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LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

slashfilm.com

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Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#71

Post by khafra »

thebooktocome wrote: post #65
jessriedel wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point wasn't the amount of good being done with the money, it was the size of the sacrifice being made as it affects the life of the donor. Likewise, suppose I donate 5% of my income to charity A which is 100 times as effective at saving lives as charity B. My neighbor, of similar means, donates 50% of his income to charity B because of his mistaken belief that charity B is just as good. Now, I may know he's maki…

That's a truly bizarre definition of honorable. If that's actually what being honorable actually means to people, then I no longer want to be there. In my book, you don't get any points for merely thinking you're right. You only get points for actually being right.

He didn't say "effective." He said "honorable."

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#72

Post by elliottcarlson »

patio11 wrote: post #4

Why isn't there an enterprising law firm going through the credits of all the Star Wars (and similar-vintage films with ongoing commercial potential), contacting every person on the list, and telling all the retired ones "There is a pot o' money with your name on it if you sign these papers which let us sue them for residuals on your behalf."? I have to imagine that the legal strategy required there is a for loop wit…

I could easily see such an enterprising law firm becoming the type of patent trolling law firm that everyone here dispises. While this is an extreme case of someone not getting a dime when he clearly deserves it, I am sure there is enough book doctoring out there that simply going after $STUDIO/$FILM/$TVSHOW could become profitable if the threats are there and the fear of where the monies should be gets uncovered.

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#73

Post by jordan0day »

scotu wrote: post #41
mmaunder wrote: post #21

Less than 5% of movies actually show a net income (or net profit as the article calls it). It's called Hollywood Accounting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting Summary: -Studios create a subsidiary corporation for each movie and they almost never show a profit. -The studios charge the subsidiary service fees for services performed like distribution, which lowers net income to zero or less. -They do thi…

The effects of this accounting practice looks a lot like the claimed effect of piracy...

This is a very good insight. I wonder how often the figures that get flashed around about how much money Hollywood is losing due to piracy are drawn directly from these fictionalizations created for an entirely separate purpose.

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#74

Post by jongraehl »

fialk wrote: post #67
mmaunder wrote: post #21

Less than 5% of movies actually show a net income (or net profit as the article calls it). It's called Hollywood Accounting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting Summary: -Studios create a subsidiary corporation for each movie and they almost never show a profit. -The studios charge the subsidiary service fees for services performed like distribution, which lowers net income to zero or less. -They do thi…

Another example of how criminal it is: A major studio will pay Technicolor $25 million annually for an exclusivity fee. Then Technicolor will charge inflated rates to the studios, so the films will appear to lose money.

You must mean that Technicolor pays the studio first, then overcharges later.

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#75

Post by chc »

thebooktocome wrote: post #65
jessriedel wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point wasn't the amount of good being done with the money, it was the size of the sacrifice being made as it affects the life of the donor. Likewise, suppose I donate 5% of my income to charity A which is 100 times as effective at saving lives as charity B. My neighbor, of similar means, donates 50% of his income to charity B because of his mistaken belief that charity B is just as good. Now, I may know he's maki…

That's a truly bizarre definition of honorable. If that's actually what being honorable actually means to people, then I no longer want to be there. In my book, you don't get any points for merely thinking you're right. You only get points for actually being right.

It makes no sense to judge people or award "points" for things wholly outside their control. As human beings, we aren't capable of perfect knowledge, and we don't have total control over most situations. So judging people on "actually being right" has limited utility. You may as well decide to slap a random stranger in retaliation for the weather being inclement.

For example: If Gandhi had been assassinated earlier, would that have made him a worse man?

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#76

Post by chopsueyar »

Tichy wrote: post #48

Even shares on "gross profit" can fail: it can be beneficial for the publisher to give away the product for free. I've had this happen to a J2ME app, which the publisher gave away for free in exchange for advertising (they were building presence and reputation by this). Another trick seems to be bundling - "buy this collection of things and you get thing x for free". So profits for selling thing x would be zero. I am…

If there was an exchange, there was consideration, and this seems more like a barter, not a free give-away.

I bet a good lawyer could have made a case for you.

I believe the IRS would consider the advertising to have some monetary value, which is what your gross profit fee would be based on.

The fair market value of goods and services received in exchange for goods or services you provide must be included in income in the year received.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc420.html

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#77

Post by JonnieCache »

officemonkey wrote: post #52
ErikCorry wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the fact that people would have noticed if they had replaced him in the sequels also strengthened his bargaining position.

I don't think Sir Alec ever thought there would be sequels. Especially since he dies in the first movie. I think it's just a matter of good bargaining. At the time, Guinness had been in the movies for three-plus decades. Prowse's career hovered just above the "extra" category. Prowse probably signed whatever contract they gave him; Guinness probably dictated terms.

>Prowse's career hovered just above the "extra" category.

At the time, Prowse was most famous as the Green Cross Code Man, from the UK's pedestrian safety public service films of the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRUBMBi_lp4

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#78

Post by anigbrowl »

patio11 wrote: post #4

Why isn't there an enterprising law firm going through the credits of all the Star Wars (and similar-vintage films with ongoing commercial potential), contacting every person on the list, and telling all the retired ones "There is a pot o' money with your name on it if you sign these papers which let us sue them for residuals on your behalf."? I have to imagine that the legal strategy required there is a for loop wit…

Why isn't there an enterprising law firm going through the credits of all the Star Wars (and similar-vintage films with ongoing commercial potential), contacting every person on the list, and telling all the retired ones "There is a pot o' money with your name on it if you sign these papers which let us sue them for residuals on your behalf."?

Because it's a violation of professional ethics to solicit clients in this way. That's one reason you occasionally see articles by lawyers explaining in copious detail why situation XYZ actually rests on a totally unstable legal foundation; they're hoping some interested party will notice the article and come to them.

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#79

Post by anigbrowl »

rdl wrote: post #8
GeneTraylor wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, look at the options given to Skype employees [1], being in the valley doesn't magically mean that your safe from the dark side of the force. [1] http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/26/skypes-worthless-employee-s...

Skype was Private Equity, not normal VC/founder/team terms. very rarely do founders fuck their employees over, relative to how employees are treated in most places. Founders vs. VCs or Founders vs. PE is more common, but founders at a late-stage company should be a lot more educated and resourced. It's mainly at the idea to startup to series A stage where people are fairly universally honorable, at least among the to…

You're getting into 'no true scotsman' territory here. Everyone in the film industry is very nice and decent as well, until you run into someone who isn't.

Re: LucasFilm Tells Darth Vader that Return of the Jedi Hasn’t Made a Profit

#80

Post by el_chapitan »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #53
noonespecial wrote: post #37

I'm always fascinated by the way institutionalized dishonesty creeps into entire industries. From used car salesmen to film moguls, once a certain practice has ossified over the years into "everyone in the biz does it", practices that would result in jail time in other industries are simply accepted as business as usual. Even more curious, everyone to the man knows its wrong, but no one moves to change it. The empero…

You can't be the 1st to change; you'd get run over.

That is the attitude of all the people who later look at a either a working process, or a working product and say, "damn, why didn't I think of that?"
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