Interesting development regarding the cost of producing special edition DVDs..... (1 Viewer)

[Dwayne]

Found this on the bits:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

Finally this morning, if you get Daily Variety, be sure to check out today's issue for an interesting story on the soaring costs of producing DVD special editions. It seems certain that A-list talent (Arnold Schwarzenegger anyone?) and the various guilds are starting to demand big bucks to participate in things like audio commentaries. Greedy bastards always seem to do their best to ruin a good thing, don't they? Hollywood, like Major League Baseball, is sorely in need of a salary cap, in my humble opinion...
Stay tuned...

As much as I love special editions, I would rather see them spend the money on the presentation costs. Screw Ahhhhnold and his f**king agent, who is probably most responsible for this latest development.
Presentation first. Always.

 

[Brad_W]

Interesting.
Check out this old thread for more discussion: Arnold's Commentary

 

[SteveGon]

That's too bad. Seems like there's always a few greedy people that ruin everything. Mind you, I'm not begrudging anyone the right to get paid for participating in commentaries, but can't they be generous and ask for a nominal fee? I can't imagine that recording a commentary is that taxing!

 

[Nigel McN]

I imagine as studios wise up (heheh) they will just include 'participation with dvd content' into actors contracts, or something similar.

 

[AdrianJ]

Wow, we are now on our third separate thread on this.

 

[Anthony_H]

I choose to respond to this thread re this subject as it seems to be dealing with SE content generally rather than Arnold's issues. With the uproar over the loss of OAR...it is very curious to me that this isnt getting more attention in these posts. Maybe I finally realized I'm on the wrong forum. I for one value the SE content to the greatest degree in respect to DVDs. That content is what brought me into Laserdiscs...and what has carried me through to DVD. If and when they begin to fall off the discs... I know my interest will wane.

A.T.

 

[Michael Reuben]

With the uproar over the loss of OAR

To date there's been a lot of uproar, but little or no loss.

M.

 

[Dave H]

"I for one value the SE content to the greatest degree in respect to DVDs. That content is what brought me into Laserdiscs...and what has carried me through to DVD. If and when they begin to fall off the discs... I know my interest will wane."

So, if extras were eliminated, or cut way back, higher video and audio quality wouldn't keep your interest?

I realize everyone has different interests, but, if I'm lucky, I watch the extras once - it's the movie that counts to me; having the movie in the highest quality.

 

[Anthony_H]

So, if extras were eliminated, or cut way back, higher video and audio quality wouldn't keep your interest?

After thinking about my buying habits...this is true. I have very few if any bare bones releases in my collection...refusing to purchase until some SE content is provided. The SUPERBIT collection? An utter waste of time in my opinion. I would be an idiot to say.. "good quality is bad.." but to me its icing on the cake. Getting inside info on a movie I've loved since I was a child...thats the meat. I still remember the first time I saw the extended ALIENS cut on LD... it fundamentally changed my appreciation for home video. It wasnt "Oh...look at the better quality" (which it was compared to VHS)... it was "I dont remember that!". OAR and SE ... and I'm a happy camper.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

This is less a danger than I originally thought. If the "talent" needs a specific amount of money to contribute that will raise the cost of a DVD, they obviously felt no love for the project, therefore, their input would have little value to me. I won't buy that disc, problem solved.

For example,

Tom Cruise has been pressing the flesh and promoting Vanilla Sky like mad. Why? He's proud of it. He has a strong relationship with the director. I expect he'll contribute to the DVD because he cares about the project. It will probably be a valuable contribution.

I would hope the studios would take care of the talent (a gift, a meal, a small fee for their time, something). In the end, the movie matters.

Take care,

Chuck

 

[Dwayne]

Wow, we are now on our third separate thread on this.

Thanks for that insightful commentary.