Just so we're clear on Universal....

POSTED BY: bad2verse
UPDATED: Thursday, September 7, 2006 11:51
VIEWED: 15977
PAGE 1 of 4

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE

BAD2VERSE

Thursday, August 31, 2006 5:58 AM

There's been a LOT of talk lately about which "Universal" is good, and which F*X is bad, etc etc etc...

Universal is a MONSTER.. I "Followed the money", and the more I dug, the more pies I found their fingers in...

So if you're worried about why Sci-fi doesn't pick up the rights from F*X or Universal, etc.. It's ALL owned by the same people.. to include (But not limited to:
* MSNBC
* NBC
* Sci-Fi Channel
* USA Network
* Universal Studios
* Vivendi Universal
* Bravo
* Telemundo
* Universal Studios Theme Parks
* TRIO
* CNBC

And the list goes ON and ON and ON and just scratches the surface, and the PEOPLE behind these corporations ALSO have Holdings at F*X, and MANY other "Studio and TV type mediums"...

It may be different "divisions", but the MONEY ALL ends up in the same place... "Sci-fi" doesn't need to "Pick up the rights".. their parent company owns the rights... I'm sure all the legal separation and such applies, BUT, sometimes Universal "Rents" rights to it's subsideraries for ONE DOLLAR (The minimum needed for a binding contract).

So the "Rights" issue is a moot point... We shouldn't let Channels use that as an excuse... It Ticks me off when I get a form letter with the "Rights issue" in it when that's a blatant fabrication...

I see why Joss is burned out by F*X, they don't mind stretching the truth, as long as it's "Semi-true-on-some-thin-thread-way-down-the-line"

I'm gonna shut up now before I go off on a rant
(Need a smiley with a zippered mouth)

________________________
..but eatin people alive, where does THAT get fun?

MARINE

Thursday, August 31, 2006 6:19 AM

I know you don't wanna get all pissed off and everything, but its nice to be informed. So the question, where do we go to make our "movement" to getting firefly back on TV or another movie?

Sounds like it gets complex and I do understand where that could go. Do we need to know any details to push for further stories of firefly?

ZENGRRL

Thursday, August 31, 2006 6:37 AM

NBC and Universal merged several years back, producing the list of holdings you mentioned.

But NBC-Universal does not own Fox. Sci-Fi has to license the Firefly stuff because it is owned by NBC-Universal where as the series is owned by Fox.

Serenity, on the other hand, is all in the family, as Universal Pictures and Sci-Fi are part of the same company. That's why UP used Sci-Fi to hype the movie with the "making of" special and the "Firefly" marathon right before the film came out...and why, once it finishes it's HBO/Cinemax run, it'll have it's "broadcast network premiere" on either Sci-Fi or USA.

But since Fox and Sci-Fi are owned by separate companies, Sci-Fi could never make a new tv project based on "Firefly" until Fox either gives up the tv rights or negotiates for a cut, as a joint venture (which will happen sometime after hell freezes over, pigs fly and Jayne has a voluntary sex change -- in other words, probably never. LOL).

FOLLOWMAL

Thursday, August 31, 2006 7:28 AM

Bad2Verse,

Zengrrl, is right. Exactly.

I wrote 11th Hour and told her of the conversations on the board ( she's here a couple of times a day, but a busy lady and I kinda keep her informed of what we're all talking about...)
regarding writing Universal for the Serenity 'Versary.

In her letter back to me she stressed some things. If we're gonna do this, we have to try to do it right. We start with making sure we have the right address to send to. We'd all look pretty foolish if we didn't know which one was the right one. You seem like just the person to perhaps find out. Would you like to try to find that out for me? I have some sources that I am writing to, but two heads are usually better than one. I'd appreciate the help.

Tomorrow I think that 11th will start a thread that lays out some of the things we need to be aware of when we do this. That'll go a long way towards allowing us to plan this.

Someone asked, you or Marine I'm not sure which if there was a way to join this up with all Browncoats.. how would we let them know? We have the Browncoat Signal Corps, a group of folks who have taken on the task of spreading news and gathering news across the Browncoat 'verse. We have the Browncoat Calendar that lists all of the stuff we know of and we add to it everyday or so. We also have our two awesome podcasts with their news sections to spread the news. We ( the Browncoat Signal Corps) aren't directly affiliated with them, but we send news their way and they then have the option of sayin'. The Corps makes posts on all the 'verse forums and also on some non 'verse forums. So we have a way of gettin' the word out, already in place.

We can get the word out... making the message be the right one and gettin' folks to understand the whys and wherefores will be the hardest part.

Go here to Boost the Signal!
www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=20&t=23296

Ask me how to join the Appreciatin' Nathan Crew!

BAD2VERSE

Thursday, August 31, 2006 7:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zengrrl:
NBC and Universal merged several years back, producing the list of holdings you mentioned.

But NBC-Universal does not own Fox. Sci-Fi has to license the Firefly stuff because it is owned by NBC-Universal where as the series is owned by Fox.

(Snip)
But since Fox and Sci-Fi are owned by separate companies, Sci-Fi could never make a new tv project based on "Firefly" until Fox either gives up the tv rights or negotiates for a cut, as a joint venture (which will happen sometime after hell freezes over, pigs fly and Jayne has a voluntary sex change -- in other words, probably never. LOL).

Yer probably 100% right, But SEVERAL of the chair holders for Universal also have Chairs in Sci-fi AND Chairs in F*X.

