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"Usual Suspects" listing of production / studio / media companies?
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DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
Alien with an attitude
Registered: March 13, 2007
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Quoting xradman:
Quote:
I may remember this slightly wrong, but my recollection of how this rule came about, and I was a pretty big proponent, was that we list Theatrical releasing studio, Primary production studio, and DVD distributor in that order.  One each for 3 studio slot.  When Ken added a separate studio category for DVD distributing studio, that allowed for multiple theatrical releasing studios to be added.  I don't think the intent of the studio rules was ever to exclude primary production studio in lieu of third theatrical releasing studio.

That may have been the intent,  but that isn't how it was written. 
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
Alien with an attitude
Registered: March 13, 2007
Reputation: Highest Rating
United States Posts: 13,201
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Quoting lasitter:
Quote:
OK, so here's the deal for me.

Sometimes there are so many people listed before the ones that actually made the movie that I'm concerned the REAL production company will never show up as credited.

Is that a silly thing for me to be concerned about?

Silly, no.  Unrealistic, yes...at least for most US films.  For US films, the company that provided the money...usually the theatrical release studio(s)...will almost always get top billing.
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantlasitter
Registered: May 30, 2008
Posts: 445
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I know we have the rules, but the more I think about this, the more it annoys me.

It seems entirely possible that we could just as easily rename the section as follows:

"Here's a list of all the business entities that had little or nothing to do with making this a great movie ..."

Filling the list up with mega-corporations that had little / less to do with the creative or movie-making process is unsatisfying to me.

I know that movies get made in LOTS of different ways ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_studio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_distributor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_producer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_team

Buying the screen rights or hiring someone to write an original screenplay is not a trivial contribution, but the producer / production company makes huge contributions even after hiring the director / pre-production / filmmaking staff.

Since they also (often) work on the distribution, it doesn't seem to me that they should ever be left out of the picture entirely.
 Last edited: by lasitter
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorT!M
Profiling since Dec. 2000
Registered: March 13, 2007
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Quoting lasitter:
Quote:
Filling the list up with mega-corporations that had little / less to do with the creative or movie-making process is unsatisfying to me.

And that's the beauty of the program: it lets you track whatever you want locally. For the online database, however, the rule is about as crystal clear as they come.
 Last edited: by T!M
DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantxradman
Registered: June 17, 2002
Registered: March 14, 2007
United States Posts: 1,328
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Quoting T!M:
Quote:
Quoting lasitter:
Quote:
Filling the list up with mega-corporations that had little / less to do with the creative or movie-making process is unsatisfying to me.

And that's the beauty of the program: it lets you track whatever you want locally. For the online database, however, the rule is about as crystal clear as they come.

Not crystal clear, since that was not the intent of this rule.  I read that rule as allowing you to enter more than one theatrical or production studio.  I think it's a badly written rule that requires revision or clarification.
My Home Theater
DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantlasitter
Registered: May 30, 2008
Posts: 445
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I Googled the precise phrase "theatrical release studio" and got 18 hits, almost all of them from Invelos, of course.

Allowing for dupe / similar results you get 31.

That's in the world.

I think we've blown it on this subject.

There is no Academy Award for best "Distributing Company", "Theatrical Releasing Company", "Media Company", etc., etc ...

I think there's a reason that the Best Picture Oscar went to production companies and now to the producer.

Either we should give production companies their own slots, or not list them at all, or banish this stuff from the first tab entirely.
DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantxradman
Registered: June 17, 2002
Registered: March 14, 2007
United States Posts: 1,328
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I would say that both are important.  I would not want to give up either type of studio.  In the current iteration of program where both theatrical releasing studio and production company had to share the same studio category, we need to include at least one of each.
My Home Theater
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributorhuskersports
Registered: September 29, 2008
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I've noticed that for television series, the order they're shown on the screen at the ending credits is backwards from how they're supposed to be listed in the profile.  For instance, on Seinfeld, Castle Rock Entertainment is shown first, then Sony Pictures Television is shown, but Sony is the "releasing" studio and Castle Rock is a production company.  And for Rules of Engagement (CBS show) the order shown is Happy Madison Productions, Game Six Productions, and lastly, CBS Paramount Television. But the order the rules say to list them is just the opposite.
My one wish for the DVD Profiler online database: Ban or remove the disc-level profiles of TV season sets. It completely screws up/inflates the CLT.
FACT: Imdb is WRONG 70% of the time! Misspelled cast, incomplete cast, wrong cast/crew roles. So for those who want DVD Profiler to be "as perfect as Imdb", good luck with that.
Stop adding UNIT crew! They're invalid credits. Stop it!
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorT!M
Profiling since Dec. 2000
Registered: March 13, 2007
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Quoting huskersports:
Quote:
But the order the rules say to list them is just the opposite.

Indeed. This is where users that simply enter the studio names in the order that they see 'em go wrong.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
Alien with an attitude
Registered: March 13, 2007
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United States Posts: 13,201
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Quoting xradman:
Quote:
Quoting T!M:
Quote:
And that's the beauty of the program: it lets you track whatever you want locally. For the online database, however, the rule is about as crystal clear as they come.

