Whens the next one coming out ?

[Token]

I'm assuming Voices in the Dark did well so whens the next one coming out ?

[Jan]

I'm assuming Voices in the Dark did well so whens the next one coming out ?

Nothing's been decided. From what JMS said in this post from the other day, sales are going well but there's not even any indication that they're even thinking of greenlighting the next one yet.

Jan

[nova]

Oh there will be a next one....

I can feel it.

[RMcD]

Nothing's been decided. From what JMS said in this post from the other day, sales are going well but there's not even any indication that they're even thinking of greenlighting the next one yet.

Jan

Jan, is there any chance you could post your rant here in full? JMS said you were spot on in your appraisal of WB, so it would be interesting to know exactly what you said..

[vacantlook]

Jan, is there any chance you could post your rant here in full? JMS said you were spot on in your appraisal of WB, so it would be interesting to know exactly what you said..

I know I'm not Jan (last time I checked), but I'll post this link.

"JMS: A Rant" by Jan posted to rastB5m as rendered by Google Groups

I hope Jan doesn't mind my having posted a link to it. I think it expresses what a lot of us feel.

[Jan]

Jan, is there any chance you could post your rant here in full? JMS said you were spot on in your appraisal of WB, so it would be interesting to know exactly what you said..

Sure, no problem. I meant to post a link and must've gotten side tracked.:

JMS,

I've got to say that my gratitude toward WB for making TLT at all is wearing
thin.

You told us that sales were going to be key in the decision as to whether
there'll be more disks so why is it that the advertising campaign WB has for TLT
seems to consist of A) word of mouth by the fans following your appearances and
posts, B) You and the actors and crew doing interviews and C) some review copies
being sent out? I'd like to be able to count the appearance that Bruce and
Tracy and Doug did at the Best Buy event on release day...except that reports
are that it was pretty empty since nobody'd even heard about it. Except for
some websites putting up buttons for people to buy it from Amazon, there haven't
even been any banner ads on the web that I've noticed. And as often as I do
searches on all things B5, I really should have.

I was on a panel to discuss TLT at DragonCon this weekend and we actually
weren't able to discuss it at all because I was in a room that mostly held
people who hadn't even *heard* of the Lost Tales before seeing the panel in the
program and came to find out what it was.

Credit where credit is due, there do seem to be a fair number of ways for people
to experience this first offering, whether it's the HD version or On Demand or
buying the DVD but maybe they'd get more sales if there was a promotional budget
of more than sixty cents and a bunch of free copies?


And while I'm on a rant, is there any way of getting through to WB that maybe,
just maybe it's time to stop with the experiments and timidity when it comes to
putting out new B5 material to the fans? They tested the market when it came to
the VHS tapes - Columbia House ran out within hours. Again with the bare-bones
DVD edition of "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning" - a success again, as were
the rest of the DVD releases. That's why they approached you about doing more
B5. Now for the Lost Tales, you once again had to wear three or four hats in
order to get the thing done for the budget they gave you and they even leave it
up to you to *tell* anybody about it.


Is there any way of communicating to WB that you've done your part, the fans
have done their very best, now it's up to Warner Bros. to put up or shut up? If
they're going to greenlight more Lost Tales disks, maybe they need to put up the
money for them in batches of five or ten with enough money to do the originally
planned three stories per disk, and an advertising campaign before and after
each release. It's time for them to show some faith in the B5 universe.

</rant mode> Seriously, if there's a way that we can communicate that to WB, I
know at least a few people who'd write letters.

Jan

[Jan]

I hope Jan doesn't mind my having posted a link to it. I think it expresses what a lot of us feel.

Oops, you beat me to it! No, of course I don't mind a bit.

Jan

[RMcD]

Thanks both!

And yeah, nicely put, totally agree..

[Jan]

I think it expresses what a lot of us feel.

And yeah, nicely put, totally agree..

