Dumped TV pilot lives online
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Global Frequency is a TV show based on Warren Ellis’ DC/Wildstorm comic book/graphic novel series.
“The Global Frequency is an independent, illegal, covert intelligence agency determined to prevent international politics from undermining the security of the global community,” says the show’s site.
“Led by the former NSA agent Miranda Zero, GF is everywhere and nowhere – and it’s mankind’s best defense against everything that occurs outside our peripheral vision. This marvel of brains and machinery is hacked into every satellite, mainframe, cell phone and database across the globe.”
Does that peak your interest? You’re not alone. Warner Brothers nonetheless, “passed on the pilot for Global Frequency, says Wired News. “But that didn’t stop someone from leaking the pilot on the internet. The file eventually found its way into the BitTorrent network.”
Neat, considering that John Rogers, the show’s writer /executive producer, posted on his Kung Fu Monkey blog, “the entire idea of Global Frequency is of ordinary people subverting the establishment and getting things done.”
With that in mind, “Over the last couple of weeks, enough people have downloaded and viewed the pilot online to give producers hope that TV executives might take a second look at the show,” said Wired.
The we get to Warner Bros.
“Whether the pilot was picked up or not, it is still the property of Warner Bros. Entertainment and we take the protection of all of our intellectual property seriously,” Wired has the company’s Craig Hoffman saying.
The pilot’s “unauthorized distribution” is, “unacceptable and illegal … no matter what the underlying motives” and WB hasn’t ruled out taking legal action “when it comes to stopping the illegal distribution of our copyright material”.
On June 19, Rogers said on his blog, “Last week totaled out at an extra 10,000 hits to this website, and the website name is NOWHERE ON THE TORRENT — that’s just the people who took the extra effort to seek us out.
“Things move slowly out here, but move they do …
“Also, to the couple thousand visitors and two hundred odd emailers and commenters, I’d like to pass on that the cast and director have been told about your enthusiasm. (Except Aimee. But she’s young and hip, and will take a while to track down …) They’re all very moved that you’ve seen the work and responded. Thanks to you all.”
And then, “I’d also like to remind you that illegal file-sharing is a bad, bad thing, and I in no way encourage it. All references to downloading sites will be immediately deleted from the this website. You, despite your enthusiasm, should be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed.Rogers as saying on his blog that “illegal file-sharing is a bad, bad thing, and I in no way encourage it…. All references to downloading sites will be immediately deleted from … this website. You, despite your enthusiasm, should be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed.”
But on June 13 he’d posted >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I can’t imagine that many humans managed to grab the torrent, and I’m sure a lot of this is splash-over from Whedonesque and Joss’ (and by the way , where’s HIS goddam Emmy?) mighty tribe, but … this site got an extra 4,000 distinct visitors this weekend. At current rate, the next day or so will spike out at the same. I haven’t gotten this much traffic since the TRANSFORMERS gig — and they’re making a $100 million dollar movie about that.
Strike that, I just checked my site numbers. This is actually slightly more traffic than the Transformers gig.
This is not to mention a couple hundred e-mails from people who’ve watched the thing and took the time to drop a line. I can only say thank you for all your kind words. (and occasional hysterical begging for more episodes. And creepy, creepy rage) There have been offers of spontaneous fan sites and “Get Global On” campaigns from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, England, and I think Germany and Spain, or some other place where Spanish is spoken. I’m not sure, those e-mails and weblinks were a little … fractured.
So, in order:
1.) I assure all of you, I will call all the cast members over the next few days and convey to them your wonderful reactions, the genuine enthusiasm their performances created. (I think Josh and Jenni would like to know that a night under the rain machine wasn’t a total waste) I’ll also call Nelson McCormick, the director and let him know that on several counts he was right and I was wrong, and I owe him a beer. They made the show, you like the show. We executive types need to get the hell out of the middle of that relationship.
2.) I’m completely slammed on a deadline here, so I can’t give this the full attention I’d like to, at least not for the next week. I’ve got one first draft of a film I’m writing and three others in active about-to-get-a-director mode.
But you know what? I bitch and moan about how all this emergent technology is going to change the entertainment industry and nobody’s taking advantage of it. And here I have, well, unless I’m mistaken, a fan base which exists and is trying to organize for a show which has never appeared on television. Not a cancelled show — a show which has literally never aired on broadcast television. This is BoingBoing and Wired’s frikkin’ dream. Seeing as I was planning on writing a book on this stuff, I’d be insane not to follow up in some way.
