Gundam Unicorn not going to the BBFC!?

Just Passing Through

Just Passing Through

The Wildcard
This on Beez's Facebook page ...

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Beez-Entertainment/10618081690?ref=nf

Gundam Unicorn is still on its way to the UK guys, but due to a decision not to BBFC it we have to sell it via the upcoming Beez-Ent UK shop instead! Hence the delay, it should be up and out in the next 2 weeks though! Sorry for the delay once again :)
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All I can say is WTF!

An exclusive only from the Beez-Ent UK shop, so obviously no, or little retail discount, and unavailable from other online or bricks and mortar stores.

Yeah, this is going to sell well. :?

I wonder if this is a temp thing and it will get a BBFC rating, or if this is the way forward for Beez now. The US gets sub only releases, the UK gets unrated stuff that has to be ordered *specially*

Probably wind up cheaper to import, and will amount to the same thing.
 
Had a mess editing that, so I'm posting my first post again here


This on Beez's Facebook page ...


Gundam Unicorn is still on its way to the UK guys, but due to a decision not to BBFC it we have to sell it via the upcoming Beez-Ent UK shop instead! Hence the delay, it should be up and out in the next 2 weeks though! Sorry for the delay once again :)
Click to expand...

All I can say is WTF!

An exclusive only from the Beez-Ent UK shop, so obviously no, or little retail discount, and unavailable from other online or bricks and mortar stores.

Yeah, this is going to sell well. :?

I wonder if this is a temp thing and it will get a BBFC rating, or if this is the way forward for Beez now. The US gets sub only releases, the UK gets unrated stuff that has to be ordered *specially*

Probably wind up cheaper to import, and will amount to the same thing.
 
My opinion is that it will fail miserably, but still my rage goes to BBFC not necessarily Beez. They are trying to have some sort of profit out of the release, possibly shifting some of their eruopean stock to the UK BBFC'ing a BD with 5 language tracks is going to be very expensive. Press a version of the BD with english / japanese trck would also be expensive. Not to release in the UK sounds more business viable in this case, so I see our diligent Beez representative in the UK fighting for an UK release and reaching hte compromise of releasing it like this.

Is it the best way to do it? Hell no! But unfortunately, it seems the only way to do it right now.
 
Just Passing Through said:
Probably wind up cheaper to import, and will amount to the same thing.
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My thoughts exactly. That's a shame for Beez, but if what they're selling is the same thing anyway (an import) then I can't imagine they'll lose out too much. And I agree with chaos. The blame, as always, rests with the pointless BBFC.
 
The BBFC does have a point in at least offering guidance for families and people who have to look out for children, and it is a sight more civilised than the heavily biased and wholly commercial MPAA in the US.

But I do agree that it is high time that charges were waived for the first 1000 units pressed of anything that is scrutinised, and that membership fees be introduced for all distributors to avoid screwing the system, say £1000 a year.

All niche titles, especially anime, and stuff like opera, arts, some foreign language movies shift in hundreds and even tens of units, and BBFC charges are enough to kill the profit margins.
 
Just Passing Through said:
The BBFC does have a point in at least offering guidance for families and people who have to look out for children, and it is a sight more civilised than the heavily biased and wholly commercial MPAA in the US.

But I do agree that it is high time that charges were waived for the first 1000 units pressed of anything that is scrutinised, and that membership fees be introduced for all distributors to avoid screwing the system, say £1000 a year.

All niche titles, especially anime, and stuff like opera, arts, some foreign language movies shift in hundreds and even tens of units, and BBFC charges are enough to kill the profit margins.
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This would be the dreamy way of doing this, but perhaps the money lottery allow for foreign movies could be shifted to do this, no?

Free of charge for the first 1k units would be the best of all worlds, i believe. Enable distributors to bring more stuff to the UK, which otherwise would be impossible with current BBFC charges.
 
Just Passing Through said:
Had a mess editing that, so I'm posting my first post again here


This on Beez's Facebook page ...
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It's also on your own forums here.

Just Passing Through said:
All I can say is WTF!
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I could say the same to your post - a simple question directed at me would have also been far more productive and you'd have got answers immediately too just now. Good thing I was skimming the forums there though ^^.

