I'm Watching YOU.......
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OT: All DC Movies on Hold!
David Goyer, writer/director of the upcoming The Unborn told IESB that the DC comic book adaptations at Warner Brothers, movies like The Flash, which Goyer was writing at one point, have been put on hold.
"A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they figure out ... they're going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause on at the moment. It was the doubleheader of both Iron Man and The Dark Knight coming out, so more than ever I think they've realized, I think DC was responsible for 15% of Warner Brothers' revenue this year, something crazy like that, so they realized that comic books, it's become a new genre, one of the most successful genres."
Also on hold is Goyer's adaptation of X-Men Origins: Magneto, and Goyer told Craveonline: "they [Fox] still want to make it and they're hoping Wolverine will be a big hit and that'll open the way for Magneto."
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/comic_news/news/?a=5864
** Maybe now that Goyer is out of work, maybe he can start working on "Unique" and get that film moving, if the rumors are true. IMO
and the price went up. Those sneeky M&Ms.
Hes probally going to have to really dig deep. LOL. But I guess If he knows that most of his movies would be successes, it should not be a problem. We all fork out money somewhere, his is just bigger than normal.
Tack in the Ponsie scheme loss, Oh a good year start for him.
Spielberg digs deep for D'Works
Mogul must pay Paramount for film rights
By TATIANA SIEGEL
As DreamWorks toppers labor to shore up financing for their post-Paramount incarnation, the bills keep mounting.
DreamWorks is expected to write a check today for $26.5 million of the $30 million-$35 million it owes Par for the right to keep 17 films in its fold. Remarkably, DreamWorks principal Steven Spielberg will be dipping into his personal coffers -- perhaps for the first time in his career -- to foot half the bill.
Indian conglom Reliance is covering the other half, according to a DreamWorks source. By paying the lump sum, DreamWorks will hold onto projects including "The 39 Clues," "The Trial of the Chicago 7," "Dinner for Schmucks," "Motorcade" and "Atlantis Rising."
In addition, Spielberg and Reliance are splitting the solo company's hefty overhead, which Paramount sources said was $50 million a year when DreamWorks was owned by the Melrose studio.
It's no secret that DreamWorks continues to have difficulty assembling financing amid weak global credit markets. In fact, the revamped company headed by Spielberg and Stacey Snider has been forced to scale back its original ambitions significantly. Reliance had initially promised to invest up to $550 million in the Hollywood company, assuming that DreamWorks could match that amount in debt raised through its bankers at J.P. Morgan. For now, those targets have been reduced to $325 million each for Reliance and J.P. Morgan, though DreamWorks hopes to raise an additional $225 million during second- and third-stage financing sometime in the next seven years, which Reliance would match. But the big remaining question mark is whether the initial J.P. Morgan loan will syndicate, and if so, when.
Though DreamWorks brass are confident the loan will syndicate during the current quarter, the ramifications of the company's financial obstacles are already being felt. But it's clear Spielberg's decision to pay is proof he'll do whatever it takes for the deal to go through.
As a result of the lack of coin, DreamWorks has lost the right to co-finance roughly 17 Paramount-led, DreamWorks-developed projects that the two parties had agreed to share when the Par-DreamWorks settlement agreement was inked in October. The reason is DreamWorks couldn't meet a key clause -- it was required to co-finance two projects that were already in production, thus voiding its right to opt in on the 17 Par projects, which include a Lincoln biopic, "The Rivals," and an untitled Diablo Cody project that is a modern take on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." Spielberg will remain involved as a producer.
Meanwhile, Paramount has been somewhat cash strapped after the studio walked away from a $450 million slate financing deal last summer with Deutsche Bank because the deal points were deemed unfavorable.
So, what's the Melrose studio to do with its sudden windfall? "We're going to put it in our mattress," said one Par exec.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998568.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
OT: Interesting.
Do-it-yourself 3D movies at home
By Mark Ward
BBC News technology correspondent, Las Vegas
A visit to Disney World was the inspiration behind the Minoru webcam
3D films may soon no longer be the sole province of movie studios with big budgets.
At CES, two firms have been showing off ways for home users to make and share their own 3D films.
One is a webcam with two lenses that mimics human sight and turns the images it captures into 3D footage.
Another firm is producing software that it hopes will make it far easier for home users to show 3D movies on many different types of screen.
Manchester-based PDT has created the Minoru webcam that has two lenses set roughly the same distance apart as human eyes. Software included with the webcam turns the two images into what is known as an anaglyph. If someone gave you an iPod with one ear piece you would think they were nuts
David Holder
Minoru
To see the resultant footage in 3D, viewers must wear the familiar spectacles with red and blue lenses. This ensures that only one of the two images being shown is seen by each eye and forces the brain to turn them into a moving 3D image. DIY 3D movies shot with the Minoru can be shared on YouTube.
Jolie Myatt demonstrates the 3D webcam
The webcam can also be used as a more conventional 2D image grabber or as a video conferencing tool with Windows Live, Skype, AOL and many others.
David Holder, the creator of the Minoru webcam, said his children were the inspiration for the gadget.
"I took my kids to Disney World two years ago and they loved the 3D attractions there," he said. "They just loved the idea of things coming out of the screen, even though they had to wear the glasses."
Explaining why he embarked on the project to create the camera, he said: "If someone gave you an iPod with one ear piece you would think they were nuts."
He added: "I've never made anything that's grabbed so much attention."
