A similar case has already been discussed here: http://www.invelos.com/Forums.aspx?task=viewtopic&topicID=462053&PageNum=1

I just gave up in that discussion because I seemed to be the only one thinking that way.

Quoting TheMadMartian:

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I don't know how I missed it, but the conclusion was wrong.  BVFD is the theatrical release studio, or at least was, for all things Disney.  It is no different than Paramount, while having no part in the production, releasing DreamWorks films or LionsGate releasing any number of films where they did nothing but release it or, since we are talking about them, Disney releasing Ponyo in the US.

I think you were spot on in the other thread, people are getting hung up on the word 'studio'.

Yeah, how stupid to pay attention to words.

All the companies you list are real studios. They finance and produce or co-produce films. That's what they are known for. What films have the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company produced? I looked them up on IMDb and couldn't find a single title produced under their name. They are clearly only functioning as a theatrical distributor, not as a studio. Yet you want to give them the same status as Paramount? Walt Disney himself would probably have been amused at the joke.

Quoting scotthm:

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Quoting KinoNiki:

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What films have the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company produced? I looked them up on IMDb and couldn't find a single title produced under their name. They are clearly only functioning as a theatrical distributor, not as a studio. Yet you want to give them the same status as Paramount?

An undistributed film has about the same impact as an unproduced film, so I think giving them equal weight, especially as the rules say...

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List the Studios in the following priority.

•Theatrical Release Studio(s)
•Production Company(s)

... makes perfect sense.

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Who says it is undistributed? Just because the rule doesn't allow us to track this particular data doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are plenty of such rules which we all have to abide by whether we like them or not. The rule which you so kindly quote does not in any way support entering distributors in the studio field. Saying that we can is just conjecture. Studios release films, distributors distribute them. Sometimes they will be one and the same company but in this case they are not so the distributor can't be tracked according to the rule. If you want to change the rule that's fine, but that's a subject for another forum/thread. In the meantime let's follow the rule as it is written, not what we prefer it to be.

Quoting KinoNiki:

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The rule which you so kindly quote does not in any way support entering distributors in the studio field. Saying that we can is just conjecture.

It's not conjecture because it has been done, therefore it is a fact that we may do so.

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Studios release films, distributors distribute them.

Studios rent space to producers.  Distributors allow people to watch the resulting films.

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Sometimes they will be one and the same company

Agreed.


Quoting hal9g:

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It seems pretty clear to me that the data we are looking for is the name of the studio that was responsible for the theatrical release of the movie...NOT the name of the company responsible for distributing the physical media to the theaters.

It seems pretty clear to me that different people are looking for different things.  I'm less interested in who owns the soundstages than in who distributes the picture to audiences.

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Quoting hal9g:

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I'm only interested in the words that are used in the Rules.  And the Rules say to enter the Theatrical Release Studio in the Studios field.  BVFDC is not a studio.  It doesn't belong in the Studios field.

If you want a field for the company who mailed the films to the theaters, I suggest that you put it in the Features Request thread.

So let me see if I understand your point of view here.

If "Studio A" had nothing to do with the production of a movie but distributes (i.e. "mails") the film to theaters it's OK to list it as the Theatrical Release Studio because it's a "studio", but if theatrical distribution "Company B" does the exact same thing it can't be listed because it doesn't occasionally produce its own films?  If that's what your saying then I don't buy it.

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I'm not really interested in what "different people are looking for".

Then don't be surprised if people aren't particularly interested in your opinion.

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Quoting scotthm:

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It seems pretty clear to me that different people are looking for different things.  I'm less interested in who owns the soundstages than in who distributes the picture to audiences.

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Then may I suggest you track your special interests locally.

Quoting hal9g:

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The problem is that you are interchanging the distributor of the film with Theatrical Release Studio.  They are not the same, and DVDP does not call for the former to be entered.

The Rules is very specific about what goes in the Studios field.  Just do what it says and you're done.

The problem is that you, and quite a few other people, seem to believe that all Theatrical Release Studios produce every film they release.  As I just explained to KinoNiki, they don't.

Disney, as I mentioned in my other post, had nothing to do with the production of Ponyo.  All they did was pay for the US distribution rights, slap a logo on the film, then market and distribute it.

DreamWorks does not release any of their own films.  Paramount and Disney do that for them.  They are payed for their services and are allowed to slap a logo on the film.

LionsGate does the same thing for many small production companies.

Quite a few of the major studios do nothing but distribute films for other companies but, because they are actually studios, nobody seems to care that they are doing the exact same job as BVFD.  A Theatrical Release studio markets and distributes films.  Production Studios finance and produce them.  Sometimes they are the same, sometimes not.  It's unfortunate that people don't seem to understand that and are stuck on the word 'studio' instead of what they actually do.