3 ms·

Hollywood's Next Great Business Model: Praying That Stars Die

23 points by ssclafani 15y ago

cleverjake 15y ago
Similar news - Sony doubled the price of her album's within hours of her death announcement. They later apologized though - http://www.nme.com/news/whitney-houston/62045 http://www.nme.com/news/whitney-houston/62045
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  "Sorry, we didn't know you would be so pissed off about it"
simonb 15y ago
Next step: assignation markets [http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/jimbellap.htm http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/jimbellap.htm]
- wmf 15y ago
  You meant assassination. We already have assignation markets if you know where to look...
Kylekramer 15y ago
Certainly leaves a bitter taste, but not exactly surprising. Just because the tech industry had a bit of prejudice against the film industry doesn't mean this is any more distasteful than Simon & Schuster bumping up the Jobs biography or any number of similar profit-based moves surrounding notable deaths.
napierzaza 15y ago
Ultimately they do have control over the IP and have a directive to maximize profits. But the biggest point of the OP is that it will likely backfire for them. How many people will actually grab their keys and go to the video store when they could more easily have access to it online? In 5 years a whole generation of people will be used to getting content online (legally ex Netflix) so the gaps in access will likely just be filled with Torrents and not shiny plastic disks. Their up-sell to DVD will end up as a down-sell to Torrents or even just nothing at all if it takes that much trouble.
hsmyers 15y ago
I hope that today's stars are bright enough to trademark/copyright (I've no idea which) their images and 'style' such that Hollywood will not be able to create digital versions and continue on their merry way without the bothersome nonsense of dealing with 'creative' types. I'm fairly sure that photo realistic imagery is not all that far away and I'm equally sure that the slime balls in Hollywood would make a grab for just such a business model unless held back by a league of lawyers, public opinion and heaven help up government mandate.

23 points by ssclafani 15y ago

Similar news - Sony doubled the price of her album's within hours of her death announcement. They later apologized though - http://www.nme.com/news/whitney-houston/62045 http://www.nme.com/news/whitney-houston/62045

nextparadigms 15y ago
"Sorry, we didn't know you would be so pissed off about it"

simonb 15y ago

Next step: assignation markets [http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/jimbellap.htm http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/jimbellap.htm]

wmf 15y ago
You meant assassination. We already have assignation markets if you know where to look...

Kylekramer 15y ago

Certainly leaves a bitter taste, but not exactly surprising. Just because the tech industry had a bit of prejudice against the film industry doesn't mean this is any more distasteful than Simon & Schuster bumping up the Jobs biography or any number of similar profit-based moves surrounding notable deaths.

napierzaza 15y ago

Ultimately they do have control over the IP and have a directive to maximize profits. But the biggest point of the OP is that it will likely backfire for them. How many people will actually grab their keys and go to the video store when they could more easily have access to it online? In 5 years a whole generation of people will be used to getting content online (legally ex Netflix) so the gaps in access will likely just be filled with Torrents and not shiny plastic disks. Their up-sell to DVD will end up as a down-sell to Torrents or even just nothing at all if it takes that much trouble.

hsmyers 15y ago

I hope that today's stars are bright enough to trademark/copyright (I've no idea which) their images and 'style' such that Hollywood will not be able to create digital versions and continue on their merry way without the bothersome nonsense of dealing with 'creative' types. I'm fairly sure that photo realistic imagery is not all that far away and I'm equally sure that the slime balls in Hollywood would make a grab for just such a business model unless held back by a league of lawyers, public opinion and heaven help up government mandate.