Lion's Gate CEO: "in terms of HD, Blu-ray is really the technology of the future"

[JTK]

http://www.worldscreen.com/interview...heimer1006.htm

WS: Lionsgate has chosen the Blu-ray DVD format over HD-DVD. Why did you choose that, and are the two competing DVD formats going to hurt the DVD industry?

FELTHEIMER: We need to get resolution on this and, of course, you don’t want to make the consumer sit around and wait, not knowing which format is going to win. I have to be clear; we aren’t formally bound to Blu-ray. We do have the flexibility to go with whichever is the winning format, but we have chosen Blu-ray for a number of reasons, mostly technical. It has very robust copy protection, which is obviously very important for anti-piracy. It’s got great capacity—50 gigs—that is going to be very important not just for the additional features [that can be offered on a DVD] but for enhanced resolution as well. You’ve got seven studios supporting the format. We think that is important. There are lots of hardware manufacturers supporting it as well, and we felt in terms of high-def, this is really the technology of the future.

Can't state the facts much more clearly than this.

At the very least, I think it's pretty clear that Lion's Gate isn't going to be fudging on their BD only support anytime real soon...if ever.

[BTBuck1]

PWNED!

[marzetta7]

Nice! Good news, however, I'm awaiting the "but" monkeys in 3...2...1...

"but, he says they're not formally bound to Blu-ray"

"but, Hollywood studios will go where sales are and HD DVD is outselling Blu-ray 3 to 1"

"but, Lionsgate has canceled all of their Blu-ray releases execept for one in 2006, which means they're going HD DVD."

"but, Lionsgate is going to use one encode of VC-1 for future releases, which means they'll be going HD DVD"

etc, etc, etc.

[marzetta7]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

PWNED!

LOL! Too funny...

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

PWNED!

^^
Nice one!

[Chris Beveridge]

Originally Posted by marzetta7

Nice! Good news, however, I'm awaiting the "but" monkeys in 3...2...1...

"but, he says they're not formally bound to Blu-ray"

"but, Hollywood studios will go where sales are and HD DVD is outselling Blu-ray 3 to 1"

"but, Lionsgate has canceled all of their Blu-ray releases execept for one in 2006, which means they're going HD DVD."

"but, Lionsgate is going to use one encode of VC-1 for future releases, which means they'll be going HD DVD"

etc, etc, etc.

Just read the AVS thread for that. You read the quote/article and then the replies and you feel like you read two different things.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Chris Beveridge

Just read the AVS thread for that. You read the quote/article and then the replies and you feel like you read two different things.

And then you see who wrote what and there's absolutely no surprise to any of it whatsoever.

[hmurchison]

It's not a Fox level committment but it's a step in the right direction if you're a Blu-ray fan.

[SDK]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

It's not a Fox level committment but it's a step in the right direction if you're a Blu-ray fan.

I don't think you need to be a fan of BD to get a simple math result, 30 vs 50GB?

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by SDK

I don't think you need to be a fan of BD to get a simple math result, 30 vs 50GB?

Those are just numbers. What's important is defining the correlations between those numbers. Can an extra 20GB really improve the final product? What other efficiencies may that surplus offer?

Specs mean nothing until we can clearly articulate the advantages of said specs. Saying something is for the "future" means little until a roadmap of the future can at least be conjectured upon.

[BTBuck1]

Your preaching this to amercians who buy 250-350hp vehichles to go to the grocery store in. Yeah you don't always need it. But i'd rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

[hmurchison]

Movie consumption is a bit different though.

Consumers don't walk into blockbuster and ask for the 9.4GB version of their favorite DVD movie rental. They are simply looking for the movie and don't have a care for the underlaying technology.

With cars, every time you mash the pedal you are reminded about your horsepower or lacktherof.

Blu-ray must have some titles that show what can be done with the surplus. Right now we're simply talking theory to people. We must engage in show and tell. This month we finally get to see BD-Java and that's a positive step forward. Consumers won't care about the underlaying tech but they will go bonkers over the end result when it's done with creativity.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Those are just numbers. What's important is defining the correlations between those numbers. Can an extra 20GB really improve the final product? What other efficiencies may that surplus offer?

