Tagged: Business

‘Heroes’ to Simplify for Volume Four

‘Heroes’ to Simplify for Volume Four

At the Screenwriters Expo in Los Angeles, Heroes’ creator Tim Kring addressed the criticism heaped on not only the second but the current third season of the NBC series.

“The problem is you run into a whole series of issues,” he said. “Where show and business run into each other. The network falls in love with characters, the audience falls in love with characters, the press falls in love with characters. And it’s contractually hard to get people onboard for a brief period… You find yourself writing for characters you thought would be gone.”

As a result, characters intended to be short-lived have gained prolong life. He does like having a large cast of characters to work with since it allows storytelling flexibility. “An hour of television should have the vibe as a day of your life,” he said.

He assured fans that the oft-used time travel elements would be dropped after the current volume, “Villains”, concludes next month. Kring called the serialized format, which he was working with the first time an “absolute bear of a thing. The serialized story is so Writers Room-intensive and requires an ‘all hands on deck’ quality to it; you’re often just carrying the water for the next storyline.”

After discussions with NBC and the dismissal of Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb, Kring said the series would continue to break the season into volumes to ensure compact storytelling and allowing different characters to be spotlighted.  As a result, viewers who might have found the mythos off-putting can sample each new arc.

“You can hop on the train and you won’t have missed too much."
 

Jeffrey Katzenberg Sees the Future in 3-D

Jeffrey Katzenberg Sees the Future in 3-D

Jeffrey Katzenberg firmly believes in 3-D and told the audience at the inaugural 3DX Film and Entertainment Technology Festival, "In five to seven years, all films, regardless of budgets or type, will be made in 3-D."

As seen this year and reported yesterday, more and more animated films and concert films are being shot for 3-D using improved technology.  Katzenberg, according to The Hollywood Reporter, continued to say, "3-D is how we see, how we take things in. It’s natural. This is not a gimmick; it’s an opportunity to immerse the audience, to heighten the experience."

The DreamWorks co-founder and former Disney executive foresees a day when 3-D technology will be available on mobile phones and laptops. "This is not my father’s 3-D," he said. "There’s no ghosting, no eye strain and best of all, you don’t throw up. Throwing up is not good for anyone’s business."

Producer John Landau added that 3-D would "do for cinema what stereo did for the audio industry." He says the immediate challenge is to get movie audiences to see 3-D as something other than a gimmick from B-films and the 1950s. Once accepted, he says the sky’s the limit.

"Consumers clearly prefer 3-D if they have a choice," Katzenberg said. 3-D films are estimated as being able to earn two to three times the business of a standard 2-D release.

Disney leads the pack with eleven films currently scheduled for release between 2009 and 2010. DreamWorks’ next 3-D offering will be March’s Monsters vs. Aliens and Katzenberg estimates nearly 40% of the ticket sales will come from 3-D fans. He predicts the percentage will jump to over 80 for Shrek 4 in 2010.

Stressing the technical advances that made the latest incarnation of 3-D different from past efforts, Katzenberg said 3-D "will bring people back to the movies who have stopped going."

Marvel’s Maisel Discusses Film Franchises

Marvel’s Maisel Discusses Film Franchises

David Maisel, Executive Vice President, Office of the Chief Executive, and Chairman of Marvel Studios spoke to investors last weekend and IESB has a complete transcript up for those interested.

Highlights of the talk, though, indicate that Marvel is working hard to maximize their film franchises without blowing the budget on any single film and prefer controlling the films since that gives them the latitude to maximize scheduling.

Investors questioned if Spider-Man 4, were it to come out in 2010, would complicate Iron Man 2 and Thor?  Maisel said, “It would be a nice situation to have, I think there’s room enough for all three and we’d work that out. But it would absolutely be a nice situation to have for Marvel’s fiscal results that year.” On the other hand, Sony has announced Spidey 4 as coming in 2011.

“This is one of the reasons we did our own studio,” Maisel explained to the room full of non-fans, “because not only, well, three reasons. One, we’ve got, now, the economic upside to the movies, we have 100% the economic upside from Iron Man and from the merchandise of Iron Man, whereas before we only got the small license fee and we had to share merchandising. The second reason is, we can control our destiny, we can announce, ‘hey, Iron Man 2 is this date and we’re making this movie and we’re making Thor and we’re making Avengers and Captain America.’ Sony controls that with Spider-Man and so I can’t comment on when the movies come out beyond what they’ve said. I guess all I can say is that Spider-man films have done so well, that it would be, I would assume, unlikely that we wouldn’t see a steady stream more of Spider-Man films going forward. The exact timing and year is up for them to announce.”

