The quest for "Prelude to Fame (1950)"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I'm starting the year on a good note. Things are well, hope the same is true for you.

Received a request for a movie from the 1950s last week, the person did not know the name of the movie and had some recollection of the plot... I'm happy to report that after numerous hours of research I was able to not only find out which movie it was, but who released it and who owns the rights to it. There is a catch though, the distributor that owns the rights only wants to deal with movie theatre chains since the title is on 35mm so it isn't a business for them unless you can guarantee them at least $25K and will not deal with individuals. What a joke!

If those people had half a wit they would realize that if the title was released for home video it would make 7-10 times more than that on its first week given the right marketing campaign. Here we have the complete opposite of let's say Disney or Warner mentality which release everything under the sun in as many versions as they can b/c they know that the only way to make money out of catalog titles is to release them to the public; otherwise, people forget them or they become irrelevant. Honestly, does anyone out there reading this think that the generation X/Ys and beyond know who Guy Rolfe or Aldous Huxley were? do you think they care to watch a B/W movie? The longer a title, not considered a classic, remains inaccessible to the general public the least likely that it'll have any traction with consumers at retail. But then again, that is why this distributor is considered a minor studio and not a Major Studio, not because they don't have a strong catalog but because they don't have a long term vision... quite common in the industry. Also about the "individual" comment, that really pissed me off... who does this guy think pays for his job? Answer: people like you and me who are into entertainment and buy movies or go to movies. These people are a collection of "individuals" who are interested enough to take money out of their pockets and put it into the studios. If individuals can't buy movies in your catalog, or see them, and you have no plans to release it in video how do you expect your company to make enough money to keep your job around? Idiot. I saw the rest of their catalog and trust me, there are less than 10 movies the real movie fan would've heard of.

In any case, I believe I found a solution that doesn't involve $25,000 or a rude distributor. Until next time.

Out-Of-Print (OOP) Buying Tips

There are some people out who know enough about technology to be dangerous and are willing to risk going to jail to get a few bucks out of you. A good example is "Flash Gordon (1980)" this is an OOP DVD and a used version will go easily sell for $85-$100 on Ebay or Amazon.

Well, recently I came across a buyer who was selling numerous copies of this title (flags should be going up right about... now), all advertised as used but ridiculously priced at $25. Talking to the buyer everything seemed right: the price, the case card, and the UPC. They all matched! The buyer's feedback was also great with glowing reviews from different buyers with low and high feedback themselves. At this point, I'm almost convinced that the buyer doesn't have a clue of what he/she's sitting on so I write to the seller asking for a copy.

The movie arrived today, to the untrained eye this is the real thing... BUT, unfortunately for me it isn't. How could I tell? read on and find out:

Whenever buying a used version of an out-of-print title (OOP), make sure you:

• Ask for digital pictures of the playable side of the disc. The disc should not have too many scratches and the surface should be cleared(blue= bootleg).
• Look for the inscriptions towards the center of the disc which should have the name of the movie, the studio, and other numbers. You want to look for the letters "DVR" anywhere here. That is another tale tell sign of a bootleg.
• Ask for digital pictures of the front non-playable sign of the disc. If there is DVD9 or DVD5 anywhere here, you're looking at an ilegal copy... studios in the U.S. do not sell DVD9 or DVD5. These typically come from Asia and are really not worth more than $2 on the street.
• Ask to have a copy of today's newspaper with the date clearly showing. This is to avoid old pictures.

I'm out $30 now (DVD + S/H), not my client, b/c I rushed thinking I had a great deal without paying attention to my instincts and experience. This doesn't happen often so cheers to the seller, you got me. I will not go after this person simply b/c it'll do me and my client more harm than good. But know that what this person did was illegal and punishable by law.

I know plenty of people who will gladly pay me $100 for this movie. I cannot and will not do that simply because I believe it's the wrong thing to do and could not look at my children in the eye and teach them what is right when I'm consciouly deciding to do the opposite. There isn't a grey area here, it's either black or white / right or wrong.

In my business as it is with everything I do, my reputation and people's trust is all I've got. Buyers bank on one or both of those when making a decision to buy or not to buy from me. So why would I betray that trust and risk my family's well-being over a few dollars? Rhetorical question, but to stress the point I'll answer anyway: "I WOULDN'T"

But I digress, the point was to make you aware of what you should be looking for when buying an OOP. I'm sure a lot of my competition out there is not happy I'm giving out these hints, but you know what? You deserve to know what you're paying for.

Until my next blog,

Ruben

ruben@moviesfinder.net

The Streets of Hong Kong (1979)

This 1979 crime drama, starring Gary Collins/Nancy Kwan and released by Universal Pictures has us going nuts trying to find a version in the U.S. (or anywhere for that matter). We're now on Kevin Bacon's six degrees of separation mode where we need to talk to a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend. This is a tough one, but we haven't given up just yet.

May be one of you guys reading this has a VHS copy of this movie that you'd like to sell? Didn't think so, but it's worth a try.

Here is some more info if you wanna join the hunt:

Year: 1979
Run Time: 90 min.
Countries: USA
Category: Feature
Made for TV, Color
Genre: Drama
Set In: Hong Kong, China
Produced by: Verily Productions
AMG Video ID: V 112056


http://us.imdb.com/Details?0316695

Hard-To-Find Movies Service

Warning: I'm new at bloggin and apologize ahead of time if my grammar or sentence structures are not the best on the web. If you're OK with that, please proceed!

First, a bit of history...
For years, I worked as a research consultant to major and minor movie studios and eventually came to realize that no one in those places loved movies the way I did. Nothing wrong with that, but when studio employees were reaching out and asking me about their own and their competitor's titles, it became obvious that my movie knowledge was on the "freak" borderline. When I didn't know about a movie, I made it my goal to research it (on my own time) until I had at least conversational knowledge about it in case it ever came up again.

Anyway, I've since left the studio gig but continue to do consumer research in another industry. The love of movies remains, added to the skill of knowing how and where to look for them. Being a movie collector myself, with over 500 DVDs in my collection, I am often interested or hear about movies that are not your typical million dollar Hollywood blockbusters. I've also been selling movies on the web for a while and have come across lots of people looking for particular movies that I don't usually carry... so, it was only a matter of time until I connected the dots.

Let me spell it out...

movie knowledge + research skills + movie collection + selling movies = http://www.moviesfinder.net/


I still don't get it: What exactly is http://www.moviesfinder.net/ ?
It is a service that I began offering to all movie fans out there. I know that there are a lot of movie sites that sell "hard-to-find movies" but how come they never seem to have the one that you are looking for? The answer: Because it's not cost-effective for them. In other words, it's not popular enough for them to spend money to add it to their inventory with the hope of may be selling it nor do they think is worth their time to spend time to find one copy of an obscure movie... remember what I said about no one loving movies they way I did?

Well, I personally think it is worth my time to help you find what you are looking for. Hey, I don't claim that I carry the movie that you are looking for either, but I do claim that I can find someone who does. And who knows, may be even you'll buy it and finally stop obsessing over it.


No, the service is not free... but very close to it


If you want more information of have trouble finding a movie, please contact me... I will help you will find what you need.

Ruben
www.moviesfinder.net