• The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.

HBO Max adds Babylon 5

I just got rid of cable/satellite t.v. and got a Google Chromecast. I knew I'd want to get HBO, and for an extra $5 I can get HBO Max. It will also be doing something I have mixed feelings about. Releasing theater movies to streaming audiences. I haven't been to a movie theater in years, and I won't have to wait half a year or so to get to see new releases. But won't this be cutting a major amount of the earnings the creators? Shouldn't I be boycotting it?
 
I just got rid of cable/satellite t.v. and got a Google Chromecast. I knew I'd want to get HBO, and for an extra $5 I can get HBO Max. It will also be doing something I have mixed feelings about. Releasing theater movies to streaming audiences. I haven't been to a movie theater in years, and I won't have to wait half a year or so to get to see new releases. But won't this be cutting a major amount of the earnings the creators? Shouldn't I be boycotting it?

Not necessarily, I don't think. Contracts are written based on the intended release venue so at this point, if a feature film was contracted, that's what payments are based on. That's not to say that simultaneous releases might not be a major issue when the next contract talks come around, but so far I think it's not an issue for the creators.

And unlike the other comment, few creators are all that rich. Yes, there's large amounts of money in play. And also long periods of unemployment that eat up those amounts very quickly.
 
Yes we should be boycotting this. I am as anti-social as the next person, but this is another step toward driving people into their homes and away from each other. If studios can get people to pay subscriptions fees to see new movies then movie theaters are doomed. That's thousands of jobs lost and giant amounts of real-estate abandoned. And once that happens the sky is the limit on what they can charge you for those subscription fees. The only thing that would keep them in check is the fact that most people don't care about seeing many new releases, but that is why they are packaging them with other products like TV shows. It is all about control and controlling your money into their pockets. Yes, it is very convenient to just be able to watch a movie at home when you want to, but is it worth never having the option to see a movie on the big screen again?

Look at it this way, how many movies did you go to with friends when you were young? How many dates did you go on that involved seeing a movie? How often did the movie really matter? You mostly did it to have somewhere to go with friends or a significant other and try to have a good time. What happens when that is gone? What do future generations lose if they can no longer go to the movies?

I grew up in a rural area and going to the movies was about all we had to do, and we were lucky to have a theater. I know I'm not like most. I go to the movies VERY often, as a point of fact I just got home from seeing a movie. Most of the time is see either couples, groups of friends, or groups of kids filling those seats. Is convenience for those whom don't wish to be social worth taking away a place where those whom wish to be social can gather?

That aside, true not all creators are rich and everything in that business is contractual as Jan said. Unless you're someone whom has attained a certain level, you likely wouldn't see much from ticket sales or subscription fees in your contract. If anything I'm sure another reason studios love the idea of subscription fees is that it would be extremely difficult to gauge what generated subscription dollars. (In case you haven't noticed, I am VERY anti-subscriptions because people don't know what they are really giving up and what the future will hold.)

I'll use JMS as an example of a creator. JMS is contracted to write a script for Tom Cruise's next film. This isn't normal for a writer, but let's say he gets X amount of dollars for writing the script and X percentage of the box office receipts. (Again that is not a common thing for a writer, but this is just a name we love being used as an example.) Jump to five years down the road and we are all pay subscription fees to studios to see movies. Now instead of JMS making X amount of dollars for writing the script with X percent of ticket sales he now receives X amount of dollars to write the script and Y amount of dollars related to subscription fees. Well how do you calculate specific subscription fees to a specific title? (Technically you could maybe count views, but I'm not sure those are accurate enough to judge salaries on.) If we're all already subscribed then how do they know fifty million of those subscriptions were people who subscribed so they could see JMS and Tom Cruise's new movie? More than likely the timing of his new movie wouldn't generate fifty million new subscriptions where as if his new movie reported a fifty million dollar opening weekend at the theatrical box office there is a tangible number to hang JMS' percentage on. Without a tangible number Studios could collect subscriptions fees and claim there is no evidence that one particular creator's creation generated more revenue than another. (Again I could go back to basing percentage on viewership, but I'm not sure accuracy could be maintained. I'm sure a system could be devised, but that isn't the point of my argument. The point is it is all a game and subscriptions give more control than ever over what you can watch to those who just want you to pay every time you watch something.)

Okay I officially reached book rambling status so I should stop. :rolleyes: ;)
 
Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. There honestly are a lot of opinions about it. Dune is the main one I'm hoping can succeed and go on to the rest of the first Dune book and then the entire Frank Herbert series.

Looney: rants are definitely allowed. I feel like we've earned it, after this last year or so. Dune is actually the whole reason I heard about this issue in the first place. And I do remember movies being a big part of my younger adulthood. I suspect some of that has changed. Gaming is as likely to be a date night's entertainment, these days, isn't it?

And if theaters can survive or re-open, a lot of people predict a huge surge in attendance at concerts, movies, etc. since we've been deprived of it for so long. But will any theaters still be in business by July or so?
 

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Back
Top