I barely slept last night, but I am incredibly awake. This is the first day that I’ll walk INTO the office of a public Platinum Studios, Inc.

We had a PR and marketing strategy meeting today to go over our initiatives, timelines, and what we can and can’t say. The rules make sense because we don’t want to misinform current or existing shareholders. The biggest restriction is what we can say about the future, which is very different from when we were private.

I’ll give you an example. Well, before the example I guess I need a legal caveat too: this is a fictional description folks!

With that said, without training, I could have said to the press: “lots of exciting deals in the hopper at Platinum Studios.” But let’s dissect: “lots” is too difficult to put a number on, “exciting” could be problematic because it’s an adjective, and evidently “hopper” in Jheraki means something like “destroy the Sparkling Bunny,” so what is one to do?

Essentially, the only thing I can say that won’t require layers of approval is: “With 100% conviction, CEO Rosenberg stated that the company’s name is Platinum Studios, Inc.”

In all seriousness, “deals in the hopper” could be interpreted several different ways, such as “deals already done but not announced” or “deals are being worked on and, if they go through, are exciting.” So we have to be clear.

And, just for fun….
Who would think it, but the Jheraki language is owned by Platinum Studios and spoken by some of the aliens in our 3800+ character library.

Just to cover myself, I am currently not aware of any of our characters actually destroying bunnies of any kind, but we have more than 3800, so one never knows. I think I should also point out that no Sparkling Bunnies were destroyed by me in writing this blog. Or at least none are presently admitting such destruction.

See you tomorrow!

Platinum Studios Goes Public!
(official press release here)

Wow, my first day as CEO of what is now officially a public company with stock symbols in a week or so for trading on the NASDAQ-owned OTC boards!

What is Platinum Studios, Inc? Read the “About Platinum Studios ” , or go to our site, or call our Investor Relations folks.

Should I chronicle my new adventures?
Although I do know the process of going from a private to a public company (our last 15 months), I’ve now only had one day of being CEO of a public company. Actually, just ten hours.

There will be lots to talk about, including all the rules of what we CAN’T say. For instance, adjectives are often a no-no and so are phrases like “the biggest.” More fun about this as I learn it tomorrow.

So MINUTE ONE happened like this: I was in a meeting with Brian Altounian, the best president imagineable, and our General Counsel Helene Pretsky (I’ll brag about her in a couple of days). It was 1:00 PM. Brian answered his phone and looked over at me: “Scott, you’re now the CEO of a public company.” Helene jumped up and we high-fived, and just as I was going to simultaneously click my heels and hug those-who-it-couldn’t-have-been-done-without (Brian and Helene!) and revel in it together, there was a knock at the door and I’m pulled out for an important deadline. OK. I’d have to revel in it later.

Imagine an hour hand going round and round a clock. So, MUCH later, I’m pulled out of a different meeting and I’m led into Helene’s office where a champagne toast to all of us was about to happen….. The cork, just about to be popped and paper cups in our hands -- a tablespoon, I just wanted a tablespoon, or a bubble, give me a tiny bubble -- and then another knock on the door. It was the ONE call I said I couldn’t miss.

The heel clicking and toast in paper cups had been 15 months in the making, so what was a little more time…?

For the rest of the day, we all took congratulatory calls (and high fives from our really awesome staff) while also running in and out of meetings.

My day ended at around 11 p.m. and ultimately, we did get together to clink, er, tap cups!

Oh, and the heel clicking? That DID happen when I got the best news of the day: my three girls (my incredibly loving wife, Pam, and my two beautiful daughters) called – separately -- (so my kids called me WITHOUT Pam putting them up to it) -- to say they were proud of their dad.

Oh, and THEN my kids asked if they had any of our stock. And how many shares. And what they’re worth. And told me to get back to work.

Tomorrow? Well that’s day two.

How many times have you read that horror is dead in Hollywood? I seem to read about it almost every time a horror movie does poorly at the box office, let alone 2-3 in a row. Right now, everyone’s bagging on torture porn (a movie that’s made and marketed specifically as a torture genre of horror that’s usually with a real person doing the killing, as opposed to a supernatural force). However, my running theme has always been that one can’t simply lump all forms of horror into a single category.

