Maybe we, the collective fans, could buy the rights to Firefly from FOX
POSTED BY: Penthos
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 21:07
VIEWED: 9667
PAGE 1 of 4
I know this sounds a little nuts and perhaps even impossible...
Suppose there are 250,000 fans around the world who would put up $50 each. That's 12.5 Million Dollars. Would FOX give up whatever rights they are holding on to for that? I dunno.
It would be easy to set up an escrow account that get's paid into by an online donate button. That escrow account could be specifically designed so it can only be used to offer to buy the rights from FOX. Or if FOX would agree to start the series back on up its own, we'd donate it to Equality Now on behalf of FOX, CSTS and Joss Whedon. That's positive pressure on FOX to look like good guys... If they continue to be purple-bellies and refuse either option, then the money could be used to help finance another BDM. Which, maybe Universal would be more apt to do if they didn't have to pay for 12.5 million of it...
Anyway, that's my Big Damn Idea. I've been thinking about for 3 days now and I had to get it out.
Zoe: Don't think its a good spot sir, she still has the advantage over us.
Mal: Everyone always does; that's what makes us special.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Penthos:
I know this sounds a little nuts and perhaps even impossible...
Suppose there are 250,000 fans around the world who would put up $50 each. That's 12.5 Million Dollars. Would FOX give up whatever rights they are holding on to for that?
...Anyway, that's my Big Damn Idea. I've been thinking about for 3 days now and I had to get it out.
Well , we're known for that...
Impossible is only that which takes us a little longer...
Still , it's a goodly bit of coin...
12 point five Megabucks...Sounds like a lot , right ? In TV-Land , it is not so much...
I'd never discourage anyone's idea or their will for trying something , but , truthfully , that amount of coin would likely buy only about 5 or 6 new episodes of Firefly...
One problem is , we'd have to start over , from scratch , so Serenity sets could be built...
Now , we'd ALL LOVE to see 5 new episodes , right ?
But , we'd still have to bribe the Television rights away from the F-Network , too...
So , even if we had 25 Million dollars , it might not be enough , really .
Several different scenarios might be possible :
1. The F-Network sees the light , and decides that they'll be 'big people' and voluntarily give Joss a green light to do more Firefly , The Series .
2. The F-Network never sees the light , and decides to just let their Television option for more Firefly expire , but they decide that it's a great 'cash cow' that they'll be able to keep milking for DVD sales forever and ever .
3. Maybe there is a loophole because the F-Network owns 'broadcast TV' rights to Firefly , but not rights in another medium like a Premium Cable channel , a Mini-Series , Direct-To-DVD movies , or Internet distribution .
Scenarios 1 and 2 are not necessarily entirely mutually-exclusive , and Scenario 1 and 2 don't
necessarily exclude the 3rd option , either !
...More Firefly IS possible , and you should never believe otherwise , but it will probably not be Fan-financed via an escrow account...
That would just feed the lawyers , and when you feed 'em , they're even more like cockroaches , which means they just proliferate even faster...
Joss himself says that the reason we have Firefly (and SERENITY) at all is because we're people who
" believed unreasonably ".
Just keep believing , keep sharing the Love , keep feeling the Joy...
Sooner or later , more SHINY stuff WILL happen !
Hmmm , 'SHINY! HAPPENS'...That's a bumper sticker !
Anyways , every few months (or, weeks !) a new iteration of the " Let's buy the Rights and Finance Our Own Firefly " scenario comes to a fan site near you...That just means we all love Firefly...A LOT !
It's getting to be almost as common as the 'Nigerian Scam' , not that the Finance Firefly movement is a bad thing...
Do some creative Guerilla Marketing...Or , just buy some new 'Verse-related merchandise...It all helps !
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I have thought about this also and think it's at least worth inquiring about. After that vampire show is donating all that blood, we should be able to do somethin pretty big.
Or find a way around it.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Who would have access and control over that money? Who would act as negotiator with Fox? How would that person be selected and why?
That type of money requires fiduciary oversight and management. A corporation or LLC company would have to be created and licensed. It gets even more complicated...ultimately best to leave it to Hollywood to figure it out one day....unless some individual multi-millionnaire steps up to assume the stewardship.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Who would have access and control over that money? Who would act as negotiator with Fox? How would that person be selected and why?
That type of money requires fiduciary oversight and management. A corporation or LLC company would have to be created and licensed. It gets even more complicated...ultimately best to leave it to Hollywood to figure it out one day....unless some individual multi-millionnaire steps up to assume the stewardship.
Okay, I'm a programmer, not a lawyer.. But the way I figured it, we create some sort of Non-Profit and the money is held in escrow such that NOONE has access to the money until the specified predefined conditions had been met to release it. Of course, all this would require legal assistance... Maybe there are a few browncoat lawyers out there who could team up to help out.