Diverse screens
Also at CES, American firm TD Vision showed off a software codec that makes it much easier to show 3D movies on many different screen types.
Ethan Shur, spokesman for TD Vision, said the company had also developed a prototype 3D camcorder that would work with the software to turn footage into a 3D movie.
To ensure the film can be played back on different screens, it stores information about the anaglyphic characteristics of each scene separately from the standard images.
The firm's breakthrough is finding an economic way of storing only information about the parts of each frame that change to evoke the 3D effect.
"The magic is in the method of how it compares the left and right view," he said. "It takes only the differences, the delta, the changes."
Having the 3D information stored separately means that the footage can be played back as 2D on a normal television or as 3D on more capable screens.
Initially, said Mr Shur, TD Vision was working with broadcasters and DVD makers to use the 3D codec but had plans to address consumers in the future.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7819714.stm
Blueray is getting cheaper. I saw some machines on sale between 100-200. The disks are still expensive though.
Yes, there is things going on. From my research, I think we will see articles from different sources here shortly. But thats JMO
No problem. Was the red wagon the kind that has a dog and kid in it or the 70s station wagon kind?
Sorry to hear that. Havent gone through this yet and not looking forward to it either.
Hmmm...Uncle SAM?? Ready to give a whipping. (I love these old war comics)
There is no loss until you sell, so Im told. If Obama can just put a hold on the capital gains tax for a few years, we could see a HUGE ralley in the market. IMO
10 bucks to park is outrageous. Next time they ask for 10, tell them you charge 15 to eat there. They should be paying you to have customers visit their establishments. Hope the date went well.
OT: Wizard World cancels two shows — UPDATED
Newsarama reports what we’ve been hearing all morning: Wizard World is canceling their Los Angeles and Dallas shows.
WizardWorld LA was scheduled for March 13-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center; and Dallas for November 6-8. Newsarama confirmed the information about the L.A. show early Friday afernoon when a spokesperson for the L.A. Convention Center said that they that had been notified via voicemail on Friday morning that Wizard was canceling its show. Other sources have confirmed for Newsarama that the Texas show has been cancelled as well.
The move will halve Wizard’s convention schedule, leaving only Philadelphia on June 19-21 and Chicago, on August 6-9.
Wizard’s Dallas show is said to have lost money last year, and the LA show remained problematic for years due to lowered local attendance, sometimes due to factors outside Wizard’s control such as Marathon scheduling and so on. However, the 2009 show has already advertised guests and a number of tickets and booths had already been sold.
The move leaves Wizard with two shows: Wizard World Chicago and Wizard World Philadelphia.
The cancellations are the first real signs of effects of the softening economy on comics, although we’ve been hearing bits and pieces of layoffs and lessened hours at a few other places.
UPDATE: Wizard has released an official statement indicating that WWLA is only postponed, but no new date was revealed.
Wizard Entertainment announced today that it has postponed its 2009 Wizard World Los Angeles show slated for March 13-15 and cancelled the Wizard World Texas show November 6-8 due to the current economic climate.
The successful Philadelphia and Chicago shows will go on as planned. Wizard World Philadelphia, featuring Guest of Honor Garth Ennis, is June 19-21 at the Philadelphia Convention Center and Wizard World Chicago, featuring comic legend George Perez, is August 6-9 at the Rosemont Convention Center.
For tickets and more information about Wizard World Philadelphia and Chicago, be sure to visit www.wizarduniverse.com.
This entry was posted on 01/9/09 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Conventions, Business News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/01/09/wizard-world-cancels-two/
That should be cool if not too expensive. I hear there is to be a bunch of TV shows this year in 3D but you need the glasses. If MY Bloody Valentine' in 3D does well in theaters, I would expect to see more of the same. IMO
http://www.tvpredictions.com/forum/index.php?entry=entry080915-051401
Me too. Would go good as a follow up movie to Magdalena. I dont think we own the rights when he signed up for the CBC since I did not read the contract. However, the article does get free publicity for Platinums CBC. Im thinking this years will be bigger yet IMO.
http://www.theforceproductions.com/
OT: Dark Knight,' `Iron Man' battle for effects Oscar
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090106/ap_en_mo/oscars_visual_effects
Thats it for my December searchs. Off to watch the fireworks on TV. later.
MM
Who does these things? Readers? Could use some updates IMO. The Platinum one kind of looks like the info taken off of here :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._J._Coffman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_Studios
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Dog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchblade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunkduck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_&_Aliens
Maybe we could do a comic series of the movie? Worked for Star Wars. IMO
Were not working with Dark Horse are we? They seem to be timing the release of a Dylan Dog trade Comic with the movie? IMO
http://www.milehighcomics.com/comicindex/nice/December-2008/Title-DYLAN-DOG-CASE-FILES-TPB--2009---1-by-Dark-Horse-Comics.html
Older Dylan Dog
Munroe on 'Dead of Night' Trilogy and Monsters!