Specs mean nothing until we can clearly articulate the advantages of said specs. Saying something is for the "future" means little until a roadmap of the future can at least be conjectured upon.

Gahahahahahahahahaahahaaa

I cant hold it when i read such things LOLOLOLOL

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Dave

Gahahahahahahahahaahahaaa

I cant hold it when i read such things LOLOLOLOL

Sorry it's my sales background. My clients would not put up with statements that cannot be backed up properly.

[theknub]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Movie consumption is a bit different though.

Consumers don't walk into blockbuster and ask for the 9.4GB version of their favorite DVD movie rental. They are simply looking for the movie and don't have a care for the underlaying technology.

With cars, every time you mash the pedal you are reminded about your horsepower or lacktherof.

Blu-ray must have some titles that show what can be done with the surplus. Right now we're simply talking theory to people. We must engage in show and tell. This month we finally get to see BD-Java and that's a positive step forward. Consumers won't care about the underlaying tech but they will go bonkers over the end result when it's done with creativity.

with movies, every time they turn on the t.v. they will be reminded (or lack thereof) that the format provides.

the avg consumer doesn't give a flying rat as you so adaquetly (i think i butchered that word) say. it's all about bleeding edge at the moment. the studio picked it for the future. yes, there is no roadmap because this is the unpaved road. we won't have a roadmap until things settle in and we have a winner. once that happens, people will start spewing things about holographic and we'll have a new road to be made.

sorry, the roadmap analogy doesn't hold water in this environment. obviously each company has a roadmap, but we don't know anything about it as consumers. we'll know more once we get past bleeding and cutting edge.

[iceman]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Those are just numbers. What's important is defining the correlations between those numbers. Can an extra 20GB really improve the final product? What other efficiencies may that surplus offer?

I think 60% extra storage is noticeable
Not to mention the 100-200GB vs 45GB in the future...

[hmurchison]

You have to have a roadmap.

How can you tell someone something is superior and future proof without being able to speak on the potential changes that are coming that affect the need for the technology you recommend?

Q. [cust] "What does Blu-ray give me with that extra 20GB of space that HD DVD doesn't?"

A. [sales] "Well sir, it gives studios the ability to add more extras in SD/HD, more audio channels and ensure that the compression used is at the
minimum level to guarantee excellent quality"

That's a more helpful response. Tossing speeds and feeds at a consumer isn't going to do much until they understand the benefits behind the features we tout.

If you look at Amazon or Costco.com some of their best selling titles are televised series. This is an important feature that should be highlighted.

[sales] "did you know that TV series on disc are the hottest things right now? The extra space of BD is going to allow more episodes to be put onto each disc. Imagine Lost on just a couple of discs for a whole season!

You cannot speak on technical superiority without having a correlation between the superior features and a benefit. This is for your basic consumer. If you're talking to a highly technical person you give them the techy stuff.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Iceman

I think 60% extra storage is noticeable
Not to mention the 100-200GB vs 45GB in the future...

Only if it addresses a pain point. Perhaps a consumer is tired of swapping discs or they don't have a lot of rack space for their media and need consolidation. BD hasn't yet been able to capitalize on this yet. They need to be the first to bring a popular TV series to maket with nextgen interactivity.

[theknub]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

You have to have a roadmap.

How can you tell someone something is superior and future proof without being able to speak on the potential changes that are coming that affect the need for the technology you recommend?

Q. [cust] "What does Blu-ray give me with that extra 20GB of space that HD DVD doesn't?"

A. [sales] "Well sir, it gives studios the ability to add more extras in SD/HD, more audio channels and ensure that the compression used is at the
minimum level to guarantee excellent quality"


[sales] "did you know that TV series on disc are the hottest things right now? The extra space of BD is going to allow more episodes to be put onto each disc. Imagine Lost on just a couple of discs for a whole season!

i wouldn't call that a roadmap, i'd call that training for store employees. i view a roamap as the direction a company is taking and how they are going to get there. in a sense, training is a roadmap, but that is from a purely sales end. not from a technological side.

[bferr1]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Those are just numbers. What's important is defining the correlations between those numbers. Can an extra 20GB really improve the final product? What other efficiencies may that surplus offer.

HD extras, for one, like on the Click BD.