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

[micks_address]

id imagine it will be up for awards alright especilay for Wally Pfister, im not sure about actor and directors though.. its going to be a change for sure if a superhero movie won best director at the oscars..

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by micks_address

id imagine it will be up for awards alright especilay for Wally Pfister, im not sure about actor and directors though.. its going to be a change for sure if a superhero movie won best director at the oscars..

Well, so did an elves-and-dwarves sword-and-sorcery movie, didn't it?

Penton, what do you think?

[micks_address]

indeed..... Penton - any news on Spiderman 4? Whats the general consensus from Sony on Spiderman 3? I know it was financially a success but the film was a mess.. what are the plans for a next installment? i'm assuming there will be one due to the success of the franchise and its revenue stream for Sony

Originally Posted by Grubert

Well, so did an elves-and-dwarves sword-and-sorcery movie, didn't it?

Penton, what do you think?

[Mr. Cinema]

I have a pricing question. Hardware prices are...slowly dropping. But software hasn't budged an inch. I know WB is going to drop prices this Fall, but it's on older titles no one really wants. I, like many here, buy online, so we're getting a decent deal on most titles. However, the average customer, who I assume the BDA is going after this holiday season, likely buys their movies at Best Buy, etc. I can't imagine that $34.99 sticker on Cast Away would be too inticing to them.

So, what will it take to get catalog prices to drop? Are the other studios waiting on how WB does?

Also, since new releases are always the top sellers, why can't they at least put those on sale during their first week like we always see with the DVD version?

[Bullseye]

I have noticed a drop in most prices apart from Fox who are still approx. €10.00 a disc dearer than the other studios. But I do agree there needs to be a drop in catalogue title prices from every studio.

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cinema

I have a pricing question. Hardware prices are...slowly dropping. But software hasn't budged an inch. I know WB is going to drop prices this Fall, but it's on older titles no one really wants. I, like many here, buy online, so we're getting a decent deal on most titles. However, the average customer, who I assume the BDA is going after this holiday season, likely buys their movies at Best Buy, etc. I can't imagine that $34.99 sticker on Cast Away would be too inticing to them.

So, what will it take to get catalog prices to drop? Are the other studios waiting on how WB does?

Also, since new releases are always the top sellers, why can't they at least put those on sale during their first week like we always see with the DVD version?

The idea of Blu-ray was for the studios to make more money since DVD has become a commodity and they see Blu-ray as a way to inflate their margins. Also, the volume isn't there yet on Blu-ray to justify wholesale price movement downward. Finally, there is the cost at manufacturing--Blu-ray is a "new" technology and it costs more to press each disc, which increases the price of the discs. We are at the end of the "early adopter" stage and on the precipice of mass market this Christmas season, so you can't expect to find Blu-ray's in the bargain bin just yet. It is a "premium" positioned product with a "premium" price. If you want a bargain, buy DVD.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

The idea of Blu-ray was for the studios to make more money since DVD has become a commodity and they see Blu-ray as a way to inflate their margins.

Enhance is such a better word.

Penton, you da man!!! "Freeeeeeeeeeedom" (did I get all the "e's" in there my man?) on 1/20/09.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Hancock, which has been announced on Blu-ray is one of the handful of relatively current (not restored) feature films that actually arises from a 4K digital intermediate master format.

This is something that I don’t think has been widely advertised………at least, not outside of the Digital Cinema realm.

Did they do the CGI in 4K?

Gary

[gandley]

So eh, whats this new content delivery system thats above BD resolution thats starting to get attention on some forums. somthing like DCI content. anyone know anything about it

[coolmilo]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

That just made my year.

My year is made on Sept 23 with the release of Godfather.

[dialog_gvf]

Has Warner pushed Quo Vadis for Blu further out, or was it always planned for the DVD to come first? (DVD coming Nov. 11)

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Esox50

Enhance is such a better word.

Very true...much better word

[Eternal_Sunshine]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Has Warner pushed Quo Vadis for Blu further out, or was it always planned for the DVD to come first? (DVD coming Nov. 11)

The Quo Vadis Blu-ray has been announced for Nov. 7th in Germany.