18 November 2008 2:35 PM, PST | From bloody-disgusting.com | See recent Bloody-Disgusting.com news
This week is all Kevin Munroe as the director revealed to Bloody-Disgusting that he's not only prepping Dead Of Night, the feature film adaptation to Dylan Dog, but he'll also be directing War Monkeys and El Zombo. We caught up with the director who talked quite a bit about all three projects. Beyond the break you can read what he has to say about the Dead Of Night trilogy! With Brandon Routh attached to star, Munroe says he hopes to begin pre-production as early as next month. "With Dead Of Night... if all goes well were gonna be closing financing very soon and were gonna start prep December January, well be in New Orleans. And then filming late January, February." More inside.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013860/news#ni0608830
See full article at bloody-disgusting.com
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/14381
and looks like financing just about here IMO
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/14148
http://74.125.19.101/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=de%7Cen&u=http://www.dravenstales.ch/2008/12/21/dylan-dog-dead-of-night-rated-r/&prev=/language_tools&usg=ALkJrhjb-HJwDnp8rEtKqFlRt30eEoOaxw
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dylan-Dog/18375642727
Rumor: Magdalena
Screenwriter
Kevin Taft?
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/movie/magdalena/
Kevin Taft: Screenplay
Joe Benitez: Source Material
Marcia Chen: Source Material
http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Magdalena/3466126
Comics being made into films
Martin Anderson
Comics are the new spec-scripts, and Hollywood is very amenable to a script with big pictures...
First bit I've seen on this: I did not see Dylan Dog listed or Atlantis Rising. There is alot of stuff here I have not even heard about. Interesting reading. IMO
Illegal Aliens (2010)
Further reinforcing the vanishing division between comics and films, Vanguard comics are proposing simultaneous film/comic launches, of which this tale of a reporter in search of the 'chupacabra monster' is one. Jeremiah exec producer Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is on board.
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/147293/75_comics_being_made_into_films.html
On the SCI-FI WEBPAGE: Witchblade 2009. Not much, but it is free publicity IMO.
http://www.scifitv.com.au/Blog/2008/12/What-A-Year-This-Will-Be-2009/
http://www.lathiat.net/reader
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:hTnH6XfNbeAJ:www.scifitv.com.au/Blog/2008/12/What-A-Year-This-Will-Be-2009/+michael+rymer+witchblade+december+2008&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=73&gl=us
Older news;but somewhat related.
Fri, December 5th, 2008 at 1:12PM PST
In the first installment of CBR’s WEEK OF TOP COW, we spoke with Top Cow Productions founder Marc Silvestri about the early days of the company, and we later followed up with Filip Sablik, the prodigious Publisher of Top Cow, about the company’s current direction, experiments with online content, and what sets Top Cow apart from other outfits. We then spoke with Ron Marz and Phil Hester, the writers of “Witchblade” and “The Darkness,” respectively, about working on Top Cow’s flagship titles as well as what makes the Cow a creative oasis in the desert of corporate comics. After that, Vice President of Editorial Rob Levin sat down with us to talk about the creative direction of the Top Cow titles as well as the numerous Pilot Season projects -- one-shots featuring new or underused characters that readers can vote for via MySpace to determine which title will graduate to ongoing series.
For our fifth and final installment, Top Cow President Matt Hawkins speaks extremely candidly about the company’s business history, about the many and varied changes the Cow has undergone in the ten years he’s been there, as well as Top Cow’s endeavors in film, video games and other ancillary media.
CBR: You first started out at Top Cow as VP of Publishing back in 1998. How did you find yourself there?
Matt Hawkins: I started out as VP Publishing and was brought in to take over the day-to-day business of Top Cow's comic book publishing business. I had been self-publishing “Lady Pendragon” and “Alley Cat” and doing decently well doing that, but David Wohl called me and asked if I would be interested in meeting about working at Top Cow. Stability being a somewhat good thing since I was getting married, I decided to take a look at it. We met over the course of a few weeks and I decided to take the job part time, providing that I could continue to self-publish my own books. That lasted about two weeks until I realized the magnitude of the problems the company had at the time and the amount of work that needed to be done. So I got sucked in and within a few months my self-pub stuff stopped as I got completely overwhelmed at Top Cow.
"The Darkness" video game on sale now
Tell us about the road to becoming President of the company.
Well, it was pretty bizarre. Within a few months of being at Top Cow, Brad Foxhoven (former President) left to go start a dot-com startup called Eruptor. David Wohl became President, but was more of a creative guy and didn't feel comfortable making financial, legal decisions, etc. So he asked me to be Co-President with him. That lasted about six months, I believe, and then I was sole President and have been ever since. So from the time I started working at Top Cow, I believe I was President within a year and have signed all the checks and managed all the legal work since then.
How has Top Cow changed in the ten years you’ve been at the company?
It's changed pretty dramatically. When I first arrived, Top Cow was full of artists who had this sense of entitlement that was nearly impossible to break, it was so ingrained. They had a pretty sweet deal with high page rates, a creative atmosphere and a lot of leeway in just about everything, but they all felt like they were being screwed over. I've talked to some of these guys since and many of them have realized that it was a sweet deal and that the grass is not always greener. It's difficult to convey that when this is the only place they've ever worked and you have some artists that are making six and seven-figure incomes and flaunting that.
I remember an early conflict with an artist when I made the comment that working in comics is a sweet deal, be thankful, you could be working at McDonalds. He took that to mean that I thought he would be working at McDonalds if he didn't have the Top Cow job, which was not what I said. Caused some problems, but I talked to these guys and tried to find out what they wanted. In many cases, we couldn't give it to them, and some of them left. Many of those we've since worked with again.
