"Club Penton" - Ask questions to Hollywood insider "Penton-Man"
 

This thread is dedicated to asking questions of industry insider "Penton-Man" (Hollywood insider) who has graciously taken the time to participate here. Penton-Man and all our insiders do this out of their free time and to try to keep us informed to their best abilities, and therefore are to be treated with respect and courtesy.

Before asking a question, please skim at least the last weeks worth of posts in order to make sure that the question hasn't already been asked or answered. Using the search function is also always a good idea. Please conduct your inquiries in a professional manner and avoid asking "chicken little" questions or asking when unannounced titles will come out.

Penton-Man - Hollywood - Track posts

Hey Penton

What's the current (if you know) studio plans regarding the writers strike?

Will studios be focusing on independent types of productions for the moment?

Thanks

Hey Penton.

Please let the studios know that us "early adopters" like non-action films as well. It would be nice for studios like Fox and Sony and to release Blu-Rays of smaller films such as "The Darjeeling Limited", "Southland Tales" and "The King of Kong"..

I like this new thread idea.
Hey there Penton!

with all due respect for the fact that you are an insider and subject to secrets and NDAs and the like, is there anything you can comment upon about the latest Bill Hunt post (1/14) and what the BDA plans to do about the current situation with Toshiba?
I fully expect at this point to wait for at least another month, maybe longer, but it would be nice to see the BDA actively promoting Blu-ray over HD DVD still to lessen the confusion on consumers.

Thanks again for all the time and effort you put into the Blu-ray.com forums and for everything you have done for Blu-ray itself.

Hey Penton since Warner joined blu you have been usually quiet around here. We all know that victory is at hand but how about giving us a clue to Universal and Paramount??:D

Penton,

Do you have any idea when we will see a retailer choose a side? That would be some exciting news.

To get the Directors signed to a new contract asap as the Writers and the Producers are still miles apart.

Bill Hunt has great sources.

The BDA does not plan on purchasing any firesale up-converting Toshiba players…..Jodi will just have to make more room in her garage for the leftovers that they don’t sell to unsuspecting customers.......or else throw them overboard to make a man-made reef in the Pacific.

I’ve been working on getting better tickets (than I had last year) for the upcoming Grammy Awards.
As long as they get me one row in front of Craig Kornblau so that he can only see the back of my head, I will be satisfied.

Hey, I plan on getting your official Blu-ray leather jacket out in the mail next week. It is well worth over $100. retail value and you’ll have to ask our forum member richteer (?sp) what the total value is when you factor it in as a Collector’s item given how few were produced.

Any news on Lawrence? Now that war is over time to concetrat on great movies...

Thanks Penton.

Cool. Your own Blu jacket!

So are you saying the BDA will not do anything publicly to counter Toshiba? Are they just going to let Toshiba's firesale burn out on its own?
I was just hoping they would do something to lower the HD DVD sales and educate those unsuspecting customers before they invest in a dead/dying technology.

This is really the slow season. Nobody feels under any real pressure to do anything.

That being said, after the Warner announcement which essentially decided the format war, I would say that all the retailers are or will be on a track in the direction of total Blu – esp. as preparation time for next Holiday season begins. They did not like the format war to begin with and they do not like the after-effects because it confuses consumers…….and takes up shelf space.

Currently, I would say that BestBuy is on the fastest track toward eventual total Blu enlightenment to its customers.

The HD master is complete.
The marketing gurus are trying to figure out how much and what type of "added value" there should be accompaning the movie.

Honestly, they don't seem in any rush to me in making their decision. Perhaps I've got to start bugging some people about it just so they get it out sometime in 2008.

Later, it's after 9:00 my time.

When you say "fast track" does that mean that they will sell through their current inventory and just not order more? Or will they just cut back on HD DVD sku's that they stock regularly?

I would say the best way to put it is that the company knows they want their discs to match their shirts, and are moving in that direction as fast as not honking off Tosh/Paramount/Uni too badly will allow.

I have already noticed that at my local BBY. The hd dvd rack keeps getting smaller and smaller with how many titles there are.

Excellent news given that Best Buy is the nation's top HDM selling retailer.

Employees have been told to sell the remaining hd dvd players ASAP before the bottom falls off. I doubt they will be re-ordering the players again. In fact many store have not re-ordered players since November.

Penton,

Care to comment on Amir's "retirement"? :D