Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by Nathan P

Mods/Insiders - is there any chance of getting him/her to join us here????

BTW i know this isn't the thread to ask such a question normally but this is the first i've seen of a paramunt insider on the various forum's

There is a Paramount insider on another site but only long time readers of that site would know him as such. I don't think he would be comfortable being publicly outed as someone with inside knowledge of Paramount's plans.

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

There is a Paramount insider on another site but only long time readers of that site would know him as such. I don't think he would be comfortable being publicly outed as someone with inside knowledge of Paramount's plans.

Exactly.

[BillCable]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Paramount and DreamWorks SKG were covered by the $50m that went to Viacom. DreamWorks Animation separately received $100m to release on HD DVD (they hadn't released anything on either format until that point).

So Toshiba paid ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS for Shrek 3??!!

I can understand a bit of buyer's remorse over that...

[GreenScar]

Originally Posted by BillCable

So Toshiba paid ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS for Shrek 3??!!

I can understand a bit of buyer's remorse over that...

And Bee Movie

[Memnoch71]

I want to know who brokered that deal, they have to negotiate for me on my next job!

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by Sporty

I agree with that view completely.

Paramount probably thinks Toshiba broke the deal by quiting, Toshiba think Paramount didn't give them the 2 holiday seasons exclusive. If Paramount release a title on BD then Toshiba can say Paramount broke the deal.

who cares, paramount can release titles and battle it out in court,it will take years before the case comes up.so what about uni,they plan to start releaseing titles on blu-ray is tosh gonna claim the same thing.

[bt12483]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

DreamWorks Animation =/= DreamWorks SKG...

So does this mean SKG is free to go blu but Animation is not? Really, I could care less about Animation (i.e. Shrek 3, Bee Movie).

I wouldn't mind Transformers though, sooner than later (like everyone else).

I am really curious to see what the Paramount embargo lift on 3/4 is going to bring now...

[JAGUAR1977]

Originally Posted by BillCable

So Toshiba paid ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS for Shrek 3??!!

I can understand a bit of buyer's remorse over that...

Maybe we underestimated how big the Disney (Animation) factor was, HD-DVD needed their equivalent.

[Spankey]

I'm not a lawyer, but how will Toshiba be able to hold Dreamworks to the contract if their are no outlets to sell the discs. It seems that retailers are sending back inventory. I don't see the point in Toshiba holding Dreamworks to this contract.

It will only make Toshiba look VERY bad to consumers who are not involved in this format war as we are. Then again, I can only blame Paramount and Dreamworks own greed for getting them into the position they are in. Amazing. Universal can be releasing on Blu-ray before Paramount. Poetic Justice!

[fitprod]

Originally Posted by JAGUAR1977

Maybe we underestimated how big the Disney (Animation) factor was, HD-DVD needed their equivalent.

If true, Toshiba got jobbed... Even with Dreamworks recent success with CG animation, and we're obviously not talking quality wise, they over paid for the HD DVD rights for Shrek 3 & Bee Movie.

fitprod

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by fitprod

If true, Toshiba got jobbed... Even with Dreamworks recent success with CG animation, and we're obviously not talking quality wise, they over paid for the HD DVD rights for Shrek 3 & Bee Movie.

fitprod

If you think this is interesting wait until you see the talk going on in this thread:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...3&postcount=93

Originally Posted by BLU for Blue

UPDATE: BEE MOVIE IS COMING TO BLU RAY (definetly)

I was at work today (im a music vendor for a company called Handleman and I work at Walmart) I went in the back for a box of CDs to put out and I saw a box labeled Bee Movie High Definition so I took a peek. And there it was, Blu Ray copies. Unfortunetly I get paid to much to risk my job to take a picture for you guys, youll just have to take my word

I wont believe it until I see a pic.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by merrick97

If you think this is interesting wait until you see the talk going on in this thread:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...3&postcount=93



I wont believe it until I see a pic.

I've been out of the loop, VERY interesting. Seems like Paramount has been in the works on these Blu-ray titles for quite some time then.

[OokieSpookie]

Originally Posted by merrick97

If you think this is interesting wait until you see the talk going on in this thread:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...3&postcount=93



I wont believe it until I see a pic.

Agreed.
Bill, Penton, Max, or Paid would most definitely know about it and the fact that nobody can even get a cel phone pic of the ad makes me consider it debunked.

[Anthony P]

I'm not a lawyer, but how will Toshiba be able to hold Dreamworks to the contract if their are no outlets to sell the discs. It seems that retailers are sending back inventory. I don't see the point in Toshiba holding Dreamworks to this contract.

I am GUESSING it is more the other way around. If the studios did not get all the money up front (or at least yet) they might want to hold Toshiba responsible for what is owed.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

Wow. Well, if that is confirmation that they received $ to go HD DVD exclusive, I don't know what is!

Yeah, how many red ants at AVS told us this was all BS.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

This is indeed what the situation is similar to. The monies were going to be paid over a certain period of time, each payment was subject to certain performance criteria (i.e. how many titles released and how many they sold). DWA probably haven't stuck to their commitments because the number of titles they have released (1) is very low, and it didn't sell very well compared to equivalent Pixar movies (Ratatouille, Cars) even taking the smaller installed base into account.

