Warner Random Speculation

[Jeff]

Jeff Baker, WHV’s Executive VP and General Manager, Theatrical Catalog

Wasn't this Feltenstein's title? Has he been kicked to the curb? That might explain Warner's recent decision to start sucking at everything.

[souvenir]

Jeff Baker, WHV’s Executive VP and General Manager, Theatrical Catalog

Wasn't this Feltenstein's title? Has he been kicked to the curb? That might explain Warner's recent decision to start sucking at everything.

This Wall Street Journal article has Feltenstein as the "senior vice president for theatrical catalog marketing" which sounds pretty close.

[Matt]

Corporate hierarchy is, to me, about as arcane as royal succession lines, but I believe a Senior Vice President is under an Executive Vice President.

Here's a new Macleans story on why the release of classics on DVD has slowed to a trickle, with some sobering statements by Feltenstein.

[brendanjc]

I wonder if The Exorcist moratorium is for all versions of the film since the latest I'd heard on the forthcoming Blu-ray release was that it would be the Version-That-You-Don't-Want-To-See-Again only.

[Tom Hagen]

Warners is taking cues from fucking Walt Disney? Jesus Christ, how the mighty have fallen. And keep falling

No, a true Walt Disney move would be taking, say, Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain and Citizen Kane off of the market for nine years. Six months -- with an annoucement that new titles are forthcoming -- is more pointless than it is irritating.

[fiddlesticks]

Corporate hierarchy is, to me, about as arcane as royal succession lines, but I believe a Senior Vice President is under an Executive Vice President.

Titles aside, the Grand Poobah of "theatrical catalog marketing" certainly reports to the General Grand Poobah of "theatrical catalog", just as the Poobahs of theatrical catalog sales, theatrical catalog distribution, and theatrical catalog entombment do.

[Matt]

theatrical catalog entombment

The Poobah of this department appears to be a rising star at Warner Home Video.

[Jeff]

Here's a new Macleans story on why the release of classics on DVD has slowed to a trickle, with some sobering statements by Feltenstein.]

That's fucking depressing. It's not really news, but it sucks to see it all laid out in print like that. The writing has certainly been on the wall, for Criterion and Warner especially.

I think the bit about stores closing has had more impact than we think. Just because the people who post here buy the vast majority of our discs online, doesn't mean everybody does. Virgin and Tower have closed up shop, and Borders has drastically reduced or eliminated DVD inventory at most stores. Criterion counted on impulse buys at full MSRP from those retailers, all three of which set aside special sections just for Criterion product. I buy almost all my stuff online, but the closing of the Denver Tower and Virgin branches was painful. I liked spending hours browsing the racks for esoteric stuff I wasn't familiar with. You know the closings have got to be killing Kino, et al too.

There's only one national brick and mortar retailer that still stocks the full Criterion catalog and usually markets it in its own section. Guess where Criterion just trained customers to look for Criterion discs via a major 50% off sale. They are desperate to get some of that business back.

[domino harvey]

Criterion counted on impulse buys at full MSRP from those retailers, all three of which set aside special sections just for Criterion product.

Actually, it doesn't matter for Criterion whether the disc was bought at full retail price or not, as the retailer pays the distributor (Here, Image) a fixed (though perhaps negligibly negotiable from retailer to retailer depending) price far below the MSRP. Now, granted, if a lot of people bought copies from B+Ms, that would mean the B+Ms would order more titles from the distributor, but it's no different from Amazon, &c.

[Jeff]

Actually, it doesn't matter for Criterion whether the disc was bought at full retail price or not, as the retailer pays the distributor (Here, Image) a fixed (though perhaps negligibly negotiable from retailer to retailer depending) price

I thought about that when I wrote it, but I'm betting that places like Amazon, who may have large standing orders for thousands of copies of all different titles, get a significant price break from distributors. Of course I could just be talking out my ass.

[domino harvey]

Actually, the other way around. Amazon charges distros that don't move a sufficient amount of product a rental fee for the space they take up-- but any label approaching Criterion's volume would never have to worry about that. When Amazon cuts a price way down on a title, they're the ones taking a bath. However, last I checked, they operated on a 45/55, meaning you must be right unless Amazon really believes in loss leaders!

[GringoTex]

Corporate hierarchy is, to me, about as arcane as royal succession lines, but I believe a Senior Vice President is under an Executive Vice President.

Here's a new Macleans story on why the release of classics on DVD has slowed to a trickle, with some sobering statements by Feltenstein.

That's the most depressing thing I've read in a long time.

[HerrSchreck]

Re: ^^

Wow.. this all seemed to happen so quickly, too: CC and WB virtually shutting down their line of pre-1950's films within a couple of quarters, replacing them with a semi-monthly slow dribble.

Here's a new Macleans story on why the release of classics on DVD has slowed to a trickle, with some sobering statements by Feltenstein.]

That's fucking depressing. It's not really news, but it sucks to see it all laid out in print like that. The writing has certainly been on the wall, for Criterion and Warner especially.

