Millennium in Audio Format

[Guest thadarkside]

Earthnut, I know! I almost felt like crying honestly. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever think that I would be sitting down with Lance talking about Millennium. I can't put it into words how amazing it was. He honestly is one of the nicest actors I have ever met and he is keeping tabs on what the campaign is doing.

I can't stop crying from jealousy.

"Sitting in Lance's suite, drinking a beer with him and talking about Millennium for several hours..."

[Sigil]

I can pretty safely say I'd buy ANY new Millennium product they put out. I would buy an episode written in sanskrit on the back of a paper bag with a magenta crayon if it was an official product and the right people were involved!

I have to second this... Seriously... Whatever it is, I want one!

I am getting sick of the red headed step-child treatment! We deserve good stuff too!

[ethsnafu]

You speak my language Sigil

Not one to rest on my laurels I have started the ball rolling. It may end in nothing but nothing ventured nothing gained. I have written to Nicholas Biggs who co-directs Big Finish to see if I can interest them in considering Millennium as franchise ripe for audio adaptation. I have included recent sound files from the cast in the hope that it might back up my claim that such a thing is desired by the fans and supported, in principle, by some of the cast. The good news is that I will be interviewing Rob Shearman hopefully in the next few days. Mr. Shearman recently wrote Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to the X-Files, Millennium & the Lone Gunmen but more importantly he is a prominent figure in the Doctor Who universe, having written seven of Big Finish's audio plays as well as countless theatrical and radio productions. It is my intention to discuss our ideas with him and seek his advice about the best way to present this and who to present it to. Having the opportunity to speak to someone already in the game will hopefully be of value.

Some time ago a Comics Publisher came forward with the intention to secure the rights to a Millennium comic book. At the time myself, Jim and Baz were unsure that they would have the financial means necessary to make a successful bid for the rights to Millennium in a comic book form. Though we haven't heard anything since it does go to show that people are interested in bringing the franchise back in other forms and I feel sure, movie or no movie we will get something at the end of the day.

let's keep our fingers crossed :)

M

[ethsnafu]

Good news and bad news folks...

I heard back from the wonderful Big Finish and guess what? They have tried to secure the rights to Millennium. When I first wrote to them they didn't seem particularly taken with the idea but I've sent the odd interview and blog post their way in the hope someone was listening and I'm wondering if all the hard work paid off. Either way the bad news is that the rights to the show are so expensive that they couldn't make a profit producing the show in audio format. Big Finish is the king of audio dramas and if they say no then I guess it's no. Now my initial reaction was '...why make something so expensive so that those who do want to utilise something you have no intention of using can't...' - there seems little sense in sitting on it forever. If Fox don't want to do anything with the show let someone else pick up the baton. Another way of looking at is that Fox know they have a potential money spinner in the vaults and the cost of the rights may reflect the esteem they have for the show which would certainly make our argument for a return much easier if that's the case.

Sad thing is, a few less pounds and we'd have Millennium back. The cast would be back, the adventures would be back and I'd be opening a bottle of champagne and saluting you guys for the hard work.

Next time eh?

Eth

PS If anyone has any ideas at all how we can move onwards with this idea in light of the above please do share them

[Guest donkeyjote]

Great news, Eth, as it gives us something to work on, at least.

First, I agree with your line of reasoning. Both alternatives sound equally possible: either Fox is stupid (they've shown plenty of evidence of this in the past) or they plan on doing sth with the franchise. However, if they're planning on doing sth themselves, wouldn't a Big Finish production HELP build up promotion of a future Millennium project? D'uh! There seems to be no logical reason for Fox's negative.

Maybe the department at Fox that Big Finish contacted just deal with the rights, and then there's another Fox department that's in charge of analysing whether something will be profitable or not? In any case, it would be an unfruitful task to imagine the reasons why Fox would have such expensive rights for Millennium, who knows how they work...

So, I can't see a way we could publicly use to our advantage the fact that the rights are expensive.

Is it too crazy to write with our queries to the rights department at Fox?

The one thing that does seem clear to me (though I don't have all the facts) is that we should try to convince Big Finish to acquire the rights.

So I'm guessing one of your doubts is if we should temporarily focus the campaign on trying to convince Big Finish? However, without an estimate of the numbers they require to make the deal profitable, there's not much we can do.

In the meantime, maybe we could adapt ourselves the best virtual season 4/5 script? And promote it like the podcasts, and also send them to Fox. All of us working behind the scenes could contribute the voices, and since we are an international bunch I'm sure it would sound quite fascinating. We could all record our lines independently and then joining them with some easy editing software shouldn't be too hard, right? If nothing else, it would be fun and keep everyone involved.

[Guest RodimusBen]

This is not to sound negative, as I am as frustrated as many of you with the situation, but this sort of behavior is entirely normal with most major media conglomerates. Franchises will sit shelved for years, even decades, and they will still retain the rights for no apparent reason. I guess the modus operandi is "you never know."

So not only would I not read too much into this type of behavior on FOX's part, but I wouldn't try to rationalize it or let myself get frustrated. It's really just the way it is.

[ethsnafu]

Hi Diego,

I really don't understand the process of these things work but all I can see is an amazing opportunity for the fans, for the cast, for the creators, for Fox not going forward. The interesting thing is that we are talking about a company who convinced the mighty BBC to give them their rights to produce audio adventures of the most lucrative franchise they have ever created. They will have approached Fox not only with all the necessary to know how to pull this off but with, no doubt, a sizeable sum of money to play with. Why Fox would prefer to let Millennium gather dust in it's archives rather than make a little money from it is beyond me.

So we have a cast and crew that want the show back, we have fans who want the show back and we have a company that want to bring it back. Maybe not in the form we would prefer but from small acorns do big oak trees grow. The fly in the soup is Fox and as a campaign I'm wondering how we approach this. Do we try and approach Fox in an effort to ask them to consider a little flexibility with regards their dealings with Big Finish? If so how?

When we began this campaign we targeted our efforts towards Michael Broidy only to learn, a year in, that he was the wrong man. We asked around and the name Steve Asbell seemed like the next best thing and that's to whom we have targeted our activities since but without any contact at all with Fox we are blind. The XFilesNews team have contact with Fox and this has allowed them to target their efforts more efficiently than ours.

I'm wondering if we approach someone, Frank Spotnitz maybe, who has been receptive to us and lay our cards on the table. He may be able to suggest someone at Fox that might at least listen to what we have to say. Other than that we only have their general enquiries email to which we never receive a response.

If anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate them.

Eth

[Earthnut]

I'm by far no expert, but drawing on my sales background, there is nothing better then something in someone's hand. When wanting someone to sign a contract you always hand the person a pen to hold. Emails tend to get lost in the shuffle and/or deleted, and the right person rarely sees them. I suggest researching Fox, which some of you may already have done, and making a list of names and addresses, then send out a mass letter mailing to each and every one of them. It requires research and as you know, I will be more then glad to help, which also includes the library Who's Who, etc. We have to learn how the system operates, especially me, and right now we still aren't sure of exactly who to contact, and most of them probably don't know either. If we can't spark an interest, then maybe we can spark curiosity. We need to approach them all.

Also, I feel we need to be more specific. We have too many directions we can go in, and naturally, there should always be options, but only one goal. What we really want is a movie. Right? Audios are great, virtual scripts are great, everything we've been doing is great, but when all is said and done, we probably would have little to say about the script or anything else for that matter. Our main project, to me, is exposure, and getting the right people curious and interested. Our campaign is like a tree with many branches, but the trunk of the tree is "Bring Back Frank Black."

I honestly don't think anyone involved with the X-Files would care about bringing back a show that wasn't as big as the X-Files, even though to most of us, Millennium is better. That's why they have the X-File movies. I doubt if they have even thought of or considered bringing Frank Black into any of them after having him on an episode. Makes no sense to me/us.

Do we have an name, address, and phone information post anywhere that we can add to on a regular basis?

[ethsnafu]

Hi Darlene,

I agree with what you are saying angel but here's my thing

The Movie is the ultimate goal of course and all our efforts have been directed towards that one end. Every postcard or letter that has been sent to Fox on behalf of the campaign has asked, explicitly, for a Millennium movie but I don't believe this should exclude us from exploiting other opportunities that may come our way in the process. A successful range of audio episodes could be the single most persuasive factor that would cause Fox to reconsider the franchise and develop it in other formats. As you mention, something thing in the hand does indeed speak loudly and nothing speaks as loud as money in the bank and if Big Finish did acquire the rights and could demonstrate that Millennium is still a profitable franchise then our case for a movie is given further credence.

You are so right on the need for research and believe me I have tried. Fox is such a vast organisation, those who have access to it have proven to be unhelpful and I have sat there many a time trawling through name after name and department after department with no clear idea who on earth to approach. The thing with XF and Michael Broidy is that he is receptive to the fans and loves the show. When the XF team targeted him with their campaign they were already speaking his language, he wanted a film as much as they did and half the battle is won immediately.

I have no idea who, if any one at all, cared for the Millennium franchise in the same way and that's where we could use a little help. Maybe someone at Fox did champion the show during it's tenure but until we know who that is we are scrambling in the dark. Frank Spotnitz may just know of such an individual.

Anyhow, back to BF. I still think a successful audio adaptation makes a pretty convincing case for further use of the franchise and maybe the power of fandom can convince Fox to be receptive to what they are interested in doing. Of course this goes back to the thorny subject of knowing who to approach.

If you could use you skills to help us find a Millennium fan within Fox, or someone who admired the show, then please do. I could do with that help.

Thanks for taking the time to reply sunshine

Eth

[Guest donkeyjote]

I'll see if I can find a name.

As a last resort, I agree we should consider asking Frank if there was a suit at FOX as sympathetic to Millennium as Michael Broidy was/is to The X-Files.