Topic: Paramount to produce direct-to-DVD material, no word on Trek

[Rat Boy]

From Trek Today


This actually may be the way to go.  With the colossal ratings failure of Enterprise and box office tanking of Nemesis, but the strong DVD sales of both of those, this is probably the best form in which to resurrect Trek.

[Lepton]

Aren't the production costs essentially the same whether it's released via TV, theater, or DVD?  At best, they would merely save on distribution costs which I would gather is small in comparison to production costs.  TV should actually be the cheapest medium as UPN is already actively streaming programming on their own network.  Plus with TV there is advertising revenue.  I doubt this would tip any financial scales to bank on the Trek franchise.

[Dash Jones]

Actually, many straight to DVD movies are made cheaper than theater movies.  I expect they wouldn't pop the high prices for Patrick Stewart or others if they made straight to DVD movies.  Instead they'd settle for a modest budget of around 4 or 5 million (which since episodes of Voyagers and Enterprise were around 2 to 4 million isn't unreasonable) for a one and half hour to two hour movie.

At most they'd probably have it cost 7 to 10 million and reuse sets in a series of movies, with subsequent movies costing 2 to 3 million to offset the costs.  Hence they'd probably be shooting for a million to two million sales at the average of $20 a piece (hence around 20 to 40 million making a 20 to 30 million profit.  Major productions need to clear more than that 20 to 40 million, and at least pull in 60 to 100 million at the box office to break even it seems now days...at least for US made hollywood major features).

So in truth for a small production it would actually make sense...and perhaps be more profitable than creating another major motion picture.

[Lepton]

My point is they weren't making money at the current production cost level (TV) hence Enterprise being cancelled.  I guess DVD sales must bring in more money than advertising dollars, otherwise they'd be producing such straight-to-DVD titles at what I assume would be an even larger loss.

[el-Karnak]

Best Paramount wishes that they kept Ronald D. Moore and axed Berman and Braga when DS9 ended in 1999.  Then Trek might still be going strong for Paramount instead of having Universal and NBC producing the BSG on SciFi.

My point is:  get good writers and stay connected with the fanbase and you can make lotsa shows on TV and theaters.  Then you get to make DVDs too. And, spin-off books and even computer games . . .

[EmeraldEdge]

I wish they had kept Ron Moore, but for a different reason.

Here's a question though.  If DVD sales are so good, then why aren't they double dipping?  Release a show on their network, then release it on DVD shortly there after.  If they produced a Trek series that was actually a bunch of short mini-series.  Maybe 4 episodes an arc, so it's one a month.  (perhaps they could look at their schedule and then make it so that they have one per month.  If that month has more than 4 weeks of the day that it airs, then they plan for an extra episode to the arc or something).  They could then release them as individual sets, rather than charging an outrageous amount for single seasons as they are currently doing.

If they are going to do Trek movies straight to DVD, ummm, can you imagine the quality?  Look at a lot of the straight to video films that are out there.  Now look at the quality of the actual network shows that Trek was putting out.  Now imagine the quality when the powers that be feel that they can relax their quality because things are going to be done cheaper.

[Mr_Tricorder]

I wish they had kept Ron Moore, but for a different reason.

Here's a question though.  If DVD sales are so good, then why aren't they double dipping?  Release a show on their network, then release it on DVD shortly there after.  If they produced a Trek series that was actually a bunch of short mini-series.  Maybe 4 episodes an arc, so it's one a month.  (perhaps they could look at their schedule and then make it so that they have one per month.  If that month has more than 4 weeks of the day that it airs, then they plan for an extra episode to the arc or something).  They could then release them as individual sets, rather than charging an outrageous amount for single seasons as they are currently doing.

If they are going to do Trek movies straight to DVD, ummm, can you imagine the quality?  Look at a lot of the straight to video films that are out there.  Now look at the quality of the actual network shows that Trek was putting out.  Now imagine the quality when the powers that be feel that they can relax their quality because things are going to be done cheaper.

I totally agree.  They could make some 4 or 5 episode mini-series similar to the DS9 Dominion War episodes, which most people agree were the best episodes of DS9, show them on TV, and then later release them on DVD for somewhere around $30-$40.  I would definitely buy it for as much as $30, and I'm pretty cheap, so I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be willing to pay more.

Of course this is assuming that the quality of the story and production is good.  If they were going to make a "movie" instead of a "mini-series", you would expect it to be a higher quality product.  If they were making a movie that is not going to hit the big screen, it most likely will not be nearly as good of quality as the previous Star Trek movies.  Personally, I would rather see a Trek mini-series on a "made for TV" budget than a Trek movie on a "made for TV" budget.

[EmeraldEdge]

Here's the thing.  You can buy a lot of different shows seasons for about 40 to 50 bucks, so paying 30-40 for just 4 episodes seems a little over the top.  If you took that and extended the pricing out to an average season, then you're talking like 150/180(20 episodes) - 200/240(24 episodes)  based on your 30-40 for a 4 episode miniseries becomes extremely expensive.  I could see paying about 20 for a 4 episode miniseries, though, which would fall right in line with what they are currently charging for a season of Trek on DVD.  One thing is for sure though.  Pricing would have to be a factor.  Knowing the quality of Trek for the last few series, would you pay a high price for an unknown straight to video Trek product?  maybe the first time, I suppose, for those that are hard core trek fan, but if the first offering isn't really top notch, they'll get a chance to watch the sales drop like a rock.  Of course they'll say it was the DVD only format and not the quality of the offering, just like they've done for so long with their series.  Then they'll try and milk it for what they can, drop the budgets, even lower quality, then they'll drop straight to DVD altogether.

[Mr_Tricorder]

My $30-$40 price range was based on the assumptions that it would be aired on TV first and that it would be good quality.  Also, the episodes don't have to be only an hour long.  They could be an hour and a half to two hours long since it's a mini-series that will only air for a few weeks so the normal viewing schedule won't be affected for very long, and the actors won't be overworked since they would only be doing four or five extra-long episodes instead of 26 episodes.  I think this would validate a $30 price tag.  $40 is probably too high, but I wouldn't put is past them to try to sell it for that much or even higher.

[Nemesis]

You don't have to go overboard on star salaries or special effects.  Babylon 5 comes to mind.  They went for effects that were "good enough".  They also mostly went for performers who were relative unknowns yet competent, guest stars excepted and they were not high priced ones for the most part. 

I wish that ST:TNG and its successors had been more satisfied with lower budget effects and more effort on scripting.

I would actually prefer that they do a pre Enterprise show (along the lines of this posting of mine ).  It has the advantage of being set in the near future and therefore many existing sites and equipment can be used with little or no modification for some of the seasons.  No makeup for aliens required.  Inherently low budget.  Without being cheap.

[Dash Jones]

My setting of 20 to 30 is based of an hour and a half straight to DVD movie and based off similar pricing of what other straight to DVD movies are priced.

It seems to me they'd make better profits than making a series or even a mini-series by doing that method.

If it had effects as good as DS9, and decent writing, you KNOW you'd buy it...

They don't even need to air it, and unless they thought they could make better advertising money off of it than other shows during primetime...than it's cheaper just to release it to DVD without airing it.