Direct To DVD

[Into Darkness]

Would anyone here pay out for a direct to DVD Star Trek Series?

It would be set in the original timeline before the changes and would be set after the destruction of Romulus.

I feel that putting it on telly would be foolish as only the most serious Trek followers would be interested in such a thing.

So if they did a full season or two of a new series and put it direct to DVD for purchase, would you purchase it?

 

[Into Darkness]

or how about a Star Trek pay per view website where they put up the entire seasons and you simply pay to stream them.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I feel that putting it on telly would be foolish as only the most serious Trek followers would be interested in such a thing.

I actually feel that way about putting it on direct-to-DVD.

IMO, direct-to-video is usually reserved for inexpensive productions or movies a studio don't have enough faith in to release theatrically. I think if Trek takes that route, it's pretty much run dry and that the studio is trying to milk the last few drops out of it before it goes the way of now dormant franchises like Babylon 5 and Stargate. There may be a couple of movies and then that's it.

There may be more value (and longevity) in just letting Trek rest for awhile and then relaunching it on the big screen again than going the direct-to-video route.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Asking fans to fork out for a whole series they haven't seen on TV before hand is more than a little cheeky. A miniseries would be different though as it wouldn't cost as much.

If it selled well and had a lot of interest, they could use that as proof to get more a TV series made.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I think STAR TREK shouldn't commit itself to an entire series, so that we can watch the creative juices evaporate more and more, season after season. A collection of various mini-series is the way to go, in my opinion. Get some variety going! Shake things up and keep it fresh. As for sending this directly to the cheap bin, first, expecting us to finance the show directly out of pocket ... Into Darkness ... I don't THINK so!!!

 

[Into Darkness]

How about a canon online comic strip?

But rather than being comic like, it's actual pictures/images of real actors and good graphics.

Sort of like a show or film but just in stills rather than something that plays.

You keep clicking a to the right button to get to the next scene and so on and so on.

There could even be sound effects each scene, maybe some audio dialogue.

I think it would work but also save money on production.

 

[BillJ]

Just no. I don't want Star Trek that doesn't have the resources to look like the best show on television. Star Trek is a premiere sci-fi property and direct-to-DVD is done on the cheap to wring every last dollar out of a property that is possible.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Direct-to-DVD would be the way to go if Fan Films were allowed to make money. Otherwise, I don't see too much use for it in STAR TREK, to be honest.

 

[Into Darkness]

How about a canon online comic strip?

But rather than being comic like, it's actual pictures/images of real actors and good graphics.

Sort of like a show or film but just in stills rather than something that plays.

You keep clicking a to the right button to get to the next scene and so on and so on.

There could even be sound effects each scene, maybe some audio dialogue.

I think it would work but also save money on production.

So I take it this idea is no good either?

 

[F. King Daniel]

I don't have quotes, but people around here have said in the past that CBS view direct-to-DVD as cheap and wouldn't want one of their flagship properties associated with such. Particularly with such a visual medium as sci-fi, budget shows - take a look at Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.

Direct-to-DVD would be the way to go if Fan Films were allowed to make money. Otherwise, I don't see too much use for it in STAR TREK, to be honest.

I think a fan film or two might be a nice DVD extra on Trekkies 3 or somesuch, but as stand-alone releases, they're simply not good enough.

 

[F. King Daniel]

How about a canon online comic strip?

But rather than being comic like, it's actual pictures/images of real actors and good graphics.

Sort of like a show or film but just in stills rather than something that plays.

You keep clicking a to the right button to get to the next scene and so on and so on.

There could even be sound effects each scene, maybe some audio dialogue.

I think it would work but also save money on production.

So I take it this idea is no good either?

It sounds like an okay idea, but I wouldn't want it to be any more canon than other novels, comics and games.

 

[OpenMaw]

All of this just seems to over complicate things and show a distinct lack of faith in the audience more than anything. People will watch, if the show is good. It's not like we're going to have this show handed back to the team that left it in 2004. It's going to be all new. New FX people, new writers, new producers, new execs. Fresh eyes. Maybe a few of the old guard will pop up here and there, but I doubt that it'll resemble anything close to Berman era Trek.