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Platinum taps Execs for Advisory Board

Platinum taps Execs for Advisory Board

Home Media Magazine has reported that Platinum Studios has formed an advisory board, featuring a dozen executives from print and mass media to help CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg guide their print-to-film projects.

“The vast experience and success with various forms of entertainment that each advisory board member brings with them will allow Platinum to access additional contacts in the film, television, online, retail and video game industries and in development of the 5,600 comic characters and storylines in the Platinum Studios portfolio,” Rosenberg said. “I am excited by each and every member’s willingness to join the Advisory Board and support Platinum in a more formal role.”

Rosenberg’s ambitious total includes Platinum-generated properties in addition to other comic publishers’ whose film rights they represent such as the forthcoming Witchblade film based on the Top Cow character.

The board is comprised of Richard Fowkes, head of business affairs for Legendary Pictures and former EVP in charge of business affairs for the motion picture group at Paramount Pictures; Andrea Hein, former president of Viacom Consumer Products and current EVP of First Wives World; Mark Canton, former chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and current chairman of Atmosphere Entertainment; Michael Helfant, former president and COO of Marvel Studios; John W. Hyde, former president and CEO of Film Roman and current chairman of Rehab Incorporated; Gale Anne Hurd, chairwoman of Valhalla Motion Pictures; Jerry Katzman, former vice chairman of William Morris Agency; Steve Milo, former president of new media for Marvel Comics; Ed Dille, chairman of Fog Studios; Gareb Shamus, founder of Wizard Entertainment; Charlie Weber, former CEO of Lucasfilm; and Glenn Rigberg, president of Rigberg Entertainment Group.

Platinum has angered creators over payments and legal issues stemming form their recent purchase of Wowio.  While they continue to publish comics both in print and on the web, none have broken through as major creative successes. They do have numerous projects in various stages of development.  Most notable among the list is Cowboys & Aliens which DreamWorks is developing and has Robert Downey, Jr. attached to star.

Platinum was formed in 1997 after Rosenberg exited Malibu Comics in the wake of its purchase by Marvel Comics.  He has been slow to develop Platinum through the years and didn’t really begin releasing titles until late 2006 despite years of development. On September 25, 2006, Platinum pruchased DrunkDuck, a webcomics site and began a strong didigtal initiative that led to the purchase earlier this year of Wowio.

Their media initivative has been limited to the Showtime series Jeremiah, based on a European properrty licensed by the studio. Platinum Studios posted net losses of $4.3 million in 2006 and $5.1 million in 2007.
 

Orphan Works Bill Back Before Congress Today

Orphan Works Bill Back Before Congress Today

After killing the Orphan Works bill earlier this week, the House of Representatives is taking it up again today outraging talent from coast to coast. As a result, an urgent call has gone out to fans of all creative endeavors to lobby their congressmen to kill the bill one more time.

According to OpenCongress, the bill “would limit the amount of damages a copyright holder could collect from an infringer of an orphan work if the infringer performed a diligent search for the copyright holder before using their work. The goal of the legislation is to free up for reuse copyrighted works whose holders cannot be found. It would also set up a process for the Copyright Office to certify commercially-produced visual registries to help people locate the holder of a copyright and prevent the orphaning of works in the future.”

The Senate version of the bill can be seen here.

The House version of the bill can be seen here.

Organizations from across the creative arts field have risen to protest the bill as seen at this site.

Wikipedia describes an orphan work this way: “An orphan work is a copyrighted work where it is difficult or impossible to contact the copyright holder. This situation can arise for many reasons. The author could have never been publicly known because the work was published anonymously or the work may have never been traditionally published at all. The identity of the author could have been once known but the information lost over time. Even if the author is known, it may not be possible to determine who inherited the copyright and presently owns it. Nearly any work where a reasonable effort to locate the current copyright owner fails can be considered orphaned. However the designation is often used loosely and in some jurisdictions there is no legal definition at all.”

