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Conversations with Twilight Time's Nick Redman (UPDATED New Interview 9/8/13) (1 Viewer)

bgart13

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Have you seen MINDWARP? It's not too hot. Maybe if it's really uncut it'll help, but even as a fan of Bruce Campbell and Angus Scrimm I wasn't too happy with it when I last saw it -- on vhs.
 

schan1269

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Now I'll ask a pertinent question...

Company policies "evolve"...and since evolving is crucial to survival...

What would happen if TT went and performed a changeup. Instead of a strict 3000 copies per movie...they saddled up to the table of "whoever" and said...(here's the question...)

"We want to do 9000 copies of 3 movies?"

We are going to do 5000-6000 copies of one(cause they know they'd sell it) and they negotiate for the other two movies to make up the 9000.

That way movies that "stall out" on 3000 copies(we all know which ones those are) don't stall.

Would that "amendment" to corporate strategy work?
 

Robert Crawford

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schan1269 said:
Now I'll ask a pertinent question...

Company policies "evolve"...and since evolving is crucial to survival...

What would happen if TT went and performed a changeup. Instead of a strict 3000 copies per movie...they saddled up to the table of "whoever" and said...(here's the question...)

"We want to do 9000 copies of 3 movies?"

We are going to do 5000-6000 copies of one(cause they know they'd sell it) and they negotiate for the other two movies to make up the 9000.

That way movies that "stall out" on 3000 copies(we all know which ones those are) don't stall.

Would that "amendment" to corporate strategy work?
You're asking questions that we can't answer here. Furthermore, you get any TT person to answer it on a public forum either.
 

schan1269

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That is true, but maybe "powers that be" read forums and ponder an idea presented. Maybe they've thought of it themselves already.

Maybe others here could say "You know what, that could work".

And TT could, on the back end, say "Those titles were are only going to do 1000-1500 on...if it becomes a hit, we run them up to 3000 and just send you a check."
 

rayman1701

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But what if the studio is using the TT as a teaser, if something sells out immediately then maybe the studio brings it out after the TT agreement expires, and if it doesn't then that proves to whatever studio suit that thinks catalog won't sell. No matter the flaws in the comparing of a boutique web retailer vs mass market where someone might impulse to gauge sales numbers, but then the home video world seems to have changed and not necessarily for the better at least for physical medial HD collectors. At least some of the things you didn't think would get a HD release, gets at least a small one even if they miss something that should have gone mass market with a well known title.
 

Professor Echo

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Richard Gallagher said:
And next month TT is releasing Mindwarp, which is sufficiently obscure that it isn't even listed in Leonard Maltin's guide.
Not the best barometer given that there are thousands of films not listed in Maltin's book. Now if you had said there was no listing for it on the IMDB, then yes, that would truly be an obscure film. ;)
 

Rob_Ray

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Professor Echo said:
Not the best barometer given that there are thousands of films not listed in Maltin's book. Now if you had said there was no listing for it on the IMDB, then yes, that would truly be an obscure film. ;)
Any pre-1966 film that's not listed in Maltin's Classic Movie Guide is obscure enough for any video releasing company.
 

haineshisway

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schan1269 said:
Now I'll ask a pertinent question...

Company policies "evolve"...and since evolving is crucial to survival...

What would happen if TT went and performed a changeup. Instead of a strict 3000 copies per movie...they saddled up to the table of "whoever" and said...(here's the question...)

"We want to do 9000 copies of 3 movies?"

We are going to do 5000-6000 copies of one(cause they know they'd sell it) and they negotiate for the other two movies to make up the 9000.

That way movies that "stall out" on 3000 copies(we all know which ones those are) don't stall.

Would that "amendment" to corporate strategy work?
I'm afraid you just don't get it. If they did 5000 to 6000 of a title, even a title like Fright Night or Christine, they wouldn't even sell the 3000 they did because suddenly everyone thinks they have all the time in the world to act - they might sell 2000 initially and MAYBE even, in the best possible scenario, 3000 but I can guarantee you they would sit on the other copies for a very long time - it's the nature of the business. If I'd put out, say, 1000 copies of Summer and Smoke on CD, the world premiere release of the complete score and a major Elmer Bernstein title, it would have sold out in two days flat. But I didn't because I thought, well, there have to be 1500 rabid Elmer fans who will want this amazing release. Guess what? I didn't sell even the 1000 because people got complacent and just didn't move on it as they would have if I'd MADE it 1000 total. Over a couple of years, we sold about 1300 so far, but it's been a shockingly long haul on something that should have been gone quickly. And that has happened time and again and it's why we play it safe a lot of times. Nick and company figured out what works for them and that's what they do - why is that hard to understand. It's their money, their playground and they do what they need to do. I understand it's easy to sit somewhere and posit all sorts of scenarios, but you aren't in the game, you don't know the market, and it's all Monday morning quarterbacking, which, I suppose, is fun for some but has no basis in reality. :)
 

