It's too bad you're in Texas and hard to visit. I am much closer to your world than you suspect and yes, $3000 is a horrendous amount of money for an individual at the bottom of the film food chain to lose to an avoidable expense. I absolutely appreciate the financial pain involved for a niche product which will struggle to break even. Believe me, if I was earning enough to just shrug about such a sum I would write you a check to help.
When I compare that dollar amount to a line-item expense for digibeta tapes, the particular example I was thinking was for a sub-$50k DVD-bargain-bin film, which basically didn't (and won't) make a penny for most of the people involved...but the release of which by [Well Known Company] has been enough to get the maker into a project with a proper budget: in other words, it looks as if someone else will pick up the tab for the next one, and he'll earn a respectable paycheck at least, which is a step forward in my book.
What I'm trying to say comes down to two issues: first, would you rather bank half the proceeds from selling 5000 copies or bank 10% of the proceeds from selling 50,000? and second, will your approach help you sell more or fewer copies - that is, are you fighting a useful battle?
Let's say that between the licensing and other factors it would cost $4000 to be able to sell GET LAMP on Blu-ray. OK, that's the suck. But at $45, which is what you sell the BBS film for, that would start to be profitable after 100 extra copies. So when the question is 'Could you sell more than 100 extra copies by putting it onto a single BR disc'? If the answer is yes, which I think it might be, then there would be benefits in doing so.
As I said, I am completely with you about the (lack of) ethics of this licensing scheme and the resulting financial headache it creates as you try to please both your potential customers and your bank manger. But I feel that merely shaking your fist at it may not be the best strategy.
If this were a game, and in a maze of twisty passages, all alike you met a gnome who was offering you a magic key but demanding an excessive amount of your gold, possibly even more than you have... would you assume it was a red herring and just forget about it, or at least entertain the possibility that paying off the gnome would turn out to be worth it later?
I'd very much like to continue this conversation by email and/or telephone. I can't help with money but perhaps I can assist you with some aspect of production or post.
I would DEFINITELY go for the half of the 5000 over the 10% of the 50,000, if it cut out distributors and middlemen overselling and mismarketing the film to the wrong people. I've never had a return. Never. And I've not been defrauded for a sale or had a chargeback. Not once. It's been good.
I completely mixed you up mentally with someone in Austin I was talking to earlier today :-) I can't really make out your perspective that distributors and middle people are the enemy. I've never held it against someone if I watched their film and wasn't into it.
When I compare that dollar amount to a line-item expense for digibeta tapes, the particular example I was thinking was for a sub-$50k DVD-bargain-bin film, which basically didn't (and won't) make a penny for most of the people involved...but the release of which by [Well Known Company] has been enough to get the maker into a project with a proper budget: in other words, it looks as if someone else will pick up the tab for the next one, and he'll earn a respectable paycheck at least, which is a step forward in my book.
What I'm trying to say comes down to two issues: first, would you rather bank half the proceeds from selling 5000 copies or bank 10% of the proceeds from selling 50,000? and second, will your approach help you sell more or fewer copies - that is, are you fighting a useful battle?
Let's say that between the licensing and other factors it would cost $4000 to be able to sell GET LAMP on Blu-ray. OK, that's the suck. But at $45, which is what you sell the BBS film for, that would start to be profitable after 100 extra copies. So when the question is 'Could you sell more than 100 extra copies by putting it onto a single BR disc'? If the answer is yes, which I think it might be, then there would be benefits in doing so.
As I said, I am completely with you about the (lack of) ethics of this licensing scheme and the resulting financial headache it creates as you try to please both your potential customers and your bank manger. But I feel that merely shaking your fist at it may not be the best strategy.
If this were a game, and in a maze of twisty passages, all alike you met a gnome who was offering you a magic key but demanding an excessive amount of your gold, possibly even more than you have... would you assume it was a red herring and just forget about it, or at least entertain the possibility that paying off the gnome would turn out to be worth it later?
I'd very much like to continue this conversation by email and/or telephone. I can't help with money but perhaps I can assist you with some aspect of production or post.