A few weekends ago, who took it? A bunch of zombies fighting a few humans! This is a zombie/video game horror and, in fact, a different kind of zombie movie than most: it’s more serious (Consider Shaun of the Dead). So do you lump this one into “horror?” To everyone who doesn’t watch horror, I guess so. But the real answer is that anyone who knows and watches “scary” movies would tell you that this is a zombie movie.

Interestingly, based purely on demographics, female movie-goers make up 58% of the “scary” movie audience. However, for the third installment in the Evil series, women only contributed to 42% of the audience. Why? While we cannot disregard the box office competition, there is another obvious factor we should consider: the Resident Evil game demos are heavier into male players.

The only answer a layman will ever need. Read on…

If you don’t know and ask someone who actually knows, then the answer just leaves you even foggier. You wonder: do I need to go download Web 2.0 into my computer? Is it a program? A new web I can’t find?

In fact, go poll every intelligent computer using person in this country of any age group and I bet only a small minority can answer the question. Most people wouldn’t give the wrong answer, instead, they’d check off “uh, I don’t know.”

The one line answer is that it’s a made up term to describe what the web is today.
That’s it.
There’s no program to buy or software to download.
You log on like you always do and you’re in and on Web 2.0. It’s like living in modern times. For example, when did the modern modern times start? Last year? A specific date in the 90’s (or 1890’s). Is 2007 more modern than 2006? It’s all relative.

The easiest way to understand it is simply this: the web in 2007, compared to 1997, is has evolved to be much more advanced, with more people using it and socializing, and more businesses embracing it as an absolute fact of life and of business. Boards and communities and shopping and videos existed in 1997, but they’re shinier and better now. So it’s the evolution over time.

But what it really is to us normal folks is the age-old adage:

THE CUSTOMER IS KING!

Finally, more and more companies started realizing that the customer is king. That’s an old concept that has taken hold now on the web. The web has become over the past few years what users/viewers/customers demanded. In fact, it’s what the individual users started making themselves, just like people use to make their own shirts a zillion years ago until stores popped up to sell already made ones.

Realizing this, marketers now want to make viewers (customers) happy by giving them what they want such as easy-to-use user generated sites, easily navigable news, information and communities, and easy to use shopping services with an emphasis on customer service and availability, instead of just availability. And now it’s easy to compare prices with free sites. And we get lots of gadgets that we’re learning to understand, too!

So what’s the main difference between the last few years and now? It’s us. The users. Us. Normal people (remember – we used to be called people, btw). We win, and so do companies who give us what we want. And so do marketers who help us find what we want. And anyone who creates a need we didn’t know about – but that we now want.

The customer is king, and business is better off and more profitable because of it.

Hollywood Talent Agencies: should they be allowed to invest in film financing and production companies?

Are agencies crossing the line? Especially when they are technically monopolies (agents have a hold on procuring talent)?

I have an answer that runs counter to many, but more on that in a moment.

This question was posed in the April 3-9 weekly international edition of The Hollywood Reporter, and is partly due to the news that talent agency Endeavor, who’s known for being aggressive, is now a minority investor in film finance company Media Rights Capital.

The real question is whether it’s good for us or bad for us (the “us” being talent, production companies, and corporations who work with agencies).

Full disclosure: No agency has a financial interest in our company, Platinum Studios, Inc. (http://www.platinumstudios.com/), but we do work with every agency, and in particular we work closely with Endeavor. As further disclosure, we work more closely with agencies than many other companies, and depend upon them greatly, because Platinum Studios is in the unique position of having one of the largest libraries of comic book characters (thousands), so in addition to a traditional film and television division, we have the prominent webcomics community, DrunkDuck (http://www.drunkduck.com/),Platinum Studios Mobile (http://www.platinumstudiosmobile.com), merchandising, publishing and licensing joint ventures such as The KISS Comics Group (http://www.kisscomicsgroup.com), digital publishing, print publishing (http://www.platinumstudioscomics.com) and the franchise “Comic Book Challenge” (http://www.comicbookchallenge.com). We look to agencies to help package film, television, and, because we’re unique in Hollywood, we also look to them for new media partnerships, sponsorships, building our mobile and marketing arm and helping build our “Comic Book Challenge.”

