Arrow Video / Arrow Academy USA Discussion Thread

[EddieLarkin]

The $100,000 is so they can be releasing 4-6 titles right out of the gate when they open shop in February. If they don't get it they're still making the move, they'll just have to start slowly and hope they can justify staying based on their initial sales data.

I gotta ask though, they've got 22 backers so far, which is pretty paltry. Why exactly aren't you guys backing this? All 3 of those releases are easily worth $25 (especially Day of Anger, which will be a new scan). If you want to see a hugely positive change in the landscape of cult film releasing in the US, now's the time to invest!

[PowellPressburger]

I can't support this just yet. It makes me feel uneasy about future UK region locked releases. I love my ARROW imports and I love the work they do but this is a double edged sword to me. Arrow was very courteous in answering questions and concerns on the UK thread. I'm just going to stay cautiously optimistic about their U.S. plans. I like buying a lot of the cult and lesser known films they release in the UK but this could mean those type of releases may not happen. --- so I can't be 100% excited yet.

[themp3000]

Backed with as much as I could give. I really want this to succeed so I can experience the Arrow releases like everyone else. More boutique distributors is always something I can back!

[David M]

I gotta ask though, they've got 22 backers so far, which is pretty paltry. Why exactly aren't you guys backing this? All 3 of those releases are easily worth $25 (especially Day of Anger, which will be a new scan)

I can tell you right now that it looks ridoinkulously good.

It's a real sight to see a Techniscope film scanned on top quality equipment (Arriscan) by top quality technicians and restoration artists (James White and the rest of the team at Deluxe). I've seen a lot of Techniscope movies (giallos, etc) massacred on lesser telecines, and a lot of people think "that's just what 2-perf Techniscope looks like". Not so - it's amazing to see it done right.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

I also have to wonder how they'll fare in the horror genre what with how many other cult labels are dishing out the goods here, but remember there are also studios who are doing practically nothing with their catalogs. Perhaps I'm being way too optimistic here, but it would be great to see Arrow rescue something like Dead Alive from Lionsgate and have both US and New Zealand cuts on it.

And that's just horror. Arrow has been dipping into other genres like blaxploitation, pinky violence, sex comedies, and other cult flicks. NOBODY is really putting that stuff out globally, so I think Arrow could really do some great stuff in that field.

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

I also have to wonder how they'll fare in the horror genre what with how many other cult labels are dishing out the goods here

Who exactly is dishing out the goods though? Simply licensing a lot of popular films and releasing them with mediocre video quality is not dishing out the goods if you ask me. Synapse are fantastic and will do new scans when necessary, but God bless them, they only manage around 5 titles a year! Vinegar Syndrome are great (indeed, literally everything they do is a new transfer), but they focus on smut really, not horror. Everyone else? Not hugely impressed I'm afraid.

For me, this is what it's all about, getting these horror and cult films and actually doing them justice. When Arrow encounter a Phantasm 2, a Darkman or a Ravenous, they sure as hell ain't going to be slapping the basically DVD quality masters on a Blu-ray and expecting people to shell out for them. They'll put their money where their mouth is and actually pay to give the films new life.

[rickah88]

^Broken record.

[javi92]

Just chipped in for $175. Hopefully the pace will start to pickup.

[Gerby]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Who exactly is dishing out the goods though? Simply licensing a lot of popular films and releasing them with mediocre video quality is not dishing out the goods if you ask me. Synapse are fantastic and will do new scans when necessary, but God bless them, they only manage around 5 titles a year! Vinegar Syndrome are great (indeed, literally everything they do is a new transfer), but they focus on smut really, not horror. Everyone else? Not hugely impressed I'm afraid.

For me, this is what it's all about, getting these horror and cult films and actually doing them justice. When Arrow encounter a Phantasm 2, a Darkman or a Ravenous, they sure as hell ain't going to be slapping the basically DVD quality masters on a Blu-ray and expecting people to shell out for them. They'll put their money where their mouth is and actually pay to give the films new life.

Well even though they have currently only released 5 movies...Grindhouse Releasing's Blu rays have been nothing short of stunning & have a great line up on the way.