Thanks, both. I was kind of concerned because of how many people I'd met at SDCC who'd never heard of TLT (B5 Quote Gear tote bags are wonderful conversation starters) but figured that the advertising would be starting once the disk came out. Then when I had another bunch of people at the DragonCon panel almost a month later, I was...miffed. Most of them explained that they'd quit hanging out at B5 sites after the show was over so without advertising or a friend to tell them about TLT, advertising is the only *way* to get the word out to them.

Jan

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Thanks, both. I was kind of concerned because of how many people I'd met at SDCC who'd never heard of TLT (B5 Quote Gear tote bags are wonderful conversation starters) but figured that the advertising would be starting once the disk came out. Then when I had another bunch of people at the DragonCon panel almost a month later, I was...miffed. Most of them explained that they'd quit hanging out at B5 sites after the show was over so without advertising or a friend to tell them about TLT, advertising is the only *way* to get the word out to them.

Jan

Or...get everyone registered on this forum. Come on panel moderator! Advertise lol.

[vacantlook]

I was really shocked to read your report that there were so many people at the TLT discussion panel that hadn't heard anything about TLT. I knew there wasn't a big advertising campaign, but damn! I saw ONE! advertisement for it during a late night rerun of the original Star Trek, but that was it.

So, if WB views the sales of TLT as being well above what they were expecting, and that's without them lifting an entire hand (I'll credit them with lifting a single finger) to advertise it, I wonder if they're capable of imagining what it'd be like if more people actually knew about TLT.

[Lunan]

Thanks, both. I was kind of concerned because of how many people I'd met at SDCC who'd never heard of TLT (B5 Quote Gear tote bags are wonderful conversation starters) but figured that the advertising would be starting once the disk came out. Then when I had another bunch of people at the DragonCon panel almost a month later, I was...miffed. Most of them explained that they'd quit hanging out at B5 sites after the show was over so without advertising or a friend to tell them about TLT, advertising is the only *way* to get the word out to them.

Jan

also its not like its all that EXPENSIVE to put a 15 or 20 second ad on THE SCIFI CHANNEL. maybe its a little more to run it during Eureka and Flash Gordan, ok and it would defiantly be more expensive to run it during Stargate and Atlantis, but this to me seems like the cheapest way to hit a majority of your CORE audience. but seriously now. does anyone know what that kind of advertising costs to run for, oh, lets say 6 weeks? hell local companies run 30 second ads here during the insomnia hours (12am to 5 am) on scifi, and some (1 sushi place, 1 lumber yard) run during PRIME TIME

[vacantlook]

also its not like its all that EXPENSIVE to put a 15 or 20 second ad on THE SCIFI CHANNEL. maybe its a little more to run it during Eureka and Flash Gordan, ok and it would defiantly be more expensive to run it during Stargate and Atlantis, but this to me seems like the cheapest way to hit a majority of your CORE audience. but seriously now. does anyone know what that kind of advertising costs to run for, oh, lets say 6 weeks? hell local companies run 30 second ads here during the insomnia hours (12am to 5 am) on scifi, and some (1 sushi place, 1 lumber yard) run during PRIME TIME

Or, as I think it was Jan posting on another site said, run an ad in one of the jms-written comics as well as banner ads on specific websites. Also, there could be page ads in scifi magazines. But there was just so little done.

As for the local ads, it's my understanding that per each advertisement break, there is a certain number of ad slots for nationally run advertisements and a certain number of slots that are specifically reserved for local advertisements.

[frulad]

TLT got a full page ad on the backs of all DC Comics last month.

[Truth66]

I think this was brought up before in another thread with regards to TLT sales when it was discussed about the lack of promotion by WB. I know I had mentioned that people can't buy what they don't know about. Jan's "rant" is dead on, WB does need to put up or shut up. B5 has proven numerous times that's in high demand. Even before the DVD's were released I remember an article in a British magazine about the most popular DVD's being requested and B5 was number one. Surprise, Surprise.
It's worth noting that I've noticed that a few stores here locally finally got off their butts and ordered a few copies of TLT in. However, I'm not sure if the public here even noticed it. Actually I just came up with an idea, I'll have to go.