From our unique position, we would be among the first to feel the effects of harmful conflicts, if they existed, and the only thing we’ve seen so far could best be described as helpful.

Sure, if Hollywood was part of the “real world”, where monopolies and conflicts are regulated and backroom dealing is frowned upon, there could be problems. However, Hollywood has always been about conflicts. It has thrived on them. Hollywood has always skirted laws. Look at managers: by law (in favor of agencies), managers are not allowed to procure work for talent. But they do. All the time. And managers have financial interests in productions.

Conflicts at entertainment law firms are so common that conflict letters are sent out like water. Fortunately, the firms DO send out those letters, so clients are appraised.

But here’s the radical thought, the one I see as the reality of the situation: Talent, production companies, and other corporations seek out agencies, law firms, and managers because of their conflicts, not in spite of them. In fact, it’s not conflict but the other “c” word that’s often used: connections. You typically won’t even hear anyone say “what are your conflicts” as much as “what are your connections,” and “who do you represent that might be of value to me.”

And to the “agencies are monopolies” argument, that’s just silly. First, there are many agencies, so talent can move from one to the other with ease. Contracts often are not enforced even for agents leaving one agency for another. The agencies know that if they make their talent upset, their talent will leave.

The agencies and people who work with them really have one major mutual goal: get projects done.

Here’s an interesting tidbit on comic books, success, and the box office:

Only three months into the year, three different comic book based movies have been #1 box office hits. None of them were hits in print as comics. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was self-published in low runs by the creators in the mid-1980’s, Ghost Rider is a lesser known Marvel comic that hasn’t had regular monthly publication in years, and the 300 graphic novel sold under 20,000 copies when first ordered by comic book shops.

It’s counter-intuitive, but there’s no correlation between the success in print as a comic and its success at the box office. And at least this year, there has been no apparent cannibalization of box office receipts, even though all three comic book based movies were released in February and March and have taken five out of the last six weekends.

300 Producer Mark Canton sits down for an exclusive interview with The Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Interview Series, to discuss the process of bringing comics and graphic novels to the big screen, how he assembled a top notch team to make 300 and his next comic-based film project.

SCOTT MITCHELL ROSENBERG: Mark, you deserve some bragging, and I know you won’t do it yourself, so I’m going to talk about you in the third person for a moment:

Mark Canton has had just about every enviable experience possible in Hollywood. He was Chairman of Sony, President of Warner Brothers, and now gets to do what he likes best: producing. Mark also greenlit the first Batman movie, which took incredible effort, then another billion dollar franchise, "Men in Black", which was a strong risk at the time (full disclosure: yours truly signed the Men in Black deal at Sony), and another risk and a new bar for CG with live action: "300". Mark’s next development is another graphic novel based feature: "Killing Demons".

OK, Mark, let’s start the interview. Wow, the USA Today piece is terrific. The buzz that you’ve got going on this movie is absolutely amazing.

MARK CANTON: We’ve got a rare occasion. The people are buzzing going in and instead of being cynical coming out, they’re going, “oh, that was f–ing awesome!” So that’s when it’s really a nice time.

SMR: Well, I’ve got a question for you: You’re the one who got Batman up and going theatrically, and who greenlit my own movie, “Men In Black;” What are the challenges you went through? How did it all start with “300” coming to life?

MC: I knew Frank Miller going back to the “Dark Knight Returns” days, and of course, was a big fan of his and “Sin City.” Those are the kind of things that I shepherded in my days as an executive – “Batman,” “M.I.B.” and “Starship Troopers,” and numerous other movies that have gone on to stand the test of time, each in their own way.

Interestingly enough, Gianni Nunnari and I had been talking about working together for a long time – we’re great friends. He had convinced Frank Miller to option the rights on “300,” which was very hard, and at a certain point he needed some help with financing. I was looking at his portfolio, and my son Henry, who at the time was 10…

SMR: How old is he now?