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by Gerby

Well even though they have currently only released 5 movies...Grindhouse Releasing's Blu rays have been nothing short of stunning & have a great line up on the way.

It's early days but they have great potential. I believe only The Big Gundown was a new scan though (and American Hippie?). Corruption and The Swimmer were from Sony and Cannibal Holocaust was their rather dated DVD master. Still it looks like they have great things ahead of them.

[BAKA]

Originally Posted by dsman71

Because there are neurotic members floating around ?

Is there really any need for the judgement?

Arrow put out a lot of releases that are already available in the US, in region locked editions. Many region B locked people rely on them picking up the likes of The Night Of The Hunter, which no one in the UK seemed to touch for around 3 years after the Criterion release. Not to mention they often put out superior editions to versions in US territories, from the likes of Scream Factory, but even Blue Underground (Zombie / Zombie Flesh Eaters) and Criterion (Branded To Kill) on occasion.

Arrow have said they're concentrating on acquiring titles with both US and UK availability, which puts at risk a lot of the titles Arrow would typically bring to the UK. So people were understandably concerned. Since then, Arrow has said it will make exceptions for special titles, releasing UK only editions, which has settled a lot of fears. But there's really no need to malign others' opinions in such a way is there? Particularly when you're not part of that market, and likely are unable to see where a lot of UK fans concerns are coming from?

For what it's worth, it's a little sad to see how poorly the campaign has gone down so far. Obviously it's early days, but there's usually a bit more of an early flurry for crowd-funded projects. Any Euro horror fans out there sick of sub par transfers should take note of a lot of what ArrowVideo posted directly in the UK topic. They're actively looking for more Italian properties with US and UK licenses, which they will restore themselves, rather than being bound to dodgy transfers from Italian licensors. The amount of times I see people complaining about this type of stuff, I expected to see more interest.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Who exactly is dishing out the goods though? Simply licensing a lot of popular films and releasing them with mediocre video quality is not dishing out the goods if you ask me. Synapse are fantastic and will do new scans when necessary, but God bless them, they only manage around 5 titles a year! Vinegar Syndrome are great (indeed, literally everything they do is a new transfer), but they focus on smut really, not horror. Everyone else? Not hugely impressed I'm afraid.

For me, this is what it's all about, getting these horror and cult films and actually doing them justice. When Arrow encounter a Phantasm 2, a Darkman or a Ravenous, they sure as hell ain't going to be slapping the basically DVD quality masters on a Blu-ray and expecting people to shell out for them. They'll put their money where their mouth is and actually pay to give the films new life.

If rights were granted to labels based on how well they'll treat the movies, then you're right, Arrow would be fine. It seems like the problem here is that our country has labels that will pay for rights to movies and then release garbage while making it so no one else is allowed to release a better version. Like, I don't think that just because Scream's version of Ravenous was junk that Arrow is going to be given the chance to do their own. Scream got the rights, and that's that, right?

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

If another US indie already has the title they won't be able to until their rights expire, at which point they can bid for it. Something like TCM2 could theoretically see a release since MGM aren't necessarily going to care about it competing with their own edition, but there's no reason to think it'll actually happen at this stage.

Right now, after they've exhausted the films they have for UK only release (stuff like Thief and Nekromantik), which will last them up to May 2015, they'll then focus on making everything simultaneous US and UK releases.

I think their version of TCM2 is nearly identical to the US one in terms of extras and transfer, just with those extra early Tobe Hooper movies and the booklet. But with stuff like say, Dressed to Kill or Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Cinema Paradiso I sure would like to see them able to release their own versions of those, since they destroyed the US studio shovelware versions.

If rights expire pretty quickly, then that would be good news. I know that I at least am totally fine with double dipping on movies I like if the new version is legitimately a big improvement.

I don't know if the small number of backers at this point is a big deal, doesn't that link say it just went up today? If in a week they're still at 100 people then maybe we do have a problem.

