MOTUC Q&A's From Around the Net (3/1/2012)

[MegaGearMax]

I'm not saying it's impossible that Damien's main goal is to get attention for these pitches, but if folks have only been paying attention to the Twitter updates I've posted on here, or catching a random update, as opposed to going directly to the source, then they've definitely missed-out on a lot of the context in which these updates were given, how his Twitter account was dicovered, etc.

Honestly, while tweets are open to the public (unless you set your account to private), my feeling is that Damien was never expecting fans to stumble upon his Twitter account. I randomly discovered it early last year sifting through many many tweets after having done a search on She-Ra. One of his happen to catch my eye.

I then had to go through hundreds of his past tweets (he's got thousands and many of them are just shooting the breeze with acquaintences, friends etc.) to find ones that were relevant in determining whether or not this person is a legimitate employee. It was actually a bit time-consuming. I dunno. A lot of his tweets seemed very casual to me.

When I did the front page story on the She-Ra show in the works, I researched and found out Damien's background in a few minutes through Goggle. If he really was an employee of Classic Media or someone with power, then he will have been part of some deals or at at least have a write-up about him, confirming his position.

[RockinHard]

Yeah, something like No Rio, We Riot

Oh wait, you said it had to be funny.....

That's right.

She-Ra will die in the mini-comic. No more She-Ra. End of She-Ra. She will be gone. Forever. Until the end. Of time. Death.

I just didn't want you thinking I was BS'ing about it as I know just about as much info as anyone about it, which is pretty much ZERO. Damien had messaged me direct on Twitter months ago and I'm assuming he did so as he knew I'd spread the word and it's free viral I guess. I did cite that one instance where the whole SAG thing got tossed out of the proverbial window which I also find weird.

You do realize that BcrDuke has psychic and telekenetic powers and can rip anyone's spleen from the body upon mere thought. You've been warned. Tread carefully.

[Tallstar]

When I did the front page story on the She-Ra show in the works, I researched and found out Damien's background in a few minutes through Goggle. If he really was an employee of Classic Media or someone with power, then he will have been part of some deals or at at least have a write-up about him, confirming his position.

Hey there MegaGearMax.

Not to take anything away from the Google search you did recently, but if you go back through the posts in the thread on the She-Ra forum, I believe it was JonWes who first determined this Classic Media employees name. This was quite awhile before you posted the news to the front page.

The thing is, when I first stumbled upon Damien's Twitter account, he wasn't using his full real name on there like he is now. Though he did have the DTromel, I believe he had the phrase (probably from Lion King): "Hakuna Matata" in the field where the name is supposed to be listed on the actual page. So while I had no idea what their name was until JonWes finally mentioned it (it seemed like the DTromel could have just been a made up screen name, sort of like the Hakuna Matata thing), I did know that he was a legitimate employee by reviewing several of his tweets. It was just obvious by the stuff he was talking about to other folks. I'm not exactly sure when his creditials were posted on that LinkedIn site, but it was already determined he was a CM employee prior to that being posted.

[vertigoink]

I'm not saying it's impossible that Damien's main goal is to get attention for these pitches, but if folks have only been paying attention to the Twitter updates I've posted on here, or catching a random update, as opposed to going directly to the source, then they've definitely missed-out on a lot of the context in which these updates were given, how his Twitter account was dicovered, etc.

Honestly, while tweets are open to the public (unless you set your account to private), my feeling is that Damien was never expecting fans to stumble upon his Twitter account. I randomly discovered it early last year sifting through many many tweets after having done a search on She-Ra. One of his happen to catch my eye.

I then had to go through hundreds of his past tweets (he's got thousands and many of them are just shooting the breeze with acquaintences, friends etc.) to find ones that were relevant in determining whether or not this person is a legimitate employee. It was actually a bit time-consuming. I dunno. A lot of his tweets seemed very casual to me.

Thanks Jim I hadn't archived the tweets so this at least somewhat confirms what I was trying to explain!

[Eternian Poet]

Nice work Tallstar. I think you're on to something....

[Tallstar]

Thanks Jim I hadn't archived the tweets so this at least somewhat confirms what I was trying to explain!

No problemo.

As I was trying to explain earlier, my gut instinct was that Damien viewed the Twitter thing in a casual sort of way, in the sense that he probably thought his tweets were somewhat contained and he was just updating his immediate circle of friends and acquaintences... and if by chance anyone on his list was a fan of any of these properties *thumbs up*...but not necessarily fishing for attention from the fan base. I don't think he was expecting to take on this role with us. He also seemed somewhat surprised about the He-Man.org fan base. And while that could have all been an act to mislead folks into thinking he wasn't doing this for attention, (), I tend to believe that he was genuinely surprised because he's only been in his current position at Classic Media since 2010.

[csc0709]

What happened to all the other sites that participated in the Matty bi-monthly Q&A? It seems less and less sites get their Q&A posted - or is it just me?