MC: He’s going to be 16 – I shouldn’t say this because of the content of the comic book, except from an historical viewpoint, it is educational – but he said ‘Dad, that’s the one, you’ve got to get that one.’

But that’s really how it started. Gianni and I were able, because of my mutual relationship with Frank and the mutual respect, to make sure that every time an option came up during the arduous development period, because we know it’s just, I don’t have enough hours to go into how long it took to get this thing made. But, I’d say long ago I established myself as someone who doesn’t ever let up.

SMR: Actually, Frank Miller said that it’s you who pushed and pushed and pushed, and how obsessive you were about the story.

MC: Yes, that’s true. And when Zack Snyder came on board – Gianni’s the one who found Zack Snyder as well – but when Zack came on board, he just had such an amazing vision of how he could take this brilliant graphic novel and be completely faithful yet bring his own vision. For example, there are characters like The Queen, who’s such an impactful part of our picture, who women can connect with. Women love the story because it’s so contemporary in nature.

SMR: Is that why you increased her role in the film from what it was in the comic ?

MC: Yes, we wanted to balance it out. The true story is, amongst their other virtues – they certainly had things that were not virtues, like discarding anyone who was not “physically capable,” which is in the first scene in the movie – but amongst their virtues was the fact that The Queen was every bit the partner of the King. And that comes across in every way in the movie. And it’s a fabulous addition which Frank loved, that was not part of his graphic novel.

You know, Frank is a great partner. We’re already trying to figure out with him where we go from here with the Spartans. It’s a rare movie, because people can’t get enough. I’ve never had this experience in my entire career, even with the successes of a “Lethal Weapon” or a “Batman,” where people in the “300” focus groups said “can you make the movie longer?” You know, that’s a first.

SMR: You took on a major career challenge – a major theatrical challenge – with the level of background, the CG; you’ve actually created the new bar. How were you willing to take that leap? As Chairman of Sony and former President of Warner Bros, obviously studios have faith in you. But how did you actually have faith that you’d be able to pull all that off?

MC: I think this was, in the truest sense, a team sport – movies at their purest, are a team sport. This was about a lot of people lining up all in one direction. And when Zack Snyder did his test – which is now something everyone’s clamoring for on the internet, to see the original test which got Warner to say yes – he just had such a vision. It was really more responding to the amount of talent that Zack has, and his leadership abilities, which many directors don’t have. They don’t have the ability to get everybody to drink the Kool–Aid the same way, you know? And that’s sort of it. From a creative standpoint, the way Chris Watts supervised the effects, or Larry Fong, who shot the movie, everybody was on one focused path from day one. It was the only way Zack would accept it.

And the producer’s job is to support that and to also question it. But, Zack is a rare personality, the kind of leader who treats everyone the same way. And by doing that, whether you’re a crew member, or a star, or a producing partner, it created a very hard to believe, “chill” set. I mean, we shot this amazing movie in 60 days on a stage, with only one day outside, in Montreal, Canada. It’s hard to believe that what you see on the screen can be envisioned in 60 days in Canada.

And that, I think, is why, when you talk about setting the bar, I think all the other studios are responding to that, and are talking to their executives already – even if they haven’t seen the movie! Because it’s in the air – how do you do something like this? On the other hand, I’m not sure you can do it that often, because it’s hard to repeat. When you make a little history, let’s say “Matrix,” or the original “Batman,” if you set the bar high, it’s hard to repeat it. Once you start copying it, it’s not as unique. And that’s the biggest challenge we’re experiencing right now, before we open, is the unique–ness. Have you’ve seen this week, that people are questioning the politics of the film? Which side is George Bush, which side isn’t George Bush?