I think the latest play by Katzenberg is to try and squeeze as much as they can out of Toshiba by going 'public' with their payoff, and to put Toshiba into a bad light as possible if they look like reneging on commitments.

That last part is my personal speculation, but bear in mind that this is what I get paid to do for my company and so far I have got a pretty good record...

This has all the makings of a good book by an investigational reporter. It would be nice to have someone, without an agenda, do a thorough investigation of EVERYTHING that took place in this format war and set the facts straight. There are a lot of myths that need to be officially dispelled and facts that need to be validated.

[Raphdude]

I frankly don't think that Toshiba got their money's worth from the Paramount/Dreamworks deal. Compared to how many titles Universal had invested in HD-DVD, I would have expected at least all 3 Shrek films and a bevy of Paramount catalog titles (i.e. several Star Trek movies, Saturday Night Fever(which got yanked at the last minute), Grease), all ready for November-December 2007 to encourage sales (If you want these, you gotta buy a DUD player.") I'm glad things worked out as they did because the format war may have been prolonged even more. (And I had a PS3 all along.) But I really think that for whatever monies got paid, in my opinion Paramount/DW never truly delivered what they should have.

[Geoff Gibson]

Originally Posted by Raphdude

I frankly don't think that Toshiba got their money's worth from the Paramount/Dreamworks deal. Compared to how many titles Universal had invested in HD-DVD, I would have expected at least all 3 Shrek films and a bevy of Paramount catalog titles (i.e. several Star Trek movies, Saturday Night Fever(which got yanked at the last minute), Grease), all ready for November-December 2007 to encourage sales (If you want these, you gotta buy a DUD player.") I'm glad things worked out as they did because the format war may have been prolonged even more. (And I had a PS3 all along.) But I really think that for whatever monies got paid, in my opinion Paramount/DW never truly delivered what they should have.

This is all supposition on my part. But I wonder if the whole point of the Paramount deal was to simply add an exclusive to Universal. I wonder if Toshiba really expected huge software support from Paramount or if it really only wanted another exclusive studio. I wonder if adding Paramount was to set the stage for a Warner exclusivity -- to counter the exclusives that were with Blu-Ray. Paramount was not a huge player for either side before it went red exclusively. It probably was seeing more sales of Blu-Ray titles than HDDVD titles, but not so much revenue that Toshiba's offer, in the form of incentives, to drop Blu-Ray would equal or surpass any sales made from the format. Paramount may have been "bought" only for its name. It has a big name. And a big catalog. And it had Transformers.

The question then is why does getting Paramount -- effectively for a handful of releases -- help HDDVD? What do the supporters of HDDVD gain by this relationship? Stalemate with Blu-ray. Thats why I still think Microsoft was involved. From Toshiba's perspective Paramount's exclusivity would spur on Warner to go exclusive, and if that happened the two formats each would have 3 of the big six studios on its side. That is a stalemate, and at stalemate HDDVDs lower price makes it a more attractive option to the masses. But a stalemate also slows adoption allowing infrastructure to catch up with Microsoft's real interest: creating a digital download monopoly.

I wonder if Toshiba really bought its own jive about HDDVD adoption and attach rates and thought Warner would too. The Paramount deal slowed the adoption of Blu-Ray. I think it also delayed Warner going blu exclusive. Without it, and seeing how quickly retailers have responded to Warner's exclusivity, I think the format war might have been over by Thanksgiving.

[WickyWoo]

I wonder if Toshiba really bought its own jive about HDDVD adoption and attach rates and thought Warner would too. The Paramount deal slowed the adoption of Blu-Ray. I think it also delayed Warner going blu exclusive. Without it, and seeing how quickly retailers have responded to Warner's exclusivity, I think the format war might have been over by Thanksgiving.

Toshiba was counting on Warner and Paramount to go at the same time

[Raphdude]

Originally Posted by Geoff Gibson

But a stalemate also slows adoption allowing infrastructure to catch up with Microsoft's real interest: creating a digital download monopoly.

I wonder if Toshiba really bought its own jive about HDDVD adoption and attach rates and thought Warner would too. The Paramount deal slowed the adoption of Blu-Ray. I think it also delayed Warner going blu exclusive. Without it, and seeing how quickly retailers have responded to Warner's exclusivity, I think the format war might have been over by Thanksgiving.

An interesting point. In terms of digital downloading, I agree with Bill Hunt on how he commented in his HM editorial that a majority of people prefer to own a physical disc that they actually hold, that you can watch anytime as much as you like. This is why DIVX failed and why CD's continue to thrive to this day. I had no interest in having to pay each time I watched a disc only to have it "dissolve" after a few showings. It's giving Hollywood (and other corporations) too much control over our own libraries.

I also think Warner going blu (thank goodness) was the "last straw" in this format war. They had the most appealing HD titles last fall "300", Blade Runner, HP, the Kubrick films and more clout catalog wise ( a bigger one) than Paramount.