About the Rifftrax movie choices, and related stuff.

[Bob]

Wow, two references to shutting down the business in one thread.

I will now go curl up in a corner in the fetal position and wonder how Kathy Bates' character in "Misery" would solve this issue........

[Raven]

Then people would complain about the price.  Why try to cater to the few when they're just going to find a new excuse to whine?

That's why I said this-

If it's stated ahead of time that the cost is higher because they don't sell as well then those of us who want to see future titles of the same category would be given the option to step up to the plate. 

[Minnesota]

lets play jack my price up. ^^^

I wouldn't get too chocked up about the sales. Its one of those things that invests in the future. Hell, I think many of us would buy stock in the company if we could 

[Jinto]

The only thing I have to say for those who like to buy the DVDs for reauthoring purposes who complain about new movies being expensive is this:

Why not just wait til the DVD prices for these movies go down as they become old? Nobody's forcing you to buy them at the high, new-release prices. Just have a bit of patience and wait.

Meanwhile, the Rifftrax catalog will continue to grow. And then, as you find that the movie released 6 months or so ago has finally turned old and the DVD has dropped in price and you finally decide it is at an acceptable price to buy, you will find soon after that ANOTHER movie that got riffed when new has ALSO turned old and dropped enough in price for you to consider it a worthwhile purchase.

In other words, time-shift your purchases (of Rifftrax, DVDs, or both) to 6 months or so after release so that each week you get a newly-turned-6-month-old title and the DVD prices are in-line with what you wish to pay.

The only problem here is simple, common impatience.

[skenderberg]

Then people would complain about the price.  Why try to cater to the few when they're just going to find a new excuse to whine?

That's why I said this-

If it's stated ahead of time that the cost is higher because they don't sell as well then those of us who want to see future titles of the same category would be given the option to step up to the plate. 

I don't think this would work.  You and I would buy them.  We're the die hards.  The people who only casually agree with us about the riffing potential of older films wouldn't.  The few dozen of us on the forums would have to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars per riff to make up the shortfall.

[Compound]

But we do have to keep this operation running, and at present the bigger titles -- and the NEWER titles -- sell way, way better than anything more obscure.   This is true about certain movie genres, too.   And I don't mean a small difference, but 80% less revenue.

Bill, on this note: (Keeping in mind that you aren't able to speak for Legend and/or Rifftrax officially) Would it be possible to release general sales info on the Rifftrax? I don't mean actual numbers, just something like "Here are the top 5 sellers" and "Here are the bottom five". Even knowing generalities like that could probably mollify the fans a bit. The moderators could then at least point to those numbers and say "We're not riffing that as similar films just didn't sell."  That's a more understandable reason to not do a riff than silence is.

Also,side question: I note most of the major studios in Hollywood have had Riffed films... except for one fairly litigious biggie. Is it just coincidence that they haven't had one of their films riffed yet, or have the lawyers recommended that riffing them may not be a good idea?

[Insert Coin(s) to Continue]

First of all, thank you, Bill, for answering our questions. It really is cool to have this sort of contact with one of the chaps this forum was created for.

Was Batman & Robin noticeably cheaper to produce than most RiffTrax because you didn't have to write it yourselves? Would that sort of thing be financially beneficial to repeat in the future for the more obscure movies?

How are the shorts doing, financially? Are they worth your time, in that respect? I love them and I praise you guys for doing them.

I do understand that you're trying to run a business here. I never would have guessed that obscure titles sell 80% less than the more recent blockbusters. Do you feel the $$$ ever gets in the way of you guys really achieving your artistic potential? Do you feel cornered into movies that don't really "have it coming"? Does Bill the businessman triumph over Bill the artist? Every once in a while, though, we'd appreciate a non-mainstream movie riff for a movie that would really make for some good comedy (Godzilla '98, The Godfather, Gamera).

That said, I guess I can kiss my dreams of an Eraserhead RiffTrax goodbye

You guys do a good job. Keep it up

[skenderberg]

Was Batman & Robin noticeably cheaper to produce than most RiffTrax because you didn't have to write it yourselves? Would that sort of thing be financially beneficial to repeat in the future for the more obscure movies?