SMR: Yes, I found that quite interesting…

MC: It’s wonderful. Let them all question. It’s wonderful that people are responding to the politics, to the morality, to the sensuality, to the history – that they want to authenticate it. In the USA Today piece, the scholar we used talks about how historically we are validated, and yet we did some things that…, who knows that Herodetes, who Frank based the tale on, he was the first historian, really. But it’s a piece of history, and we used a lot of the actual words like “we will fight in the shade…”

SMR: That’s always been my favorite phrase…

MC: It’s awesome, and it comes across amazing in the movie. You know you’re firing on all cylinders when you make a water–cooler movie that people, when they leave the theatre, like they did at the premiere the other night at Mann’s Chinese (in Hollywood, CA), and rather than running to their cars to leave, rather than being cynical like they can be in this town and putting the movie down, they stood outside and were buzzing about the way different people are impacted by the movie.

Kids see one thing, because it’s such a great ride like comics and graphic novels can be. Adults have never seen anything quite like it – the combination of the picture quality, the artistry, the music, which is dazzling – it’s very, very unique, because it’s a combination of more traditional, epic movie composition and rock & roll.

SMR: I was talking to the folks over at Warner Records and they were astounded too.

MC: They came out with the CD yesterday, and it’s already on iTunes ; and they also cut a vinyl version for the purists, which is so cool...

Right now, we’re firing on all cylinders, and Zack Snyder deserves the credit, and that’s how it is. But we’re all very proud, and very happy.

And I think, from an artistic standpoint I’m looking forward to partnering with you on the projects we’ve been talking about. I like to think, in my career, in the sense of, you know, Tim Burton was the genius, and Barry Sonnenfeld did his thing on “Men In Black,” Zack Snyder’s at the high, high end of talent. But at the same time, you like to think from the contribution that I made, or we made collectively, individually, it just was a relentless support system, to making sure that people were listening, including Zack, to the sound of their own voice.

And then the marketing – I get deeply involved with the studio on the editing and the marketing. I think that’s a critical component of it because, you can’t just let go. Even today, you don’t want to be at the studio taking my calls all day because I’m just torturing people…

SMR: I think this movie shows how “torturing” works; your whole career, pretty much, with the movies you’ve selected… And being proactively involved in marketing is a rare for a producer and a remarkable talent in you.

MC: It’s a belief system and it’s whatever god–given talent I may have. I’m driven on this. I love the movie as a fan. I love Frank Miller’s work as a fan. So from a fan–boy standpoint, I’m there.

And also, I have great partners – Gianni Nunnari, Jeff Silver, Bernie Goldman, these guys have all brought their own contribution to the team here. You look at the credits in this movie, they’re massive – there’s something like 12 minutes of credits at the end. It’s crazy – the credits take longer than it did to shoot the movie! (laughs)

SMR: How long did it take to train and build up the guys you have in the movie?

MC: About 7 or 8 months and they could never stop. Zack brought in Mark Twight – he’s the Navy SEAL and Covert Ops trainer, and he has his own way of doing things. Their regimen was very difficult and it was never the same, so it varied every day. And it wasn’t long, but it was very intense. They couldn’t stop while they were shooting. Usually when you’re shooting a movie you stop training, but our guys couldn’t. Every day they were just wearing these loincloths.

SMR: You don’t need to name names, but was it kind of like boot camp, where some people just couldn’t take it?

MC: If you couldn’t do it, you couldn’t be in this movie.

SMR: So they were Spartans themselves...

MC: They had to be to look the way they do. There’s no artificial body stuff. There’s coloring, but that’s what they did, they got ripped. They made all of us look bad. [Laughs]

SMR: What’s your next project, and how do think this experience with “300” is going to help?

MC: Well I love my next project, and love that it’s with you, Scott, and Platinum Studios It’s certainly going to help “Killing Demons .” First of all, you have a great sensibility – we connected years ago on “Men In Black.” What we want to do with “Killing Demons” is to have that heroic character again, who can put themselves up against – like Batman or Leonides – up against all odds, including sacrifice if need be, to conquer their own inner demons but to also impact the world around them.

I think that we have a great, great character here, and I also think it’s a world that… now we have the technology to do it in a way where an audience can get that kind of experience, that you couldn’t get five years ago. So to me, it’s just like what we did with “300”: the combination of really, really good storytelling – great storytelling, emotional storytelling, which is more old–fashioned – combined with the use of today’s new technology. It breaks new ground, and I think that’s going to benefit us on “Killing Demons.”