Just Passing Through said:
An exclusive only from the Beez-Ent UK shop, so obviously no, or little retail discount, and unavailable from other online or bricks and mortar stores.

Yeah, this is going to sell well. :?
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It's an opportunity to start building an e-tail channel direct from Beez on the positive but I completely agree with you it will be challenging to sell this particular product as is and is certainly not the ideal.

Just Passing Through said:
I wonder if this is a temp thing and it will get a BBFC rating, or if this is the way forward for Beez now. The US gets sub only releases, the UK gets unrated stuff that has to be ordered *specially*

Probably wind up cheaper to import, and will amount to the same thing.
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I shall be blunt in this case because you haven't read elsewhere - don't be stark staringly stupid and doom mongering. Phrase it like a question anyway, it's not like I'm not here to *answer* your concerns!

Just to be clear on this so nobody can claim I did not tell you: Of course we will be submitting all Beez owned licenses to the BBFC'ing for rating!

It's a very dangerous idea to do otherwise because you restrict your retail streams too far, ultimately the Beez shop for the UK is a great chance to offer some genuine extras to the fans ala the Right Stuff model, but it can never *replace* standard retail channels. Just complement it. You limit yourself to maximum sales of 300 units really, maybe 400-500 including convention sales depending on the title.

I have made clear from the beginning of this we are acting merely as a distribution agent for this license we are not the licensee. If it were up to me it would be BBFC'd and I in fact ADVISED strongly against not BBFCing it.

As the decision was taken contrary to advice however I argued for this model so that the UK would at least get a release. It will wind up less than importing still as shipment will be fulfilled from within the UK but all transaction processes handled in France. This fits within the law and means no customs tax. It's difficult for both sides but sadly it's a situation we have to deal with and in future we will try to deal with moreso..

So in short this is a unique situation and one not in our hands. I can assure you that all Beez titles do get BBFC'd though - take a look at Geass R2 for example :).

Hope this makes things abundantly clear for you. I've been far franker with details than I really should be but you all have a right to know I feel.

Best,

Andrew,
Beez Entertainment
 
Just Passing Through said:
chaos said:
This has been known for quite a while now...
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It's the first I heard of it, although I'm *not* a Gundam fan...
I just don't like the precedent it sets
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I'm pretty sure the sales figures for it will set no kind of precedent whatsoever on the big scheme as I predict a *maximum* of a really low number of unit sales for it here as a result. It's just what I had to do to ensure the UK was included on this particular release - it was a set of difficult choices all in all. As I say the good that comes with it is we'll have our own UK e-commerce platform running now that some really interesting things can be done with though :).
 
beez_andrew said:
I shall be blunt in this case because you haven't read elsewhere - don't be stark staringly stupid and doom mongering. Phrase it like a question anyway, it's not like I'm not here to *answer* your concerns!

...

Hope this makes things abundantly clear for you. I've been far franker with details than I really should be but you all have a right to know I feel.

Best,

Andrew,
Beez Entertainment
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Calm down dear, it's only a forum post!

As you subsequently noticed, I stated that I am not a Gundam fan, so rather than being stark staringly stupid, call it stark staringly uninformed. As I'm not a fan, I'm not going to dive into 7 pages of a thread called "Stream the first 7 minutes of Gundam Unicorn" to find out about release strategy.

As for doom mongering...

Subjective topic that. There is a recession on you know? Sub only releases now seem entrenched in the US, the move to half season sets is becoming more prevalent in the UK. The current situation demands comstantly reviewing the way things are done. Anime is a niche, a small niche, and having seen Revelation's projected sales figures before they stopped distributing for Funimation, I can fully believe that for some titles going outside the BBFC can be more profitable than actually being rated. I made an observation instead of asking a question, because I have no interest in Gundam, but I do have an interest in what happens in the industry. It is a fan tendency to speculate in the absence of information. Sorry it seemed to catch you on a bad day.


I will ask you about one thing though...

It's difficult for both sides but sadly it's a situation we have to deal with and in future we will try to deal with moreso..
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Could you clarify by what you mean by in future? You say this is a unique situation. Are you anticipating this situation potentially arising again for a title other than Gundam Unicorn?
 
Just Passing Through said:
beez_andrew said:
I shall be blunt in this case because you haven't read elsewhere - don't be stark staringly stupid and doom mongering. Phrase it like a question anyway, it's not like I'm not here to *answer* your concerns!

...

Hope this makes things abundantly clear for you. I've been far franker with details than I really should be but you all have a right to know I feel.

Best,

Andrew,
Beez Entertainment
Click to expand...

Calm down dear, it's only a forum post!

As you subsequently noticed, I stated that I am not a Gundam fan, so rather than being stark staringly stupid, call it stark staringly uninformed. As I'm not a fan, I'm not going to dive into 7 pages of a thread called "Stream the first 7 minutes of Gundam Unicorn" to find out about release strategy.
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Sorry for speed-rewriting - I was meant to be referring to the idea of not BBFCing all future titles like that - no offense was meant but accept my apologies there it wasn't the clearest place to make a reply :).

Just Passing Through said:
As for doom mongering...

Subjective topic that. There is a recession on you know? Sub only releases now seem entrenched in the US, the move to half season sets is becoming more prevalent in the UK. The current situation demands comstantly reviewing the way things are done. Anime is a niche, a small niche, and having seen Revelation's projected sales figures before they stopped distributing for Funimation, I can fully believe that for some titles going outside the BBFC can be more profitable than actually being rated. I made an observation instead of asking a question, because I have no interest in Gundam, but I do have an interest in what happens in the industry. It is a fan tendency to speculate in the absence of information. Sorry it seemed to catch you on a bad day.
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Definitely one of those days - still you have a point there and it does require constant revaluation. Speculation is good when there's no information but that's why I am here to an extent to help remove that layer of no information really so feel free to make use of it next time :). As it is not BBFCing really depends on the title and price point - perhaps for DVD it may be a feasible option if you wanted < 1000 units over 2 years but for regular releases it's a difficult model to rock.

Constant re-invention/innovation is definitely needed now for Anime to succeed in any way in the UK too now I think - something I hope you will see more and more from ourselves as things progress now.

Sorry for the speedy reaction - it's just a topic that has been a thorny one for me to deal with from the start being not really *my* license to manage if that makes sense.

Just Passing Through said:
I will ask you about one thing though...

It's difficult for both sides but sadly it's a situation we have to deal with and in future we will try to deal with moreso..
Click to expand...

Could you clarify by what you mean by in future? You say this is a unique situation. Are you anticipating this situation potentially arising again for a title other than Gundam Unicorn?
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I'm not anticipating it per se but I'd rather always be ready from now on in case I get another worldwide release dropped on my lap in case someone decides not BBFCing is a fantastic idea again...

Hope this answers it all though and thanks for the patience with my reply :).

- Andrew
 
No problem, and thanks for the detail.

Above and beyond the call, as always!

The second most obvious drawback to non-BBFC-ing would be the difficulty in advertising. You can't sell it conventionally, and getting the word out about it would be limited to word of mouth, social networking and forums like this one. It would be like going back to the era of fansubbed videotapes...
 
If more companies had someone like Andrew, the world would be a better place. Can't imagine any Yankee outfits being as up-front about stuff.
 
Just hope this doesn't rule out any later compilation release. Because honestly, only the hardcore are that interested in getting 1/6th of a release every half a year. I understand how OVAs snowball financially and all, but really, there's probably too much of a cultural difference in home video for a 50 minute, six volume release to be attempted on any greater scale than this anyway.
 
kupocake said:
Just hope this doesn't rule out any later compilation release. Because honestly, only the hardcore are that interested in getting 1/6th of a release every half a year. I understand how OVAs snowball financially and all, but really, there's probably too much of a cultural difference in home video for a 50 minute, six volume release to be attempted on any greater scale than this anyway.
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I wouldn't worry bout that for a good long while (try 5 or so years)
 
Just Passing Through said:
An exclusive only from the Beez-Ent UK shop, so obviously no, or little retail discount, and unavailable from other online or bricks and mortar stores.
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cause I feel sorry enough to pay £35 for nine episodes on HMV prices

/rage
 
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