We had ten art interns working in a bullpen that none of the editors wanted to use for anything. I asked Marc [Silvestri] if he thought any of them had potential working with us and he said one, Ebas. So when I asked why we had those other guys there no one could answer me. So I got to be the dick by letting them all go. I remember doing it in one afternoon and they all filed in one after the other, then cleaned up their stuff and left. I was the "asshole," but I thought we were doing them more a disservice by having them sit in our office thinking they were going to get work when they never were -- some of them had been sitting in there for years.
"Witchblade Anime" DVD box set on sale now
The biggest change I would say from when I started to today is that there is not a single person working here now that worked here when I started, other than Silvestri. We've had many people here now for several years and I like our current staff quite a bit, but it's been an interesting journey. Creatively, we've shifted from an almost Zen-like, art-first culture to realizing that art and story are equally important, and in many cases story can be more important.
Some of the problems never go away, I think they are systemic to our business, in talking with other companies they have the same problems. The company has also evolved into more of a multi-media company with projects in video games, film, animation and a lot of exciting stuff like that going on.
Top Cow is a company that has weathered a lot of storms in its years. While things look great moving forward and Top Cow is stable financially today, that wasn't always the case. With those tough times behind you, what have you learned from those experiences that have helped shape Top Cow business operations today? Is Top Cow being affected by the current economic crisis?
Well, I’ve been through more shit than I care to remember, but it does make me feel battle-tested in a way. Before even Top Cow, being part of the implosion of Extreme Studios and Awesome Comics was very heartbreaking. That experience actually gave me the resolve on what I needed to do at Top Cow to get it through trying times. Fiscal prudence is of paramount importance. People frequently assume that when people lay people off or make cutbacks, that company is fucked. That may be the case, but with forward thinking people it’s actually done to stave off a potential storm. One thing I realized early on is that the person responsible for the financial/legal aspects of a company is not trying to win a popularity contest. We have to make tough decisions, walk away from deals that we want to do for creative reasons and cut projects that don’t make sense.
At Extreme/Awesome, I felt like we were all friends and that factored into how we ran the business. It can be detrimental. I’m a relatively friendly guy, but have always maintained a slight distance from all the people whose livelihoods are directly affected by what I do and who are affected by every decision I make. With a creative company, you really need a combination of a creative vision, marketing savvy and fiscal prudence. You need a real business plan on how you expect to make money in this business.
Top Cow's Magdalena is in development for a feature film
The industry is littered with bankrupt morons who thought that some movie was going to save them and make them rich. I love comic books and am proud of our industry and medium, but the people out there creating comic books solely in hopes of it becoming a film are going to be disappointed. Publishing is a very risk-intense business, especially now, and the nickels and dimes add up very quickly. A couple years ago we worked out a deal that was going to save us $300,000 a year in printing costs. Then the cost of oil went up and freight costs went up. Suddenly we had a zero sum gain. I was annoyed, but happy we had been proactive in trying to cut costs. If we had had to incur another $300,000 in costs, that year that would have sucked. We run profit and loss projections for everything we do. We calculate price points, page counts based on costs. I have budgets and run variance reports to look at what doesn’t meet our projections. I have a cash flow report six months out to ensure we have cash to pay operating costs. Some of you might be saying, no shit, but you’d be surprised at how many independent comic book companies do none of these things.
What else have I learned? Quality is everything and price point does matter. You give people a good comic book, consistently and they’ll come back for more. I’ve also learned it’s very difficult to build an audience once you’ve lost it, but not impossible. Our philosophy has changed quite a bit over the years and I’ve changed my opinions on what matters and what works every year. This is a very “Johnny on the spot” business. If you don’t have the right ammunition when you need it, you blew an opportunity.
Lastly, and I’ve said this before, survival is the primary goal. On the film/TV and video game front, it takes a lot of effort and luck to get these things made, but if you aren’t in the game you can’t get lucky.
What would you say sets Top Cow apart from other comic publishers?
We're more of a boutique operation focusing on fewer projects that hopefully benefit from more individual attention. If you look at most other publishers in our "perceived" space, they publish a lot more books than we do, in some cases almost 8-10 times the volume we do. We try to focus on fewer books and make them as good as possible. There are always some missteps, but overall I think our line is pretty damn good.
Top Cow's Witchblade is in development for a feature film
What are some of the standout projects you've been involved with since you’ve been with Top Cow?
The current run on “Witchblade,” “Wanted,” “Rising Stars,” the current “The Darkness” volume and [Paul Jenkins’ “The Darkness: Resurrection.”] Some of my favorite projects we've got going are actually books we haven't published yet. I dig “Freshmen,” but it's a hard comic book to sell, people don't seem to want funny in their funny books any more.
In your role as President, you oversee Top Cow's projects in other media. Let's talk a bit about some of those successes and what they've meant for the company. “Wanted," for example; prior to its opening weekend, were you confident it would exceed expectations like it did, or were you in wait- and-see mode?
I had seen the film prior to release and read the various drafts of the scripts as they came in, so I was pretty confident that the film would do well. I like genre action films and this hit everything that I liked, so I knew that the people like me would like it. I tend to be pretty hard on our stuff and we have high standards for the ancillary productions of our properties, so I knew I wasn't looking through rose colored glasses. So the short answer is that yes, I was very confident it would do well.
Now, having said that, it exceeded my expectations at both global box office and on pre-orders for both DVD and Blu-Ray. “Wanted 2” is a no-brainer at this point. [Mark] Millar and [J.G.] Jones created something here that's going to have some long legs.
What has “Wanted’s” success meant for Top Cow's other media properties -- has it helped pave the way for upcoming film projects and move existing ones into over drive?
