myspace
twitter
facebook
email listFirst, thanks to everyone for their patience as we sort through the finish and shipping. What we’ve been working on is how best to secure the DVD from piracy. Bulletface has been pirated more than 100,000 times and we don’t want Tales to go that way. So we are talking with experts on how best to secure and protect Tales so that the possible franchise has a chance to become an ongoing series of films and not be decimated by pirates.
We’re exploring a few options and its difficult because today’s technology can quickly be cracked by tomorrow’s. As part of this we are looking into releasing an app for iPad and Droid users that should enable access to special features only for their use such as the Cyborg bonus, the Tales commentary, etc.
Plus in the interest of hopefully stemming or at least delaying the tide of piracy, we intend to release Tales of an Ancient Empire 2 within weeks of the first episode’s release. The idea is to present Tales as a serialized saga like The Wire or Dexter or True Blood. Where the thread is a continuous story line. And we intend to get these episodes out every two or three weeks if we can manage it. 16 to 18 episodes would make up a Tales “season”.
We think this has a chance to blunt piracy to some degree. I hope so.
albert
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
The sheer power of piracy really hit home with me last january, when a movie i produced ‘Bodyguard:A New Begining’ came out on DVD in Germany…I was in China shooting another project, got back to the hotel that night, and started getting e-mails from folk..’hey i saw your movie’…none of whom were in germany…a quick search for ‘Bodygaurd torrents’ hit hundreds from first day…..
I still dont think a lot of the people who post torrents/download or post entire movies on Yutube really comprehend that they are helping kill the movie industry….
Offering exclusive extras and bonus features does seem to be one way to go
An interesting idea..but is this going to be in lieu of the DVD release? Also, I can’t say I’d be excited for apps, I have neither Droid nor Iphone and can’t get in to the idea of trying to tie that kind of device to my films. Even if I had one, I still would not want to do that really.
I’m intrigued to see what kind of release Tales finally receives…good luck navigating the technosphere!
Albert, I’m afraid nobody knows what are you talking about anymore…Apps for iPad? Huh?
Episodes distributed in the web…It’s been done. Look at The Sanctuary as the example. You can learn a lot just by study it, but to make a long story short: They failed big time trying to do it via www (but as tv series, despite a low budget – the success).
The truth is…even with all this piracy filmbiz did the record breaking money in 2009. More dvds were sold THAN EVER. More cinema tickets sold.
The piracy was, is and will be.
Your weapon against piracy should be great extras…but first of all good films.
…….The great film will survive any piracy…………..
Ask yourself a question: why people want a special edition of THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER? Why do they want a commentary? Because the film itself is great. Even if they saw it on pirateisland or whatever, they still want to buy the special edition. Why? And why nobody want to get special edition of TICKER or ARCADE?
STAR WARS: A New Hope was the single most pirated film ever, yet i earned like 1 200 000 000 $ for Lucas.
David, we are still shipping the limited edition DVD’s to those who pre-ordered. I’m not sure about future DVD’s as yet. Albert is exploring everything right now to give Tales the best possible launch.
Cyn
When can we expect the DVD to begin shipping?
Albert,you promised to have an announcement today about the dvd shipping date and theatrical info. Where is it? Sorry to be so blunt,but my patience is starting to wear thin.
Albert is traveling today and I expect that he will post his announcement tonight.
Cynthia
Will someone please tell me when the DVD will finally be shipped?! Please understand that we have been waiting for this movie since it was promised at the end credits of the Sword and the Sorcerior in 1982! The processing company has already taken my money and will only tell me that the studio is experiencing delays. What does that mean and when will they be resolved?! I AM FRUSTRATED WITH EXCITEMENT! Please calm me down.