A Call to Action for All Stargate Fans

[Janus]

Stargate

One of the things I have been pondering is the Stargate (Franchise) and it's future. In case you haven't read my previous posts: It's looking pretty bleak. And how MGM has been interacting with the fan base. It hasn't. And - of course - what the fans have done to try to get MGM to make a statement...ANY statement about said future.

And the simple fact is that the fans have tried everything. Well....except for a letter writing campaign. But...isn't that really old fashioned ? I mean, even Joseph Mallozzi said that ' the time of letter writing campaigns has past'. The thing is......that is probably true. But what is there to lose ? Some stamps ? Some paper ? Things can't really get worse, can they ? So...

Le Plan

Write a letter, write a postcard, write on a napkin....who cares ? Just tell MGM you like Stargate and want more. And send it to:

Mark Burnett
MGM Studios Inc.
245 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
United States of America

[Xaeden]

The thing, though, is that the problem isn't MGM. The problem is selling the show. MGM would obviously like more Stargate that they can profit off of, but they can't just throw a full show up on their own service as the finances don't support such an endeavor. A show like Stargate is too expensive and the platforms they have are currently too small to attract a large enough audience for that to be profitable. More work needs to be done to get to that point.

In the interim, the traditional route offers the only other option and that entails selling a show to an existing network or online platform. This third party would then primarily finance the project and MGM could make money by selling the show in syndication, selling DVDs, selling merchandise, etc. Doing that requires they convince someone else that they can have success with a Stargate show, which is not something a letter writing campaign helps them to do.

A social media campaign, on the other hand, is something that MGM can point to that a third party can verify. And when you go that route you're not just engaging with fans, you're also drawing outside attention to your movement, which shows executives that there's momentum that they can build on.

Mallozzi isn't wrong. Letter writing campaigns used to be important because they would get reported on, which would have the effect of drawing additional attention to a program, in turn allowing a network to think that they might get a ratings bump if they reversed a cancellation. Social media offers a directer, faster acting way to do that. So, even in the case where you're trying to talk to an entity whose hands the franchise is in (unlike in this case, where MGM is not in a position to finance a new show themselves), that really is a better way to go these days.

[Falcon Horus]

@Xaeden -- have you looked at the recent numbers for MGM. They are no longer going bankrupt.

Did you know that The Handmaid's Tale is their new cashcow (in a manner of speaking)? Winning them emmiy's and awards left right and center.
They are most certainly capable of financing a new Stargate show -- but something is holding them back, and goddess knows what that is.

Letters are also harder to ignore when they pile up. Harder to filter in a spamfilter and unlike emails, are not simply deleted with one click of the mouse. If letters to MGM aren't going to be enough, then perhaps we should send letters to every online platform there is (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon -- Hulu already works with MGM to distribute The Handmaid's Tale). We send tissue boxes -- something to catch their attention. If social media doesn't cut it, perhaps old school should be what we need.

[Xaeden]

You're misinterpreting what I said. I was talking about the financials of investing in a show that cannot produce a return on that investment. The issue isn't at all about having the money to produce a show, it's about being able to release it in a way that it can make that money back for them and they do not currently have a platform where that is possible. You can't, for example, throw a 40-60 million dollar per season program up on Stargate Command and expect to attract enough people to cover those expenses (never mind advertising and distribution expenses). As a result, they currently have to rely on a third party to distribute it and under that model this third party takes on most of the cost, meaning MGM has to convince them it is worthwhile to do so.

Also, Haidmaid's Tale follows that classic third party format. In fact, it took a lot of effort to find a home for it. Its development goes back to 2011, and it was originally set up at Showtime, but Showtime dropped it while it was still in the script stage. MGM then had to shop it around before getting an offer from Hulu. What's great about this for MGM is that Hulu pays them to license it, MGM gets to sell DVDs, and after a certain number of seasons MGM will get to syndicate it. The problem, again, is getting a third party to agree to such a deal with Stargate.

[Janus]

@ Xaedan: Third party attention is only part of the problem. Because if - say - Netflix, came to MGM and said...."Hi, we want to do some Stargate"....what does MGM have ? Nothing, nada, zilch, zero. MGM needs get its rear into gear and come up with a plan.

[Xaeden]

What are you basing this on? I would be shocked if MGM has not been actively shopping a Stargate show around. That we haven't heard anything about it is par for the course. To go back to the Handmaiden's Tale example, we only know about MGM's efforts to get it on the air that date back to 2011 because those details have been revealed after the fact. It's rare to know about these meetings as they're ongoing and, in fact, I can't think of a single case where it has happened because a studio talked about it. It's always been because some creative hire has tried to drum up support for their project by leaking details, like Emmerich did regarding his Stargate movie pitches to MGM.

I appreciate that, in a world where social media gives people direct access to creators, you'd want to be kept updated on what is going on and if you haven't been it may feel like nothing is happening, but studios are notoriously more cautious than creators about bringing fans into these sorts of things. They're still much more into carefully timed press releases that announce something tangible like a successful deal being signed or a writer, actor, etc., being hired. Stargate is among MGM's top properties and there's no way they do not want to exploit that for continued profit. This whole Origins thing was clearly an attempt to drum up interest, both in continued stories in the face of disinterest from third parties and in the future of their streaming endeavors. There's no reason to think they did all that and are now sitting around waiting for someone to approach them.

[thekillman]

There's no reason to think they did all that and are now sitting around waiting for someone to approach them.

It's actually possible that they are, right at this minute. Network deals, distribution rights, hiring someone to work out the vision. It's an immense mess of immense proportions. It's entirely possible that we're in the waiting phase, where MGM is simply taking a moment to see if anyone bites. Though i think i should mention that "wait until someone bites" is very much a "send people into meetings time and time again to see if a deal can be made" not "sit around in an office twiddling their thumbs".

But yea, these things take time. MGM knows what it has (a reasonably performing movie, a series that ran for 10 years, a spinoff that did 5 and may have done 6, and a spinoff that did 2). I'd be surprised if they didn't know that Stargate was very much made by the people (largely founded on the vision of people like Cooper, Wright), and i'd be surprised if they weren't looking for a new deal similar to this. Hell, the fact that they approached Emmerich/Devlin shows that they know.

But there are more problems. Stargate is not without flaws and the demographics problem is a big one (the average viewer was in the 40-50 segment at the time of SG1-SGA, an issue they tried to fix with SGU but clearly that didn't work out). Marvel basically sells the same type of stories and humor as SG1 did, so there's competition. There's also a massively complex canon that holds it back (but also is a rich background to draw from). Issues that MGM knows need to be fixed in one go in the right way.

[Falcon Horus]

You're misinterpreting what I said. I was talking about the financials of investing in a show that cannot produce a return on that investment. The issue isn't at all about having the money to produce a show, it's about being able to release it in a way that it can make that money back for them and they do not currently have a platform where that is possible. You can't, for example, throw a 40-60 million dollar per season program up on Stargate Command and expect to attract enough people to cover those expenses (never mind advertising and distribution expenses). As a result, they currently have to rely on a third party to distribute it and under that model this third party takes on most of the cost, meaning MGM has to convince them it is worthwhile to do so.

I did indeed misinterpret. My apologies.

I should add that MGM created a digital department last year, a few months before there was talk of Stargate Command. They hired a Director for the digital department -- Sam Toles (previous work experience includes being one of the founders of Vimeo) -- so they are very much trying to dig their way into the digital streaming world (for which they are quite late as many have gone before, and they are litterally falling behind there).

Therefore, they could do exactly the same as CBS and create their own All-Access playground (like Stargate Command already is) and put a new stargate show on there, much like CBS did with Star Trek Discovery (which was co-financed by Netflix and distributed worlwide by them too, a day after CBS All-Access airing). They might very well already be working on it -- in fact, they already own a digital channel on which they stream real housewife related topics.

...it was originally set up at Showtime, but Showtime dropped it while it was still in the script stage.

I bet they are regretting that decision now.

@ Xaedan: Third party attention is only part of the problem. Because if - say - Netflix, came to MGM and said...."Hi, we want to do some Stargate"....what does MGM have ? Nothing, nada, zilch, zero. MGM needs get its rear into gear and come up with a plan.

Netflix dropped all stargate from their series lists, everywhere. It wasn't worth paying the license fee, which I imagine is probably astronimical for the return Netflix got out of it. You don't simply drop a series if enough people are still watching it.

[Chaka-Z0]

Netflix dropped all stargate from their series lists, everywhere. It wasn't worth paying the license fee, which I imagine is probably astronimical for the return Netflix got out of it. You don't simply drop a series if enough people are still watching it.

To be honest it's understandable. We, the SG fans, sometime forget SG-1 first aired about 20 years ago! This is not the kind of stuff that appeals to the *younger generation* in general, unless they are Sci-fi fans already

[Xaeden]

It's actually possible that they are, right at this minute. Network deals, distribution rights, hiring someone to work out the vision. It's an immense mess of immense proportions. It's entirely possible that we're in the waiting phase, where MGM is simply taking a moment to see if anyone bites. Though i think i should mention that "wait until someone bites" is very much a "send people into meetings time and time again to see if a deal can be made" not "sit around in an office twiddling their thumbs".

We're in agreement here. This is what I meant by saying I don't see a reason to doubt that they've been actively pitching a new show.

Therefore, they could do exactly the same as CBS and create their own All-Access playground (like Stargate Command already is) and put a new stargate show on there, much like CBS did with Star Trek Discovery (which was co-financed by Netflix and distributed worlwide by them too, a day after CBS All-Access airing). They might very well already be working on it -- in fact, they already own a digital channel on which they stream real housewife related topics.

I agree that this is the end goal. Studios have finally woken up to the importance of streaming and are trying to carve their way into the market. That's why CBS is pushing All-Access, why two companies are competing hard to buy Fox right now (it's all about consolidating libraries), and why MGM has been doing its thing, which has included talk of teaming up with smaller studios. I do not, however, think they are yet at a point where they can produce an expensive science fiction program and expect a return by putting it up on a fledgling streaming platform. In the case of Star Trek, CBS had a few things going for them:

1) Having come out in 2014, it had some time to build up its subscriber base with existing content before Star Trek launched. That happened on September 24, 2017 and around then they announced a surge in subscriptions, bringing them up to 2 million subscribers. In February 2017, however, they were already nearing 1.5 million subscribers.

3) A large part of what drove their pre-Star Trek subscriptions was that they gained the ability to stream football in 2016. While MGM does have a library of shows and movies, so do a lot of studios. Sports gave CBS the ability to offer viewers something markedly different than what they can get on Netflix.

4) CBS had the ability to promote the show on its network. This was a very powerful tool that drew subscribers. MGM doesn't have this and would have to rely on standard methods of promotion.

5) It's Star Trek, so it was a bit of a bigger deal in terms of drawing attention to what they were trying to do.

6) The show is actually a Netflix financed project. In exchange for the international rights, Netflix agreed to pay for the entire production budget, which comes out to around 6-7 million an episode. MGM would be lucky if they worked out a co-financing deal with someone.

[NickEast]

Netflix dropped all stargate from their series lists, everywhere. It wasn't worth paying the license fee, which I imagine is probably astronimical for the return Netflix got out of it. You don't simply drop a series if enough people are still watching it.

Do you know for a fact that it was dropped for that reason?

Netflix got the 1994 film again last year, and it was removed shortly before MGM made their announcement. The entire franchise was supposedly removed from Amazon Prime because MGM wanted to create their own service, which became Stargate Command. So it's also very plausible that MGM themselves revoked the license from Netflix (they've done worse things), and not Netflix dropping it themselves. Besides, they have similarly "obscure" stuff on there.

Wherever Netflix go the actual movie from is anybody's guess, but the version they had probably didn't help much anyway. It was "pan & scanned" to remove the black bars, and it was only the theatrical version and not even Blu-ray quality.

[Stitch]

Stargate

One of the things I have been pondering is the Stargate (Franchise) and it's future. In case you haven't read my previous posts: It's looking pretty bleak. And how MGM has been interacting with the fan base. It hasn't. And - of course - what the fans have done to try to get MGM to make a statement...ANY statement about said future.

And the simple fact is that the fans have tried everything. Well....except for a letter writing campaign. But...isn't that really old fashioned ? I mean, even Joseph Mallozzi said that ' the time of letter writing campaigns has past'. The thing is......that is probably true. But what is there to lose ? Some stamps ? Some paper ? Things can't really get worse, can they ? So...

Le Plan

Write a letter, write a postcard, write on a napkin....who cares ? Just tell MGM you like Stargate and want more. And send it to:

Mark Burnett
MGM Studios Inc.
245 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
United States of America

Are we sure MARK is the bets point contact like Horus said, Sam maybe a better option?

I spoke with him last summer after SDCC announcement!
https://youtu.be/LQTgmbOEQXo

[Falcon Horus]

To be honest it's understandable. We, the SG fans, sometime forget SG-1 first aired about 20 years ago! This is not the kind of stuff that appeals to the *younger generation* in general, unless they are Sci-fi fans already

Are you implying we are getting old?

3) A large part of what drove their pre-Star Trek subscriptions was that they gained the ability to stream football in 2016. While MGM does have a library of shows and movies, so do a lot of studios. Sports gave CBS the ability to offer viewers something markedly different than what they can get on Netflix.

Okay, so... yeah... sports are a large draw... I can't deny that. That's pretty much the same everywhere.

Do you know for a fact that it was dropped for that reason?

It's an assumption on an article I read around the time Netflix pulled Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, which was long before MGM made any announcements about Command or Origins -- like a year or so earlier.

[Janus]

The time to send is now For the details, see...

https://twitter.com/StargateNow_EU