SMR: How would you describe “Killing Demons” to a studio exec or savvy financer?”

MC: I’d say “Batman with demons,” but today’s Batman, absolutely, not the old–fashioned Batman.

SMR: I remember the second you first fell in love with it. I was sitting in your lobby, with that “thing” next to me…

MC: [Laughs] Yeah , the “Land of the Dead”…

SMR: I was actually reading the last part of it for the first time. You saw it, grabbed it, said “WOW,” and took it home and called the next morning saying “WOW.”

MC: Well it is a “WOW.” And it’s funny, that you were sitting next to that model head from “Land of the Dead.” We did “Land of the Dead” and Zack did “Dawn of the Dead.” That’s another interesting connection as well – Zombie lovers. I’m thrilled about our association, and I expect it to continue well beyond “Killing Demons” as well.

SMR: One interesting thing about “killing Demons,” it was never distributed to stores. It was so obscure. The creator, Peter Aaron Rose, made them himself, and was self–selling them at conventions. We bumped into the book, and we actually misplaced it for a period of time, then found it and basically it was an “we have to make this…”

MC: I didn’t even know that…

SMR: …and then we called him. So the world has not seen this book. We’re going to talk with the creator about putting it up on the webcomic community, www.DrunkDuck.com (OK, I’m plugging Drunk Duck because Platinum Studios, which I’m Chairman of, owns it!).

MC: That’s great. Readers will love it. I think that’s a great thing and definitely my next focus.

SMR: Mark, is there anything else you would like to get across here?

MC: Well, most of the people who will read this, I think, are probably online because they’re savvy and they know that something’s coming. And I think for them, I’m just glad that we can satisfy what it takes to get out of the house and go to the movies. Based on the type of readers that you have, and from what I’ve been seeing around the net, they want to go to the IMAX because that’s a whole other experience….and then they’ll get back online. Ultimately we make the movie for the audience and I think that that’s where we’re going to succeed here.

The budget and the way we managed the movie is something to mention as well. When people see it, they’re amazed, and I think that matters. I’m always proud of the way we can manage the process. And at the end of the day, I think that again, the movie’s crossed over in every direction.

From our preview process, and the fact that women, teenagers, adult men, adult women, young women, all the quadrants are responding. It’s exciting, and I think with all of the genius of the campaign that Warner Bros has done, the single thing that’s most exciting is, sometimes when you get a present, it’s a great box and it’s not a good gift, and you open this box, I think there’s a great gift for everyone in there. So, we’re proud of that.

Wow! There’s been lots of blog and board activity all over the place since The New York Times broke the story about Platinum Studios’ acquisition of DrunkDuck! The Webcomics Community.

Most of the world had no idea there even was a webcomics community, and that comics are already phenomenally more read online than in print, and will continue to skyrocket. I’ll talk about that more in later blogs.

Of particular interest to the business press is that Platinum Studios is championing instituting a new revenue and distribution model for the multi-billion dollar comic book industry with the company’s concept of Full Circle Commercialization. From The New York Times article: Platinum plans to use the site to create a broad mix of revenue streams, "full-circle commercialization," for the company and its content contributors.

So what is Full-Circle Commercialization other than a newly coined term by yours truly?



Essentially, draw a circle and put a dot in the middle. The middle is the underlying intellectual property. Not the comic but the characters. Put one spoke to the comic. Another to wallpaper, another to apparel and another to toys and so on. A circle is defined as an infinite amount of points at a given distance from a point within it called the center. To us, there is an infinite amount of ways of utilizing what comes out from that central IP. Comics, film television and advertising are just a few examples.

In a way, this is like the ultimate end cap at a store that someone can go to once they like any aspect of the property. It happens all the time with vintage rock acts. Someone will see the t-shirt and think it’s cool and not realize that it’s from a famous band. Then, when they find out there’s a whole world behind it, they get into the other merchandise. It’s irrelevant at that point whether they know it was ever based on a comic book character or not.

