What happened to B. Ward? From time to time was giving MST3K fans info. Now, as far as I know, The producer of the disc has went silent. Did he quit move on to other things ?
Still here. I've been updating a lot on the Transformers and G.I. Joe threads, found in the Animated category.
We're hard at work on XVI. I've just written the packaging for it and it's gone off to the designer. The films have been selected and we've secured a lot of bonus material. I think you guys are going to be thrilled with what we have lined up. There is certainly a surprise or two in there.
It's the end of the year and a set we've been working toward since we began on XIV. Gotta go out on our first year of releases with a bang, no?
Hey B Ward, nice to hear that Volume XVI is already well into motion. I've been counting the days before the release of XV, it's finally almost at hand!
My only questions would be a) will it still be a 2 Joel/2 Mike split?, and b) will there be any Sci-Fi eps on XVI?
I know you wont mention eps B Ward but again a teeny tiny hint would be cool like 'its a Season 3 movie, or an Arkoff movie or just something we might be scratching our heads about...a hint would be so cool
When you say surprises I really think Season 3 honestly...the only thing bigger to me would be Diabolik or Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster { hey if Rhino did put out a Godzilla movie... ;) }
Why did Squirm just hit me...
DMS
We will be continuing with the Joel/Mike split down the middle. The only other clue I'm at liberty to give at this minute is that I've seen at least two of the titles in previous threads. Which threads? Eh, can't really say. But two of them have already been mentioned here, so a couple of you are on the right track.
Godzilla vs the Sea Monster , Diabolik and Squirm were mentioned as well as a Season 3 Arkoff , Crawling Eye has been posted in a few threads...
Hmmm
This might be where I faint but I am imagining a set with 2 Joel 2 Mike with 2 things mentioned in this very thread
I looked into my crystal ball & saw this
The Crawling Eye
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster - (I will really faint if this is released)
Samson vs the Vampire Women
Diabolik
The problem with this set ideology - no other volume at least to me would be as good as this. This to me is a dream volume. This would certainly be an expensive set for B. Ward getting the rights to these, but the payback would be $$$$$$$ . Even if the later volumes dont have a home run feel to it, I will get them all anyway because there are still plenty of great MST3K shows out there to have...
I will say if it is an Arkoff/AIP title from Season 3, then the flood gates will open for sure..
Loved your clues...thanks Brian
DMS
Doubt it'll include GODZILLA VS THE SEA MONSTER. If it does the set will probably go out of print. Same thing happened with Volume 10. Guess Toho doesn't like having their films slandered.
----- Original Post -----
by dsman71 at 6/27/2009 8:40:26 PM
Godzilla vs the Sea Monster , Diabolik and Squirm were mentioned as well as a Season 3 Arkoff , Crawling Eye has been posted in a few threads..
i know it happened with V10, I bought it the day it came out, I know V 10 would go OOP because of Godzilla. I think SF can get Godzilla if they tried hard enough. If Rhino can do it why not SF. I know it is a long shot,but it sounds like it could happen ,but it was a title mentioned in this thread of which B Ward said there were 2 titles in this thread mentioned going to be on V 16...If GVSM does come out Im sure B Ward would say get it while you can. Come to think of it, he is releasing titles (potentially) that could make this set go OOP in a hurry if he is releasing what I think hes releasing. If I really had to pick Id say it would be Crawling Eye over GVSM as far as Volume 16 but you can never really tell now :)
DMS
I don't think anything SF will be releasing will go OOP immedeately; unlike Rhino, they've been meticulous when acquiring titles to distribute on DVD. They run a smaller risk of being challenged to pull a particular title because they've crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" in the legal sense. At least that's the impression I got after the Jordan Fields interview last April.
What's most encouraging is that Shout! locked whatever titles will be on XVI very quickly, which could be a sign that sales are strong on the previous releases and maybe, just maybe movie owners/distributors are demanding alittle less money due to the economy. Again, it will all depend on what is on the upcoming volume.
If it is what I think it could be the 16th Vol. will be a big money maker...
I will mention if B Ward gets Godzilla, he would ask Toho (I would think) and not do what Rhino thought it could do. If Toho said yes I would venture it cost Brian a few thousand Yen. I also think you are right that maybe owners are demanding less money so I could see Squirm or Diabolik. Crawling Eye is owned by Wade Williams but it is a different print under the Trollenberg Terror and uncut, so maybe the Season 1 Crawling Eye could be PD after all.
If GVSM is on V 16 I will most assuradely faint. I really dont think Season 3 or Season 8 (801-809) are on the upcoming Volume as none of those were mentioned in this thread. Some owners do not want the MST versions on DVD (aka Final Sacrifice) so money wouldnt play a factor..
A set that contained any 2 of the 4 - Crawling Eye, Diabolik, Squirm and GVSM sounds great already...
Hey Brian hows this guess
Crawling Eye Crash of the Moons Santa Claus Diabolik
Um, yeah. More like a few thousand dollars. Seeing as $1 = approx. 97 Yen as I type this. So "a few thousand yen" would be less than $100. And I'm pretty sure licensing fees are quite a bit more substantial than that.
----- Original Post -----
by dsman71 at 6/29/2009 9:53:29 AM
If it is what I think it could be the 16th Vol. will be a big money maker...
I will mention if B Ward gets Godzilla, he would ask Toho (I would think) and not do what Rhino thought it could do. If Toho said yes I would venture it cost Brian a few thousand Yen.
No fainting, I'm afraid. Godzilla still won't be making an appearance. Again, doesn't mean we're not trying, but that pesky man-in-suit creature is a tough one to license.
Brian
----- Original Post -----
by dsman71 at 6/29/2009 9:53:29 AM
If it is what I think it could be the 16th Vol. will be a big money maker...
I will mention if B Ward gets Godzilla, he would ask Toho (I would think) and not do what Rhino thought it could do. If Toho said yes I would venture it cost Brian a few thousand Yen. I also think you are right that maybe owners are demanding less money so I could see Squirm or Diabolik. Crawling Eye is owned by Wade Williams but it is a different print under the Trollenberg Terror and uncut, so maybe the Season 1 Crawling Eye could be PD after all.
If GVSM is on V 16 I will most assuradely faint. I really dont think Season 3 or Season 8 (801-809) are on the upcoming Volume as none of those were mentioned in this thread. Some owners do not want the MST versions on DVD (aka Final Sacrifice) so money wouldnt play a factor..
A set that contained any 2 of the 4 - Crawling Eye, Diabolik, Squirm and GVSM sounds great already...
Hey Brian hows this guess
Crawling Eye Crash of the Moons Santa Claus Diabolik
I bet it is hard to get the man in the suit :) Brian
As for the few thousand Yen line, I am basically saying it would cost a lot of money to license Godzilla. Not knowing the Yen too well I thought a thousand would get the point across. Maybe a million yen would be better ??
I like my guess work for V 16 though :)
Whatever it is I will be happy since I collect them all
I wont faint this time..
DMS
I knew Godzilla seemed hopeless. Now I'm worried we may never get any Gamera episodes either.
----- Original Post -----
by B Ward at 6/29/2009 1:41:05 PM
No fainting, I'm afraid. Godzilla still won't be making an appearance. Again, doesn't mean we're not trying, but that pesky man-in-suit creature is a tough one to license.
Brian
----- Original Post -----
by dsman71 at 6/29/2009 9:53:29 AM
If it is what I think it could be the 16th Vol. will be a big money maker...
I will mention if B Ward gets Godzilla, he would ask Toho (I would think) and not do what Rhino thought it could do. If Toho said yes I would venture it cost Brian a few thousand Yen. I also think you are right that maybe owners are demanding less money so I could see Squirm or Diabolik. Crawling Eye is owned by Wade Williams but it is a different print under the Trollenberg Terror and uncut, so maybe the Season 1 Crawling Eye could be PD after all.
If GVSM is on V 16 I will most assuradely faint. I really dont think Season 3 or Season 8 (801-809) are on the upcoming Volume as none of those were mentioned in this thread. Some owners do not want the MST versions on DVD (aka Final Sacrifice) so money wouldnt play a factor..
A set that contained any 2 of the 4 - Crawling Eye, Diabolik, Squirm and GVSM sounds great already...
Hey Brian hows this guess
Crawling Eye Crash of the Moons Santa Claus Diabolik
Well, Gamera is not owned by the same people who own Godzilla, Sean so there is a little more hope in that area..
It sounds like GVSM is something Brian would like to obtain, and maybe he can but it will cost a lot of money
I could see GVSM with 3 public domain titles.. DMS
Thanks for sharing :)
Weve been talking Volume 16 ( XVI) since 15 was announced...
I am very excited about 15 finally coming out, but 16 sounds like a biggie and when Brian first brought it up we all started the usual guesswork DMS
I didn't really think the Godzilla episode would make the cut anyway. However, what Brian has stated might mean XVI will include two or three episodes that are in the top 20 most requested from that Rhino poll a while back:
903- PUMA MAN-Okay, that one's hard to find the rights for, so scratch that.
910- THE FINAL SACRIFICE-Okay scratch this one too.
813- JACK FROST-Don't know yet about the Russo-Finnish films...
1013- DIABOLIK-They might have a chance to just license it from Legend Films...
706- LASERBLAST-Already out.
1001- SOULTAKER-Already out, too.
212- GODZILLA VS. MEGALON-You know the story for this one.
521- SANTA CLAUS-This sounds very likely.
817- HORROR OF PARTY BEACH-Very likely as well.
904- WEREWOLF-Already out.
421- MONSTER A-GO-GO with short: CIRCUS ON ICE-Already out.
302- GAMERA-Still possible...
814- RIDING WITH DEATH-Might have to wait on this one.
101- THE CRAWLING EYE-As dsman71 has pointed out it's still possible
422- THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE with short: HERE COMES THE CIRCUS-Still not sure on the RF films.
812- THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES-AO.
322- MASTER NINJA I-Wait on this one.
306- TIME OF THE APES-Still possible.
811- "PARTS": THE CLONUS HORROR-Already out.
621- THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS with shorts: MONEY TALKS! and PROGRESS ISLAND, U.S.A.-Possible as well.
I can post the entire list in another thread if you'd like.
As Brian mentioned GVSM isnt on V. 16, BUT he did say titles mentioned in some threads would be on it...I interpreted (or maybe misinterpreted) when he said titles mentioned "HERE" as in this very thread...
My hunch says Crawling Eye & Diabolik along with something like Crash of the Moons & Santa Claus would make sense. If they are spending money for titles owned by major stuidos , to balance the budget public domain titles could be part of the set as well.
You should check out Travis Liklihood for Shout Factory releases on mst3kinfo.com
The Crawling Eye that Wade Williams put out is a totally different transfer from the MST3K version which looks like the ScreenGems VHS. Unless Williams owns the name or the entire Crawling Eye franchise, the full frame transfer might be somewhat easy to get.. DMS
Based on that, I'm guessing you'll be making an announcement regarding Volume XVI at Comic-Con? I can't make it, but I'm sure at least one of the guys that run SN will be there and will divulge the news to the rest of us who won't be there.
Whatever the case, the next set of eps on xvi has me quite intrigued.
We will be announcing the four titles at Comic-Con later this month and I'm sure it will make the rounds shortly thereafter.
Good news: We have confirmed at least one, if not two titles for XVII already. Things are coming together nicely. And I think you'll all be very happy with the upcoming sets, for numerous reasons. God knows, we're certainly working hard to make sure they're the best possible sets they can be for you guys.
Shout!, to the best of my knowledge (which, admittedly, is sometimes limited), will not be hosting an MST3K event this year. I will have to get back to you on that one.
However, I'm sure you'll find Mike wandering around or at the RiffTrax booth, as usual.
To be provided with information regarding the upcoming sets, please feel free to stop by the Shout! booth. It looks like I will be manning the table on Preview Night, as well as throughout the day on Thursday. Otherwise, any number of my very knowledgeable colleagues will also be able to give you the information you so desire. That is, of course, any information we're currently WILLING to give.
On a side note, regarding Comic-Con... On Thursday, just prior to a signing in our booth, we will be hosting a live cast reading of the unproduced 13th episode of the ABC family series The Middleman. Some of you may know the series. Others may know the comics from acclaimed Lost writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach. No matter... For the fans of MST3K, it is HIGHLY recommended that you check out our upcoming DVD set of the show's complete series. Do not let the network ABC family fool you. This was a show written for nerds and geeks BY nerds and geeks! For example, in one episode, the phrase "Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster" was uttered. I kid you not. This is a series that has very quickly become a favorite of mine and it is definitely one for you guys. Check it out!
Hey Mr. Ward I have a Question for you. Not too long Ago Jordan Fields did a 20 question Interview with MST3Kinfo.com, Do you think you would ever be willing to do the same? I'd love to hear about how a DVD set is produced and what its like meeting and working with Stars from all these T.V. Show. Shout Factory knows how to release televsion, now if only they could release Legends Of the HIdden Temple. One can always dream.
Sure. I'll answer any question anyone wants to ask. I've done a handful of interviews in the past; the most in-depth being one I did on our Transformers set for ToyFare magazine just recently. And it's something I've tried to do on these forums: be open to questions and honest with answers to help educate folks on what it is we do here.
But if someone wanted to ask some specific questions, I'd be happy to answer 'em.
Ok ive got a question
Whats on Volume 17 ?
(JOKING)
Ok, seriously how is a set created - whats your budget, what do you do to obtain rights for the movies, do you personally call or email inquiries about getting the rights to the episodes and finding out the cost ?
What went into the thought process for the 20th Anniversary Set as to why one joel and 3 mikes were chosen..
How does this all work ?
thanks for answering DMS
Would you be willing to do the exact same thing, as in Set up by and posted on Satellite news? Obviously none of us would be able to set it up but mabye one of us could tell the MST3k info people that your interested and they could get in contact with you and set up the questions and all the blabidy blah blah.
----- Original Post -----
by B Ward at 7/1/2009 3:19:18 PM
Sure. I'll answer any question anyone wants to ask. I've done a handful of interviews in the past; the most in-depth being one I did on our Transformers set for ToyFare magazine just recently. And it's something I've tried to do on these forums: be open to questions and honest with answers to help educate folks on what it is we do here.
But if someone wanted to ask some specific questions, I'd be happy to answer 'em.
Brian
"Know Thyself" --Thales
Shout Factory knows how to release televsion, now if only they could release Legends Of the HIdden Temple. One can always dream.
I wish I could go to the Comic Con, but like many of us, I'm sure I'll get the info shortly thereafter.
I wanted to thank you B. Ward for keeping the Joel/Mike split in tact for the next release. I'm an equal fan of both, so it's awesome to have the new sets (and the last two obviously) have that equal split.
Oh yeah, and can't wait for the next set. I'll pre-order it the moment I can.
1. How is a set created?
We start out with acquiring the films. This could be a lengthy process, depending on the movie. Who owns it? Who has the distribution rights? How much will it take to get it from them? Were they fond of the fact their movies were lampooned by MST3K?
Once we know the films, we look at those films and try to find appropriate bonus material. Original trailers are a must-have, if we can get our hands on them. In some cases, we go back to the original filmmakers and interview them. In others, we look for MST3K-specific material, like the stuff we've put on from the Scrapbook. If there's nothing appropriate, we look for content with the gang, like the "Hamlet A.D.D." clip starring Trace and Kevin.
Once we have the masters, they're immediately sent to our artist, Steve Vance, who likes to watch both the MST3K and original versions of the films before coming up with concepts for his beautiful B-Movie posters. He sends us rough sketches, followed by more finished art, and finally the finished paintings.
While this process is going on, the masters are in the hands of our DVD author/menu designer. He watches the films and figures out the best possible scenarios in which to place our bots. Sometimes, I have very specific ideas. Other times, he knows what he'd like and shows me comps. Once those are complete, they're run by Jim Mallon.
Soon, we have a complete DVD collection.
2. What's your budget?
Can't really discuss the actual budget.
3. What do you do to obtain the rights to movies?
The extent of my involvement is relaying the fan favorites to Jordan Fields, who's really the brainchild behind what movies we acquire for the sets. He's a longtime fan and an old friend of Joel's, so he's definitely an asset in determining which titles are most worth attacking when.
----- Original Post -----
by dsman71 at 7/1/2009 5:22:29 PM
Ok, seriously how is a set created - whats your budget, what do you do to obtain rights for the movies, do you personally call or email inquiries about getting the rights to the episodes and finding out the cost ?
What went into the thought process for the 20th Anniversary Set as to why one joel and 3 mikes were chosen..
How does this all work ?
thanks for answering
DMS
Brian can you give a bit more detail on this because I always was curios
let's say you (Shout) would be interested in a SF show like "Captain Power" for example. How do you actually find out who has the video rights ?.Is there such an organisation or something who keeps track of such stuff ?
Or do you actually have to paifully investigate with detective work such things like in this case ask the creators (Landmark Entertainment in this case) and call them ask them who they sold the rights to. Then if they sold the rights to another company you must ask them if they still have them or sold them too. If this other company selled those to a 3rd company you have to repeat the the process... until you eventually would reach a deal.
And even if you aquire the title how are such tings done, does SHout offer a procentage from the sells or you buy rights completly for a larger sum of money ?
----- Original Post -----
by B Ward at 7/17/2009 10:57:06 AM
1. How is a set created?
We start out with acquiring the films. This could be a lengthy process, depending on the movie. Who owns it? Who has the distribution rights? How much will it take to get it from them? Were they fond of the fact their movies were lampooned by MST3K?
Once we know the films, we look at those films and try to find appropriate bonus material. Original trailers are a must-have, if we can get our hands on them. In some cases, we go back to the original filmmakers and interview them. In others, we look for MST3K-specific material, like the stuff we've put on from the Scrapbook. If there's nothing appropriate, we look for content with the gang, like the "Hamlet A.D.D." clip starring Trace and Kevin.
It's different for different properties. There are ways of determining who owns the copyright, but that doesn't necessarily mean it hasn't already been licensed to someone else. But typically, things start with the studios. If it turns out they don't own it, we go looking for who does. In some cases, the studios know. In others, they don't. There's really no one way of doing it.
We have bought catalogs of things like music, but usually we license films and television for a period of time. And usually, that means paying the owner a particular sum of money up front and once we've made back that amount of money, we share in the profits with the owner. I may be wrong, but I don't think we've ever purchased a movie or television show outright. I believe all our deals have been simple licenses.
That sounds like a smart approach; I'm guessing that buying the movies outright would be much more expensive, with the returns potentially outweighed by the costs. My only question to that would be once the licensing agreements expired, would the box sets become OOP ala Rhino's volumes 9 & 10? Or do the agreements last long enough where that the box sets becoming out-of-print isn't as much an issue?
Licenses usually last a while; between 5-10 years, depending on our deal with Best Brains. But, yes, as all non-studio released titles do, eventually, these will go out of print, most likely because our license has expired and wasn't renewed.
Based upon the comments on the SN sight, it sounds like most people are excited with this set, as they should be; many of us were not expecting Warrior of the Lost World anytime soon! Many of the extras sound intriguing too. December 1 can't come soon enough for many of us.
With Volume XVI having a third straight Season 1 release, I was curious if SF is making a conscience effort to release as many S1 episodes as possible, or is it just coincidence and that these choices are based more upon availability?
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