted the entire morning) has shown me that Paramount is dutifully concerned in "getting it right" when it comes to releasing their product on Blu-Ray. I am convinced that they are trying to do the right things with their releases as they continue to explore this young Hi-Def market.

Kudos and thank you to Paramount!! You have my full support!

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

I couldn't have said it any better. A big thank you to:
Meagan Burrows
Jeff Radoycis
Bob Buchi
Chris Saito
and Brenda Ciccone

They were really interested in what we had to say and were willing to share tidbits that have been posted elsewhere in the forum about titles like African Queen and Wings that members have been asking about for a long time. The fact that they were willing to spend the kind of time with us that they did says a lot. It was very obvious that they really care about their product, their customers, and like Brian said: "getting it right".

Thanks too to Ben Stiller. Not only did he give a great intro, he stayed to watch most of the movie!

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Did you guys learn of any other titles that might be in the pipeline (both for DVD and Blu-Ray)?

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Kudos to all of the fine folks at Paramount for a very memorable visit to their studio. Breakfast and lunch were superb, the walking tour of the former RKO and Paramount backlots was very educational, and seeing the director's cut of "Tropic Thunder" in a state of the art digital theater was a real treat.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Our little group (me, Patrick, Jason, Tina and Vern) was very grateful to our "page" Aaron for giving us a very detailed tour of the sets for the TV show "Privileged".

Thanks Aaron, you were awesome!

Rob

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Don't have much to add except to say Thank You to Paramount. They really did treat us first class all the way, from the wonderful breakfast and lunch (no continental breakfast here, full meal all the way!) to the big surprise of seeing not just the Director's Cut of Tropic Thunder, but the appearance of Mr. Ben Stiller!

Easily the highlight of my three days (as a local attendee).

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

What an awesome surprise to meet Ben Stiller and to have him personally introduce the director's cut of Tropic Thunder. I had been looking forward to the home release of the film and it looks like it will blow the doors off once it gets released!

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

WOW!
This was a fantastic experience.
A chance to see one of the most beautiful and historied studios, a VIP breakfast and luncheon and an a DVD premier with Ben Stiller!
Thank you so much Paramount for taking interest and such good care of us.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

I second what everyone else has said about Paramount. Plus I have some news --

I had a chance to chat with Meagan Burrows at lunch, and she told me that Paramount remains committed to releasing the entire series of Have Gun - Will Travel on DVD. However, the studio (in conjunction with CBS) is still mulling over how to package the remaining seasons. Paramount believes that the older TV series, which typically had 39 episodes per season, are difficult to sell to the masses in full-season packages because of the cost. So some though is being given to release the rest of HGWT in half-season sets, such has been the case with Perry Mason, Rawhide and The Fugitive.

I also mentioned to her that two of the thus-far unreleased episodes have a guest star who is a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (guitarist Duane Eddy). She was not aware of that.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

I missed a terrific breakfast because my whole carpool somehow slipped past the time change notification...

...but...if I didn't miss breakfast that morning, I would have never been starving and I would have never ran out of the theater during the movie to the cafeteria, and then I would have never met Ben Stiller on his way out as I was on my way back in.

...sweet...

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the news on HGWT! As you are aware, a major sore spot with consumers is what CBS/P did with the FUGITIVE Season two and, later, MY THREE SONS S1. Did Ms. Burrows offer up any comments about this situation and if there is any hope of fixing THE FUGE and getting it back on track?

Thanks,

Steve

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

I didn't have a chance to ask her about The Fugitive, because we got the word that it was time to leave for Fox while I was talking to her. Maybe somebody else asked.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Thanks, Rich. FUGITIVE concerns aside, I applaud Paramount and all the other studios for rolling out the welcome mat for all those who were fortunate to attend.

Because of my work committments and related financial considerations it just wasn't possible for my wife and I to attend this meet. I really appreciate all the comments made in the various threads from those who did attend.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

Paramount was certainly on of my favorite visits. Great tour, great food, and AWESOME movie!! Thanks Ben Stiller

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

What more can I say, that everybody else already hasn't. OK, here it goes.

I will simply start of by saying that this studio was my favorite of the week...by far. Yes the food was incredible, both breakfast and lunch. Yes, to have Mr. Stiller talk to us about the upcoming directors cut of his "baby" Tropical Thunder was extremely cool. Yes, to sit in a state of the art digital theater and watch Tropical Thunder with Mr. Stiller was also very cool. Yes, to walk the Paramount studios with a personal tour guide was awesome. To be in a place were they described and shot a scene for Indiana Jones 4. The scene at the diner. I just got goose bumps. I felt very fortunate to be there and have experienced that.

But my highlight of Paramount was plain and simple. Having lunch with the people from Paramount themselves. Having them sit right by you and asking you for your opinion. What would you like to see? How can we improve? How do you feel about this and that? What releases would you like to see? They really care about us. They really care about their movies. They really care about Blu-Ray.

OK, so here a couple of topics that came up at our table. I asked them of course about one of there biggest franchises "Friday the 13th". They smiled and said to wait for the release of the Remake that is coming out in theaters next year. They want to tie in a BD release with that. I pleaded and begged them to please do it right this time and release the uncut (NR) versions of the films. He smiled at me and seemed to know what I was talking about. Titanic is definitely on their radar. But it all depends on when Mr. Cameron has the time to work on it with them. When I told them that I was a big fan of the "digital copy" version of the film, they asked me an interesting question. They asked me if that was the right name for it. As it is not catching on with the general public at all....yet. We told them that we thought that the name was right. But it will take a little while before the general public really sees a benefit in this and will start using it. But they told us that they will include this in many more future titles.
But to have this type of dialogue with the people from Paramount studios was just insane to me. And shows what kind of impact HTF has made on the industry.

Thank you so much to everybody at Paramount to make this my favorite visit of the week.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Paramount Studios 10/23

I want to thank Paramount for an outstanding morning. Your studio was one of the top highlights of the week for me. Why is that? It is because everything you did for us was top-notch and first class. Breakfast was truly amazing. The tour of the studio was very interesting and informative. The movie presentation in Paramount Theater with an introduction by Ben Stiller was beyond any expectation. Finally and very importantly, lunch with your Home Video executives was phenomenal. You actually cared about what we think and what our ideas are. You firmly and soundly demonstrated your commitment to home video and “getting it right” as others have aptly expressed.

So, I would like to repeat what Brian said, “You have my full support.” In other words, Paramount, you have a new supporter. I look forward to your future releases on Blu-ray with great anticipation. Once again, thanks!