Organise the revolution-for all FF fans
POSTED BY: Anduine
UPDATED: Sunday, May 13, 2007 22:26
VIEWED: 47655
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Hey PhoenixRose, I'm sorry if in our enthusiasm we stepped on toes (apparently hard, too, ouch! Very bad manners on our part and not intended on mine. So very humble bows and much appreciation for your keeping the flame alive. It took a friend 2 years to convince me to watch the shows... So I have an inkling of how much work you all put in to this.)
Having said that, we need your help to point our passion in the right directions. We need to know what can't work (ie maybe no more TV {I have to stop and clear the lump in my throat}) And What can work (ie getting a second movie).
Please understand we just love Firefly so much that we just can't not try...
Help, please.
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Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:Quote:
Originally posted by shameless:
(even if Fox TV does have them - anybody know for 100% sure with a credible source?)
On the 'Done the Impossible' DVD the man himself tells the story of going to Fox Broadcasting when the show was cancelled and asking for the rights back so he could shop them elsewhere.
"They said yes. And I think that's the last time I ever talked to them."
I don't know who has them now. Maybe no one does. My theory (which those who know more about media are free to dispute) is that when the movie rights were optioned by Universal, there was a clause saying that the same 'verse could not appear on the small screen. Contracts have been signed for three movies, and those contracts (according to an interview with Sean Maher on brilliantbutcancelled.com) do not run out until September of this year. And those could just be the actors' contracts; there might be longer-term holding of the story itself, which would make a return to the small screen litterally impossible. Yes, Universal owns the Sci-Fi channel, technically, but they are still separate broadcast entities. If the movie contracts state something to the effect of "This story, this universe, and these characters will not appear in any media besides Universal motion picture for ____ years or three movies" then that's not going to change. I don't know if it said that, but I know I heard something about the small screen rights being tied up. Fox Broadcasting don't own them, so I suspect it was a clause in the movie contract.
In short, the push should be to convince Universal that a movie sequel is worth their time.
And implying that no one here has been doing just that since Serenity came out is kind of insulting. I have been a member of this board for about a year, and have talked to very few people here who have not done something to spread the signal. Flyers, bookmarks, aggresive loaning out of the movie and boxset, charity screenings, e-mail and letter campaigns, stuffing every poll we could find, all to get the word out to sci-fi fans that this 'verse exists, and getting the word out to sci-fi producers that we exist. We don't sit in apathy, we have not admitted defeat, and we do not drop our weapons to eat beans.
The reason I stayed away from this thread at first was that I didn't want to snarl at a new and enthusiastic Browncoat; that's self-defeating. However, you're not the only one who is enthusiastic, and I think you should do some research/thinking before you come in and tell us that we're not doing enough when we are and have been doing everything we can, and the army grows every day as the signal spreads.
Dong ma?
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Phoenix Rose!
I apologise. Seriously. If that's how my initial rant came across it was not intended. I was frustrated with alot of the posts I had read regarding how futile any attempt would be. I neglected to fully praise the work that HAS been done. If it weren't for those efforts we wouldnt even have this forum let alone the experience of longstanding fans.
But we CAN use your input. Thanks for the bit of technical history regarding the rights, etc. I understand that Universal did the movie under Serenity because Fox had rights or there was some legality regrding the use of Firefly? Do you know if that's correct? And do you have any idea's of where we could find a credible source to confirm/deny any of the potential conflict issues?
Thanks! And once again I am sorry to any of the fans I may have offended in my frustration. Without your long standing fight and dedication we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
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No no, please understand that your enthusiasm is welcome, appreciated, embraced, snuggled, and any manner of warm fuzzy things. The only thing I resent at all is the implications that older (I don't consider myself a veteran) members of the community are just sitting on their thumbs, like we don't love it, too, like we don't want it back just as badly as you, that we are not working hard enough, that if we would just try harder there would be no question about more Firefly/Serenity/the 'verse. There's a lot of politics to it, there are a lot of reasons not to go forth and make ourselve as obnoxious as possible, which I hope you would see.
So please, be enthusiastic! Just know that you're not the only one, that you are joining a legion of enthusiasm, who will welcome your ideas and tell you which can work and which need to be kept away from. You don't have to rally the troops, we're all rallied, but some new brains in the storming never hurt a thing.
Kay, I hope I made that all clear. Onwards.
Our best opportunity right now comes in the form of the special edition Serenity DVD. That they're putting one out is a hopeful sign, and it gives us some new shiny to buy that will put money in the pockets of the right people. So buy the movie. Tell your friends to buy the movie. If they don't, buy it for them. Put up flyers, slip boomarks into books at the library, donate your old copy of Serenity to the local library, where it will be checked out by hundreds of potential Browncoats, arrange screenings or find one near you and buy a ticket. Say 'shiny' and 'gorramn' until someone asks you what the hell you're on about. Get those DVDs off the shelves! This is the most effective tool we have at our disposal. Money talks.
*edit*
Quote:
Originally posted by Anduine:
I understand that Universal did the movie under Serenity because Fox had rights or there was some legality regrding the use of Firefly? Do you know if that's correct? And do you have any idea's of where we could find a credible source to confirm/deny any of the potential conflict issues?
That one I don't know anything about. It's concievable that Fox owns the name Firefly (as well as owning the episodes that were shot under their contract) but I can't confirm or deny that one because I haven't come across anyone official saying there were any conflicts with the name or why. There could be many, many reasons that the name Firefly wasn't used, including something as simple as not wanting to use the same name from different mediums, or something as complicated as a legal snarl. I just don't know. I keep my eyes and ears out for any backstory I can get, so I'll let y'all know if I hear anything about the name issues.
No worries about the frustration. I understand, really. I get frustrated when people say it's all over and there's no point, but really that's quite rare. More often it's a "This is a futile course of action" statement and when that lacks an explination of why, it can rankle too, but it's not saying that any effort is pointless. We definitely have until September to convince them to greenlight Serenity 2, and we might potentially have more than that, so hope is far from lost.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
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Ok. So. Going for a sequel, then. And honestly, if it's only the actors' contracts that run out and not Universal's rights to the 'verse, that gives me so much more hope.
------------------------------------------
RPG launcher bought in third world country illegally - $10
Landmines - $50 per
Attack/track dogs bred 1st class - $250-500 per
Highpowered assault rifles - $600 per
The look on your face when I show up on your doorstep with a bigfoot - ... Priceless
"You gotta love that the first pirated HD DVD is the one about space pirates who broadcast a video that the government wants to keep secret.
Can't stop the signal."
-reavers_ate_my_dvd
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Phoenixrose and any other long time fans,
Have you checked out the "Open letter... hoping to make a difference somehow." thread. What do you think of the ideas there?
1. chat room Sunday for more ideas
2. posts to Sci-fi mags
3. Bye-buy Day (Goodbye to reality shows, Hello to good stories) exhort fans to purchase 1 company's products on 1 day to show what we can do.
I'm doing most of what you suggest already. I have 1 firefly ready to wrap for a gift and two out on loan and I bring the subject up whenever it wont turn people off.
I just want to do more.
To paraphrase Kaylee: Whedon's Firefly is just so lush. I want to take a bite out of it all over, you know?
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Thanks for the positive enthusiasm everyone. And thanks Phoenix! Brilliant input and comments.
I've been following and contributing to a thread over at SciFi forum. There's a effort to get a letter writing campaign to Chris Regina Exec Vp of SciFi network. The aim of the idea is to get a FF marathon on the channel this summer, maybe have each episode introduced by a cast member, etc.
The objective is manifold. Firstly getting a marathon. If SciFi does that then use that as a catalyst to get masses watching and responding. If the numbers are good then to keep the push to get SciFi to pick up the series.
If we set up a chat meeting I'll invite some of the serious from there to join in.
I like the idea of getting everyone to buy the new release. Makes perfect sense and is an event to generate more momentum.
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FYI.
Kind of an interesting thread from last month. But looks like some good people to include.
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=3&t=27669
Also check out this thread over at SciFi's forum. Some of the comments are unrealistic in my mind but some good thoughts.
http://forums.scifi.com/index.php?showtopic=2272758&st=40&gopid=333975
6&#entry3339756
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I'm always in favour of anything that would help get us a sequel. (I understand a revival of the series in its current form is unlikely).
(Please excuse the lenght of this post)
I would first like to know what our actual resources, and therefore influencing power (meaning fan numbers) might be.
I think the first thing that we have to consider is the reality of how to contact as many as possible firefly fans with whatever strategim is devised. It is not of much use if we devise a plan which involves mass-action if we cannot be sure we can invoke mass-action.
Although it is true that there are a few thousand registered members on this site, I would hazard a guess that only about 100 members are really active. I don't know how many active members can be reached on the sci-fi board, as I haven't spent a lot of time there.
On the 76th Battalion board there are (I think) 120 registered members, (who can be reached via our e-mailed newsletter). A fair number of them are active on this board, so you would probable get some duplication.
When we devised the Vote day back in December 2006, to get support for an organised voting push on the TV vote site, a number of us tried to reach as many as possible firefly fans by posting on different sites, boards, bulletins. We also posted messages on myspace and contacted a few yahoo groups.
We managed to get about 3000 votes (if I'm not mistaken)for the day. That would probably relate to about 600 fans.
These are therefore the number of fans that can easily be included in any strategy devised, as they would most probably be the ones that we could contact.
Would this be enough? I don't know at what volumes any network or advertiser would start sitting up and taking note. I would therefore suggest that we attempt first to create a system whereby we can reach as many as possible fans.
What are the possibilities of asking Haken to make available the e-mail addresses of the thousands of members registered here for a once-off e-mail, calling them to arms? (in a manner of speaking) Would such an e-mail be considered an invasion of privacy and in contravention of the terms of use of this board?
If this is not possible, can we then not start an e-mailing list, building it up for the next few months until we can be sure to reach our thousands of co-fans with our plan. I'm talking now of course of centralising *all* firefly fans into one database. I know that the fans of the show Xena-warrior princess, has an official fan-club of thousands, all reachable via an e-mail newsletter. I have no idea how this is organised, since I'm barely computer literate, and this might even be an impossible idea...so, please be gentle 
I think that with September looming closer, the time is now ripe for us to harness the power of frustration of every single person who has ever fell in love with the 'verse, and use that power to bring about change. But we need to organise.
Thoughts?
Big Damn Browncoat Vote http://richlabonte.net/tvvote/index.html
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Canter!
All I can say is...bleedin brilliant!
That of course seems to be a foundation strategy. Let's see if we can get any answers.
How does one centralise the fans?
For all I know there may not be a way. If there isn't I know from experience that what's needed is an event or focus that can light the fuse.
Say we get only 100 dedicated fans or lets say even only 25. I'm gonna quote some stats from another site:
'Serenity, the movie, received generally positive reviews and opened at number two, taking in $10.1 million its first weekend, spending two weeks in the top ten, and totaling a domestic box office gross of $25.5 million and a foreign box office gross of $13.3 million.[2] Serenity won film of the year awards from Film 2005[3] and FilmFocus.[4] It also won IGN Film's Best Sci-Fi, Best Story and Best Trailer awards and was runner up for the Overall Best Movie.[5] It also won the Nebula Award for Best Script for 2005, the 7th annual 'User Tomato Awards' for best Sci-Fi movie of 2005 at Rotten Tomatoes, the 2006 viewers choice Spacey Award for favorite movie, the 2006 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form[6] and the 2006 Prometheus Special Award.'
So there are millions of unorganised fans out there.
But that doesn't answer your or my question. How do you get them all on the same page?
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Alright, I agree we need to mobilize the fan base.
How do we reach them?
I wish we could do something like buy the email addresses of anybody who purchased firefly/serenity from Amazon. Probably not viable. Does anybody know?
The other ideas I have are Billboards and ads but where and that would entail Money.
How bout the sales list of DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE. The buyers of that would be hardcore fans and the makers should be sympathetic to the cause.
To paraphrase Kaylee: Whedon's Firefly is just so lush. I want to take a bite out of it all over, you know?
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