It has certainly helped, but most of what we currently have in development was already in development before “Wanted” came out. It's certainly raised our profile, but it's done more for Mark Millar than it has for Top Cow. And this is a good thing and something both Marc and I support. It's important that more creators get credit for what they do and have that translate into other media opportunities. I think that is a key difference between Top Cow and other companies.
Vintage Top Cow artwork by Marc Silvestri
"The Darkness" video game was also a big surprise, once again surpassing expectations. Has its success helped in future development of video games for Top Cow?
This is a big yes and besides a potential “Darkness” sequel (which developer 2K has asked me not to talk about yet), we have several other things that are being developed and once we have something real to announce we'll announce it. “Witchblade” is a no-brainer and will happen eventually.
Can you talk about the status of any upcoming films or video games? Where is “The Darkness” film at? “Witchblade?” “Magdalena?”
Unfortunately, it's my policy to not really talk about much until it's really real, but I know Michael Rymer has talked about “Witchblade” a few places and Gale Anne Hurd, Jenna Dewan and Luke Goss have been talking about “Magdalena” a lot in the press lately. “The Darkness” is very close to some insane announcements of which I'm very excited, but nothing is signed yet so I'm going to withhold that. Sorry to be a tease.
What’s coming up for Top Cow?
I'm looking forward to “Impaler” a lot. I don't think it'll be a barnburner when it comes to sales, but it'll have a quiet surge behind it. Quality stuff works that way, it may not have the same sizzle as some other stuff, but we'll support it. The “Berserker” stuff with Milo Ventimiglia's company looks great. The continuing adventures of the Witchblade and The Darkness are evergreen for us at this point. We've got a few other things that I can't announce just yet, including a project that Marc Silvestri has been personally designing for almost ten years and it is wicked cool!
Now discuss this story in CBR's Image Comics forum.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19058
Happy New Year Everyone.
Not much we can do, except average down. Start returning those XMAS gifts for cash. Its a terrible time for any stock in the market. Even those making profits are dumping. IMO
Small WitchBlade mention on this Youtube video
I read that too. He probally wont be able to recover any money back. Big tax writeoff for him IMO.
Thanks, so far things are good. Just got back from LV, lost a boatload but had fun. Funny, there was snow in Vegas. The weather is really changing.
I wish I knew what was happening with all these questions, but I got nothing. Maybe Finance 500 has a lot of shares and trying to spur buying among brokers, Im just guessing here. Dreamworks has money problems. Cant come up with there portion of the money. S.S should use his pocket change to make the difference, but I hear he's stingy. Spending too much on that RIN-TIN-TIN movie that will probally be another Waterworld doesnt help either. They should spread the wealth among movies.
IMO only
Have a good Christmas.
and on the Arcana subject
http://www.nycomiccon.com/App/homepage.cfm?moduleid=2577&appname=100453
http://www.nycomiccon.com/app/homepage.cfm?appname=100453&moduleID=2523&LinkID=31114&campaignid=61424905&iUserCampaignID=46250121
Exhibitors Booth #
Arcana / Platinum Studio 1803
*** If in the Area, check them out. For future reference:
http://www.comic-con.org/
OT: Wow, looks like Arcana got busy. Lets see us beat this deal. IMO
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0634254/
http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/12/22/arcana-makes-deal-for-5-film-adaptations/
Im back. Glad you ran the show.
Hope things are well. Happy Holidays everyone.
OT: Newsarama interviews Filip Sablik for 2009 Preview
Top Cow in '09 - Hunter-Killer, Magdalena & More
We brought you first word of Top Cow holding their prices at $2.99 through 2009, and now, it’s time for a look ahead at 2009. For that, we sat down again with Publisher Filip Sablik.
Newsarama: Filip, you’ve recently announced big plans for both Witchblade and Darkness. In terms of core titles, what are you looking at for the coming year? A steady run with the two titles, or another year with a summer event?
Filip Sablick: For those two titles we’re going to go with the former. 2009 is going to be a time to refocus, in terms of letting the creators do what they do best with the books, and giving them a break from having to worry about a larger event that they have to build towards. Ron’s doing “War of the Witchblade” starting with issue #125, but that’s a story that’s been developing organically since issue #100 or #101, and it’s something that he’s been wanting to do.
In Darkness, a lot of Phil [Hester]’s upcoming stories, while they’ll be following continuing thread, will be self-contained story arcs, either one or two issue stories. Issues #7-#10, and up to the new issue #75 are all self-contained issues where people can pick up an issue and get a complete sense of the Darkness and who Jackie is, and hopefully that will be enough to pique their interest, and they jump back in.
So that’s something we can promise – in 2009, Witchblade and Darkness will not be involved in an event. We are going to be pushing the sense of a shared universe in 2009 and into 2010. In that, we’re talking about a “shared universe” in the sense of the classic Marvel days, were you’d see Thor fly over in the skies of Manhattan, and Spider-Man would wonder where he’s going. The cool thing with Jackie and Sarah is that now that they have a child together, they have a built-in reason to interact. So, it may be something as simple as occasionally Jackie shows up at Sarah’s to check in on Hope, or it may be something a little bit bigger. And that all will include other characters that we’ve got in the Top Cow Universe, characters like Magdalena or Aphrodite IV may show up from time to time for an issue, but it won’t be a big event crossover type of thing.