Now there's a possible solution.  I second this question.

[Raven]

In other words, time-shift your purchases (of Rifftrax, DVDs, or both) to 6 months or so after release so that each week you get a newly-turned-6-month-old title and the DVD prices are in-line with what you wish to pay.

If I just now found the forum this wouldn't be a problem for me, but this isn't the case.  I have purchased every riff so far and I don't really plan on stopping anytime soon.  If all they do is new releases then your suggestion would have me ignore the entire site for the next 6 months and then start purchasing them one at a time again.   A couple of extra dollars for a new release isn't a big enough pain for me to stop buying the rifftrax releases but I'm just expressing my opinion on the extra cost for the newer releases from my perspective which is the perspective most important to me.  

[Bairman]

I'm just expressing my opinion on the extra cost for the newer releases from my perspective which is the perspective most important to me.

Not to be contrarian (well okay, maybe), but if cost is so important, how does that correlate with your suggestion to raise the price of Riffs for older films?  Sure, you save on the DVD, but you'd pay extra for the Trax.

[Compound]

Was Batman & Robin noticeably cheaper to produce than most RiffTrax because you didn't have to write it yourselves? Would that sort of thing be financially beneficial to repeat in the future for the more obscure movies?

Now there's a possible solution.  I second this question.

Note: I have no information to prove or disprove what I am about to say.  But I have the sneaking suspicion from speaking with folks at other forums that B&R  may not have sold terribly well. We may have been excited that our riffs were being used, but I heard a number of casual fans gripe about, "Not paying good money to hear fake jokes." Hoefully, I'm wrong and that was just the usual noisy idiots drowning out the satisfied customers. But I get that sinking feeling....

[skenderberg]

Was Batman & Robin noticeably cheaper to produce than most RiffTrax because you didn't have to write it yourselves? Would that sort of thing be financially beneficial to repeat in the future for the more obscure movies?

Now there's a possible solution.  I second this question.

Note: I have no information to prove or disprove what I am about to say.  But I have the sneaking suspicion from speaking with folks at other forums that B&R  may not have sold terribly well. We may have been excited that our riffs were being used, but I heard a number of casual fans gripe about, "Not paying good money to hear fake jokes." Hoefully, I'm wrong and that was just the usual noisy idiots drowning out the satisfied customers. But I get that sinking feeling....

That's a damn shame if it's true.  The only problem with the Batman and Robin riff was those awkward silences near the end.  The riffed portions were fantastic.

[Raven]

I'm just expressing my opinion on the extra cost for the newer releases from my perspective which is the perspective most important to me.

Not to be contrarian (well okay, maybe), but if cost is so important, how does that correlate with your suggestion to raise the price of Riffs for older films?  Sure, you save on the DVD, but you'd pay extra for the Trax.

If the trax cost 6 or 7 dollars and you can pick up a used dvd for 6 or 7 bucks the cost is still less than 20 for a new release and 4 for the rifftrax.  

Most of the "older" titles that have come out are really cheap used off of Amazon.  Brand new titles haven't stopped me from buying any of the rifftrax releases, but I personally think the older movies would make better targets and I'd prefer the better targets being made availible than lesser targets that sell better.  That's all.  

[Insert Coin(s) to Continue]

Was Batman & Robin noticeably cheaper to produce than most RiffTrax because you didn't have to write it yourselves? Would that sort of thing be financially beneficial to repeat in the future for the more obscure movies?

Now there's a possible solution.  I second this question.

Note: I have no information to prove or disprove what I am about to say.  But I have the sneaking suspicion from speaking with folks at other forums that B&R  may not have sold terribly well. We may have been excited that our riffs were being used, but I heard a number of casual fans gripe about, "Not paying good money to hear fake jokes." Hoefully, I'm wrong and that was just the usual noisy idiots drowning out the satisfied customers. But I get that sinking feeling....

Well, keep in mind that it was just our first time. An experiment, of sorts. We learned a lot from our experience with it and we would surely do much better next time and all times after that.

[esoobaC .T bocaJ]

I don't know, there was a lot of hate in it