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Should HTF solicit donations for a VARIETY AD? Poster Enclosed (1 Viewer)

Ronald Epstein

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There are many threads on the forum conveying
member's disgust over certain studios putting
out full-frame only releases.
The question has come up time and time again
about whether it is worth soliciting the
membership to raise the thousands of dollars
it would cost to place an ad in VARIETY
magazine calling attention to the butchering
Hollywood is doing to this artform.
I'll let everyone talk about the merits of
whether it is worth going forth with a campaign.
To be honest, I think the campaign would be
highly recognized in the industry, but ultimately
would fall on deaf ears. This is about money --
not preserving an art form.
I also think that with sales increasing on 16x9
televisions, the next hi-def format will see the
end of full-frame movies.
Still, I offer this thread to you all, and start
it off with a poster that Jay Mitchsoky sent
to me.
 

Rain

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I think the poster is excellent.
And I'd be willing to donate what I'm able.
:emoji_thumbsup:
 

Robert Crawford

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It would be a waste of money on the part of our members! The whole studio DVD strategy involved with releasing movies in their OAR or not is predicated on strictly financial terms without little concern for artistic integrity.




Crawdaddy
 

soop.spoon

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One question... what movie is that? you should definitely use a film that is currently only in P&S on DVD.
 

Tom Rhea

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I think the effort would be better targeted at the general public rather than the audience that reads Variety. I doubt the studios truly care one way or the other about the widescreen issue -- they just want to put out what sells.
 

Colin-H

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A potentially good approach to take would be to print a list of names with a heading like:
The money I donated to put this ad to print would've been spent on a DVD, but it wasn't available in widescreen.
But I feel like the whole thing wouldn't have much of an effect, anyway, unless the sales numbers were going along with it.
 

John Berggren

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I would certainly be willing to participate. It might be best to use a cropped image from a film that isn't available in OAR on DVD, to better drive the point home.

I think the HTF URL should be included someplace in the AD. Doesn't have to be headline size, but it will serve to direct people who are taken by the ad.
 

SpenceJT

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I love the idea, but think it should be targeted at the consumer level. Perhaps a full page ad in USA Today, TV Guide, or Entertainment Weekly?
 

Matt Stone

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I'd donate...regardless of if the studios change their mind, they won't be getting my money until they fully commit to OAR releases.
 

Peter Overduin

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Regretfully, I would not support this otherwise worthy initiative. It is a mis-driection of effort and does not reach the target market, which is the consumer. A one-time shot at changing the minds of studio heads who answer to share-holders and make decisions in board-rooms, will not achieve the intended results.

I could understand producing the poster and marketing it to the B&M retailers and video stores, asking them to mount them in the ir DVD sections. They would not, of course, since they are there to sell product, not educate the consumer.

Turn it into a postcard and surreptitiously plant them in stores all over the US and Canada. Mail them by the thousands to studios and stores!

If anything, let's donate enough money to buy the rights to Final Countdown; so it can be done right!
 

Colin-H

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We should do some culture jamming. Print up some stickers with non-damaging adhesive and stick them to all the fullscreen DVDs in stores and rental establishments. heh.
 

CaptDS9E

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I support doing something like this but i agree it has to be in a more cosumer based magazine or newspaper

capt
 

Dan Keefe

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I agree with spence...maybe we need to convey this message to consumers. The studios would still see the ad if we put it in USA Today. I think putting it in Variety would be a waste of money.


dan
 

Andrew_Sch

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I like the poster, but I really don't think an ad would change anything. Most people pay little to no attention to magazine ads, and I'd say that only a small percentage of those who do pay any attention to it will even give it a second thought.
 

oscar_merkx

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Count me in as well, yet I feel like Spence that we should concentrate on regular newspapers instead of tradepapers like Variety. Heck we could even make a Radio/TV commercial with the donated money and get our message across in a more effective way.
Just my 2 cents.
:emoji_thumbsup:
 

Jeff Kleist

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A single ad in Variety will hit the point home.

What you need to do is list examples of films that are only P&S and then the list of plaintiffs who donated with the aforementioned "I would have spent this money on a DVD"
then the HTF URL

THAT would be great, because it shows exactly how many people are ticked

We should also enlist DVDTalk, AVS Forums and other respected sites to spread the expense and the name list
 

Steven Simon

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I agree with what has been said above, but the studios are not the ones we need to convince. We need to focus our efforts on the consumer market. Ultimately, it's the consumer that drives the dvd market, and studios will provide them with whatever they want. It's a rather simple fundamental business practice of supply and demand, or should I say Demand and Supply. ;)
 

Jeff Kleist

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People are trained to ignore ads in their papers, it will not work

Full pages in Variety may

We need to station people in the malls, giving demonstrations HANDS ON if we want to help the public
 

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