You need creative people, a decent budget, and that's it. Trek will work just fine as a television show. It's what it was born to do. All it needs is to not try to be what it was ever again. It needs to be something new with it's heart set on the same kind of ideals that made the original and TNG so strong at it's best. As George Takei once said of the original it was "hip and with it."

 

[2takesfrakes]

I think a fan film or two might be a nice DVD extra on Trekkies 3 or somesuch, but as stand-alone releases, they're simply not good enough.

Boy, you said it, King Daniel! I think that Fan Film DVDs would only work as a "bonus" if they had famous second bananas in it, like Tim Russ, or Walter Keonig.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

A direct to DVD animated movie would be fine as long as it's made as well as Warner's DC animated movie line.

 

[T'Girl]

Asking fans to fork out for a whole series they haven't seen on TV before hand is more than a little cheeky.

How about they release for free a few episodes on the internet, and then put the other fifteen or twenty episodes up for sale in a blu-ray collection?

All the free episodes would have added scenes in the blu-rays too.

Would you buy that? Assuming that the free stuff was any good.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

How about they release for free a few episodes on the internet, and then put the other fifteen or twenty episodes up for sale in a blu-ray collection?

All the free episodes would have added scenes in the blu-rays too.

Would you buy that? Assuming that the free stuff was any good.

I'm not yet into watching things online, do the occassional catch-up with an episode of something that I've missed, but haven't gotten into any web-released series yet. Though if it was Trek I'd probably give it a watch, see if its any good.

One thing they could do, in order to ensure a decent budget, set, special effects and overall look/feel to such a series; launch it by having the 1.5 hour pilot screened at cinemas. Everyone gets to see the new pilot, whet their appetite for the DVD/BluRay release of the rest of the series. So rather than fans sitting alone in front of computer screens in darkened rooms, they get to enjoy it together on a massive screen in a darkened room.

 

[AviTrek]

How about they release for free a few episodes on the internet, and then put the other fifteen or twenty episodes up for sale in a blu-ray collection?

All the free episodes would have added scenes in the blu-rays too.

Would you buy that? Assuming that the free stuff was any good.

I'm not yet into watching things online, do the occassional catch-up with an episode of something that I've missed, but haven't gotten into any web-released series yet. Though if it was Trek I'd probably give it a watch, see if its any good.

One thing they could do, in order to ensure a decent budget, set, special effects and overall look/feel to such a series; launch it by having the 1.5 hour pilot screened at cinemas. Everyone gets to see the new pilot, whet their appetite for the DVD/BluRay release of the rest of the series. So rather than fans sitting alone in front of computer screens in darkened rooms, they get to enjoy it together on a massive screen in a darkened room.

DVD/BluRays are dying. The future is streaming as much as I dislike it. No one has ever released a series direct to DVD while Netflix is winning Emmys for House of Cards and Amazon is launching its own series too.

If you're conservative risk averse CBS, do you want to be the first launch an expensive series direct to DVD, or do you want to follow on Netflix's coattails and launch it streaming?

 

[RandyS]

Would anyone here pay out for a direct to DVD Star Trek Series?

It would be set in the original timeline before the changes and would be set after the destruction of Romulus.

I feel that putting it on telly would be foolish as only the most serious Trek followers would be interested in such a thing.

So if they did a full season or two of a new series and put it direct to DVD for purchase, would you purchase it?

Sure I'd be interested in that, since I gave up on broadcast TV years ago. I watch everything on DVD now.

Two things though. First, I'd set the show in the 90 year gap between the end of ENTERPRISE, and the beginning of TOS and make the focus the founding of the federation, and all the to-do that goes along with that. We could see different planets and Starfleet crews (Maybe even Archer's group once or twice).

And second, selling a complete series that is previously unseen might be unfeisable. The only garaunteed sales there would be the most dedicated hard-core Star Trek fans (which includes me, yes). It's probably better for a direct to DVD thing to be a miniseries.