Yeah, it's a little Pie-in-the-sky... But its my Pie and since you can't take the Sky from me, I'll keep dreaming... even if that's all it is.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:From what I have read, FOX owns the rights to future Firefly DVD sales. That's the main reason you wouldn't see SciFi\Universal do a direct to DVD movie.
Originally posted by out2theblack:
3. Maybe there is a loophole because the F-Network owns 'broadcast TV' rights to Firefly , but not rights in another medium like a Premium Cable channel , a Mini-Series , Direct-To-DVD movies , or Internet distribution .
Quote:-Ok this I didn't know... I guess because I have only been posting here a few weeks... But if that's so maybe I need to get with some of the other people who have thought the same thing because I'm just not "convinced" that it's not possible.
Originally posted by out2theblack:
Anyways , every few months (or, weeks !) a new iteration of the " Let's buy the Rights and Finance Our Own Firefly " scenario comes to a fan site near you...That just means we all love Firefly...A LOT !
It's getting to be almost as common as the 'Nigerian Scam' , not that the Finance Firefly movement is a bad thing...
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Penthos:Quote:From what I have read, FOX owns the rights to future Firefly DVD sales. That's the main reason you wouldn't see SciFi\Universal do a direct to DVD movie.
Originally posted by out2theblack:
3. Maybe there is a loophole because the F-Network owns 'broadcast TV' rights to Firefly , but not rights in another medium like a Premium Cable channel , a Mini-Series , Direct-To-DVD movies , or Internet distribution .Quote:-Ok this I didn't know... I guess because I have only been posting here a few weeks... But if that's so maybe I need to get with some of the other people who have thought the same thing because I'm just not "convinced" that it's not possible.
Originally posted by out2theblack:
Anyways , every few months (or, weeks !) a new iteration of the " Let's buy the Rights and Finance Our Own Firefly " scenario comes to a fan site near you...That just means we all love Firefly...A LOT !
Don't infer anything I didn't imply...I didn't say that it wasn't possible...Just that we probably wouldn't finance new Firefly by putting our coin in an escrow account , because that would just be a target for lawyers...Don't want to feed the lawyers...
I'd be the last to rain on anyone's dream of new Firefly...I want it as much as anyone , and probably even more , than a lot of folk...
From what I understand , Fox had a contractual right to Television broadcast of Firefly for 10 years...Supposing the contract was signed in 2002 , that puts us out to about 2012...Might be a long wait for a Train that don't come...
But , on the other hand , we do know that Joss Whedon is slated to produce a new Television series for Fox , when he's previously been on record saying that he wouldn't do that again...
What I infer from that is that , A) He's got a powerful need to eat , sometime this month ,
And/Or , B) He cut a sweet deal with a lot of pink chiffon and frilly edges...
By sweet deal , I mean , something involving more clout , more coin , more creative control , and dream of dreams , an exercisable option for MORE FIREFLY...
Someone is going to get us back to the 'Verse...My bet is that person can only be Joss Whedon , and the network to bring back Firefly will probably only be F*><...
That is , with 'TV' in its present form...But all entertainment media are changing , and many forms of media are migrating to the Ninny-Net...The Writers (WGA) strike was largely over 'getting paid' for Internet distribution of the writers' material...
So it may mean we'll watch when we want to , but it may be a pay-per-view model that tips the balance , and finances more Firefly...
NBC and the F-network have collaborated to create Hulu , and the advertisers are bringing revenue , so that could be a model for future distribution...Sooner or later , there'll be a 'Hulu-HD' , but with a viewer-pays-for-premium-content price tag...
There's a lot goes into the business , and a lot for us to think about...
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Just make it, so if it fails miserably the money gets donated to the Buffy Saves the Rain FOrest fund or something
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Not again.
Every once in a while some new fans show up and make this proposal, and everytime it's proven it can't be done, because it's been tried, especially by one persn who's name escapes me. You aren't the first one to suggest this and you won't be the last. I applaud you your enthusiasm for the show but the facts are this is an impossibility. Look up the old threads to see for yourself.
Nice dream, but don't expect much.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
DON'T FREAK OUT
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Misstressahara:
Every once in a while some new fans show up and make this proposal, and everytime it's proven it can't be done, because it's been tried, especially by one persn who's name escapes me. You aren't the first one to suggest this and you won't be the last. I applaud you your enthusiasm for the show but the facts are this is an impossibility. Look up the old threads to see for yourself.
Nice dream, but don't expect much.
Don't sweat it , Missy !
ALL Browncoats are ALLOWED to Dream , especially the SHINY ! New Folk...
We've done the 'Impossible' before , and there's still room for us to Rise Again...
It's the Ruttin' New Folk that'll tip the balance in our favor...Then the 'neigh-sayers' will be right there , sayin' ,
" See , I TOLD You So ! , We're Just TOO Pretty for God to let us die..."
It's harmless diversion , AND Wacky Fun !
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME