DVDs: About time for an organized campaign??

[TVFan]

No problem.

BTW, I really like your idea about creating the web site with the info. Once it's up and running, I'll add your link to the Campaigns area of Pass the Remote.

[boxman]

A LITTLE HELP??
I'd like to know from the board members who are outside of the U.S.:

1) What does it cost for you to send a postcard to the U.S.?? Are there any special restrictions to mailing postcards to the U.S. that someone may need to know??

2) If your country's native language is not English, can you volunteer to assist me with translating English into your language?? I know we have Poles, Germans, and French people here...

Thanks!

[frenchfan]

boxman said:

A LITTLE HELP??
I'd like to know from the board members who are outside of the U.S.:

1) What does it cost for you to send a postcard to the U.S.?? Are there any special restrictions to mailing postcards to the U.S. that someone may need to know??

2) If your country's native language is not English, can you volunteer to assist me with translating English into your language?? I know we have Poles, Germans, and French people here...

Thanks!

1) Approximately 0,90 € (1,15 $)
When I sent my letter to Kathryn morris I did not have any problem (since she answered me, my letter arrived well).

2)Why not, my French is excellent ;D, but my English . If I can,finally if you don't find somebody of more qualified in English.

[rabi]

Hey, boxman

1) J Yen 70.- to 90.- (approx. 62 to 80 cents. Depends on the size.) for a postcard less than 25 grams. No restrictions and suchlike as far as I know.

2) If there is anything I could help on this, why not? ;D
Minor language though.

Why do you need it for? For a postcard or the site?

[boxman]

FrenchFan and Rabi...thanks for the replies! I'm looking for assistance translating English into your languages for the website. I'm hoping this will greatly increase the amount of people who will participate. I'll send you a sample of text through PM later tonight, and if it looks easy enough for you both, then you're enlisted!!

[boxman]

UPDATE

I'm looking for someone who can help translate English into Spanish, about 5 pages or 2000 words at most. Anyone want to volunteer?

People who have graphic design/advertising skills may want to start thinking of postcard designs at this moment. In other words, art to fill a 4.5" x 6" card with a clever message....

The site is testing good at this time. The software has a few unique features that I still have to learn, but things should iron out in a few days. It looks like mid-June will be the 'official' launch for this campaign!

[TVFan]

Are you looking for a slogan for the campaign? If so, I'm sure many of the members could come up with some great ones for you.

[ewka]

Well, I checked the cost of a letter from Poland to USA less than 50 grams and it gives about 2.50 zloty (less than 1€).

[boxman]

ewka said:

Well, I checked the cost of a letter from Poland to USA less than 50 grams and it gives about 2.50 zloty (less than 1€).

Thanks, Ewka, I appreciate your research. Unfortunately, the text was starting to get long, so I'm removing this part. I'll let people figure out their own postage!

[TVFan]

I don't know if anyone is interested, but TVShowsOnDVD.com is hosting an online chat with Warner Bros. TV (and animation) department tomorrow (Tuesday, 6/6).
Click HERE for info on the chat.

Last time Warner Bros. had a chat, Ryebeach was able to ask about CC on DVD. Is there anyone who wants to ask them this time? Maybe there's some news on this front? I know, it's along shot.

[boxman]

Wow, you're good!! How did you ever find that, TVFan?? It fits well in my schedule so I'll attend. I hope others join too!

[TVFan]

I was checking the DVD releases for tomorrow (as I do every week) and noticed the announcement in the news section. It was all just dumb luck, really. ;D

[boxman]

tvfan said:

... It was all just dumb luck, really. ;D

The same 'dumb luck' you had finding that SupaFloss video?? Ha ha ha... Thinking of that video still makes me chuckle.

[TVFan]

Exactly! I find the most random things when I'm totally not looking for them. ;D

[Athame]

I'm like that. The first time in six months that I go into the video store not looking for a KM movie, was the only time I accidently found one.

[boxman]

UPDATE: WB CHATROOM

Well, I attended last night's chat session with the folks from Warner Brothers. Now I can understand what transpired between Ryebeach and the WB execs better.

The Q&A chat session is conducted in a "lottery" fashion. There's about sixty or more people in the chatroom at any given time. The moderator picks seven people to ask one question each for sessions that lasts about 15~20 minute. Unfortunately, I never got picked the whole evening! I was also a bit upset at "Everwood" fans who had dominated the board and kept asking the same dumb questions throughout the night. Next time, we should have everyone here go to such chats so we have better odds at presenting a question about Cold Case DVDs.

Anyway, I was very surprised at how many people are waiting for just Warner Brothers to release their favorite show. I didn't realize how many people are waiting for shows either as old and obscure as "The Streets of San Francisco" from the 70's to the very-recent "Everwood" to get onto DVDs.

Even though I wasn't able to get a question in, from reading the many questions and answers that had gone on last night, there's several things that make me rather hopeful at our odds for success.

First, "music licensing issues" are pretty common with a lot of series that aren't being put to DVDs. I think when one factors in that Cold Case has a lot more viewers than the others that were being asked about, our show is probably much more closer to serious consideration than others.

Another thing is that I got a very strong impression that WB would much rather take the time to deliver a superior product, rather than rush out a poorly-produced DVD set to make quick profit. There were many shows that the WB guys said they either had quality problems transferring an old show onto home video, or they weren't releasing a product for several months so that the DVD set will have very good features in it. So in other words, the studio would like to invest much more than music licensing fees into the DVDs--they also want to invest in other features (such as commentaries, interviews, etc.) that will make 'official' DVDs much more valuable than home-recorded discs. If that's the case with CC discs, I'm willing to wait a little. There's a *lot* I want to know about what happens behind the scenes to produce this show.

The Everwood fans--as irritating as they were--also made another thing clear to me. IIRC, the show is in its fourth season now and being cancelled. WB had already released Season One, but from what I kept reading last night, the discs were a commercial flop. This is why the studio is very hesitant to release discs from seasons 2-4 for the series. This makes me hopeful that they will take a similar risk with Cold Case: They may be willing to release the first season in order to see how sales go. So if we can show them that yes, Cold Case DVDs are in demand, it may be very easy to tip the scales to our favor. I think we're heading in the right direction with this coming postcard campaign..

That's all for now.

[TVFan]

Thanks for attending that chat boxman. I had a feeling that the Everwood fans were going to dominate it, though. As an Everwood fan myself, I know that the community as a whole is very upset right now because the series finale just aired Monday night, WB refuses to release subsequent DVDs and The CW planned on picking the show up for a fifth season until they suddenly changed their minds and gave the already canceled 7th Heaven the spot instead. Needless to say, their having a lot of salt poured into their already gaping wounds. This is what made me think that they would show up in droves to bug WB about more DVD sets. From what you wrote and what I read at TVGuide.com today, we aren't getting any more Everwood DVDs.

Anyway, it sounds like your plan with the campaign is the ONLY way to get WB to see that there is a strong interest out there for CC DVDs. Even if they just went forward with S1 for now and then waited to see how things progressed financially. I think they just need a little convincing because it is difficult to gauge the interest. Your campaign is just the trick!

[boxman]

tvfan said:

... As an Everwood fan myself, I know that the community as a whole is very upset right now...

He he he.... Well, I'm sorry to hear about your show. I was still a bit peeved the next day that I didn't get a chance to put a question in! I know how upsetting it can be when a good show gets cancelled, so I can't really criticise them Everwood fans too much. Still, at least they got one season on DVDs, and got to have their show run four years. I was getting upset at them since that's more than what a whole lot of other shows I liked ever got!

[TVFan]

Yeah, it's a bummer.

I still think, though, that the moderators of that chat should have done a better job of making sure that most of the questions were more balanced than simply about one show. I mean how many times can you get the same answer? I understand that Everwood fans want the subsequent seasons on DVD (I want them as well), but I also understand that asking WB the same question over and over again isn't going to make them change their mind. Oh well. I have a feeling the answer to the CC question would have been the good ol' "music rights" anyway.

[boxman]

tvfan said:

... I understand that Everwood fans want the subsequent seasons on DVD (I want them as well), but I also understand that asking WB the same question over and over again isn't going to make them change their mind. Oh well. I have a feeling the answer to the CC question would have been the good ol' "music rights" anyway.

Ewka, who is helping me out with Polish translations, made a good point about the DVDs. Once we get them, we "hardcore" CC fans can use them to "rope-in" our friends to the show with viewing marathons! I think the important lesson to learn from the Everwood folks is to make sure these DVDs sell well and we use it to help expand the fan base. I know this has happened with my "Firefly" DVDs. On two occasions, I loaned my DVD set to friends who had time to kill. They both got hooked on it sooo quickly that they each set aside the rest of their weekend to watch every episode in the whole set! When one guy was through, the first thing he did was to order the movie "Serenity" since he wanted to know how the story continued!