If you look at it on a flow chart, it looks like EVERYTHING is connected in some way to EVERYTHING in the TV/Movie industry... A LOT of Loop-backs, Dual Chairs, Multiple Major Share holders in Both Corps, Even Coke has a link in there amongst the confusion (Which branches out even more).

I WISH I could find the old website I had bookmarked at one time.. you could type in ANY corp/company and it gave you ALL of the branches of the tree.. each time you clicked on a person or Company, it expanded out to show what else they were linked to... It seems like a few "Big Power brokers" seem to hold most everything in the entertainment business.

The Reason I'd like to find out "Exactly Who" needs to be talked to is because in my business dealings, I deal with a lot of powerful people, and have good relations with them.. If I could find Even ONE that would say, "Oh, Mr. X? I play golf with him regularly".. THEN maybe we could get a bug in his ear and skip all the middle men...

For example, I have several Clients that have "Business cards" made of .999 purity Silver bars or coins... these folks have Serious clout. When A person hands you his Business card, worth between 120 and 500 Dollars, he's in BIG business.

I believe in going directly to the top whenever possible... A wise man once told me long ago "Stay out of 'channels', Channels are in place to guide you so that you don't bother the people that you REALLY need to talk to.. Stay out of the channels, and work from the top down".. that advice has served me VERY well over the years.. A job that's going to take 2 years of BS to get started on, suddenly gets started within the week.

________________________
..but eatin people alive, where does THAT get fun?

BAD2VERSE

Thursday, August 31, 2006 7:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:
Bad2Verse,

Zengrrl, is right. Exactly.

(Snip)We start with making sure we have the right address to send to. We'd all look pretty foolish if we didn't know which one was the right one. You seem like just the person to perhaps find out. Would you like to try to find that out for me? (Snip)

Not a problem, Will Start on that Tomorrow, and should have an answer by the time we get back from Dragon*Con.. again, NOT a problem...

To make matters easier, or more correctly, "More precise", we need to know "Exactly" what the message we're sending is.. So far I get the impression it's basically "Thanks for the movie, We're still grateful a year later, and we'd like more"... and then the VOLUME of letters shows there's clout behind it, and an approximation of the support a new effort would receive (Usually companies like this have a ratio.. I.E.: for every One person that contacts them in some way, there's a percentage MORE people that DIDN'T write.. so EACH of our letters is actually representing MANY people IF we target the right place/person(s) to get our message to)

Quote:
Tomorrow I think that 11th will start a thread that lays out some of the things we need to be aware of when we do this. That'll go a long way towards allowing us to plan this.

That'll help immensely

Quote:
Someone asked, you or Marine I'm not sure which if there was a way to join this up with all Browncoats.. how would we let them know?

Wish I'd known sooner, We could have decided on some things and then I could have had business cards printed up to pass out at Dragon*Con.. that would have been a NICE start.. However, once we agree upon a format and place to have all the info (For future use also, more on that below), we can Have cards printed up and send them to Whoever is going to the "Next Big Con" a few hundred at a time to put on the "Cards table"... I can have that done, I can get my graphics people to make up a business Card template, and my printer can do most anything.

Just let me know what else needs to be done.. If *I* can't do it, I have people that CAN.

One thing I know we DO need to do is to keep the Effort in one or two convenient places so it's ALWAYS easy to find until we get finished with it, and someplace where we can send the people whose attention we get... ONE agreed upon page where the links to the other sites/efforts can be found.

If we can all agree on ONE place, then ALL future projects can be placed there also, which will keep us from wasting time reinventing the wheel each time we start a new project.
________________________
..but eatin people alive, where does THAT get fun?

GOAT

Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bad2verse:
Universal is a MONSTER.. I "Followed the money", and the more I dug, the more pies I found their fingers in...

You do realize who Universal's corporate parent is, right? None other than GE who does just about everything from locomotives, water purification systems and MRI machines to aircraft leasing, credit cards (like American Eagle's credit card) and corporate finance. If you want to talk about monster corporations, GE will probably come up (The second biggest company in the world (1)).

When I was working for GE, I had access to their email database which included all the staff and permanent talent at NBC. Ahh, corporate behemoths...

(1) according to forbes 2006 list of the 2000 biggest companies: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/18/06f2k_The-Forbes-2000_Rank.html

DRWILL

Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:14 AM

if you are concerned with spreading the word of your cause you might want to consider sending a representitive to the forums at www.redvsblue.com the home of a popular machinama series they have almost 500,000 members

FOLLOWMAL

Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:20 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DrWIll:
if you are concerned with spreading the word of your cause you might want to consider sending a representitive to the forums at www.redvsblue.com the home of a popular machinama series they have almost 500,000 members

Thanks for the tip. Made a note of that. Are you a member of this forum? Or do you know someone who is?

Go here to Boost the Signal!
www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=20&t=23296

Ask me how to join the Appreciatin' Nathan Crew!

FOLLOWMAL

Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:24 AM

Bad2Verse,

Quote:
If we can all agree on ONE place, then ALL future projects can be placed there also, which will keep us from wasting time reinventing the wheel each time we start a new project.

From now on all the projects will have their own thread or one final thread under the Guerilla Marketing Forum. We'll also have our guerilla marketing website up soon.

Good point about the cards. We'll have that squared away next time.

Thank you!

Ok, off to bed, I'm beat.. it's 3:30 a.m. here!
I'll try to answer some more questions tomorrow.

Go here to Boost the Signal!
www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=20&t=23296

Ask me how to join the Appreciatin' Nathan Crew!

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE