Archived: Ask the Insiders: Judgment Day Edition

[Talkstr8t]

Originally Posted by Jazar

when can we expect the first title to use BD Live features (2.0 spec) reach consumer's hands?

Already did - War from Lionsgate released 1/1.

[scragham]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

He actually turned around upon landing at LAX and returned to Japan, where he was greeted at Narita by a throng of reporters (on a Sunday). I wouldn't be surprised if a round of resignations aren't likely soon.

now that's some funny stuff. stupid bastard deserves all the ridicule he's going to get.

what are the chances of mass seppuku over there?

Other CES tidbits:

• I'm told the Gates keynote was going to be 30% HD DVD related. Some quick editing was certainly required...
• There are reports that the HD DVD booth was completely redone at the last minute due to the Warner announcement, which might explain why it seems quite unfinished.

- Talk

hah more funny stuff. thanks for sharing.

[Охранное]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

He actually turned around upon landing at LAX and returned to Japan, where he was greeted at Narita by a throng of reporters (on a Sunday). I wouldn't be surprised if a round of resignations aren't likely soon.

Other CES tidbits:

• I'm told the Gates keynote was going to be 30% HD DVD related. Some quick editing was certainly required...
• There are reports that the HD DVD booth was completely redone at the last minute due to the Warner announcement, which might explain why it seems quite unfinished.

- Talk

My, my, my. Does the timing of Warner's announcement chill future endeavors between them/Tosh/MS? Or is it just business?

[Talkstr8t]

Originally Posted by dustin410

Since WB has gone blu exclusively, when can we expect Universal to switch too blu. With 70% of Hollywood behind one format, I can't understand why Universal still clings to HD-DVD. Especially if they don't have a contract with the red camp.

These decisions take time. Universal is a big company, yet part of an even bigger one (GE). Rest assured there are lots of executive discussions working to bring Universal over. You can also assume a studio coming over from exclusivity would want to see what sort of incentives might be available, which would add to the time it'd take for them to either negotiate what they can or be convinced that the window has closed!

Sit tight, support the studios who have supported Blu-ray all along, and in due time we'll have a sweep.

[Talkstr8t]

Originally Posted by Dofflan

Is there likely to be more information from CES regarding Blu-Ray? I read the transcripts from the BDA Press Event yesterday and it was a real sleeping pill. Will the studios have their own press event, title announcements etc?

One of the challenges is that most companies want to make announcements at their own press conferences, not the BDA press conference, hence by the time the BD press conference rolls around most of the news is already known. It's tough to put together something exciting in that context...

[TauHeel05]

any other blu-ray title announcements we should look for at CES?

[Talkstr8t]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

A question: how has GDMX cope with authoring in BD-J? Are they getting better at it after a full year doing HDi?

They are quickly coming up-to-speed. I hope to see Warner BD-J support on par with the best of the other studios by the mid-2008 releases.

[groovyone]

Thanks for the insight, Talk!

[spicynacho]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

He actually turned around upon landing at LAX and returned to Japan, where he was greeted at Narita by a throng of reporters (on a Sunday). I wouldn't be surprised if a round of resignations aren't likely soon.

I would expect so. As for the passive aggressive threat of litigation in the toshiba response to Warner's move, I don't expect too much out of it. The traditional japanese attitude towards lawsuits is one of restraint. My guess is, the heros of HD DVD will pay the price, the company will tie it off and try to pretend that it never happened. Dragging it out in the courts would hurt the company's healing process.

I doubt that paramount and dreamworks will have to do much arm twisting to get out of thier contracts. If its true that they are recieving marketing incentives, they have only been exclusive for 6 months of an 18 month contract. If they have only burned through $50M of the $150M, I think toshiba would be keen on not cutting the checks for the other $100M.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by TauHeel05

any other blu-ray title announcements we should look for at CES?

I second this question. Usually we get some idea of studio release plans at CES where they lay out some detailed titles by month usually up until about May or June.

Is this just not happening this year, or will this occur later on during CES?

OR, out of respect to future Blu partners in Paramount and Universal (who obviously won't be detailing any HD DVD plans), have the Blu studios decided not to make it any more embarrassing for Paramount and Uni by NOt announcing a ton of great BD titles.

I think I speak for most when I say that I love getting all the title announcements at CES.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

I spent some time with him yesterday, he's certainly pleased (as are we all) by the turn of events and the successful Sony interactivity demo.

Tell "the geek" we anxiously await his triumphant return!! It's like a member of our family is missing!!!

Enjoy!!!

[hollywoodguy]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

Warner also goes out-of-house for some titles. I talked yesterday with an exec from one of the major production houses, he confirmed they're gearing up for lots of Warner business.

- Talk

Are you at liberty to say which production house? And is it because of volume or because GDMX isn't really comfortable/experienced with BD-J yet?

Edit: I'm just seeing that you sort of answered the BD-J question already.

[whippersnapper]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

Warner also goes out-of-house for some titles. I talked yesterday with an exec from one of the major production houses, he confirmed they're gearing up for lots of Warner business.

- Talk

Thanks Talk. When having any discussions with Warner execs, let them know that MANY/MOST of their Blu-ray customers are interested in their Blu-ray videos being made from high quality sources using the highest possible encoding. Thanks again.

[darinp2]

I realize insiders might not be able to answer this, but I'm going to try anyway. Can any insiders comment on how much they think New Line and Warner are committed to trying to end this thing and get Blu-ray to take off? I'm specifically thinking of whether New Line is willing to come out with at least the theatrical versions of LOTR (I know people want the extended versions, but this is business and the fact that many people want the extended versions doesn't need to be repeated, especially since the sooner the theatrical versions come out, probably the sooner the extended ones will come out). Or some of the other titles they have mentioned in the past. I know it wouldn't push the formats much, but I personal want to see Dark City and I'm pretty sure New Line said they were going to release that one, but that was probably a year or two ago.

--Darin

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

He actually turned around upon landing at LAX and returned to Japan, where he was greeted at Narita by a throng of reporters (on a Sunday). I wouldn't be surprised if a round of resignations aren't likely soon.
Other CES tidbits:

• I'm told the Gates keynote was going to be 30% HD DVD related. Some quick editing was certainly required...
• There are reports that the HD DVD booth was completely redone at the last minute due to the Warner announcement, which might explain why it seems quite unfinished.

- Talk

Haha, I love it! Thanks for sharing that tidbit! There are going to be some changes there for sure... hopefully they can his ass!

[jon s]

actually it was a very smart move for WB to annouce their new stance prior to the CES. This would subdue or cancel any HD-DVD announcements at the CES. Microsoft changed their program and Toshiba cancelled their presentation for Sunday. This left them no time to counter the Warner move and more or less shocked them.

Paramount is now about to re-enter Blu-Ray according to some sources. i guess Universal will have to "spank" Ken Graffeo for siding on the losing side.

[JasonS]

Originally Posted by jon s

actually it was a very smart move for WB to annouce their new stance prior to the CES. This would subdue or cancel any HD-DVD announcements at the CES. Microsoft changed their program and Toshiba cancelled their presentation for Sunday. This left them no time to counter the Warner move and more or less shocked them.

Paramount is now about to re-enter Blu-Ray according to some sources. i guess Universal will have to "spank" Ken Graffeo for siding on the losing side.

Ken Graffeo will probably get his ass fired from Universal if he doesn't make a switch soon too.

[BluOgre]

Originally Posted by Talkstr8t

These decisions take time. Universal is a big company, yet part of an even bigger one (GE). Rest assured there are lots of executive discussions working to bring Universal over. You can also assume a studio coming over from exclusivity would want to see what sort of incentives might be available, which would add to the time it'd take for them to either negotiate what they can or be convinced that the window has closed!

Sit tight, support the studios who have supported Blu-ray all along, and in due time we'll have a sweep.

I can't believe Universal would expect "incentives" for coming to the Blu-ray side. After talking with my Universal sales rep even he agreed sales of HD-DVD are going to plummet. Why would you need to give anything to the loser....isn't that the point of winning, you get rub the losers nose in the mess they have made? If anything Unviersal should be fitting any bills it took to get Warner to come exclusive with Blu-ray.

Of course I'm just a retailer so maybe this is how it's done. I just find it pretty disgusting that Universal would have their hands out looking for something before making the switch now that they are technically not needed to kill the HD-DVD format. I would rather see Universal waist their time and money to continue releasing in HD-DVD before I see them rewarded for extending this war to the point it hurt the overall business.

[JasonS]

Originally Posted by BluOgre

I can't believe Universal would expect "incentives" for coming to the Blu-ray side. After talking with my Universal sales rep even he agreed sales of HD-DVD are going to plummet. Why would you need to give anything to the loser....isn't that the point of winning, you get rub the losers nose in the mess they have made? If anything Unviersal should be fitting any bills it took to get Warner to come exclusive with Blu-ray.

Of course I'm just a retailer so maybe this is how it's done. I just find it pretty disgusting that Universal would have their hands out looking for something before making the switch now that they are technically not needed to kill the HD-DVD format. I would rather see Universal waist their time and money to continue releasing in HD-DVD before I see them rewarded for extending this war to the point it hurt the overall business.

+1 to this. I can't see why in the world the BDA would give money to Universal. They don't need them anyways with every other studio. F-em and let them miss the boat and watch their disc sales plummet if they want to be stubborn.

[john_nemesh]

Originally Posted by BluOgre

I can't believe Universal would expect "incentives" for coming to the Blu-ray side. After talking with my Universal sales rep even he agreed sales of HD-DVD are going to plummet. Why would you need to give anything to the loser....isn't that the point of winning, you get rub the losers nose in the mess they have made? If anything Unviersal should be fitting any bills it took to get Warner to come exclusive with Blu-ray.

Of course I'm just a retailer so maybe this is how it's done. I just find it pretty disgusting that Universal would have their hands out looking for something before making the switch now that they are technically not needed to kill the HD-DVD format. I would rather see Universal waist their time and money to continue releasing in HD-DVD before I see them rewarded for extending this war to the point it hurt the overall business.

How's this for an incentive? "Sell in our format or don't sell any discs!" Seems like a good "incentive" to me!