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

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Josh

Alright Penton, I'm going to do it! I'm going to make a title request!

This fall marks the 30th anniversary of one of the best albums of all time: Pink Floyd's The Wall. For the love of all that is holy, can we get a Blu-ray release of the film 'Pink Floyd's: The Wall'??? The DVD has an awesome 2.0 PCM track, but I want, nay, need a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack mastered in the highest bitrate possible along with a spectacular 1080p AVC video presentation.

So please, Penton, I beg of you. Make it so!

Well, you know that high ranking people all over the industry are reading that DTS/Dolby poll, b.t.w., the daily graph of which sort of looks like a two stage rocket blasting up into space, meaning

Bam…….. 0 –> 500 votes then cruising along.
Bam…….. 550 –> 1050 votes and now cruising along maintaining altitude

So, I guess a public plea on this thread for one of your favorites with an anniversary tie in can only help the cause.

[Jeff Kleist]

It's not just the movie industry where execs who don't know the buis they're in is a problem either

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/...ng-about-cars/

The new chairman of General Motors is already under fire.

Edward Whitacre, a former AT&T hotshot whose long corporate career has been touted as an example of his big-business prowess, delivered a rather startling comment to a Bloomberg reporter on Tuesday — saying he knows nothing about the auto industry.

“I don’t know anything about cars,” Whitacre said. “A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I’m not that old, and I think the business principles are the same.”

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

It’s really a moot point anyway for home theater enthusiasts who rarely go out to watch a theatrical presentation at their local Cineplex as to whether or not 4k SXRD projectors are improved or will continue to be improved as time goes on.

Moot point or self-fulfilling prophecy?

I want some light output when I see a d-cinema presentation and the less I get it, the more I become one of the "home theater enthusiasts who rarely go out to watch a theatrical presentation at their local Cineplex" you describe.

Yes, a 100% 4k production workflow will certainly improve the standard of Blu-ray releases, but if poor quality projectors are dampening everyone's spirits at the theatre, the audience for those discs will end up with correspondingly lessened enthusiasm.

[Scooby Blu]

Originally Posted by Josh

Alright Penton, I'm going to do it! I'm going to make a title request!

This fall marks the 30th anniversary of one of the best albums of all time: Pink Floyd's The Wall. For the love of all that is holy, can we get a Blu-ray release of the film 'Pink Floyd's: The Wall'??? The DVD has an awesome 2.0 PCM track, but I want, nay, need a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack mastered in the highest bitrate possible along with a spectacular 1080p AVC video presentation.

So please, Penton, I beg of you. Make it so!

Great request Josh! Thank You ! We can only hope!

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

It’s really a moot point anyway for home theater enthusiasts who rarely go out to watch a theatrical presentation at their local Cineplex as to whether or not 4k SXRD projectors are improved or will continue to be improved as time goes on.

I would definitely cast myself in that camp, and for me the issue has been a lack of PQ. But, I would love to be drawn back to the theater.

Almost every BD on my Kuro has a wow moment where I marvel at the PQ. The only time that has happened in a theater for me, since 70mm days, were the IMAX scenes in The Dark Knight.

I find big theater 35mm and 2K DLP projections rather awful.

I saw Star Trek on a 4K projection at my AMC's ETX theater, and that was definitely a major improvement. But, I felt it didn't match my HT, and obviously doesn't come anywhere near 70mm.

One thing I would expect is theatrical 4K to beat the heck out of HT for colour. But, I guess Star Trek wasn't really the type of film to highlight that.

Gary

[androvsky]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

One thing I would expect is theatrical 4K to beat the heck out of HT for colour. But, I guess Star Trek wasn't really the type of film to highlight that.

Gary

Star Trek should be great for color, but I wouldn't expect any lamp-based digital projector to beat a Kuro for color any time soon, even if I'm a bit biased . The Kuro is the closest I've seen to a laser projector for color.

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by BluDomain

Oh yes, a good post. Surely with all the knowledge of what is wrong and apparent talent, it seems to me you all should pool your finances and start your own studio.

Instead of attacking me why don't you try pointing out what is wrong with what I previously wrote. Summing up what I wrote as attacking "big bad corporations" is an obvious oversimplification.

The notion that I need to run my own studio to be qualified to make any observations about what is wrong with Hollywood is pretty silly. By that logic no one should have the right to be angry if they buy a music CD that turns out to be mostly garbage. They have to run their own music studio and/or be a professional musician to have the right to any opinion on the matter.

Originally Posted by BluDomain

Maybe about a $100 million would do for a start. Shouldn't be much of a problem since I'm sure some of you with your vast knowledge of what is wrong and how to correct it you've made a fortune and have no qualms about risking your own money. Of course after you lose a few million, I'd have a bean counter standing at the ready to bail you out.

Here's a news flash: creative businesses are inherently risky -at least when they're actually being creative. When new ideas in movies, music and literature are allowed to flourish people in that given creative industry make and lose fortunes.

The companies who own all the major studios in Hollywood, the major broadcast TV networks in New York and the music business in NY, LA and Nashville know this very well. Those companies are actively fighting against that natural cycle by taking as few chances as possible on new ideas and have creative media choked off in a massive oligopoly to control what comes in and out more tightly. Those companies aren't nearly so vulnerable to creative trends in music, movies, etc. as they were in decades past. That's because they're the ones dictating the format, not some new talent no one ever heard of before. We have lots of derivatively crappy movies, music and TV shows all as a result.