U.S. Representative Lamar Smith introduced a bill in May 2006 trying to tackle the issue by limiting what can be done when the copyright owner cannot be located.  It was withdrawn from consideration that September.  A similar bill surfaced in March of this year and was formally introduced to congress on April 24. The senate version includes the creation of a database of orphaned pictorial, graphic and sculptural works.

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Virgin Comics Confirmed Closed

Virgin Comics Confirmed Closed

After rumors began swirling late last week, Publisher’s Weekly now confirms that Virgin Comics has closed. The SoHo offices have been shut down, the staff let go and principals Sharad Devarajan, Gotham Chopra and Lance Leiberman have not returned attempts by the media to get details.

Virgin Comics has issued the following statement:

"Virgin Comics announced today that it will be reorganizing its operations and closing its New York office to consolidate in an LA base.

"The Company is currently working with management to restructure the business and will release its future plans in the next few weeks.

"Sharad Devarajan, CEO, said, ‘We remain excited about the business and partnerships we have built through Virgin Comics and are working towards a restructuring that properly takes the business forward. The decision to scale down the New York operations and concentrate on core activities is due to the current macro-economic downturn and is in no way a reflection on the dedicated and valuable employees we have had the privilege to work with.’ "

The comic book publisher launched a collaboration between Gotham Entertainment and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.  Previously, Gotham had been handling translating and selling major American publishers’ titles to India.

In 2006, the company began publishing three lines of comics, largely written and edited in America with art handled by studios in India.  One line created new characters based on Indian mythology whole the other lines offered high profile talents such as director John Woo a comics venue for their creations.  Just under two dozen collected editions of the choicest material are currently in print.

Their goal, in addition to selling comics, was of course to sell movie versions and they have managed several options, most recently their one-shot The Virulents.

Virgin also entered into a partnership with Sci Fi Channel to use comics as backdoor pilots for cable channel.  Mike Carey’s The Stranded debuted in print back in January and is in active development with Carey writing the pilot script.  The recently announced Superbia from Jordan B. Gorfinkel and Lisa Klink is not expected to go forward.

Despite big names from Stan Lee to Grant Morrison to Garth Ennis being associated with the line, the titles never gained traction with the fans and tastemakers.  Their large presence at Comic-Con International this past July may have been too little too late.

Gotham Entertainment, based in Bangalore, is expected to remain in operation.

Virgin Comics is another in a long line of start-ups that have failed to succeed in either the direct sales comic book market or crossover to mass market readers.  Their Shakti line was not dissimilar to CrossGen’s own universe while their Director’s Cut imprint seemed modeled on Tekno Comics’ model of using Big Name people to bring in curious readers.  The lack of a successful marketing campaign and inability to get readers excited about the material contributed to the line’s failure.

If You’re Not There, You Just Won’t Get It, Part 2, by Michael Davis

If You’re Not There, You Just Won’t Get It, Part 2, by Michael Davis

This is part two of the Milestone Media story I began last week. What follows is a brief overview of last’s week article.

Read last week’s article. End of overview.

Denys Cowan, Christopher Priest, Dwayne McDuffie, Derrick Dingle and myself started meeting about building Milestone a few days after Denys rallied the troops. I remember that Priest was a freakin dynamo! This guy would show up with reams of information at every meeting. He was also very inpatient, if we were stalled on something Priest would present a variety of different ways something could work, just to move the process along.

I loved his energy. I loved how he saw the importance in every detail and even when we butted heads (which was often) I respected his point of view. Dwayne wanted to make sure that our books were the best they could be. He stressed professionalism and excellence over everything. He dismissed with respect what was being done in comics then as “What they are doing. Not what we should do.” Derrick was all about the business; he wanted to make sure that we were protected and smart about our business plan. Denys was focused on the magnitude of Milestone – what we could be and our sense of history. Me? I wanted to make sure that we brought new talent into the industry that included people of color.

Yes, Derrick wanted the business to work on a grand scale. Dwayne wanted excellence in everything we did. Denys to make history. Priest to create a dynasty. I wanted to find talent that could make Milestone the absolute best place to be. All of these made up Milestone. Notice that none of these objectives had anything to do with keeping the company black or excluding anybody with regards to race. Shit, we were too busy trying to make this a GREAT company to worry about it being a black company.