NRAMA: Speaking of the larger Top Cow Universe, both you and Matt Hawkins have said that the comfort zone for Top Cow is about four books a month. Witchblade and Darkness take up two of those slots, yet you’re building up other characters as well. So how do you juggle those other two to three slots in the coming year?
Witchblade #125
Witchblade #125
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FS: Pretty much the same way we’ve done in the past – we have Witchblade and Darkness as our two ongoings, and by 2010 we’ll probably have a third ongoing that we’re going to be building towards in ’09. Those will be the core of the Top Cow Universe. The other characters will come in and out through limited series or mini-seasons. The one thing we’re taking into account in 2009-2010 is that you’ll see those series spin out more organically from larger stories in Witchblade and Darkness. For instance, rather than just launching a series like Madame Mirage cold, as we were able to do a few years ago when the market was more open to new series, you may have a character like that first appear in Witchblade, and introduce her to the fans, and then spin her out into her own series. So things will flow a little more naturally. Again, that’s to build the idea that these characters co-exist in the same world. That’s not to say we won’t do series that are standalone – we’ll do an occasionally one now and then.
So that’s the larger plan – hold the line, do projects that make sense. And if we’re doing a standalone limited series hopefully it’s with either a character or creator that will give it enough buzz so that people will give it a shot.
NRAMA: This may touch on your plans for the third series coming up, but you have both Magdalena and Witchblade in some stage of film development. How does that affect what you do? We’ve seen both Marvel and DC deal with it in their own ways where comics had to influence the films, the films then directed the comics, and now, apparently the films and comics are similar but don’t reflect each other. They seem to have come full circle, but with a smaller company like you where you don’t have different versions of say, Witchblade that you can play with, how does the movie aspect affect the comics, and how will it as the movies move forward?
FS: I would say that with Witchblade, it probably isn’t going to affect it a whole hell of a lot. We feel that, editorially, Witchblade is really strong. Ron’s been the guiding spirit of the title for several years now, and he’s doing an awesome job. So the goal there is just to do the best comic that we can do every month.
The one thing that was nice about Wanted being different in its film version than in its comic version is that, despite the fact that there were differences, people still went out and bought the graphic novel by the tens of thousands. So there’s some indication there like you said, that comics and their movies don’t necessarily have to match up to stir interest in one another. If it makes sense, and once the movie is further along, I don’t discount that we might do something separate, like a movie tie-in or something like that, but really, the drive now seems to be more towards having a good series or graphic novel line to support the movie. That seems to be what moviegoers are going to pick up.
Darkness #75 cover by Lee Bermejo
Darkness #75 cover by Lee Bermejo
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With Magdalena, I think there will be an effect...probably, of all the core Top Cow characters, her origin story is the most convoluted in that there were several different creative teams that came in and did their own take on her. So yeah, in 2009, we are looking at working with Ron to streamline her origin, and present a story that says, “Here is Magdalena” in a very clear and concise way, so that when the movie does come out, we do have a trade paperback that you can hand to somebody who’s never read anything else – Darkness, Witchblade, or any of the Top Cow titles she’s been in, and say, “Here’s a book about that character that you liked in that movie.” It may not be exactly the same – in fact, it may be quite a bit different, but it reads quite well by itself.
I would say probably towards the end of 2009, we’ll be looking at some sort of Magdalena series that will hopefully accomplish that.
NRAMA: Related to that, with these projects in their stages of film development, how much of a voice do you have with the filmmakers in regards to the interpretation from comic book to movie?
FS: With both Witchblade and Magdalena – obviously, every film deal is unique – Marc Silvestri and Matt Hawkins are intimately involved. I know that Marc has had several meetings with Michael Rymer, who’s the director on Witchblade to talk about the character and what direction the story will go in. Both Matt and Marc are reading through potential scripts, and are helping to select the screenwriter who ultimately gets the job. As far as I can tell, it’s about as hands-on as you can get. Part of that, of course, is dependent on who you partner with, so both of those films were set up through Platinum Studios, and Magdalena is with Gale Anne Hurd’s company, and Witchblade is with Arclight Films. Both are production companies that have a really good sense about what makes a good comic book movie – obviously, Gale Anne Hurd has been involved with a lot of comic book and science fiction movies, so she has a very good sense of what makes for a good movie, but on the whole, having creators involved when you can, just makes for a better movie.
Witchblade #124
Witchblade #124
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NRAMA: Moving away from your core titles and characters, as you’ve brought up, with Wanted and Madame Mirage, Top Cow has another group of books that exists such as Madame Mirage, Dragon Prince, and the Pilot Season books. What are things looking like in that arena of Top Cow for 2009? There will be a new iteration of Pilot Season, correct?
FS: Yeah – there’s definitely going to be a Pilot Season in 2009.
NRAMA: With a similar set up to this year?
FS: That’s right – we’re going to have six original properties from six different creative teams. No Top Cow Universe characters or pre-existing characters. We’re still finalizing the list. What’s been kind of cool about this process is that Pilot Season started as an experiment and then evolved in its second year. Now, in its third year, and people have a sense of what it is, particularly creators, we’ve gone from where we were approaching creators and asking for pitches to now essentially stepping back and having pitches come in. People have seen that it’s a cool bit of promotion, and a great way to get a new concept out there and test the waters.
