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

[jopemoro]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Actually I think that the next country on the overseas list deeming special attention is Spain.

It's too freakin freezing to visit the UK this time of year.

Hey, make sure you buzz if coming this way, I'll draw up a 'must visit' list for you...

(Alternatively, feel free to send job offers to promote Blu-ray in Spain my way... )

[Grubert]

Spain will be a tough nut to crack for HD. Most people are either downloading like crazy on P2P or buying bootleg DVDs of I Am Legend. They used to do it openly on the sidewalks, but now police has cracked down on this and they peddle their albums and movies to people at bars and other places.

Blockbuster had to shut down in Spain. So did most small rental outlets, which flourished in the eighties.

As I said, persuading Spaniards to pay anything at all for content (let alone paying a premium for hidef content) is going to be an uphill battle.

[Blue]

Enough of the religion thing. A very simple solution. For those of you that don't classify <SNIP> as a religion then classify it as politics. Any further discussion will earn a 10 day suspension. These rules are simple and are there for a very good reason. Especially in the insiders threads. ENOUGH...

[Agent Cooper]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Actually I think that the next country on the overseas list deeming special attention is Spain.

It's too freakin freezing to visit the UK this time of year.

Hi Penton - since the UK was brought up, I have a question for you or any of the other insiders:

What moves might we expect from the British movie industry with regards to Blu-ray - I'm thinking production companies like Film Four, Working Title etc. and distributors as well? I have no knowledge of them making a statement about backing HD and/or announce any release plans.

There's a whole bunch of British movie treasures I would love to enjoy in HD. British television series as well, although a lot of them might not be shot on film or in HD.

BTW: I spent some time in Spain on holiday with my class back in the high school days. Among other things we visited the headquaters of Freixenet, a Spanish wine producer located close to the French border. We spent the entire afternoon drinking.. sorry, tasting exquisite wines while sitting outside in the lovely Spanish weather being served by beautiful Spanish senoritas...

Strongly recommended!

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Agent Cooper

BTW: I spent some time in Spain on holiday with my class back in the high school days. Among other things we visited the headquaters of Freixenet, a Spanish wine producer located close to the French border. We spent the entire afternoon drinking.. sorry, tasting exquisite wines while sitting outside in the lovely Spanish weather being served by beautiful Spanish senoritas...

Talking about Freixenet, I think y'all would love seeing the long commercial/short film Scorsese made for the latest Freixenet holiday campaign:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqBYlaswFDg

[Lord_Phan]

Question about Paramount.

There are rumours that they have an out-clause when/if Warner defects to Blu and leave HD-DVD. Everyone is speculating that Paramount can leave because Warner announced they were leaving HD-DVD. Now Legally I don't see how this jives.

Assuming Paramount does indeed have this out-clause, wouldn't the actual legal act of defection be in May when Warner's contract ends and they no longer produce any HD-DVD's at all? Wouldn't that be the time of the out-clause coming into effect and THEN allowing Paramount to leave?

Or is this not how the contracts are written?

[Agent Cooper]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Talking about Freixenet, I think y'all would love seeing the long commercial/short film Scorsese made for the latest Freixenet holiday campaign:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqBYlaswFDg

LOL - pure genius. I've never seen it before.

If commercials were generally made in this spirit, with this kind of attention to details, script and direction, the television programmes in between would be regarded as the filler.

Nice touch to see Scorsese regulars like Thelma Schoonmaker in the clip to keep up the 'illusion'.

[WickyWoo]

There are rumours that they have an out-clause when/if Warner defects to Blu and leave HD-DVD. Everyone is speculating that Paramount can leave because Warner announced they were leaving HD-DVD. Now Legally I don't see how this jives.

Assuming Paramount does indeed have this out-clause, wouldn't the actual legal act of defection be in May when Warner's contract ends and they no longer produce any HD-DVD's at all? Wouldn't that be the time of the out-clause coming into effect and THEN allowing Paramount to leave?

Or is this not how the contracts are written?

I don't think anyone with that knowlege is allowed to comment on that kind of specifics. The contracts could say anything

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by hanser

Dear Penton,

since you seem to have a lot of connections in Hollywood, would it be possible to find some representative of Warner and Disney for Insider status here? I am sure that many here have questions and suggestions for those studios.

Hartwig

Greetings from the U.S. to Germany Hartwig.
My, we truly have an international crowd here.

Well for the record, we already have one Disney employee posting here but, he is not in HDM, per se.
Anyway, Hartwig, do you realize what you are asking ?

If I were to get WB and Disney executives as Insiders to actively post here as well, nobody would be reading any other forums on the internet other than Blu-ray.com
Do you really wish such a malady upon our sister forums?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by jopemoro

Hey, make sure you buzz if coming this way, I'll draw up a 'must visit' list for you...

(Alternatively, feel free to send job offers to promote Blu-ray in Spain my way... )

Well, not that city but, more like Barcelona come the week of the 28th.
If any folks here are familiar with some fine eateries and shops for leather goods in that town, feel free to pass on such specifics to me in a PM.

Now, only if Ronaldinho wasn’t laid up with a knee injury, it truly could be an awe-inspiring destination…………….

[hanser]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Anyway, Hartwig, do you realize what you are asking ?

If I were to get WB and Disney executives as Insiders to actively post here as well, nobody would be reading any other forums on the internet other than Blu-ray.com
Do you really wish such a malady upon our sister forums?

But I thought competition is a good thing??

