JMS now on Patreon

[Jan]

I will watch with interest. Keep us posted on any output. I engage with the audio drama community quite a bit, so I have a rough idea of costs and what he's quoted is just waaay over the odds. Laughable even. Maybe he wants Tom Cruise to read all the parts, I dunno...

Are those costs based on union scale?

[Ubik]

Are those costs based on union scale?

Pentatonic scale!

Come on, I mean, if you aren't even remotely raising an eyebrow at six figures for an audio drama, then you need to have a quiet word with yourself.

[Triple F]

. . . . . Are those costs based on union scale?

. . . . Pentatonic scale!

[Jan]

Come on, I mean, if you aren't even remotely raising an eyebrow at six figures for an audio drama, then you need to have a quiet word with yourself.

See abover re: uninformed opinion. I'm a hospitality accountant. How the fuck (and why) would I know anything about the costs of audio dramas?

[Ubik]

I'm not implying you do!

All I'm saying here is that I have some knowledge of the audio drama community. I am a consumer of audio drama, I've done some voice over recording and mixing work and the figure that's quoted seems very excessive and would get laughed out of the room by most people that produce audios dramas. I mean, most of them would kill for a budget like that, but successful, well produced shows have been produced for a lot less. Maybe JMS wants to produce a better class of audio drama than most? I don't know. But it just sets alarm bells ringing for me, in the same way mentioning the B5 Movie in the Patreon blurb does. With that kind of figure attached, it's very unlikely to happen.

Ideally, let's revisit revisit this a few years down the line and we can have a look at what the tangible output of the Patreon have been. I just find it all a bit out of touch with the current tech and possibilities to create something good on a budget. Wasn't that what B5 did in the first place? It told a great story with limited resources. I'd love to see some more of that. Hell, i'd likely sign up to the Patreon if there was more of a DIY spirit and realistic goals. But this just raises a lot of questions for me.

I just wondered how others felt about that response, and those of you who do subscribe, do you want more clarity on ouputs in terms of new content?

And when did it stop being any fun to post here? I just wanted to spark some discussion, but anything that vaguely challenges JMS' view is met with a fair bit of hostility. Sure, I agree it's nice to armed with facts, but we can shoot the shit using common sense sometimes too can't we?

[B5-Stefan]

And when did it stop being any fun to post here?

Never!

Is it the hemitonic pentatonic or the anhemitonic pentatonic scale?
Ubik, I'm very curious, to find out more of in-depth details.

B5-Stefan

--
Dukhat: "I'm not saying anything. I didn't say anything then, and I'm not saying anything now."
[Babylon5, In the Beginning]

[Jan]

I just wondered how others felt about that response, and those of you who do subscribe, do you want more clarity on ouputs in terms of new content?

And when did it stop being any fun to post here? I just wanted to spark some discussion, but anything that vaguely challenges JMS' view is met with a fair bit of hostility. Sure, I agree it's nice to armed with facts, but we can shoot the shit using common sense sometimes too can't we?

Absolutely, discussion is welcome. But starting a discussion with

I doubt we'll see any new content from this Patreon.

isn't perhaps the best opening? JMS seems perfectly aware that the timing's not ideal in the current economic climate but I'm reasonably sure that most of us signing up didn't hope that he'd do a bunch of cheap offerings. And while it's been a few months since I joined up, I don't recall JMS ever mentioning a B5 movie in anything pertaining to the Patreon page. Can you point me to that? Because obviously that's far out of reach for a Patreon.

[Ubik]

And while it's been a few months since I joined up, I don't recall JMS ever mentioning a B5 movie in anything pertaining to the Patreon page. Can you point me to that? Because obviously that's far out of reach for a Patreon.

From the Patreon page mission statement:

Absolutely, discussion is welcome. But starting a discussion with "I doubt we'll see any new content from this Patreon" isn't perhaps the best opening.

I think you need to take my statement as a whole, there was plenty of pre-amble before that to justify what I'm saying. Key to my concern / argument was that "IF he's putting financial barriers like that on things, I doubt we'll see any new content from this Patreon". Six figures just seems like a rather large barrier on producing those things. I feel it's set artificially high for an audio drama. Just my 2 cents.

I want to see content as much as the next fan, and I know something great could be delivered for less. Of course, it's not down to me to dictate production values, but as you say things have to be realistic and within the means of the Patreon. Six figures just seems very old hat and stuck in the past in terms of what can be done with the technology available.

[Jan]

Thanks. Yeah, that's pretty 'pie in the sky'.

[Triple F]

Thanks. Yeah, that's pretty 'pie in the sky'.

jms doesn't think so. . .Just read this this morning.

https://twitter.com/straczynski/stat...91722747641857

Warners owns everything except the film rights. My dream is to one day have enough clout, with the patreon page being a slow, quiet start, to make such a film. But everything else is owned by them.

[Jan]

jms doesn't think so. . .Just read this this morning.

[URL="https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1295491722747641857"]https://twitter.com/straczynski/stat...91722747641857

I saw. What was that he says..."Never surrender Dreams". I'm okay with that and contributing what I can afford.

[Looney]

Patron 326 hopes his name gets a mention in the credits. ..... LOL

[Ubik]

Is 'clout' the same as 'street cred'? I remain highly skeptical of any allusions to making a B5 feature film. I don't think the Patreon will ever produce that kind of money. You need outside investors for a feature, no way around it unless you are doing something very small scale.

[Looney]

I have probably said a lot of this before, but I repeat myself all of the time.

On the one hand it surprises me JMS has not reached this goal. I feel like he should have no trouble landing investors from the U.K. and German markets if he can't get enough interest from U.S. investors. I feel those two markets recognize Babylon 5's brilliance more than most places.

Here are two possible big obstacles that might be standing in the way.

#1 Investors are reluctant to pour money into a project that WB is possibly going to take legal action against. Yes JMS controls the feature film rights, but WB controls so much more of the property AND WB is likened to organize crime. I'm not saying they are a criminal organization. I am saying like Organized Crime they might use their influence to put all kinds of legal, production, and distribution obstacles in the way of a feature film if they are so inclined. If they wanted they could cause all kinds of unnecessary hassles that knowledgeable investors might want to avoid, especially if they feel those hassles might follow them into various future projects. It is a lot easier to make and distribute movies if the big studios aren't against what you are doing.

#2 JMS himself. Remember JMS has been burned on projects in the past by more than just Warner Brothers. I am by no means a knowledgeable person when it comes to THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS affair, but things of that nature might make JMS VERY reluctant to crawl into bed with certain investors.

Yes it does seem HIGHLY far-fetched that Patreon alone could fund a feature film project, BUT every little bit helps. If JMS can get a large enough revenue stream coming in from Patreon he might be able to leverage that into investors seeing there is still enough interest in Babylon 5 that they might see big profits from their investment.

[B5-Stefan]

Is 'clout' the same as 'street cred'? I remain highly skeptical of any allusions to making a B5 feature film. I don't think the Patreon will ever produce that kind of money. You need outside investors for a feature, no way around it unless you are doing something very small scale.

'Clout' is a 'Cloud' with a 't' instead a 'd'.
Draw your conclusions.

With a small budget You can afford a sock-puppets feature.

And to be not only sarcastic: with a humorous script and in all belongs well done even a sock-puppets movie could cause a tsunami of interest around the world.

And further to think a bit positive:
what about to talk with Clint Eastwood on the idea of a B5 feature?
If he gets hooked, on the long run he might open some doors.

B5-Stefan


--
Franklin: "Excuse me, where I come from, one man from three leaves two."
Marcus: "Where I come from is a far more interesting place."
[Babylon5, Exogenesis]