Kerry Butler: "Lincoln Center, make a deal with unions and broadcast your archive recordings"- Page 4

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/26/20 at 11:12am

Threads like this remind me of when I worked at Trader Joe's, which, if you're not familiar, is a grocery chain famous for discontinuing items if they don't meet high standards of sales (or if it turns out the manufacturer isn't worth it to them). People would always say to me, "But IIIIIII bought it!" when I would tell them their favorite snack or whatever had been discontinued. That may be true that YOU as an individual were a loyal purchaser, but there weren't enough of you. Sorry about your chimichurri rice! I loved it too!

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 6/26/20 at 11:24am

I absolutely agree with Hogan that shows that did well on Broadway like The Band's Visit or even comedies like Something Rotten aimed at a wider audience might be total bombs with the wide public.

But Top Shelf hits like Hamilton and The Book of Mormon and first class star-driven revivals such as Hello, Dolly and My Fair Lady and the class jukebox musicals like Beautiful and Jersey Boys when presented to an audience of millions could haul in enough revenue to make it all worthwhile.

Eventually they might develop a way of predetermining which shows had little chance of succeeding and they would only film the promising shows.

A way of sharing revenues would also have to be negotiated so all would get a good piece of revenue from a successful show.

It's not like Broadway can't use the money. Wouldn't you like to see a new high-budget Roundabout revival every year?

It could also give the best Broadway stars a wider following leading to more money-making chances.

But, of course, it's not a simple undertaking and I'm just speculating.

Lot of Luddites here for a hip young bunch of New Yorkers. We've had a revolution in point to point data transfer that will affect everything.

I've said more than enough.. I go away now.

 

Updated On: 6/26/20 at 11:24 AM

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 6/26/20 at 12:09pm

darquegk said: "If subscriptions and public response are through the roof for Disney’s distribution of Hamilton, this discussion could soon look a lot different."

Ben Platt was on Jimmy Fallon last night, and Jimmy brought up the rumors of a DEH film staring Ben in the works at Universal.  He also mentioned that with something like Hamilton being released, more and more shows will want to capitalize on that.  Besides the fact that he's conflating filmed proshots and movies, the point remains that Disney might just set a precedent here.  If Hamilton does well, as I'm sure it will, more and more shows/production companies will see a market in proshots, movies of musicals, etc.  And by the time they "discover" the extent of the market for these shows, there will probably already be quite a few that have been released.  Who knows - maybe we could finally get the Wicked movie out of the way, too.

[cmorrow]

Posted: 6/26/20 at 1:16pm

ETA: libraries have reference material that can only be used in house. This is material is on various subjects. Now, can someone please explain to me, the difference between reference material that can only be used in house, VS say, the TOFT archive which is viewed the same way but in a video format."

I work at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center. (Before I say anything else, I should add that I post here as an individual, not as an official spokesperson for the NYPL.) I'd like to try to answer your question, but I'm not entirely sure I understand it. You're asking what's the difference between reference materials that must be used on site (let's say rare books, or photos), and the videos in the TOFT archive? Is that correct?

Well, one answer would be that the TOFT videos were created under a very specifically worded contract, one that dictates exactly how they are made, where they are stored, the conditions under which they can be viewed and by whom, etc. And everyone involved (including Kerry Butler, by the way) has to sign the contract before the show is taped, and abide by it. But other, non-video materials held by the library are restricted for various reasons. A photo may be under copyright, and a rare book may be restricted simply because it's rare, and/or fragile, and possibly irreplaceable.

I'm not sure if that's what you're asking, but hope this helps.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 6/26/20 at 7:25pm

MollyJeanneMusic said: "darquegk said: "If subscriptions and public response are through the roof for Disney’s distribution of Hamilton, this discussion could soon look a lot different."

Ben Platt was on Jimmy Fallon last night, and Jimmy brought up the rumors of a DEH film staring Ben in the works at Universal. He also mentioned that with something like Hamilton being released, more and more shows will want to capitalize on that. Besides the fact that he's conflating filmed proshots and movies, the point remains that Disney might just set a precedent here. If Hamilton does well, as I'm sure it will, more and more shows/production companies will see a market in proshots, movies of musicals, etc. And by the time they "discover" the extent of the market for these shows, there will probably already be quite a few that have been released. Who knows - maybe we could finally get the Wicked movie out of the way, too. "

Hamilton is coming out on a streaming platform many have. Therefor, it would be hard to track its success. If this were done in movie theatres, that would be a totally different story. Also, Hamilton is not  a good test subject for this sort of thing. Hamilton has done something that hasn't been done in years. It's a show where everyone  that knows nothing about Broadway can quote, it's songs go past just those who enjoy Broadway musicals etc. It's totally embedded itself into common culture. Take current events for example, Bolton's book is called The Room where it Happens. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/26/20 at 7:30pm

It’s not hard to track its success. Disney knows how many people watch. The same is true with Netflix and their shows - the lowest watched shows don’t get renewed.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 6/26/20 at 7:33pm

Jordan Catalano said: "It’s not hard to track its success. Disney knows how many people watch. The same is true with Netflix and their shows - the lowest watched shows don’t get renewed."

I know that its not hard to track success by seeing how many people hit play on something that is streaming. Same with music. But, what I think and what I meant was that it would be hard to track how successful it is in terms of finances as it relates to other shows trying the pro shot method.

[sparksatmidnight]

Posted: 6/27/20 at 2:41am

I mean, the "industry" does have a following pattern. If Disney does Hamilton, then Aladdin (which was already filmed), then they keep doing with something else, I'm sure someone else would pick up the hint that it is working for them and would try to follow.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/27/20 at 8:53am

It can work for Disney because they’re A) not filming on Broadway, and more importantly B) they have their own distribution network.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 6/27/20 at 10:01am

sparksatmidnight said: "I mean, the "industry" does have a following pattern. If Disney does Hamilton, then Aladdin (which was already filmed), then they keep doing with something else, I'm sure someone else would pick up the hint that it is working for them and would try to follow."

No, no other producer would pick up on the hit. I mean, sure, they might, but at the end of the day, it's beyond expensive to do and a major financial blow. If it is a Disney show and it's filmed by Disney, if it should tank, they can brush off the financial loss and walk away. Most other peroducers can't afford that. Disney is it's own beast. What they can afford to do is not always something that any other producer on Broadway can.