I think of my young daughter and a KISS shirt she liked. She had no idea that KISS is an industry onto itself. She just liked the word and logo. Now, she has cd’s, key chains, books and you name it.

Those are my thoughts of the day.

Hi,

We were featured yesterday in the New York Times. The article is below and I hope you enjoy it. After the article are some blogging quotes regarding what people are saying.

Best,
Scott

ARTICLE:

Quote:

For One Publisher, the Life of Every Comic Book Starts on the Web September 25, 2006 By MICHEL MARRIOTT For generations of Americans, comic books were the first real page-turners. But the audience for their digital counterpart, called Webcomics, has for the most part been limited to a niche group of comic book creators and their most ardent followers. Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the chairman of Platinum Studios, a privately held California entertainment company that develops and adapts comics for other media, wants to change that. Platinum, a relative newcomer in an industry dominated by Marvel and DC Comics, took the first step last month when it bought DrunkDuck.com, a popular Webcomics site, for an undisclosed sum. It is opening the revamped site today at the same Web address as DrunkDuck 2.0. Mr. Rosenberg plans to begin publishing Platinum’s comic books online before they go to press for traditional distribution through stores and newsstands. “We’re tearing down the wall” that has separated traditional printed comic books from those emerging online, he said. “We completely believe in this model.” The digital impact on previously print-only content reflects similar pressures on other traditional media. Comic books, which have appealed almost exclusively to children and young adult readers — who are more likely to be lured to electronic entertainment than their parents — have been especially hard hit as sales decline and press runs grow more costly. But the comic-book industry has more than $500 million a year in revenue, and still has many very popular titles. And Mr. Rosenberg has shown that he can produce hits. With his previous company, Malibu Comics, he published “The Men in Black” comic books and was credited with taking the concept to Hollywood, where it became a billion-dollar movie franchise for Sony Pictures, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. That payoff for what began as an independent comic series is something Mr. Rosenberg hopes to repeat, starting with DrunkDuck. DrunkDuck was founded four years ago by Dylan Squires, then a freelance computer programmer. (The name came from a logo created by a friend, based on Mr. Squires’s pet duck.) Mr. Squires, who lives in the Canoga Park section of Los Angeles, operated the site in his spare time, and it quickly became an extended community of Webcomics artists, writers and fans. As part of the deal with Platinum, he has been named director of software development for Platinum Studios’ New Media Group. The revamped DrunkDuck site will continue to encourage the growth of independent comic book creators by distributing their work digitally at no cost to them or to consumers, Mr. Rosenberg said. Some of the comics appear as static panels, while others are lightly spiced with soundtracks, audio effects and minimal animation, and this will continue. But a crucial difference, he said, will be in how Platinum plans to use the site to create a broad mix of revenue streams, “full-circle commercialization,” for the company and its content contributors. For example, Mr. Rosenberg said he planned aggressive marketing of the site — which already receives a million unique viewers a month, mostly drawn by word of mouth — coupled with advertising sales. While the advertising revenue would not be shared with the comic creators, artists would share in the revenue from downloadable comics for cellphones and mobile media devices like iPods, comics-related ring tones, wallpaper and items like T-shirts or plastic scale models of comic book characters. Product creators, Mr. Rosenberg said, can expect to receive 10 percent of the adjusted gross revenue earned by sales. At the same time, Platinum, which has the rights to thousands of comics characters, is moving to make the Web another outlet on a par with its print publications. “We are making online our first window,” Mr. Rosenberg said. He said that beginning this week, all of Platinum’s comics, including 100 graphic novels and series in production, would be published online at DrunkDuck 2.0 before any are printed. “We want to make a statement that it is safe to do this, that people can do this.” Some Webcomics that draw a large readership could be printed and distributed as traditional comic books, as well as be developed into television shows and feature films, he said. Platinum recently announced that it was creating Platinum Studios Mobile, a division that will sell sound and image downloads for cellphones. And products could begin with simply a catchy logo on a T-shirt or a mug, which could ultimately drive interest for the development of a full-fledged comic book. “We can make them work for the Web,” Mr. Rosenberg said, “and then we can figure out how to make them work for print.” Marvel Entertainment, the industry leader, also has digital comics on its Web site (www.marvel.com). But the Web-based comics are used to promote printed Marvel comic books, like Daredevil and Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, said Marvel’s publisher, Dan Buckley. “We realize what a great promotional tool the Internet is,” he said. But like other print media, “we’re all waiting” as digital technologies create challenges and opportunities, he said. Mr. Buckley said he was not yet convinced that reading a comic book online delivered the “whole experience” of reading a printed comic book. In the meantime, Marvel Mobile sells Marvel character-based products, including downloadable ring tones, wallpaper and video games for mobile phones. Many see no alternative for the industry but to adapt to digital technology. “With the Net, you can get to a smaller group of people at a larger scale,” said Heiko Ramirez, who produces a popular podcast about Webcomics on the blog Digital Strips (www.digitalstrips.com), where he is editor in chief. He noted that a comic that might attract only a handful of readers locally could, at no additional cost, find a readership of 10,000 nationally. Nonetheless, “print will never go away,” he added. “People like to own what they love.”