schan1269

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Fright Night is a 5-6000 BD title.

As Good as it Gets? Maybe 4000.

Christine? Come on, seriously? You don't think 10,000 could have sold? I still want Christine, but I'm not paying poachers pricing.
 

ROclockCK

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Seems to me, the major take-away from both the online and audio interviews is TT's general 'FAQ-fatigue'...

Is there anything else to explain really, other than answering questions about their choice of catalogue content or release schedule? As Redman justly points out, TT has been more forthcoming, transparent, and responsive regarding their business model and market strategy than any other catalogue licensee out there...and yet, they've felt compelled to explain it all once again. I mean, at what point does it sink in...this is their business...the numbers are their choice...you either like the titles they've chosen to showcase, the way they've chosen to do so, and appreciate their work enough to buy those products, or...well...you don't. Either way, the sun shall rise.

As my Nana* used to say, "You can lead a horse to water, but you shouldn't look him in the mouth expecting him to turn a different colour!" ;)

* She was a dear; we loved her anyway.
 

Brandon Conway

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bgart13 said:
It's become a little more difficult for me to take TT's model seriously after Arrow Video announced their upcoming release of THE FURY (Carlotta in France is releasing it too).
The US and European markets play out so differently that I personally find it hard to compare them. Outside of the online message board community importing one way or the other is still pretty small of a percentage of expected sales.
 

haineshisway

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schan1269 said:
Fright Night is a 5-6000 BD title.

As Good as it Gets? Maybe 4000.

Christine? Come on, seriously? You don't think 10,000 could have sold? I still want Christine, but I'm not paying poachers pricing.
You are doing nothing but guessing and that is not good for you and not good for anyone else. You should just trust that they know what they're doing and no, I don't think any Twilight Time title would have approached 10,000 units - I'm afraid that is complete Fantasyland and if you were working for the studios and you told them that number and they actually listened to you when iit didn't even approach that and when it ended up in some bargain bin because of it, you would be fired. These guessing games are kind of pointless anyway, though.
 

Persianimmortal

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I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with Sam guessing that any catalog title could sell much more than 3,000 copies.... IF - and this is the critical part - Sam is happy to obtain a license for that many copies of the movie himself, with his own money, and take the risk of printing the discs up, storing them, and waiting to see how many people buy them at full price, and how many people simply sit and wait until it falls to $5 before snapping them up.

Can you let us know which titles you've picked Sam, and when you'll be releasing them?
 

Kevin EK

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I don't know that it's a fair comparison to say that the Twilight Time release of something like The Fury is inadequate just because a European company is able to put bonus features on the disc. I agree that I'd like to see those extras made available here, and not be region locked. But I don't think it's a strike against Twilight Time that they aren't able to generate the kind of extra content that other companies may be able to create. I'd say it's a plaudit for the other company, but I don't think it takes anything away from Twilight Time to be able to simply put out a good HD transfer of a movie on Blu for the collector.

At the same time, there was a comment a while back about people buying titles just because they were TT or Criterion. I've picked up multiple titles that piqued my interest because they were Criterion. I don't see that as a negative thing - I see that as Criterion expanding my horizons of the kinds of movies I've added to my collection. For example, I picked up Autumn Sonata, a movie I have not seen - but which got my attention for the collaboration of the two Bergmans. At various times, I have picked up titles from Criterion that struck me as interesting but I didn't watch for a while. And then maybe a year or two later, someone would bring up the movie in conversation, and I'd pop it in. I've had this happen all across my collection. I have a DVD of two performances of Our Town which I had for reference, and it came in handy when I suddenly needed to do research on the play and was able to look over both the Hal Holbrook and the Spalding Gray productions.