[Mr. Cinema]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

The idea of Blu-ray was for the studios to make more money since DVD has become a commodity and they see Blu-ray as a way to inflate their margins. Also, the volume isn't there yet on Blu-ray to justify wholesale price movement downward. Finally, there is the cost at manufacturing--Blu-ray is a "new" technology and it costs more to press each disc, which increases the price of the discs. We are at the end of the "early adopter" stage and on the precipice of mass market this Christmas season, so you can't expect to find Blu-ray's in the bargain bin just yet. It is a "premium" positioned product with a "premium" price. If you want a bargain, buy DVD.

So your position is you want to pay higher prices? got it.

Where did I say bargain bin in my post? Catalog titles aren't selling. When certain titles are in the top 20 and are only moving 1,000 units, don't you think maybe a price decrease would boost that number?

Is BD going to fail if a new release is priced at $19.99 for 1 week?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Thanks, Penton. All too funny and true about the Samsung combo player situation.

So, does anyone think there will be another optical disc or physical format (evidently this Sony spokesman doesn't), or do they pretty much think downloading will have a greater infrustructure making it more feasible for more people within 7-8 yrs?

The various fourth generation optical storage technologies consist of holography, Multilayer recording schemes and near-field optical recording (which, to the best of my knowledge, appears tapped out at 100 – 200 GB with their double-layer disc).

The way things are going with the above, I have my doubts that consumers with ever see devices in their homes for their commonplace usage like with the Blu-ray players and recorders.

Keep in mind, as the Sony spokesperson said, there are 400 GB prototype Blu-ray discs floating around and Sony keeps a pretty good finger on the pulse of the potential competing optical data/storage technologies, even at the basic science level……….
http://spie.org/optical-data-storage.xml

As you should count how many engineers they have here on various Tech committees…………
http://spie.org/x15614.xml

So, I would have a tendency to trust what the Sony rep is saying.

I’m hoping that another type of physical media comes along before downloading becomes the mainstream method for viewing movies.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Well, so did an elves-and-dwarves sword-and-sorcery movie, didn't it?

Penton, what do you think?

Too early to tell.
TDK is a definite consideration but its main contenders to the Best Picture title haven’t even been shown yet to theatrical audiences.

The heavyweights start appearing with Clint Eastwood’s Changeling (Oct. 4 ?) at the New York Film Festival and then continue throughout the holiday season.

Other notables include:
Milk
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Revolutionary Road

Etc., etc.

Best Cinematographer award ?
I would say the leading contenders are Wally Pfister, Roger Deakins and Colin Watkinson (The Fall) of stuff I’ve seen.

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cinema

So your position is you want to pay higher prices? got it.

Where did I say bargain bin in my post? Catalog titles aren't selling. When certain titles are in the top 20 and are only moving 1,000 units, don't you think maybe a price decrease would boost that number?

Is BD going to fail if a new release is priced at $19.99 for 1 week?

I don't want to pay higher prices, but am willing to for the upgrade in quality.

The issue right now isn't price, it's lack of adoption in stand-alone players and most PS3 owners don't buy that many movies. I'm a proud early adopter and would hope that prices will drop at some point, but we are way too early in the process for that to happen. How many more discs would a studio sell if the price was $19.99 versus $24.99? With the number of players on the market, they won't sell enough to make up the lost margin (assumption on my part, but I think its valid). To lower the price 20%, you need to sell a shitload more discs and the reality is there aren't enough buyers yet to make this financially viable for the studios.

Hopefully adoption after this Christmas is very high and we can start to see things like this. The release of The Dark Knight is going to help a ton, that's for sure.

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

The issue right now isn't price, it's lack of adoption in stand-alone players and most PS3 owners don't buy that many movies.

Where is the actual proof for that claim?

First, the majority of people with Blu-ray capability in their homes have it by way of a PS3. I wouldn't be surprised if the ratio between PS3 consoles and standalone BD players was on the order of 3:1 or an even larger difference.

There's a lot of people buying PS3 consoles for the main purpose of playing Blu-ray movies. That's primarily why I bought my 80GB PS3 last January. I own nearly 30 movies on Blu-ray. Not a huge collection, but pretty decent. I have only 3 PS3 games.