Oh, and there was a non-black member (although unofficial) to Milestone. Her name was Chantal d’Aulnis. Chantal was a V.P. at DC Comics and a friend who gave us invaluable advice in the beginning. No, she did not create any characters, or write any (creative) bibles, her advice was along the lines of. “Look at the way that deal was done.” Or “Maybe you should ask that question of so and so.”

This was important because she gave us a matter-of-fact look at who we were. One of the BIG misconceptions about Milestone is that we were owned, created by or part of DC Comics. Over the years we have tried to answer that clearly but somehow it never quite took, so I’ll try and say it clearly here. MILESTONE WAS NEVER OWNED OR CREATED BY DC COMICS.

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L.A. and Vegas Vying for Comic-Con

L.A. and Vegas Vying for Comic-Con

As all interested parties get ready for this week’s Comic-Con International, a couple other municipalities are preparing to try to wrest the massive convention away from its historic home in San Diego.

Both Los Angeles and Las Vegas have their eye on Comic-Con, according to Variety. The event’s extreme growth has been a boon, but San Diego can’t handle the demand anymore, Comic-Con marketing director David Glanzer said.

That means Comic-Con may have to embrace the marketing mayhem that became a fixture of E3 before it downsized a year ago. So, even with the convention locked into San Diego for the next four years, cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles are actively trying to lure Comic-Con away.

"We don’t like to go in and infringe on other people’s leases when they are in the middle of doing business," says Chris Meyer, VP of convention sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau. Nevertheless, he admits, "We will be down in Comic-Con 2008 to have some discussions."

The way he sees it, Las Vegas has some dramatic advantages, including twice the floor space and a surplus of competitively priced hotel rooms. Meyers notes, "I’ve got more rooms on my corners than they do in most of their downtown area."

DC and Warner Talk Movies

Warner Bros. is apparently looking to emulate the success Marvel has had making its own movies, such as Iron Man and Incredible Hulk.

Variety is reporting some Warner honchos held meetings with people at DC Comics to try to develop a better pipeline from page to screen.

Warners has never had such a strategy, and there have long been complaints the studio has been slow to exploit a potential treasure trove of franchises. And while the studio is basking in critical love for “The Dark Knight,” it has watched studio rivals rake in big bucks from Marvel Comics characters, and Marvel itself get into the tentpole business.

While it’s assumed there will be another Batman pic, there’s been no formal announcement. And Warners has no movies based on the classic DC universe to preview at this year’s Comic-Con.

Few details are coming out, aside from this official statement: "We’re constantly looking at how best to exploit the DC Comics characters and properties." Exploit?

Now, if only someone from Warners would talk to DC about straightening out their comic book line.

Education, by Dennis O’Neil

Education, by Dennis O’Neil

Over the past few years, I’ve come to believe that not everyone gets the same education, even if schools and transcripts are identical. Some folk mentally compartmentalize: church goes here, family here, school stuff here, life in general there. So when they pass tests on what they’ve heard in classrooms, and at the end of a span of time, usually16 years and some august personage hands them a rectangle full of fancy lettering, they’re done with it. No more schooling, and no learning above what’s needed to live comfortably. Schooling in its compartment yonder, not touching this compartment, which is where we live.

That seems particularly true for liberal arts types, and vastly less true for engineers, doctors, dentists – students who go to the universities to acquire skills.

Although it’s been encouraged and enabled by the current “No Child Left Behind” calamity, which seems to be all about passing prefabricated tests and not at all about learning, this just pass the test attitude is not new. My favorite college professor, from whom I took at least six courses, told us that we’d better join the Book of the Month Club; if we didn’t, we’d probably never read another book after graduation. He was admitting that he wasn’t in the business of encouraging curiosity and a love of books and what’s in them. Rather, his task was just to help us grind through the requirements, pick up the sheepskin and…what? Remember to pay taxes. Don’t raise a fuss. Hang the sheepskin in the foyer, where visitors will see it.

The problem, I think, is this: There might be information over in the school compartment that is relevant to the contents of the living compartment. It might supply answers, or at least stimulate thinking.

Left in the ghetto of the school compartment, denied access to other compartments, and it is useless, and it will die. Worse, its lack might cause you to blunder.

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