[MegaGearMax]

What happened to all the other sites that participated in the Matty bi-monthly Q&A? It seems less and less sites get their Q&A posted - or is it just me?

It isn't you. Popculturenetwork, Figures.com, Kastor's Korner, Infinite Hollywood, MOTUCfigures.com and The Ultimate She-Ra Guide are missing this time. Sometimes sites post answers late. Some only post answers occasionally. Others might not have sent any questions. And still yet, some sites might be turned off from Matty's stock answers.

[bcrduke]

I'm not saying it's impossible that Damien's main goal is to get attention for these pitches, but if folks have only been paying attention to the Twitter updates I've posted on here, or catching a random update, as opposed to going directly to the source, then they've definitely missed-out on a lot of the context in which these updates were given, how his Twitter account was dicovered, etc.

Honestly, while tweets are open to the public (unless you set your account to private), my feeling is that Damien was never expecting fans to stumble upon his Twitter account. I randomly discovered it early last year sifting through many many tweets after having done a search on She-Ra. One of his happen to catch my eye.

I then had to go through hundreds of his past tweets (he's got thousands and many of them are just shooting the breeze with acquaintences, friends etc.) to find ones that were relevant in determining whether or not this person is a legimitate employee. It was actually a bit time-consuming. I dunno. A lot of his tweets seemed very casual to me.

I've paid attention to all of the posts you've made about Damien.

I'm afraid though that listing all of these just supports what I was suggesting: that he is using POP to pitch a project. He's likely using non-union actors to do a "sizzle reel" that he can use to pitch the concept to network producers. That's his job. He pitches concepts and develops shows. If a network were to pick up the project, then real money would be made available to attract writers, name-actors, etc.

Whatever he's created is not for public view (though it would be cool if it leaked - he'd be smart to leak it to get fan feedback).

All the talk about Blake Lively (friggin SHUDDER) and Joss Wheedon and "big news," is pure Hollywood BS hype.

But again, that's his job.

I think it's good that you are following all of this and giving feedback because it IS actually really cool that someone is pitching the idea! That's better than nothing.

Though he best he his friggin facts straight. "Pride of Greyskull?"

If you get the incantation wrong, you're just lazy (like a LOT of Hollywood "producers"). His making a mistake like that insinuates that he's more interested in his being able to make a name for himself than the quality of the project. They should both be important goals.

Also, the idea that Damien wouldn't expect people to read his tweets doesn't make sense to me. Twitter exists because people want to be noticed. He's using social media to promote his ideas and concepts. Let's not kid ourselves here

[gbagok]

Well I think a She-Ra series made by the team who did Legend of the Seeker (who previously did Xena) could at least be fun if not accurate. Not sure I'd like it, but heck Smallville wasn't my ideal Superman TV show (not even my ideal young Clark Kent show), and yet it was a pretty solid success. So if something like that can happen, I don't mind so much that it might not be a live action love letter to the Filmation series I grew up with. Kind of rubs me the wrong way that he's lying to hype the pitch and then flubs She-Ra's line however. I get that it's what people do in that industry...but blah.

[Jinxieman]

I assumed he was talking about Joss Wheedon...

[bcrduke]

I assumed he was talking about Joss Wheedon...

Ahahahahaha!!

You're right. THAT'S who I meant .

Though, now that I think of it Joss Stone has the right sensibility for the POP world. She was terrific on The Tudors.

[NorthCoast]

Whatever he's created is not for public view (though it would be cool if it leaked - he'd be smart to leak it to get fan feedback).

I can't say I've seen any sizzle reels, but if it wasn't great and looked low-budget, he'd get shredded.

How good do the sizzle reels usually look? Are that close to the final product?

[AximusPrime]

And they not doing anything about Snout Spout's trunk is unacceptable. Breaking crotch pieces can be easily replaced with another 1.0 female figure. Backwards shoulders is just a design laziness scenario. However, something like a head that cannot be replaced is completely and utter bs. They are pretty much saying it is not their fault their product is faulty and that our hard earned dollars that go into this line means little to them outside of that we spent our money on it. I'm sorry, but that is unprofessional. I can deal with the other issues, but this cannot be overlooked. Sometimes you just have to eat the cost of your own **** poor design choice and do what is best for the customers that put the food on your table and let you continue sitting on the couch in your underwear as you wipe the chocoloate off your fingers with $100 bills!!!