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

It's not just the movie industry where execs who don't know the buis they're in is a problem either.

Apple Computer is a good example. After a parade of journeyman CEOs led the company into near ruin it took bringing in someone who actually "gets it" to save the company: Steve Jobs -the guy those "suits" muscled out of Apple Computer back in the 1980s.

What Steve Jobs does is not revolutionary at all. He's mainly focused on delivering a product that people want rather than just blindly crunching numbers like most CEOs do. I think most CEOs are little more than accountants with way too much power.

[mpsan]

Penton...I sent you a PM. Sorry it is not better news!

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

I think most CEOs are little more than accountants with way too much power.

You just summed up the CEO of my company in a nutshell. Smart guy, but stupid in how the "real" world works.

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

Apple Computer is a good example. After a parade of journeyman CEOs led the company into near ruin it took bringing in someone who actually "gets it" to save the company: Steve Jobs -the guy those "suits" muscled out of Apple Computer back in the 1980s.

What Steve Jobs does is not revolutionary at all. He's mainly focused on delivering a product that people want rather than just blindly crunching numbers like most CEOs do. I think most CEOs are little more than accountants with way too much power.

Also I wonder if many know that John Lasseter, now the chief creative executive of both Pixar and Disney, was fired by Disney in the early 80s due to a regime of bean counters. It's only fitting that Pixar and JL put Disney back on the map after falling far from their resurgence in the nineties.

Has Disney Animation had a chart topping blockbuster since Pixar's Toy Story?

Thankfully when they ousted Eisner, the new CEO's top priority was mending the fence with Pixar and giving Lasseter the respect he was denied long ago.

On that note, saw UP in 3D over the weekend. Another great Pixar movie. Fun, poignant and breathtaking to watch.

[Jeff Kleist]

Steve Jobs created a religion, the most profitable business model there is
That's where he's different. And he's smart enough to hire MBAs to do the books for him and set realistic budgets and such so the company won't sink.

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Steve Jobs created a religion, the most profitable business model there is
That's where he's different. And he's smart enough to hire MBAs to do the books for him and set realistic budgets and such so the company won't sink.

And to have a closed system where he (Apple) controls virtually ever aspect of the hardware and software.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

And to have a closed system where he (Apple) controls virtually ever aspect of the hardware and software.

A monopoly you say?

[Jeff Kleist]

And to have a closed system where he (Apple) controls virtually ever aspect of the hardware and software.

Hindus don't get the write the Bible

[Bobby Henderson]

I don't really like the closed/proprietary nature of Mac-based computers either. Nevertheless, it's very easy to see a well orchestrated "big picture" approach in the design of those computers (never mind the current drawbacks like no Blu-ray support, no HDMI ports, no eSATA ports, too much emphasis on iPod/iPhone business, etc.)

The big three US car makers are another good example of the bean counting "let's try to sell the same old crap for even more money" ethic gone very very wrong. They basically gave up trying to compete with the Japanese and Europeans in the passenger car business and took selling pickups and SUVs for granted, wrapping the strategy in patriotism, the American flag and redneck culture. BTW, I drive a Chevy Silverado pickup; no one should accuse me of being a hater.

Japanese car makers like Honda do what any good manufacturer does: put the most focus on the product.

Small business is still one area where good product quality and good customer service remains as the real make or break factors in making the business succeed or fail. Accounting tricks won't make up for bad product or bad service.

[DenonCI]

Also about the car makers is paying workers way too much money for an unskilled labor job. Years ago it was skilled labor, but with the advent of robotics someone shouldn't make $75 an hour to push a button (plus ungodly benefits for life).

[Jeff Kleist]

Well, I'm not an MBA, but I figure that quarterly earnings should be changed to yearly earnings reports. Too much emphasis on the fast buck results in get rich quick schemes.

[Objectivity]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

Also about the car makers is paying workers way too much money for an unskilled labor job. Years ago it was skilled labor, but with the advent of robotics someone shouldn't make $75 an hour to push a button (plus ungodly benefits for life).

I saw the number a few months ago that explained the problem in a nut shell. When you buy a $20,000 Japanese car, you're getting $20,000 worth of car. When you buy a $20,000 American-made car you're getting a car worth about $18,000 with the other $2,000 being the inflated cost added due to union salaries that have been negotiated far higher than the actual worth of the job.

People still buy American vehicles because they like the design, or like buying American, and on a loan of that amount the cost per month due to that difference is relatively small.

Getting back on topic, is there any wonder why so few American companies make electronics any more? That union markup makes it impossible to sell a competitive product.

[Josh]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

And to have a closed system where he (Apple) controls virtually ever aspect of the hardware and software.

Apple is a closed system because that is the only way you can pretty much guarantee that its going to work. I have built too many PCs where one part doesn't play nice with another part simply because two different manufacturers didn't follow specs perfectly. Its annoying to spend that much money only to find after months of research and tech support that the reason for that random BSOD is hardware related!

They should really should chance their slogan to "Apple: It just works." because that is exactly how I felt when it took 5 seconds to sync my Apple laptop to the Apple Airport... compared to the 15 minutes it took when dealing with PCs.