So we’ve got a lot of really interesting combinations of creators and concepts coming in for 2009 which, on the one hand, makes things a little tougher to decide what we’re going to go with. Ultimately though, we want a similar format to last year in the sense that we want to have a variety of genres and types of stories represented, so you’ll get something for horror fans, something for action-adventure fans, whatever the mix ends up being. We don’t want to end up putting out five zombie books. That’s no fun for anybody, and besides, Robert Kirkman has the market cornered on that.
I think the one major thing that we’ll change is that we’ll be bringing the price back down to $2.99 on all the books of Pilot Season. It’s a program that we believe in and think is unique and cool in the industry, so we’re behind it to nurture it and hopefully it continues to strike a chord with fans.
NRAMA: And the winners of this year’s Pilot Season – they’ve been set as miniseries to date. Could those possibly go on as ongoing series if they’re popular enough, or would that require a change in the 4-5 series a month model?
FS: Ultimately, and this is our attitude with any limited series, if we put something out there and it really catches on with fans, we’re going to continue with it. We’d be dumb not to, as long as the creator has more story to tell, and the fans and retailers are supporting it and are telling us that they want to see more. So Genius and Twilight Guardian are slated to run through one complete arc, which I think is tentatively at four issues each. That will be enough to collect into a nice trade paperback. But if people get into the stories and like what they see, and the sales reflect that, we’ll keep doing it. Some of that may come in the form as how we’re approaching Madame Mirage – Paul [Dini] had an initial story that he wanted to tell, so we put out the six issue story, and it was really successful, so when we started talking to Paul about doing more stuff for us, one of our first thoughts was to do more Madame Mirage. Fortunately, he’s got more ideas, so it’s something that makes sense.
NRAMA: Speaking of Paul with Madame Mirage and Ron with Dragon Prince, are you looking at expanding in that area, that is, more creator-owned projects eith reby creators who are working for you, or others?
Darkness #75
Darkness #75
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FS: It’s always a possibility, and is a case by case thing. Ron is somebody we’ve worked with for many years, and when we started talking about an exclusive contract, he brought up some ideas that he had, and Dragon Prince in particular, and asked if it was something that we could do at Top Cow. It made sense for us, so we moved forward with it. The same thing goes for Paul – he’s a guy whose credentials speak for themselves, and he’s been very easy to work with. Phil Hester is somebody that we definitely want to work more with, and we’ve got a couple of projects that we’re talking about, but it’s something where we need to find the right combination of factors and what makes sense to green light. We’re probably going to a larger focus on the Top Cow Universe stuff immediately though, because that’s solid for 2009. Ultimately, though, we’d love to do more of that kind of stuff.
NRAMA: So what else are you looking at for 2009?
FS: Probably the biggest thing for 2009 is going to be our summer event series. It’s not going to be a Witchblade and Darkness event story – it’s going to be a Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer five issue series. It’s a corner of the Top Cow Universe that’s been left alone for a few years. Both those team kind of popped up briefly in First Born, but for the most part, we haven’t really done anything with them in a while. They’re series that we get a lot of fan interest form, so we’re bringing back Mark Waid to write it, and Kenneth Rocafort will be drawing it. We kind of expect that it’s going to be everything that a big, popcorn summer event should be.
If everything goes to plan, it will set up something very, very cool for 2010 that we’re not ready to announce yet, but this is our way of doing something cool that’s set within the Top Cow Universe without telling Ron and Phil that they have to find yet another way to shoehorn an event into their stories.
What’s really interesting about this series is that it fits very nicely with themes that people are thinking about these days – technology, a fear or wariness of government, and a distrust of large corporations. So that will be something that we think fans will really respond to.
NRAMA: And there are a couple more projects coming in 2009, right?
Black Vault #1
Black Vault #1
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FS: Right – the two other projects we’re doing are Black Vault in March, which is a limited series that we’re co-producing with Kickstart, the guys who did the Wanted film. The nicest way to describe that is “Guantanamo in space.” Imagine being caught with terrorists and their interrogators on a very claustrophobic, tiny ship. That’s by B. Clay Moore, based off of a screenplay by a guy named Jeffery Simmons that we got form Kickstart, and Nelson Blake, who did the Broken Trinity: Witchblade book for us – he’s drawing that, and Jeremy Haun is providing cool, creepy and disconcerting covers.
And then the other series we’ve got coming up in the summer, launching in June is Berserker, a series that we’re co-producing with Divide Pictures. That’s Milo Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff’s production company. A guy named Rick Loverd is writing that – he’s a screenwriter. This is a project that Russ and Milo found through their production company. They got a screenplay that they liked, and thought it would make a great comic book first. They brought it to us, we agreed, and here we are. The artist on that will be Jeremy Haun, moving over from the Black Vault covers. The basic concept behind that is that there are normal people who find out that they are descendents from this legendary Viking race called Berserkers who were undefeatable in battle, because they would psych themselves up into a rage-fueled battle fervor and wipe out anyone in front of them. The same way we did with Wanted, it’s taking a high concept to a gritty, realistic level. So instead of the Hulk smashing a building and everybody getting out okay, we have people getting hurt and dying when super-strong giant-sized people start fighting. And it’s not always just the bad guys. It should be pretty cool all around.
NRAMA: All in all, it looks like you’ve got a pretty full year coming up...
FS: Yeah – it should be an exciting year. The cool thing is that, with all these various multimedia projects come out in 2007 and 2008, and the things we have in development, we feel pretty comfortable going into 2009. With some of the larger economic changes that have come into play, I think a lot of people are wondering how they’re going to navigate the coming year, but luckily, we’re not in a place where we’re running around thinking that we have to raise prices and cut books. You’re not going to see Rob write the books and me drawing them anytime soon. We’re kind of moving forward with the same plan we had. It’s going to be a fun year, and a good one for our readers.
