January 26, 2000
Daniel Linzmeier
Fit Productions
236 N. Broadway Ave.
Baypoint, CA 94565Mr. Warren Lieberfarb
President, Warner Home Video
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522
(818) 954-6000Mr. Lieberfarb:
Your company has always been at the forefront of technology. You hailed the advantages of laser disc, even when it was struggling to become more than a niche market. When DVD was being introduced, you boasted that it was the home video technology of the future. As a matter of fact, your company is considered one of the primary reasons for the success DVD in today's market place. This is something to be very proud of. In the history of home video, and the electronics industry, we have never seen such a successful format launch.
When Warner allowed Image Entertainment to release the SE of Caddyshack as well as both V mini-series on laser, I thought Warner had finally come full circle from their disastrous turn with laser disc about three years ago. Unfortunately, I was mis-lead. This letter is not about Warner Home Video's success as an industrial leader. It is about the sad turn in choices that I have seen your company take over the past six months.
Understanding that Warner Brothers is a high profile, publicly held company, the recent developments surrounding the home video release with Eyes Wide Shut are not shocking. The fact that you will be releasing the R-rated edition of Stanley Kubrick final work on VHS was inevitable. God forbid, that Blockbuster and Hollywood wouldn't receive a sanatized edition of Kubrick's final work. I do have personal objections to this, but I will not be able to stop the release of this version of the film.
What disappoints me, is that your company will not even make an effort to sell the original, digitally un-altered , NC-17 rated edition of the film on DVD, a film collector's format. As a collector, I will not be given the option to view Kubrick's film as he originally intended. You, as a studio, have taken away my choice to view this version of the film, which is wrong.
If Warner Home Video were to release the two versions of Eyes Wide Shut on DVD, I think you would be surprised in the results. Universal Studios tried this recently with their DVD of American Pie, look at their results. The sales of the unrated edition blew the rated R-rated edition out of the water. Considering that major chains such as Blockbuster, Hollywood, Best Buy and Circuit City did not stock the unrated edition of the film, the sales of this title speaks volumes about what DVD consumers want.
If your company is too afraid to release the NC-17 edition of this film, why not licence it out to another company? This is not unprecedented for you. Trimark recently released the director's cut DVD of Natural Born Killers. While it won't burn up the charts, it will be selling better than the standard rated R version would have.
Another issue I have with your company is Babylon 5. No, I'm not going to plea for them on DVD, as many other people have been doing.
As of September 1999, Warner had released all of season 1 and 5, six volumes of season 2, and three volumes of season 4 on both VHS and Laser Disc. Since these last releases in September, you have not scheduled any more tapes or disc through May of 2000. I have heard reports that you will not be finishing up the Babylon series, due to poor sales. Finish what you've started, don't screw the collectors and fans of Babylon 5. Release the remaining 27 volumes of this show, on both VHS and Laser. I started collecting this series by my own choice, but now, you will be taking that choice away from me.
Learn from the examples of the other studios. Paramount has released all of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation on VHS and laser already. They have started to release them on DVD. These disc are fully re-mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1. Paramount's extra effort to show they care. I'm fairly certain these re-issues of the Star Trek's will big sellers, but Paramount is doing this for their loyal customers.
Fox Home Video, while bungling the initial video releases of the X-Files on VHS and Laser (apparently due to the wishes of Chris Carter), will correct their mistake, with their first offering of the X-Files on DVD this coming May. Not only will they release the episodes in order, the complete first season will be release in one box set at an affordable price. This is what the fans and collector's of the X-Files asked for.
Add to the two items addressed above, your comments during the VSDA convention July, 1999. Warner, in conjunction Columbia/Tri-Star, had the audacity to claim some form of a rental pricing scheme would need to be instituted with DVD. This from a company that touted DVD would be a sell through product? If it wasn't for the fact I've been around home video so long, I would have been shocked to hear this. For that matter, I'm actually stunned that Eyes Wide Shut wasn't $79.98, to mark the first rental title on DVD.
As a collector of films for nearly twenty years, only on laser disc and DVD, I have spent thousands of dollars on my collection and equipment. It is safe to say that I have purchased over $4000 worth of Warner Home Video product within the past fifteen years, so it pains me to have to do this. Since I am not being given the option of choice, I see no other recourse but to no longer purchase any Warner Brothers film products.
It has become apparent to me that you no longer need me as a consumer, even though I have always purchased much more than "Average Joe VHS." I'm willing to pay more for a higher quality picture, or extra features that are placed on collector's editions. I've upgraded/bought multiple editions of films, not only from Warner Brothers, but many of the other studios. Hell, I was looking forward to the new director's cut editions of the Lethal Weapon DVD's that are rumored to be in the works, but now, for all I care, they can rot on the shelf.
In closing, I would like to note that this letter is not directed at New Line or HBO Home Video, two other companies you distribute. They have fortunately been allowed to take their own course of action when it comes to releasing product. They have been consistently giving the consumer what they want, be it full-fleged re-mastered editions or unrated director's cuts. Should Warner ever being to dictate what they can release, I will also quit buying their product as well.
Disappointed and no longer a Warner Brothers consumer,
Dan Linzmeier, FIT Production
Fitprod@aol.com
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