Pledge to Fan-Finance a Sequel

POSTED BY: Lindsay
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 16:05
VIEWED: 21815
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SIGMANUNKI

Friday, October 2, 2009 5:37 AM

I don't have the time to go over the details. Search the archives for the many reasons why this is a bad idea and won't work:

http://fireflyfans.orthogonalspace.ca/

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I am on The Original List (twice). We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

LINDSAY

Friday, October 2, 2009 12:51 PM

The idea is not to take donations until there is a guaranteed number of people who would participate. This stage is just to guage interest - obviously, if there is none or not enough, it would never move any further. But if there is enough demonstrated interest, there is a way to set it up so that people only get charged if there are enough people - like if I wanted 100 people to participate, no one would be charged until 100 people signed up (though we need much more than 100). Plus, people aren't just "donating" - they would actually be buying a DVD.

ECGORDON

Friday, October 2, 2009 11:27 PM

That's fine, and I think it would work for an original idea that someone has but no real experience to present to a studio for financing. But for Firefly/Serenity you still have to deal with Universal and/or FOX for rights to the intellectual property, and this is just not the way they do business. Most importantly, if you can't get Joss interested in doing it this way then count me out.

I would think that the continued sales of the dvds and other products, plus the popularity of this and other sites devoted to the show is already a clear indication of how much interest there is. There have been countless petitions and letter writing drives already and they haven't produced the needed response.

I am not saying for you not to pursue this effort, just that you need to be aware of the difficulties others have encountered with similar proposals in the past.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

SIGMANUNKI

Saturday, October 3, 2009 2:14 AM

What you don't understand is that what you're proposing is essentially the same thing as donations. It's just delayed a bit. But, it is also hampered by the fact that only a fraction of what people will pledge will materialize... a small fraction. That being because of loss of interest, personal financial changes, etc, etc, etc.

In other words, all previous reasons why this won't work stand, plus some new ones.

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I am on The Original List (twice). We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

LINDSAY

Sunday, October 4, 2009 1:13 PM

I think that DVD sales are important, but the fact that revenue trickles in so slowly means that it is less likely to motivate a production company to make another movie. What I am proposing would give Universal money NOW, which means a lot more than the same amount of money earned in the future from DVD sales.
The people who demonstrate interest now won't necessarily be the same people to show interest if a sales-phase, but the idea is to demonstrate that a certain level of interest exists. I would hope that even those being skeptical now would be willing to pay up $50 if Universal announced that they would definitely make another movie if a certain number of people bought the pre-sold DVDs. And, as far as the rights to make a movie are concerned, obviously Universal retains the rights to the Serenity franchise - they made the first movie.

ECGORDON

Sunday, October 4, 2009 2:21 PM

Good luck, but don't say we didn't warn you.

BTW, you do intend to retain the services of a lawyer and accountant to make sure everyone who may consider donating won't think they are getting ripped off, right?

NCBROWNCOAT

Sunday, October 4, 2009 2:22 PM

There is a fan film with a new crew and a new adventure that is in the editing and SFX process right now and will be released next Labor Day at Dragon Con on DVD called Browncoats: Redemption ( www.browncoatsmovie.com).

It has the blessing of Joss and Universal and Fox both know about it and are likely not raising objections because any profits made go to charities supported by Joss and the cast members.

A sequel is already being talked about and I think if this DVD is very successful and has enough interest and sales to spawn a sequel it would give Universal reason to look at Serenity again..

If we get behind this fan film effort, we can prove to Universal and Joss (like we did with the effort to initially get our BigDammMovie) that another major release would be profitable. And if a major release wouldn't be profitable maybe direct to DVD.

This is the way to do it. Drips and drabbles of amateur money just don't do it. I would suggest that you see "Done the Impossible" and see that it was Joss's (a Hollywood insider) persistance, supported by the fans, that got the original movie made.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

MANGOLO

Sunday, October 4, 2009 9:35 PM

Definitely, 'Done the Impossible' is a must see for people wanting to get more Firefly/Serenity.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=86085840444

SIGMANUNKI

Monday, October 5, 2009 1:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:

BTW, you do intend to retain the services of a lawyer and accountant to make sure everyone who may consider donating won't think they are getting ripped off, right?

This was the sort of thing that I pointed out before that makes this sort of thing intractable. Namely, keeping track of everyone that has donated is problematic. There's also the bigger problem of when someone invests in something (as is being done here), they will have some rights to profits, etc of the final product. Now, that could be waved with paperwork, but just imagine trying to keep that in order. Especially, when the target number is around 400,000 donations which will translate into just about as many people (assuming it works).

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I am on The Original List (twice). We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

SIGMANUNKI

Monday, October 5, 2009 1:25 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:

If we get behind this fan film effort, we can prove to Universal and Joss (like we did with the effort to initially get our BigDammMovie) that another major release would be profitable.

In principle, I have a problem with this sort of thing. What if the movie sucks? I mean, I'm not going to get behind something to get more of it if it sucks.

This also smells of the "we can do the impossible" thing again. I mean, we really didn't have that much to do with why the movie got made. Sure, we played a role. But, a small one. And I think that it should be pointed out that then, we were an active community, whereas now... not so much. Plus our numbers have fallen drastically.

In other words, that mountain that we'd have to climb to get something official done... well, that's a mighty big mountain. And I don't think that we should ignore nor underestimate the size of that long term goal.

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I am on The Original List (twice). We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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