Not crystal clear, since that was not the intent of this rule.  I read that rule as allowing you to enter more than one theatrical or production studio.  I think it's a badly written rule that requires revision or clarification.

I agree with T!M, the rule is crystal clear.  While it may not reflect what you feel the intent was, it is quite clear.
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar Contributorm.cellophane
tonight's the night...
Registered: March 13, 2007
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United States Posts: 3,480
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Quoting xradman:
Quote:
I may remember this slightly wrong, but my recollection of how this rule came about, and I was a pretty big proponent, was that we list Theatrical releasing studio, Primary production studio, and DVD distributor in that order.  One each for 3 studio slot.  When Ken added a separate studio category for DVD distributing studio, that allowed for multiple theatrical releasing studios to be added.  I don't think the intent of the studio rules was ever to exclude primary production studio in lieu of third theatrical releasing studio.

I don't ever recall hearing the one-per-slot theory before your post today. To my recollection, we started listing theatrical(s), then production(s) if there was room, and then distributor(s) if there was still room. Now that distributors have moved to the MC field, that leaves more room for theatrical and production studios, but there's still no slot quota for either.
...James

"People fake a lot of human interactions, but I feel like I fake them all, and I fake them very well. That’s my burden, I guess." ~ Dexter Morgan
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorAddicted2DVD
Registered: March 13, 2007
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Quoting m.cellophane:
Quote:
Quoting xradman:
Quote:
I may remember this slightly wrong, but my recollection of how this rule came about, and I was a pretty big proponent, was that we list Theatrical releasing studio, Primary production studio, and DVD distributor in that order.  One each for 3 studio slot.  When Ken added a separate studio category for DVD distributing studio, that allowed for multiple theatrical releasing studios to be added.  I don't think the intent of the studio rules was ever to exclude primary production studio in lieu of third theatrical releasing studio.

I don't ever recall hearing the one-per-slot theory before your post today. To my recollection, we started listing theatrical(s), then production(s) if there was room, and then distributor(s) if there was still room. Now that distributors have moved to the MC field, that leaves more room for theatrical and production studios, but there's still no slot quota for either.

This is how I remember it as well.
Pete
DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantlasitter
Registered: May 30, 2008
Posts: 445
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So right now I'm working up new profile info for another UPC version of Ken Burns'  "Mark Twain", I've gone thru the credits, and I have more questions.

First, of course, this is TV.

Second, the DiscIDs are identical, so I'm thinking this should be an easy scan and clone job.

BUT:

The end credits say "Produced by Dayton Duncan & Ken Burns", which I take as being the same as Florintine Films, Burns regular outfit.  But "Produced by Florintine Flims" doesn't appear until dead last in the credits. Produced in association with "WETA, Washington, DC, appears before that.

Almost the first thing in the program is the PBS splash. They're on the artwork of both the existing profile (PBS DVD Gold, 794054860825) and mine (PBS Home Video, 09736885884).

The existing profile has PBS Home Video and Warner Home Video in the top / studios section. The media companies section is completely empty.

????

WETA is not mentioned.

PBS, Florintine & WETA are all in the contents of the disc in one fashion or another, but I don't think PBS is in the end credits and I'm sure Warner is not.

Do I ignore the fact that "produced by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns" occurs very early in the credits and put Florentine after WETA (which doesn't appear in the existing profile at all, of course)?

PBS Home Video has only a handful of credits as a production company, but a boatload as a distributor. Shouldn't they be in the media companies slot?

Of course, I saw the PBS logo, but can't say I ever read "PBS Home Video" anywhere. So how to list it?

So, same flippy disc & different artwork, but the existing art has 220 minutes running time, and my art shows 225.

Looking at the side A & side be actual main feature running times ...

1: 1:50:44 -- 111
2: 1:43.26 -- 103
                  214

(at least the existing profile agrees with me on this point)

This whole process is a barrel of monkeys ...
 Last edited: by lasitter
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
Alien with an attitude
Registered: March 13, 2007
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United States Posts: 13,201
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Quoting lasitter:
Quote:
The end credits say "Produced by Dayton Duncan & Ken Burns", which I take as being the same as Florintine Films, Burns regular outfit.

That is a producer credit and has nothing to do with the studio credits.
Quote:
But "Produced by Florintine Flims" doesn't appear until dead last in the credits. Produced in association with "WETA, Washington, DC, appears before that.

Then WETA gets credited first.
Quote:
Almost the first thing in the program is the PBS splash. They're on the artwork of both the existing profile (PBS DVD Gold, 794054860825) and mine (PBS Home Video, 09736885884).

Was this produced for, and shown on, PBS?  Based on what you have written, I would enter the studios as PBS, WETA and Florintine Films...in that order.
Quote:
The existing profile has PBS Home Video and Warner Home Video in the top / studios section. The media companies section is completely empty.

Assuming they are both on the back of the case, I would move them to the MC field.
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
 Last edited: by TheMadMartian
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