CDZ Sci-fi TV Series Confusion

[william the wie]

With it now possible to use actual Robots, landing craft and so on as both part of the series and product placements instead of high cost FX why aren't there more Sci-fi series?

 

[Divine Wind]

With it now possible to use actual Robots, landing craft and so on as both part of the series and product placements instead of high cost FX why aren't there more Sci-fi series?

No following you here. What do robots have to do with special effects and television?

BTW, FX are so cheap now, even the SciFi channel can crank out cheap movies with lots of FX.

 

[william the wie]

Product placement is a major revenue source.

 

[Divine Wind]

Product placement is a major revenue source.

Agreed, although I don't know of the actual percentage of profits since it's obviously less than actual ads, as the link below notes, they could be more effective even if not directly profitable.

From Ray-Bans to Reese's Pieces: 13 Unforgettable Examples of Product Placement
How Much Does It Cost?
Product integration into multiple episodes of primetime television series can cost a brand $3–10 million (with full-series deals exceeding $50 million). As for integrations into movies? You're looking at tens of millions of dollars. However, those figures are cheap compared to the 30-second ad spots on television -- especially since people can tune out or skip the ads.

"A typical TV spot will cost $350,000 on average to shoot, and tens of millions to run for a few small flights -- most of which will be skipped or will fail to register for one reason or another," Priceonomics reported.

The appearance of name brands in productions tend to beg the question: How much did [brand name] have to pay for that? You might be surprised to learn that, while some brands pay between hundreds of thousands and several million dollars, many placements are actually done for free. Turns out that movie and film and music producers love forming alliances with brands and are eager to incorporate them into productions.

For example, Hershey Foods didn't pay anyone in the movie industry to have Reese's Pieces used in the iconic film E.T. Instead, it agreed to promote E.T. with $1 million worth of advertising in exchange for the product placement in the movie. Worth it? You betcha: Hershey's profit increased by 65% during the movie's run.

Clearly, the cost and logistics of each product placement varies on a case-by-case basis. Let's take a look at some of the most obvious -- and then least obvious -- product placements in film, television, video games, and music.

 

[Correll]

With it now possible to use actual Robots, landing craft and so on as both part of the series and product placements instead of high cost FX why aren't there more Sci-fi series?

There is a lot of sci fi out there, and a lot of new alternative production.

BOth Netflicks and Amazon are going bonkers with original productions.

Especially netflicks.


Also, available a good stuff from Canada and BBC.

 

[william the wie]

With it now possible to use actual Robots, landing craft and so on as both part of the series and product placements instead of high cost FX why aren't there more Sci-fi series?

There is a lot of sci fi out there, and a lot of new alternative production.

BOth Netflicks and Amazon are going bonkers with original productions.

Especially netflicks.


Also, available a good stuff from Canada and BBC.

Yeah, the demand for production is going up and the ease of ignoring ads as well so I suspect product placement revenues and free promotional FX from the placer are likely to become the main revenue source

 

[Correll]

With it now possible to use actual Robots, landing craft and so on as both part of the series and product placements instead of high cost FX why aren't there more Sci-fi series?

There is a lot of sci fi out there, and a lot of new alternative production.

BOth Netflicks and Amazon are going bonkers with original productions.

Especially netflicks.


Also, available a good stuff from Canada and BBC.

Yeah, the demand for production is going up and the ease of ignoring ads as well so I suspect product placement revenues and free promotional FX from the placer are likely to become the main revenue source

Have you seen Dark Matter, or Orphan Black?

 

[FA_Q2]

Just because you have not seen them does not mean they are not there.

I certainly would not complain if there were more but then again, the market is a niche one. Most people are looking for sitcoms, unfortunately.

 

[jwoodie]

Genuine Sci-fi has been subsumed by special effects, and for good reason: The typical movie-goer can't follow a serious plot for more than five minutes.

 

[Correll]

Genuine Sci-fi has been subsumed by special effects, and for good reason: The typical movie-goer can't follow a serious plot for more than five minutes.

DOn't assume that Hollywood knows Wtf it is doing. Just because people have to put up with crap doesn't mean that it is what people want or can handle.

 

[FA_Q2]

Genuine Sci-fi has been subsumed by special effects, and for good reason: The typical movie-goer can't follow a serious plot for more than five minutes.

DOn't assume that Hollywood knows Wtf it is doing. Just because people have to put up with crap doesn't mean that it is what people want or can handle.

Sure it does.

Hollywood makes what sells and what sells has never really been what is quality. That there are some of us out there that prefer quality does not reflect on what the majority of people really want. The reality is that if Hollywood was not producing what people wanted then someone would come alone and do so as there are billions of dollars at play here. It is just stunning what the general populace actually wants.

 

[Correll]

Genuine Sci-fi has been subsumed by special effects, and for good reason: The typical movie-goer can't follow a serious plot for more than five minutes.

DOn't assume that Hollywood knows Wtf it is doing. Just because people have to put up with crap doesn't mean that it is what people want or can handle.

Sure it does.

Hollywood makes what sells and what sells has never really been what is quality. That there are some of us out there that prefer quality does not reflect on what the majority of people really want. The reality is that if Hollywood was not producing what people wanted then someone would come alone and do so as there are billions of dollars at play here. It is just stunning what the general populace actually wants.

I disagree. The bean counters don't respect their audience or their product and the creative people are dominated by lefties assholes.

THe nation is majority Christian, look at how massive The Passion of Christ was, despite being in a foreign language.

Christian themes like that should be a whole genre on a level that dwarfs, say... movies about black or gay cultures.


Yet, Hollywood ignores BILLIONS of dollars just laying on the ground waiting to be picked up.


Because they are completely disconnected from and have nothing but contempt for Middle America.

 

[jwoodie]

Genuine Sci-fi has been subsumed by special effects, and for good reason: The typical movie-goer can't follow a serious plot for more than five minutes.

DOn't assume that Hollywood knows Wtf it is doing. Just because people have to put up with crap doesn't mean that it is what people want or can handle.

Sure it does.

Hollywood makes what sells and what sells has never really been what is quality. That there are some of us out there that prefer quality does not reflect on what the majority of people really want. The reality is that if Hollywood was not producing what people wanted then someone would come alone and do so as there are billions of dollars at play here. It is just stunning what the general populace actually wants.

I disagree. The bean counters don't respect their audience or their product and the creative people are dominated by lefties assholes.

THe nation is majority Christian, look at how massive The Passion of Christ was, despite being in a foreign language.

Christian themes like that should be a whole genre on a level that dwarfs, say... movies about black or gay cultures.


Yet, Hollywood ignores BILLIONS of dollars just laying on the ground waiting to be picked up.


Because they are completely disconnected from and have nothing but contempt for Middle America.

I agree to the extent that there is an attempt to suppress "conservative" programs in cable tv packaging. For example, CNN is always included while FNC is often excluded. On the other hand, movies are targeted to their principal 18-25 year old audience. Because of that, gratuitous sex and violence are often added to attain the "R" rating this audience is attracted to.

 

[FA_Q2]

Genuine Sci-fi has been subsumed by special effects, and for good reason: The typical movie-goer can't follow a serious plot for more than five minutes.

DOn't assume that Hollywood knows Wtf it is doing. Just because people have to put up with crap doesn't mean that it is what people want or can handle.

Sure it does.

Hollywood makes what sells and what sells has never really been what is quality. That there are some of us out there that prefer quality does not reflect on what the majority of people really want. The reality is that if Hollywood was not producing what people wanted then someone would come alone and do so as there are billions of dollars at play here. It is just stunning what the general populace actually wants.

I disagree. The bean counters don't respect their audience or their product and the creative people are dominated by lefties assholes.

THe nation is majority Christian, look at how massive The Passion of Christ was, despite being in a foreign language.

Christian themes like that should be a whole genre on a level that dwarfs, say... movies about black or gay cultures.


Yet, Hollywood ignores BILLIONS of dollars just laying on the ground waiting to be picked up.


Because they are completely disconnected from and have nothing but contempt for Middle America.

Then why is no one else picking up those billions? Why are you not taking advantage of the clear opening to produce something of that extreme value?

 

[JoeMoma]

Genuine Sci-fi has been subsumed by special effects, and for good reason: The typical movie-goer can't follow a serious plot for more than five minutes.

Special effects can be entertaining, however, I love watching the old twilight zone shows in which the special effects, if any, suck by today's standards.

 

[Missourian]

Then why is no one else picking up those billions? Why are you not taking advantage of the clear opening to produce something of that extreme value?

In the same way that you can't fight city hall...it is very difficult, if not impossible for an outside entity to fight an entrenched well funded establishment...in this case Hollywood.

Good article if you have time to read it...Why Hollywood as We Know It Is Already Over

 

[Picaro]

With it now possible to use actual Robots, landing craft and so on as both part of the series and product placements instead of high cost FX why aren't there more Sci-fi series?

It's an 'old' genre now, pretty much exhausted, plus the movie marketers are biasing toward comics now, which are a sort of Sci Fi. Hard to generate the kind of impact of the big screen effects of the first Star Wars and those incredible hand made models now as well. Modern sci fi took a more 'intellectual' turn the last couple of decades, which doesn't lend itself well to toy marketing and the like; the Star Treks and Star Wars franchises glut the market for the most part. Media in general is pretty much glutted for that matter; zillion channels and still not a lot to watch for most people. At least that's my opinion; even the music biz is in a slump. Big studios and labels like Universal are more vanity project companies than profitable these days, with pretty anemic profit margins and ridiculously high buying prices. This is probably a good thing, though; maybe the next generations will move away from couch potato nation and walking around looking down into I-Pods constnatly to playing outside again or something.

 

[william the wie]

Then why is no one else picking up those billions? Why are you not taking advantage of the clear opening to produce something of that extreme value?

In the same way that you can't fight city hall...it is very difficult, if not impossible for an outside entity to fight an entrenched well funded establishment...in this case Hollywood.

Good article if you have time to read it...Why Hollywood as We Know It Is Already Over

Then why is no one else picking up those billions? Why are you not taking advantage of the clear opening to produce something of that extreme value?

In the same way that you can't fight city hall...it is very difficult, if not impossible for an outside entity to fight an entrenched well funded establishment...in this case Hollywood.

Good article if you have time to read it...Why Hollywood as We Know It Is Already Over

Their are literal shelves of books that deal with Show business accounting conventions which is a major problem as well.

 

[Picaro]

Entertainment audiences are pretty fickle, and hard to predict. Its problems now are no different than they were in the nickelodeon era at the beginning, with light entertainment with little 'artistic' value being what made the most money consistently. The occasional masterpiece came along, sure, but 'serious' movies were hard sells for the most part, and still are. Many of what are now considered 'masterpieces' were just accidental 'masterpieces', and many weren't money makers when the came out new, either. I would have loved to have owned a half dozen nicklelodeons from 1904 to 1907, though, and in some locations up to 1910; they were incredible money machines with cheap start up costs, easy to operate and like no other retail business for bringing in cash, sometimes paying for themselves the first week they opened.

 

[william the wie]

Well take the low predictability of what sells, which drives relatively low cost anime production. Also video games outsell video.