Subscription Model for Firefly by speedy

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Subscription Model for Firefly

POSTED BY: SPEEDY
UPDATED: Sunday, January 22, 2006 10:32
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Sunday, January 22, 2006 7:43 AM

I was wondering if a show could be produced on a subscription model. The fans pay for each episode directly to Joss, cast, and crew and the show in turn mails an episode on DVD straight to the subscribers.

It seems to me that it should be doable. We pay $10 to see a feature length movie right? The movie pretty much broke even. The show could avoid the pitfalls of having someone other than the fans (e.g. Fox execs) fund the show.

I think this would be an entirely new business model for a serial motion picture.

The show pulled down $40 million according to boxofficemojo and production cost was about $40 million. The makes 4 million tickets sold. Assuming some repeat viewings there might be 2 million unique viewers. Let's say half of those would be willing to subscribe.

If a feature length movie cost $40 million, a TV length episode would cost one third as much or $14 million. (wow, that seems like a lot)

So our one million subscribers would have to pay $14 per episode to fund the show at a break even level according to this guesswork.

Would you pay? That's a little steep. Maybe the cost of a feature film are disproportionately high. Maybe cutting out the middle man could yield some efficiencies. Anyone here know the biz?

I'd pay for at least a year just because I am dying to know some things about the characters that haven't been shown yet.

Later,
Jason

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Sunday, January 22, 2006 8:49 AM

NEVERED

14 million seems a little high:

perhaps 14 for the first, (building/rebuilding the sets) and more around 5~7 million afterwards

anyway, there is no way this will happen without some sort of absolute guarantee that they will get their money back, and make some sort of profit.

I would be more than willing to pay theater-price tickets to see each episode, but i doubt you'll get 2 million people to do so also.

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Sunday, January 22, 2006 8:55 AM

THEPISTONENGINE

Lets just think this one through. The producers and directors and studio money men aren't looking for economically viable ways to bring us Firefly. They don't care. They are not going to set up some independant system of bringing in cash.

Why?

Because if the fan base is too small to do it the normal way, they'd put in all the time and effort and studio space to just break even.
If the fan base is big enough, they'd just run it on a network.

I just had a genius idea. Watch for a new thread shortly.

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Sunday, January 22, 2006 10:32 AM

SPEEDY

Quote:
Originally posted by ThePistonEngine:
Lets just think this one through. The producers and directors and studio money men aren't looking for economically viable ways to bring us Firefly. They don't care. They are not going to set up some independant system of bringing in cash.

My super duper plan didn't include studio money men. The artist provides the art and the fans provide the funds. Who needs third parties and middle men for distribution anyway? If the internet has shown us anything, it is that old distribution and funding models aren't the only way.

Howard Stern's new situation is similar. He happens to be funded by corporate folk, but he gets all the money and then does as he pleases with it. If we can get money into Joss' hands he can do the show.

It would be fairly easy for me to give Joss money via internet. He would then purchase the resources he needs to do the show. It would be like publishing a novel via vanity press.

Jason

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