To me, the smaller boutique labels have been what make the DVD/Blu-ray landscape interesting these days. Because much of the time, I'm seeing discs put out by people who genuinely like the movie they're releasing, and the special features show it. I'm personally grateful to Shout/Scream, to Twilight Time and of course to Criterion for the work they've done. Who but Shout would have issued a complete series set of the Larry Sanders Show? Or All in the Family? I continue to hold out hope that they'll do releases for St. Elsewhere and/or Hill Street Blues at some point. But then, I'm also the guy who picks up the Opus Arte DVDs of Shakespeare's Globe performances.
 

JohnMor

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Well, of course, the very simple answer for people who don't like Twilight Time's business model is to just not buy their discs. No fuss, no muss. I very much like the job TT has done so far, and I will continue to support them as long as that continues to be the case. But no one is saying people have to support them. Clearly, there are many other labels people prefer to support who put out what the customer wants in unlimited amounts with copious extras at a bargain bin price.
 

Richard Gallagher

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Professor Echo said:
Not the best barometer given that there are thousands of films not listed in Maltin's book. Now if you had said there was no listing for it on the IMDB, then yes, that would truly be an obscure film. ;)
Well, there are about 16,000 films listed in Maltin's 2014 guide and thousands more in his Classic Movie Guide, so I feel pretty confident that most films which aren't listed are by definition "obscure." Are you trying to make the case that Mindwarp is not an obscure film? I'm fairly certain that it never even had a theatrical release in the U.S.
 

Richard Gallagher

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haineshisway said:
I'm afraid you just don't get it. If they did 5000 to 6000 of a title, even a title like Fright Night or Christine, they wouldn't even sell the 3000 they did because suddenly everyone thinks they have all the time in the world to act - they might sell 2000 initially and MAYBE even, in the best possible scenario, 3000 but I can guarantee you they would sit on the other copies for a very long time - it's the nature of the business. If I'd put out, say, 1000 copies of Summer and Smoke on CD, the world premiere release of the complete score and a major Elmer Bernstein title, it would have sold out in two days flat. But I didn't because I thought, well, there have to be 1500 rabid Elmer fans who will want this amazing release. Guess what? I didn't sell even the 1000 because people got complacent and just didn't move on it as they would have if I'd MADE it 1000 total. Over a couple of years, we sold about 1300 so far, but it's been a shockingly long haul on something that should have been gone quickly. And that has happened time and again and it's why we play it safe a lot of times. Nick and company figured out what works for them and that's what they do - why is that hard to understand. It's their money, their playground and they do what they need to do. I understand it's easy to sit somewhere and posit all sorts of scenarios, but you aren't in the game, you don't know the market, and it's all Monday morning quarterbacking, which, I suppose, is fun for some but has no basis in reality. :)
And it is a two-way street. The deal with Sony and Fox was for 3,000 copies, which means that the limited edition model makes sense both for TT and the studios or there would have been no deal in the first place.
 

bugsy-pal

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I'm not crazy about TT's model, but I've bought about 10 or their releases so I guess I'm a supporter. I feel that the Dinman audio interview was a bit mean-spirited in itself, in the way that it scoffed at some of the criticism that has arisen from the anonymous forum people (like me), many of whom are, after all, their customers. I feel that there would have been more dignity in leaving that alone and not being so defensive.

Having said that, hat's off to Mr Redman and co. for putting up the money for this enterprise, and being responsive to some of the concerns. I understand why discounting is not an option for them. They've got me by the short and curlies.
 

Robert Crawford

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bugsy-pal said:
I'm not crazy about TT's model, but I've bought about 10 or their releases so I guess I'm a supporter. I feel that the Dinman audio interview was a bit mean-spirited in itself, in the way that it scoffed at some of the criticism that has arisen from the anonymous forum people (like me), many of whom are, after all, their customers. I feel that there would have been more dignity in leaving that alone and not being so defensive.

Having said that, hat's off to Mr Redman and co. for putting up the money for this enterprise, and being responsive to some of the concerns. I understand why discounting is not an option for them. They've got me by the short and curlies.
In fairness, it was mean-spirited in attacking the writer of the article, Digital Bits and attacking those of us critical of their business model. By the way, Olive has been criticized very much here on this site. I can't say what is being said on other sites as I don't frequent those other sites like I used to in prior years.
 

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