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/120812-Top-Cow-09.html
Guys, I also will be out of town this week, starting tommorrow, returning on the 23rd. Please post all PRs, links, articles that you find, etc to the board for others to read. I will update the IHUB board when I return. Not sure I will have internet access. Happy trading.
Dog
5 bucks to see a 3D movie is too much. In todays economy, people are stingy, they have to be. People will just wait to see it on DVD or HBO. I suppose depending on the movie, it could take in the extra money, but probally not as many people. Like you said "Who knows". Now if they can get 3D to work on our TVs without the glasses, that would be something. IMO only
Joby Harold circles 'Atlantis' adaptation
Scribe to tackle sci-fi comic book for DreamWorks
By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit
Dec 11, 2008, 12:00 AM ET
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.
Writer-director Joby Harold is negotiating to write the adaptation of the comic book "Atlantis Rising" for DreamWorks. Len Wiseman is attached to direct the apocalyptic science fiction project.
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are producing along with Platinum Studios chairman and CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, who created the original "Atlantis Rising" five-part series. Randy Greenberg is exec producing.
"As a writer, Joby has an amazingly strong understanding of how to take genre seriously, which is prerequisite No. 1 for us when it comes to these kinds of movies," said Kurtzman, who with Orci produced "Eagle Eye" and scripted "Transformers" and the forthcoming "Star Trek."
In "Atlantis," an underworld civilization is discovered after seismic rumbles announce its presence. Hostilities with Earth's land-dwellers ensue.
"In all the classic versions of this kind of movie, the threat is always from the stars," Orci said. "The idea that it's somehow our cousins who went off in a different path of evolution who have been here, literally, underneath our oceans. ... That's fascinating, the idea of secrets right under your nose."
The newly independent DreamWorks hopes to have "Atlantis" -- envisioned as a big-budget, effects-driven sci-fi war movie in the vein of the James Cameron-directed "Aliens" and "The Abyss" -- in theaters as a summer 2011 tentpole. Paramount will have an option to co-finance and co-distribute the film should it go into production as part of the separation agreement the studio signed with DreamWorks.
Platinum also has "Cowboys & Aliens," another potential partnership with Paramount, in development with Kurtzman and Orci at DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment.
The CAA-repped Harold is adapting the Frank Miller comic "Ronin" for Warner Bros.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3idb5a7226525deea8234184bf39b842bb
OT: DreamWorks Animation Charging an Extra $5 to See 3D Movies!
December 9, 2008
Source: Variety
by Alex Billington
Last week I attended a few presentations at the 3D Entertainment Summit, mainly in search of Avatar footage and a chance to chat with James Cameron. While I didn't catch every discussion, Variety did, and they bring some very alarming news from a keynote chat with DreamWorks Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg. Since Christopher Campbell already tackled the more broad discussion on 3D, I'm going to focus on one specific issue that Katzenberg addressed. Katzenberg claims that the format "offers a premium experience and has the consumer paying a premium price." That price - an extra $5 more to watch 3D movies. And starting with Monsters vs Aliens, that price change will be in effect around the country.
Whether this extra charge is a veiled publicity gimmick to account for the bad economy or an actual way of claiming that the value is higher, I'm not entirely sure. However, I do know that this is one of the worst decisions ever made in Hollywood and glorifies exactly what I hate about 3D - that it isn't a premium experience. As I've explained before in previous articles, 3D was only "discovered" as a viable format because a few years back, some studios and exhibitors tried it out, realized it drew more audiences than normal and made them copious amounts of money, and in turn proclaimed it was the "future of cinema." There are people, like James Cameron, who are trying to develop 3D as an actual filmmaking technique, and there are people, like Katzenberg, who are trying to develop it as a moneymaking technique.
Katzenberg proves right here that he doesn't believe in 3D as a filmmaking technique, but purely as a way to make money. And obviously it's such an excessive (and expensive) process for him at DreamWorks, that he's now forced to charge an extra $5 to see his movies in 3D. IMAX also charges a premium for their format, but unlike 3D, it actually is worth the higher price and is a premium experience. Cameron believes that in the future, 3D won't be a technique that filmmakers are consumed with when shooting, instead, it'll be another element like lighting and sound that they need to consider. Katzenberg is only worried about money and how he can use 3D, the new "hot commodity" in theatrical exhibition, to make more. "Just at the moment exhibition and distribution got together" on 3-D, Katzenberg said, "there's no money."
Unfortunately I believe uneducated moviegoers are simply going to literally buy into this gimmick. And I'm worried that if this extra charge proves viable and successful for DreamWorks, studios like Disney will cave into it as well. "Premium pricing is the heart of a new incremental revenue stream for movie theaters," Screen Digest analyst Charlotte Jones said in a presentation at the 3D Summit. I wonder if it really is the only way to go, though? Shouldn't we be focusing on so many other ways to improve the moviegoing experience? And shouldn't studios be focusing on making better movies that audiences will enjoy? Monsters vs Aliens will be the real judge of whether Katzenberg's price increase falls through or not.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/12/09/dreamworks-animation-charging-an-extra-5-to-see-3d-movies/
http://mayersononanimation.blogspot.com/2008/12/3d-and-dreamworks.html