BLOGS:

Quote:

DrunkDuck has always had a strong community spirit and this deal can provide great stability for the site itself.” – Black Kitty from the Drunk Duck Forums at http://www.drunkduck.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5031 “I think this is a cool move. I also want to congratulate all you DD members who made Drunk Duck what it is. Without you Drunk Duck would have faded but you guys keep the fires hot.” – The Gigcast at http://gigcast.nightgig.com/ “It’s been obvious to me for a while that Platinum was on the verge of entering the webcomics world: this is one of the best moves they could have made.” – Joey Manley at http://www.talkaboutcomics.com “For a role model, Random House, Smon & Schuster and the other majors might turn to Platinum Studios, which has just bought DrunkDuck.com and will be posting comics online before they go into print.” – David Rothman on http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=5561 “The Revolution Will Be Webcomicized!” – DJ Coffman at http://yirmumah.net/big-news/ “The Revolution Will Be Webcomicized!” or “…when I entered that comic book challenge contest, I had no idea about their webcomic or new media plans, and when I found out about those after winning the contest, to me, it was like winning multiple contests, just to be involved or attached to an endeavor of the sort.” – DJ Coffman at http://yirmumah.net/big-news/

There has been a lot of buzz around “Snakes on a Plane” recently and many a lot of the media is saying that it is a loser, and a flop. Well, as I often do, I find myself on the opposite side of this opinion.

The web support is what clearly helped this movie conquer its first weekend box office, and it’s the media that cut short it’s life in the post-weekend headlines.

Before the media declared it a disappointment, and created a negative media buzz turning movie goers off of going to see it, it was the #1 movie on a busy weekend, taking in more than $15 million.

In recent box office history there’s only one other “creepy crawly” movie that also made over $15 million and took it’s weekend; Anaconda. Those that didn’t: Slither, Eight Legged Freaks. Even the well known Arachnophobia didn’t hit anywhere near $15, even with box office inflation.

Is it the media’s fault that news reports cut short the film’s life? Not really. The media has to sell publications, and it’s been a fact for centuries that the extremes of really bad or really good news sell publications, an old adage from newsrooms is, “If it bleeds, it leads”.

With movies, it is SO damn public what the studio (or rival studio) expectations are, that even taking the #1 position over the weekend is reduced to “so what, horror movies often make that much.” It is impossible to compare it to other horror movies – it’s an insult to anyone that knows that horror is an incredibly broad category.

Who started the buzz? All I know is what I’ve read, and it seems that Jeffery Rowland’s site “Overcompensating,” and Josh Friedman’s blog, are credited with starting the buzz. This craze was then continued on other webcomic sites, such as Drunkduck.com and fan films on YouTube.

However much money Snakes on a Plane actually takes in after VOD, DVD and all the other formats is now irrelevant. We’ll never know what it would have made without the incredible Web buzz it received. Without this buzz, the film could have made if the media hadn’t interfered. It might have shared the same fate as Slither.

All the best,
Scott