[Slasherob]

Man i am extremely tempted by the $1500 for 3 years or $2500 for 10 years of releases... Simple math if i sell the % of the titles i didnt want i could make most of the money if not all in the $1500 scenario and make a big profit on the $2500, the gamble being on them actually releasing 3 a month and Blu rays still be released 10 years from now on the latter. I will be doing the $175 at the very least.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Slasherob

Man i am extremely tempted by the $1500 for 3 years or $2500 for 10 years of releases... Simple math if i sell the % of the titles i didnt want i could make most of the money if not all in the $1500 scenario and make a big profit on the $2500, the gamble being on them actually releasing 3 a month and Blu rays still be released 10 years from now on the latter. I will be doing the $175 at the very least.

Yeah, that's a very good offer for this kind of fundraising. I'm going to look into these movies a bit and definitely "preorder" by donating to their indiegogo if I'm at all interested.

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

If rights were granted to labels based on how well they'll treat the movies, then you're right, Arrow would be fine. It seems like the problem here is that our country has labels that will pay for rights to movies and then release garbage while making it so no one else is allowed to release a better version. Like, I don't think that just because Scream's version of Ravenous was junk that Arrow is going to be given the chance to do their own. Scream got the rights, and that's that, right?

Yes, I wasn't using those examples as titles that Arrow are actually going to get a shot at; the boat sailed on those ones and it'll be years before we see them again I'm sure.

I meant that I feel Arrow will demonstrate, as they have in the UK, that they will be the cult/horror label to go with because when they are offered a sucky master, they'll front the cash to do a new one. They specifically said that, because they won't compromise on quality, they got sick of having to turn down titles due to poor and non-existent HD masters, and they want this to be the solution to that. Just think of all the stuff that isn't getting put out right now because no one, including the licensors, will put up the cash to make the films presentable.

If they're successful in establishing that reputation, then eventually they'll be the big boys on the US cult scene, and all the premier titles will be going to them.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Yes, I wasn't using those examples as titles that Arrow are actually going to get a shot at; the boat sailed on those ones and it'll be years before we see them again I'm sure.

I meant that I feel Arrow will demonstrate, as they have in the UK, that they will be the cult/horror label to go with because when they are offered a sucky master, they'll front the cash to do a new one. They specifically said that, because they won't compromise on quality, they got sick of having to turn down titles due to poor and non-existent HD masters, and they want this to be the solution to that. Just think of all the stuff that isn't getting put out right now because no one, including the licensors, will put up the cash to make the films presentable.

If they're successful in establishing that reputation, then eventually they'll be the big boys on the US cult scene, and all the premier titles will be going to them.

Yeah, that would certainly be nice. I don't know how much reputation determines rights. It certainly seems like Synapse getting Suspiria must have been at least partially based on that, cause a big name like that seems like something other studios would have been chomping at the bit to get the rights to put that craptastic Euro master on a disc and call it a day. They've been getting some pretty major movies recently (Prom Night, Phenomena, Tenebre) and it seems unlikely they'd have been able to outbid Shout if it was purely about money. Maybe I'm naive though!

[jthefrank]

I'll probably do the $175 contribution near the end of the run. Spent a little bit much lately with the Halloween Collection and Code Red/Scorpion titles

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by jthefrank

I'll probably do the $175 contribution near the end of the run. Spent a little bit much lately with the Halloween Collection and Code Red/Scorpion titles

They don't charge your card until the campaign is over, and only then if they actually hit $100,000. So it doesn't make any difference when you pledge.

EDIT: Whoops, there's me assuming this works just like Kickstarter. Nevermind, Indiegogo do charge straight away and refund if the campaign fails (bit daft?). Sorry!

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Who exactly is dishing out the goods though? Simply licensing a lot of popular films and releasing them with mediocre video quality is not dishing out the goods if you ask me. Synapse are fantastic and will do new scans when necessary, but God bless them, they only manage around 5 titles a year! Vinegar Syndrome are great (indeed, literally everything they do is a new transfer), but they focus on smut really, not horror. Everyone else? Not hugely impressed I'm afraid.

For me, this is what it's all about, getting these horror and cult films and actually doing them justice. When Arrow encounter a Phantasm 2, a Darkman or a Ravenous, they sure as hell ain't going to be slapping the basically DVD quality masters on a Blu-ray and expecting people to shell out for them. They'll put their money where their mouth is and actually pay to give the films new life.

So you think Arrow is going to wrestle every license from Shout! Factory. Got it. I sometimes like to keep my head in the clouds, too.