I think the bit about stores closing has had more impact than we think. Just because the people who post here buy the vast majority of our discs online, doesn't mean everybody does. Virgin and Tower have closed up shop, and Borders has drastically reduced or eliminated DVD inventory at most stores. Criterion counted on impulse buys at full MSRP from those retailers, all three of which set aside special sections just for Criterion product. I buy almost all my stuff online, but the closing of the Denver Tower and Virgin branches was painful. I liked spending hours browsing the racks for esoteric stuff I wasn't familiar with. You know the closings have got to be killing Kino, et al too.

There's only one national brick and mortar retailer that still stocks the full Criterion catalog and usually markets it in its own section. Guess where Criterion just trained customers to look for Criterion discs via a major 50% off sale. They are desperate to get some of that business back.

Barnes and Noble-- that who you mean?

[Hopscotch]

Barnes and Noble-- that who you mean?

I'm pretty sure that's who he means, yes.

[Jeff]

Yeah, Barnes and Noble is the only major national brick and mortar outlet for Criterion product now -- the only one I can think of anyway.

It's hard to muster up much sympathy for the faceless corporate monolith that is Time Warner, but I really feel for Peter, Jon, and the rest of the great crew at Criterion. They've got to be struggling right now. When you've got to make payroll for 50 people, an economy which finds consumers without money for luxury DVDs is a scary prospect. If releasing Monsoon Wedding on a loaded Blu-ray and dumping Le Jour se lève on an Essential Arthouse disc isn't a desperate cry for help, I don't know what is.

[Highway 61]

Warner released a few popular titles in the format (including Casablanca) and found that, according to Feltenstein, “classics are having a tough time on Blu-Ray. New films do great, but people don’t know how great old movies can look in this format.” Warner will try again later this year with Blu-Rays of titles like Gone With the Wind and North By Northwest, but for now, Blu-Ray is another thing to squeeze old movies off the limited shelf space in stores.

It has to be said that Warner would undoubtedly have more luck with these titles if they didn't jack up the MSRP to $60 or $80 by including a bunch of novelty crap with the disc. Talk about "irresponsible releases."

That said, this article as a whole makes me feel guilty for my "No Blu-ray, no purchase" stance with Criterion. Maybe I'll be a little less demanding from now on.

[swo17]

Yeah, Barnes and Noble is the only major national brick and mortar outlet for Criterion product now -- the only one I can think of anyway.

FYE?

Also, for what it's worth, I know that just this past month, I singlehandedly financed the payroll for at least one low-level Criterion intern.

[knives]

Yeah, Barnes and Noble is the only major national brick and mortar outlet for Criterion product now -- the only one I can think of anyway.

FYE?

Also, for what it's worth, I know that just this past month, I singlehandedly financed the payroll for at least one low-level Criterion intern.

Ditto for the intern.
Also I buy most of my Crit from the local Frys and my Borders has a huge section. Still a depressingly true article.

[Antoine Doinel]

Corporate hierarchy is, to me, about as arcane as royal succession lines, but I believe a Senior Vice President is under an Executive Vice President.

Here's a new Macleans story on why the release of classics on DVD has slowed to a trickle, with some sobering statements by Feltenstein.

My chat with Jonathan Turrell that uses the Maclean's article as the launching point.

[HarryLong]

and my Borders has a huge section

The DVDs haven't been cleared out to make room for toys as they have at many other Borders stores?

[Frankinho007]

From the newest Classic Coming Attractions column at The Bits:

Classic fans will be pleased to know that Warners has just recently been able to complete clearing the rights to two titles long in demand by fans. No Time for Sergeants (1958, with Andy Griffith) and The Breaking Point (1950, with John Garfield) are both now planned for pressed DVD release sometime in 2010. The studio hopes that No Time for Sergeants will have Andy Griffith's participation in appropriate supplementary material. The Breaking Point might get slotted into Warners' Film Noir Collection: Volume 5 (which is a definite go for 2010), but will more likely see a separate release.

Warner Bros. also continues to work actively on The Hanging Tree (1959, with Gary Cooper). There is much more work to do on the photochemical restoration for the original elements, but the results should be worth the wait. A pressed DVD release is currently planned, but no release timing has yet been set.

[Matt]

pressed DVD release sometime in 2010

Say that phrase out loud. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the sound of expectations that can go no lower.

[swo17]

Oh, it can still get worse. I give them three more years before they're distributing films via mass email messages* saying:

Come rummage through the trash in the alley behind our offices. We threw a bunch of old film canisters out there. Maybe one of you will be smart enough to make DVDs out of them.

*I'm kidding of course. This would take some actual effort.

[Matt]

Future news story:

Out-of-control wildfires in California took a toll on America's cultural heritage as the Warner Bros. vaults where thousands of classic films were archived burned to the ground this morning. Quick-thinking archivists managed to save only four films made before 1997: Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, and Blade Runner. When reached for comment, the head of Warner Home Video shrugged and said, "Eh."

[ianungstad]

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/52944 ... ad-13.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Between New Line Cinema, Turner and Warner Brother's, it looks like the company discontinued 332 dvds in the last week, many of which are classic titles.

Someone, Criterion or otherwise needs to license a good chunk of Warner's classic library. With all the other bad news about Warner's in the last few months...the future is looking pretty awful.