[Living Near Shamu]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

If I were to get WB and Disney executives as Insiders to actively post here as well, nobody would be reading any other forums on the internet other than Blu-ray.com
Do you really wish such a malady upon our sister forums?

LOL yes! You Rock PM!

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Lord_Phan

Question about Paramount.

There are rumours that they have an out-clause when/if Warner defects to Blu and leave HD-DVD. Everyone is speculating that Paramount can leave because Warner announced they were leaving HD-DVD. Now Legally I don't see how this jives.

Assuming Paramount does indeed have this out-clause, wouldn't the actual legal act of defection be in May when Warner's contract ends and they no longer produce any HD-DVD's at all? Wouldn't that be the time of the out-clause coming into effect and THEN allowing Paramount to leave?

Or is this not how the contracts are written?

I believe the out clause was more based on whether or not HD DVD PG could get Warner to go HD DVD-exclu by end of Q1/08, so after March 31st, 2008, Paramount could announce dual support or otherwise, based on the out clause.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well, not that city but, more like Barcelona come the week of the 28th.
If any folks here are familiar with some fine eateries and shops for leather goods in that town, feel free to pass on such specifics to me in a PM.

Now, only if Ronaldinho wasn’t laid up with a knee injury, it truly could be an awe-inspiring destination…………….

The Architecture of Barcelona is awe inspiring enough. Love that city. Try the many Tapa bars around lunchtime. I will try and find the details of the restaurants we visited on our last visit.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Greetings from the U.S. to Germany Hartwig.
My, we truly have an international crowd here.

Well for the record, we already have one Disney employee posting here but, he is not in HDM, per se.
Anyway, Hartwig, do you realize what you are asking ?

If I were to get WB and Disney executives as Insiders to actively post here as well, nobody would be reading any other forums on the internet other than Blu-ray.com
Do you really wish such a malady upon our sister forums?

In a nutshell, yes!

[jopemoro]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well, not that city but, more like Barcelona come the week of the 28th.
If any folks here are familiar with some fine eateries and shops for leather goods in that town, feel free to pass on such specifics to me in a PM.

Now, only if Ronaldinho wasn’t laid up with a knee injury, it truly could be an awe-inspiring destination…………….

Tsk, tsk... It's Real Madrid you want to see...

Anyway, any particular kind of food? I'll look for some addresses...

[HeavyHitter]

Penton,

Would you happen to know if we should read into anything regarding some previously released Paramount Blu-ray titles now re-appearing on Amazon and at some other retailers?

[The Don]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Penton,

Would you happen to know if we should read into anything regarding some previously released Paramount Blu-ray titles now re-appearing on Amazon and at some other retailers?

I'll take this one Penton, if you don't mind...

"yes...read everything into that and then-some"

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Greetings from the U.S. to Germany Hartwig.
My, we truly have an international crowd here.

Well for the record, we already have one Disney employee posting here but, he is not in HDM, per se.
Anyway, Hartwig, do you realize what you are asking ?

If I were to get WB and Disney executives as Insiders to actively post here as well, nobody would be reading any other forums on the internet other than Blu-ray.com
Do you really wish such a malady upon our sister forums?

How about Paris, France for Spring then ? It's a great time to visit, and probably do business too hehe.
And about Blu Ray, I admit I wonder if Canal Studio will finally see the light (after going neutral from HD DVD exclusive) and turn Blu entirely.

All of this being said, I have another concern actually.

Tax return time is approaching, and the news just fell in this morning. Congress has authorized the plan for a check to be adressed back to tax payers, from $300 to a whoopin $1200 per familly, for revenues going up to $83.000 per year. These checks should be sent between mid Feb. to end of March it seems, just around the Tax return season.

All of this means (beside making me very happy), that a whole WAVE of cash is heading toward the US stores, and I suspect that beside paying credit cards (will have to pay one myself, a small one), a big portion of that will go toward HDTV sets + HD players.

Is there any plan being prepared to make sure Red-Antum doesn't try to grab a chunk of that?
Imho a slew of offers of HDTV+Blu player would be awesome, but also probably sub $300 players for a while would help a lot, specially during that time (from Mid Feb. to April).
Just wondering if it's being adressed

[Penton-Man]

Guys,
I’m gettng alot of PM’s about video codecs and such regarding their use with Blu-ray titles. Let me say that as long as the title isn’t bit-starved….. and generally it shouldn’t be for any titles that use the BD50 discs, I think that alot of the discussion regarding this is quite secondary to the priniciple cinematography and the condition of the HD masters – which then gets into other more important esoteric topics like who is using or has used things like an image sequence on a drive (DPX) or HDCAM-SR tapes as sources, etc.

In fact, I would say that this video codec topic wouldn’t really have even been much more than a blip on the radar screen of some internet forums in regards to movies, if not for a certain software company previously constantly campaigning this topic in the promotion of the importance of a certain encoder that they developed.

Much, much more important limiting factors are further on upstream in the pipeline but, you just don’t hear about them much because employees from places like Thomson GrassValley, da Vinci, or restoration companies like Cineric, HTV/Illuminate, DTS (Lowry) are too busy proving their products and skills in the real world workplace rather than debating their merits on consumer forums.

As long as you’ve got an optical disc that isn’t limiting you in regards to bitrate and/or bandwith (and the title has been optimized for such capacity) and the encoder is user-friendly and as automated as possible, don’t fret consumer codec choice too much with movies as viewed in your home theaters.