And, maybe it’t the old stand-up comic in me, but to try nothing would be disrespecting you, the audience. I can’t bring myself to do that.
I’ll see if we can figure out what the next step is. I’ve got a light back half of 2005. Maybe it’d be fun to play Pancho to you fans’ Quixote.
3.) Crucially, I have no idea what to do.
There may be nothing that can be done. Let’s look at some very, very unpleasant truths. GF is not owned by Warren or myself – it’s owned by DC comics and Warner Brothers. Anything that happens has to be with their permission. They are large, multinational corporations, and although the people I interface with are immensely pleasant, the companies generally don’t cotton to this sort of thing. I would also remind you that every copy of GF out there is of dubious legality depending on your local copyright laws.
Shows survive because of money. Period. There has never been a write-in campaign that’s worked, because frankly e-mails and letters don’t pay the rent on those studio lots. FAMILY GUY came back because the box set made unspeakable amounts of cash. You all know the FIREFLY story.
For more GF episodes, I have to somehow find $26 million dollars for 13 episodes of production (that stings, eh?), find somebody to air it (not airing them, going straight to Internet or DVD would require an even MORE insane paradigm shift) and convince the powers-that-be the DVD box sets will be profitable. That’ll not only require stunning acts of fiscal contortion, but the fan base/buzz/media attention has to be of a truly EPIC proportion. What are the odds of that? I’ll tell you –
The odds of this working are way, way too small to take seriously.
BUT … having said that, I’ll make some calls, talk to some humans. I’ll try to learn, in what time I have, how this totally new process could work. That’s what we’re talking here, about you (the audience) creating a completely new process for television shows.
On the other hand, the entire idea of Global Frequency is of ordinary people subverting the establishment and getting things done. The concept of a fan base for the show subverting the establishment and getting things done … frankly that’s a little irresistible.
So, as I said, I have no idea what to do. But I’m smart enough to know that you probably do. Or you’ll figure it out faster than I will. So check in here, hell, make your own damn websites. Look at who’s posting, contact each other.
Because I’m just the guy on the Frequency with the Hollywood skill set. You’re the audience. You’re the numbers, you’re the power.
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See:-
Wired News – Rejected TV Pilot Thrives on P2P, June 27, 2005
June 28th, 2005 at 4:59 am
US$2million per episode?! What the hell for!? How could you possibly spend 2million dollars to produce 30minutes of tv??? Which is of course NOT counting the time wasted on ads and credits etc. I’m stunned. That’s just ridiculous.
June 29th, 2005 at 9:21 am
It’s a live action drama series which have a one hour running length. Without commercials in the U.S., this usually equates to 44 minutes.
As high as $2 million sounds, comparatively it’s not that high. The pilot for Lost cost $10 million and several half hour sitcoms have paid over $1 million per episode to the primary star alone. NBC has paid WB $12 million per episode for ER. If a show becomes extremely popular with high ratings, it garners more ad revenue for a 30 second spot (also dependent on demographics), resulting in those extreme licensing fees. In the case of Lost, it cost a quarter of a million just to get the wrecked plane components to the shooting locale in Hawaii.
Also consider the amount of cinematography related equipment, lighting systems, generators, cameras (and lenses, filters, etc.), rigs for the cameras & lights, cabling, diffusors, etc., plus the transportation costs to get this equipment to an external locale shoot. We haven’t even touched upon the post production costs.
While this isn’t standard, most drama series nowadays run in the neighborhood of $1 million to $2 million per episode, even those filmed in Canada where costs are lower. Despite this, many shows don’t even make a profit for their production company until they reach ancilliary markets including syndication, cable sales & DVD’s.
Technically high quality television is costly to make and the crew usually work 12-16 hour days to complete an episode roughly every 10 days.
June 29th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
wow… that’s scary.
Hmmm if someone could come up with a 3d engine that was good enough to look real, you could cut a lot of those costs dramatically. Even if it only ran on something out of industrial light and magic’s league, it’d soon pay for itself.
and using virtual “recordings” of the real actors you could save on the “actor gains weight one season and loses it again next season” issues as well.
Probly a few years off yet tho… but only a few.