Saturday, June 26, 2010

"Destroy All Planets 2010" Controversy - Part II



"Destroy All Planets 2010" Controversy - Part II

by Armand Vaquer

Avery Guerra, who has been a reliable source for news and behind-the-scenes info on many movie productions, posted this message from Fred Olen Ray at the Monster Zero message board about the Destroy All Planets 2010 DVD controversy:

"I have never been contacted by anyone associated with these films in the ten years we have distributed them except about five years ago when I emailed Daiei to ask about buying rights to the wide screen versions and they told me they didn't own the US rights. Toei likewise denied knowing anything about THE MAGIC SERPENT which we also tried to buy the wide screen rights for at the AFM three years ago.

Otherwise as far as we know there are no rights issues "a'brewing".

The biggest point that everyone is missing is that I only put this out because I was led to believe that the fans wanted it. I had no intention, or desire, to do this, all my usual distribution outlets had turned it down... but I was encouraged by fans to invest in doing the commentary, which we did, but then thought better of putting the show out as it would have to compete with a plethora of other editions.

Continual and repeated emails from fans made me want to offer it to them, but I didn't believe there was enough people really wanting it to do a big run so I went the Amazon.com route so copies would only be created for those who really wanted it... why can't anybody see that I only tried to give them what they kept asking me for? I could give a OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE otherwise... this could have stayed on the shelf for the rest of my life and I wouldn't care. I'm not going to make any real money off the Amazon release, it was done strictly for the fans who asked me for this. It might move a grand total of 25 copies, who knows? Get a life guys, I have bigger and better things to do. The DVD company is my hobby, not my business, I do it for the fans... but probably should have known better.

On different points "Ryan" posted his slander in Amazon's "Customer Review", a section created so that people who have actually bought products on Amazon can view them, then create a review of them. It's not your private flame forum, dude. If this basement dweller doesn't understand the concept of "customer review" then maybe someone should cut him off from a word processor.

Secondly, Copyright registrations begin with the letters PA, not V... don't you kids ever do your homework? The copyright registration the other ignorant guy puts forth is also BS... that's a transfer letter and has nothing to do with registration. Period. He hasn't a clue about copyright laws.

The item you mention is probably a transfer for banking purposes, I don't even need to look at it to know it's not a registration of copyright. Please write 100 times "I will know what I'm talking about before embarrassing myself on-line again".

Third, I'm legally not able to disclose the details of the settlement we made regarding this film and its legal action. However, drop your own dime and search the LA Court records... it's there as far as I know...

After all is said and done DESTROY is already out on 30 different labels and has NEVER been out of print on Retro in almost 10 years... I'd say the horse is out of the barn on this one."

FRED

Removed by request of the quoted person for failure to seek permission and being taken out of context


I wonder if Ray tried to contact Kadokawa Pictures through their Los Angeles office when he began this project. It would have only taken a simple phone call at the very least. (I even have their number programed into my cell phone.)

He said he sent emails to Daiei five years ago (was he aware that Kadokawa took them over around about that time or earlier and released Gamera The Brave in April 2006?). We all know that emails get lost, deleted (people thinking they're spam and other reasons) and it appears he might have emailed the wrong person. A traditional business letter would have been more appropriate in this instance (but that's just my opinion), sent via registered or certified mail if need be.

For the record, I happen to like Ray's output and have posted articles about his movies my blog and at Monster Island News, so I have nothing against him. In the blog posts on this DVD, I tried to be even-handed (by posting both sides of the matter) and just stuck to the facts as we know them. He can get permission to release the documents giving him the DVD rights from the parties involved. Doing so could possibly put to rest this matter.

It appears something fell though the cracks involving this particular DVD.
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1 comment:

  1. djkrouskopJune 27, 2010 at 8:18 PM

    With due respect to all parties involved, it's a REALLY SLOW time for giant monster movie fans when the most interesting thing we have to discuss is a copyright dispute which, other than in a few blog posts written by fans and the guy they're attacking, isn't even really happening.

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"LEGENDARY PICTURES TO DEVELOP AND PRODUCE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE BASED ON TOHO COMPANY’S ICONIC MONSTER, GODZILLA

Burbank, CA – March 29, 2010 – Legendary Pictures announced today that they will develop and produce a new film based on Toho Company’s famed GODZILLA character. Through the terms of the agreement, Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to produce a movie inspired by Toho’s Godzilla, a franchise the Japanese company created and has nurtured for over fifty years.

Toho’s GODZILLA franchise boasts one of the most widely recognized film creatures worldwide, resulting in a series of books, television programs, video games and more than 25 films worldwide. Legendary intends to approach the film and its characters in the most authentic manner possible. The company will, in the near future, announce a filmmaker to helm the film for an intended 2012 release. The film will fall under the company’s co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. Toho will distribute the film in Japan."

"Godzilla" is coming back -- this time, with Legendary Pictures taking the lead, co-producing and co-financing with Warner Bros. for release in 2012.

Legendary announced Monday it had obtained rights to the iconic monster character from Japan's Toho Co., which has overseen more than 25 "Godzilla" films. Toho will release the pic in Japan.

Legendary said it's planning to announce a director shortly.

In addition to Legendary, producers on the new film will be Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers. Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira and Doug Davison will exec produce.

"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise," said Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary. "Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop-culturally relevant for as long as it has."

Legendary noted the film will fall under its co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. Legendary's productions with Warners have included "The Dark Knight," "300" and "The Hangover."

Speculation about a new "Godzilla" has been active since last summer. The Bloody Disgusting web site reported in August that the project was in development.