Just so we're clear on Universal....
POSTED BY: bad2verse
UPDATED: Thursday, September 7, 2006 11:51
VIEWED: 15977
PAGE 3 of 4
Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:
Bad2Verse,
Zengrrl, is right. Exactly.
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?
Universal Presidents of Production are Donna Langley and Jon Gordon, who oversee all development and creative aspects of production.
There's also Rick Finkelstein, Jimmy Horowitz and Michael Joe who work under Chairman Marc Shmuger and co-chairman David Linde.
But it looks like, if we want the person that filled Mary Parent's Shoes (Along with her partner, Jon Gordon) it would be Donna Langley.
Mary Parent and Jon Gordon Signed on to a 7 year contract, their first two years were to get the 2005/2006 movies out the door (Which they did) and then were slated to move into a joint production venture under Universal... that was percolating along just fine, and then for some reason Jon Gordon ended up staying with his slot, but with Donna Langley.
So, The Correct Addy, Assuming we want the people responsible for FUTURE productions is:
Universal Pictures
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
Attn: Donna Langley
OR If we want to thank someone that was involved in the Serenity Release and is STILL in a production position (Along with Donna Langley) we can make letters Attn: Jon Gordon
I have two schools of thought on that route... Jon May not be in a position to do anything other than relay our thanks to Mary Parent (He's still in contact with her on a regular basis)... but If we make letters ATTN: Donna Langley then we'll have fresh eyes that may be able to influence a future production of another BDM, AND she is also in touch with Mary Parent (but not as Often as Jon) and can relay our Thanks.
The first thing Donna Langley will do is pull up the records for "Serenity" and look at the Short review and how much it made (And most production execs only looks at the first two week's income gross), but with letters coming in "en masse" she may look at the total numbers and the fact that sales of the move on DVD are actually increasing still.
So there it is, Ya'll can make the call on who we write to...
That is the Gospel as of August 29th 2006... But things at Universal are VERY fluid and can change fast because General Electric seems to take a personal interest in these matters (Execs love to play with their toys). AND Universal is bad about making plans and not telling anyone.. They knew when Mary and Jon were put in place with their 7 year contract that they'd only ACTUALLY serve TWO years, but didn't want people looking at them as "We don't need to pay attention to them, they won't be here long", so they didn't tell anyone about their plan to move them after two years... and no one seems to be talking about why Jon bailed out of the move, or IF he even bailed out at all.. some think he may be doing BOTH jobs (Working with Donna AND Mary, and you can't get a straight answer out of him).
There ya go.. more info about the inner workings of Universal than anyone EVER probably wanted to know ;)
________________________
..but eatin people alive, where does THAT get fun?
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OK, I just gotta know.. how do you find out these things?
I'll direct 11th Hour to your post. She wanted us to be very precise about this, so we are current and not "out of the loop" as mentioned above.
Thank you for your research, Bad2Verse.
We'll be talking more. 
Hoping to still have those threads started for new folks and a q an a done before the day is out.
Go here to Boost the Signal!
www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=20&t=23296
Ask me how to join the Appreciatin' Nathan Crew!
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Quote:
Originally posted by FollowMal:
OK, I just gotta know.. how do you find out these things?
(Snip)
I'm twice retired, and still have my hands in a LOT of pies (But not nearly as many as General Electric does ;)
Plus I network with people all over the planet on a daily basis in my current businesses. Usually I either know somebody, or know somebody that knows somebody that can get whatever Info/Intel is needed. In This case it was easy to get since I know a few people from GE that handle that part of their holdings for GE.
You can do a google search, but about all you get is outdated news, and I know we needed the most up to date info since Universal is so fluid with GE taking a "Personal Interest in it's direction"... So I just went as high up the food chain as I could last night, and then verified the pertinent info with a Phone call to Universal early this afternoon. Piece of cake.
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Quote:
Originally posted by MalBadLatin:
World of Warcraft was developed by Blizzard, which is owned by Vivendi which happens to be.....
(Snip)
Vivendi is a 20% shareholder of Universal, with General Electric being the other 80%..
Like I said, When you start making flow charts out of who owns what in the entertainment industry, it looks more like a bush. And they try to further add to the confusion with obscure tiles that ONLY make sense in the entertainment industry.. We'd THINK that "president of Productions" would be "Top dog", but it's actually 3 rungs DOWN the ladder (Not counting the GE/Vivendi associations).
They also confuse the issue with Holding companies, and using Initials rather than full names, and full names elsewhere...
Once you start tugging the thread to unravel it, it's a LONG and knotted thread ;)
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Thank you for the address update. It might not be a bad idea to make letters ATTN: Donna Langley & Jon Gordon...
A Sneaky way of making sure it gets to at least ONE of them ! :)
As soon as serenitymovie.org is up and running again, I'll get that address correction out to my "troops".
Thanx again! :) TD/Tim
---- "Done the impossible"? We're still Doing it!----
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Bad2Verse,
I have to say that I am amazed at all the info you were able to collect. Thank you! I always felt strange writing letters about Firefy when I had no idea I had the correct address. I really appreciate all of your work. You are a huge asset to this community - I hope you will keep up the fight with us!
On that same note, do you know who to write at Sci-Fi? Is it even worth writing them? Save Stargate has found the following contact info, is it any good for Firefly?
FAO: Bonnie Hammer, President
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel
Fax: (212) 664-3890
Tel: (212) 664-4444
FAO: Mark Stern, Executive VP Original Programming
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel
Tel: (818) 777-1000
Thanks again for all of your help! Id love to hear your thoughts on which networks are the most likely to put Firefly back on air and which we should contact. (Please dont say its hopeless...because doing the impossible makes us mighty.)
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Quote:
Originally posted by jtskier1200r:
Bad2Verse,
(Snip)(Please dont say its hopeless...because doing the impossible makes us mighty.)
"Hopeless"? Is that even a real word? If so it shouldn't be!!!! ;)
Facta Non Verba - DEEDS, Not Words.
I'll work on it when I get back from Dragon*Con Because I have a feeling Sci-fi is going to be an important part of this overall campaign...
11th Hour has some Great threads in the Guerilla Marketing section... I wouldn't doubt that She moves this thread over there also..
Once we ALL get on the same page, headed in the same direction, and establish representitives from all the other fansites, "No power in the 'verse can stop us". FFF.net is in a great position to lead the way on anything Firefly related!
One project at a time, or multiple projects at a time... we're up to it!!!!!
Also folks, Keep in mind that people from the Networks WILL be strolling around (Mostly unnoticed) at Dragon*Con, And F*X is supposed to be switching back and forth from their studios to the *con and Back.. So make SURE your Serenity/Firefly Gear is IN FRONT of the Cameras!!!! T-Shirts, Costumes, Whatever.. Get it in front of the cameras, and in front of the Execs milling around in the crowd.
________________________
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Quote:
Originally posted by jtskier1200r:
Bad2Verse,
On that same note, do you know who to write at Sci-Fi? Is it even worth writing them? Save Stargate has found the following contact info, is it any good for Firefly?
FAO: Bonnie Hammer, President
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel
Fax: (212) 664-3890
Tel: (212) 664-4444
(snip)
Thanks again for all of your help!
"Before you deal with a person, UNDERSTAND the person, get inside their head"
So first step is to talk to someone that knows the person... So I put out feelers to friends...
Heard back from a friend about Bonnie Hammer already.. She's in charge of USA as well as Sci-fi... In fact she only took over Sci-fi with the understanding that she got to keep her hands in USA... USA is her baby... But When she talks, the execs listen because Universal hasn't been doing exactly great lately, and USA and Sci-fi have been responsible for more than a third of their total income... Both under her direction... So she's almost single handedly propping up the group, and they know it.
She's the one that canceled Farscape, and she took a LOT of heat from fans about that decision.. She's very "Female" and seems to be trying to gain more of a female Audience at Sci-fi... Which is one of the reasons Farscape was canceled, since it was (wrongly) viewed as having an almost totally male demographic (Another "Neilsen failing", as I discussed previously... Lots of Females watched it also, but she didn't know that at the time.. fans proved it to her by having the women send her their Bras.. she got THOUSANDS of bras.. WRONG THING TO DO, but I'll discuss that in a sec..)
She was one of the factors that caused "Starbuck" to be a woman in the BSG series remake... she wanted it to bring more females to the channel (Which it's done).
But that's also good business sense, for reasons I won't go into detail on here, but suffice it to say, the advertisers they draw seem to think women spend more money on their products.
Anyway, She seems to be more interested in hearing from the Females about shows, especially on sci-fi, since "Sci-fi" is seen as a "Male Genre" and her pet project seems to be to change that..
So to get to Bonnie, Rule of thumb, "Female is better".
The Angle needs to be "This will help draw females to Sci-fi"...
So if you're starting any campaigns directed at Sci-fi, She's the go-to person.. of course her mail is screened, BUT AGAIN, female letters talking about Sci-fi have a better chance of actually making it to her desk... Especially if the letter is from someone in the 29-50 year old demographic (Hey, we have disposable income, and we spend it)
Whatever is done, DO NOT make it a contest or confrontational.. She's one of those "I WILL Win" types, Which is why Farscape is sitting dead in the water.. the fans took the wrong tack with her... They didn't do their homework and study her first.. a mistake WE shouldn't make.
But she does like Other strong confident females. She DOES NOT like the "Timid little females". So letters need to be strong, Polite, and confident.
Still waiting to hear back about Mark Stern, "Personally".. I discussed him slightly in this thread already, but I haven't yet "Gotten inside his head"... But I will ;)
(ETA) I see I DIDN'T discuss Mark Stern in this thread, That was a discussion with someone else Via E-mail.. sorry.. more as *I* get it though.)
________________________
..but eatin people alive, where does THAT get fun?
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i think that in terms of writing to Sci fi, we should first focus our efforts to universal. One mission, one goal, keep it simple. Its not a demand for more sequels, but rather a big THANK YOU for making serenity and how much we appreciate it, and the fanbase is still active and if they ever decide to make more, the fanbase will not be going anywhere....
If we want to send stuff to Sci Fi, maybe we can make that the next mission, after sept 30th. Maybe Dec 20th, the release of Serenity DVD maybe... or whatever.. just right now lets concentrate on Universal... I honestly think thats the best, although my opinion dont count for much, since Im no bigwhig
Prakash
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