Price is indeed an issue.

I have only 1 Fox title in my collection (Independence Day), and that's mainly over the issue of price. I'm not paying $30 or $35 for an old catalog title on Blu-ray, especially when the same old catalog title is available on DVD for 1/4 the price.

I look for good pricing deals on BDs and usually only buy catalog titles when there is some kind of pricing special on them. Since Fox is arguably the biggest offender in terms of over-priced discs they're the studio whose product I'm least likely to buy.

New releases is the only area where pricing between DVD and Blu-ray is somewhat close, usually a $5-$10 difference in retail stores. The difference is sometimes less than that at online sites.

I don't have too much of a problem with a new BD release of a catalog title carrying a $25-$30 price (after discounts from the really high $35-$40 MSRP). However, I believe the studios should start coming down off those initial prices after 3-6 months and then steadily discount further just like what's already been happening with DVD for years. The prices don't have to get to ridiculously low $5-$7 levels like you see in the Wal-Mart DVD bargain bins. An old BD in the $15 range might look inviting. Warner Bros. already sees it that way and will be pricing some old catalog BDs accordingly.

[DenonCI]

I would like to see pricing lower as well, but do you understand the history of why Blu-ray, and HD DVD for that matter, were developed? It was because the sales of DVD was reaching its peak and the profits margins were getting squeazed on both the software side, and especially the hardware side.

So the hardware makers decided to bring competing HD formats to the forefront with a stupid format war (which may or may not have delayed adoptiong...but it certainly didn't help matters any), in order to sell higher priced players without "cheap" competition from the Chinese.

DVD is a VERY mature market now, which is why prices are so cheap (both hardware and software). Were you an owner of DVD in the beginning (1997)?

I was and not only was software a pain in the ass to find, it was damn expensive. In those days, there really wasn't an rental option, in order to watch movies, you had to buy them. Thankfully the Internet boom created a lot of opportunities to buy things much cheaper, but that wasn't until the format was a couple of years old.

Right now, you can rent Blu-ray from multiple sources (Netflix, Blockbuster, etc.), and buy it online or in B&M stores. Online prices are better because of the lower overhead, but you will pay a big premium to buy locally at Best Buy.
There may be a lot of PS3 owners out there (millions and millions), but THEY AREN'T BUYING MANY MOVIES. Just look at the numbers, they don't lie. We are still in the early adoption phase, not mass adoption. So you won't see mass adoption pricing yet, but it will comes. Warner lowering prices is a good move and hopefully others follow suit, especially FOX. But look at FOX DVD's...they were never the cheapest on the block either.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

I would like to see pricing lower as well, but do you understand the history of why Blu-ray, and HD DVD for that matter, were developed? It was because the sales of DVD was reaching its peak and the profits margins were getting squeazed on both the software side, and especially the hardware side.

So the hardware makers decided to bring competing HD formats to the forefront with a stupid format war (which may or may not have delayed adoptiong...but it certainly didn't help matters any), in order to sell higher priced players without "cheap" competition from the Chinese.

DVD is a VERY mature market now, which is why prices are so cheap (both hardware and software). Were you an owner of DVD in the beginning (1997)?

I was and not only was software a pain in the ass to find, it was damn expensive. In those days, there really wasn't an rental option, in order to watch movies, you had to buy them. Thankfully the Internet boom created a lot of opportunities to buy things much cheaper, but that wasn't until the format was a couple of years old.

Right now, you can rent Blu-ray from multiple sources (Netflix, Blockbuster, etc.), and buy it online or in B&M stores. Online prices are better because of the lower overhead, but you will pay a big premium to buy locally at Best Buy.
There may be a lot of PS3 owners out there (millions and millions), but THEY AREN'T BUYING MANY MOVIES. Just look at the numbers, they don't lie. We are still in the early adoption phase, not mass adoption. So you won't see mass adoption pricing yet, but it will comes. Warner lowering prices is a good move and hopefully others follow suit, especially FOX. But look at FOX DVD's...they were never the cheapest on the block either.

+1

excellent post.