[B5JMS] JMS: A Rant

[b5jms at mail.fsl.cs.sunysb.edu]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: Jan <janmschroeder at aol.com>
Date: 3 Sep 2007 19:29:24 -0700
Lines: 57

JMS,

I've got to say that my gratitude toward WB for making TLT at all is wearing
thin.

You told us that sales were going to be key in the decision as to whether
there'll be more disks so why is it that the advertising campaign WB has for TLT
seems to consist of A) word of mouth by the fans following your appearances and
posts, B) You and the actors and crew doing interviews and C) some review copies
being sent out?  I'd like to be able to count the appearance that Bruce and
Tracy and Doug did at the Best Buy event on release day...except that reports
are that it was pretty empty since nobody'd even heard about it.  Except for
some websites putting up buttons for people to buy it from Amazon, there haven't
even been any banner ads on the web that I've noticed.  And as often as I do
searches on all things B5, I really should have.

I was on a panel to discuss TLT at DragonCon this weekend and we actually
weren't able to discuss it at all because I was in a room that mostly held
people who hadn't even *heard* of the Lost Tales before seeing the panel in the
program and came to find out what it was.

Credit where credit is due, there do seem to be a fair number of ways for people
to experience this first offering, whether it's the HD version or On Demand or
buying the DVD but maybe they'd get more sales if there was a promotional budget
of more than sixty cents and a bunch of free copies?

And while I'm on a rant, is there any way of getting through to WB that maybe,
just maybe it's time to stop with the experiments and timidity when it comes to
putting out new B5 material to the fans?  They tested the market when it came to
the VHS tapes - Columbia House ran out within hours.  Again with the bare-bones
DVD edition of "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning" - a success again, as were
the rest of the DVD releases.  That's why they approached you about doing more
B5.  Now for the Lost Tales, you once again had to wear three or four hats in
order to get the thing done for the budget they gave you and they even leave it
up to you to *tell* anybody about it.

Is there any way of communicating to WB that you've done your part, the fans
have done their very best, now it's up to Warner Bros. to put up or shut up?  If
they're going to greenlight more Lost Tales disks, maybe they need to put up the
money for them in batches of five or ten with enough money to do the originally
planned three stories per disk, and an advertising campaign before and after
each release. It's time for them to show some faith in the B5 universe.

</rant mode>  Seriously, if there's a way that we can communicate that to WB, I
know at least a few people who'd write letters.

Jan


-- 
Here, gathered together in common cause 
We agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule: 
That we *must* be kind to one another.                          
                  Citizen G'Kar
                  J. Michael Straczynski



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: "jmsatb5 at aol.com" <jmsatb5 at aol.com>
Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2007 02:52:58 -0700
Lines: 18

The problem with any studio is that they're terrified of losing money
on something, anything, so they hedge their bets...they don't give the
ad money you want because they're afraid sales won't support it, and
end p with a self-fulfilling prophecy more times than not.

Your appraisal of the situation with WB is spot on.

However, despite this, they are most pleased as sales have been
several orders of magnitude beyond what they anticipated.

More on this when I know more about what this actually *means*.

Meanwhile, on some of the things I couldn't announce at SDCC, count to
14 days give or take and start watching the skies....

jms