Dude, I think you need to chill. For starters, at the end of the day no matter how much we pay for them, these are toys. Mattel, nor any toy company for that matter is going to recall an action figure just because it breaks easily. You, as a paying customer, have the right for an exchange or a full refund. That's it. They did not purposely engineer his snout to break, nor does it breaking pose a threat to anyone's health, therefore no recall. The fact that they are prone to breakage is unfortunate and sucks, but if you think Mattel is under any obligation to absorb the costs of re-engineering, tooling, and production for one figure in a toy line that probably isn't even in it's top five profit making toy lines, you're unfortunately mistaken. This hobby can be very frustrating at times, but we chose to partake in it. I'm not telling you to sit there, take it, and smile either. If you are unhappy, return it and get your money back. Again, I know it sucks for the people that this has happened to, but the reality is this line will continue to be plagued with these problems as long as they have to keep working within the shoe-string budget they have been saddled with. They did nothing about the Goddess' breaking pelvis outside of offering a refund, they did nothing about Roboto's or King Hsss' shoulders, they did nothing about Swiftwind's front legs, is anyone really that surprised that they aren't doing anything about Snout Spout's Trunk?

[Staff Of Ka]

Ooooh the idea of Chase variants usually fries my Grits......But DANG! I Like the idea of 3 different colored Snake men sets packed out randomly!!!

Make It So TG!



ka

[TheFallen]

No chase variants in MOTUC please

[davidlogan]

No chase variants in MOTUC please

None at all. Why would anyone even ask for that?

I still don't have a statue KG variant.

[Mern-Ra]

I can't say I've seen any sizzle reels, but if it wasn't great and looked low-budget, he'd get shredded.

How good do the sizzle reels usually look? Are that close to the final product?

Not at all; a sizzle-reel usually, if not always, consists almost completely of footage from other movies/tv shows with a little bit of original footage worked in just to give the people you're pitching it to what the general look/feel/vibe you're going for will be. In fact I believe it's pretty common not to have any original footage included because it happens THAT early in the life of the project.

[NorthCoast]

Not at all; a sizzle-reel usually, if not always, consists almost completely of footage from other movies/tv shows with a little bit of original footage worked in just to give the people you're pitching it to what the general look/feel/vibe you're going for will be. In fact I believe it's pretty common not to have any original footage included because it happens THAT early in the life of the project.

Ok, I see. Thanks!

[gbagok]

Not at all; a sizzle-reel usually, if not always, consists almost completely of footage from other movies/tv shows with a little bit of original footage worked in just to give the people you're pitching it to what the general look/feel/vibe you're going for will be. In fact I believe it's pretty common not to have any original footage included because it happens THAT early in the life of the project.

Sounds like every fan trailer on You Tube actually. I guess that 300-esque demo-teaser from a few years ago wasn't the same thing then.

[Dr Kain]

Dude, I think you need to chill. For starters, at the end of the day no matter how much we pay for them, these are toys. Mattel, nor any toy company for that matter is going to recall an action figure just because it breaks easily. You, as a paying customer, have the right for an exchange or a full refund. That's it. They did not purposely engineer his snout to break, nor does it breaking pose a threat to anyone's health, therefore no recall. The fact that they are prone to breakage is unfortunate and sucks, but if you think Mattel is under any obligation to absorb the costs of re-engineering, tooling, and production for one figure in a toy line that probably isn't even in it's top five profit making toy lines, you're unfortunately mistaken. This hobby can be very frustrating at times, but we chose to partake in it. I'm not telling you to sit there, take it, and smile either. If you are unhappy, return it and get your money back. Again, I know it sucks for the people that this has happened to, but the reality is this line will continue to be plagued with these problems as long as they have to keep working within the shoe-string budget they have been saddled with. They did nothing about the Goddess' breaking pelvis outside of offering a refund, they did nothing about Roboto's or King Hsss' shoulders, they did nothing about Swiftwind's front legs, is anyone really that surprised that they aren't doing anything about Snout Spout's Trunk?

And I think you need to stop making excuses for Mattel. Small toyline or not, the fact remains that people paid for a product that are supposed to be guaranteed to not fall apart, especially after 3 months. The fact of the matter is that Mattel cheapened on and now a lot of people have paid the price for it.

[bcrduke]

I can't say I've seen any sizzle reels, but if it wasn't great and looked low-budget, he'd get shredded.

How good do the sizzle reels usually look? Are that close to the final product?

Not at all; a sizzle-reel usually, if not always, consists almost completely of footage from other movies/tv shows with a little bit of original footage worked in just to give the people you're pitching it to what the general look/feel/vibe you're going for will be. In fact I believe it's pretty common not to have any original footage included because it happens THAT early in the life of the project.

That depends. Lately they have been made with new footage because they might be reality shows or reality based series (docu-series, competitions, etc.)

Sizzle reels occasionally have new footage, but they tend to be, as Mern-Ra said, stock footage, peaced together with slates containing info if a shot is missing or whatever.

They tend NOT to be very polished... but it depends... with digital film, it's a lot easier to do them with original footage for little to no money.

[AximusPrime]

And I think you need to stop making excuses for Mattel. Small toyline or not, the fact remains that people paid for a product that are supposed to be guaranteed to not fall apart, especially after 3 months. The fact of the matter is that Mattel cheapened on and now a lot of people have paid the price for it.

I never made excuses for Mattel. In fact, I pointed out the other issues with their figures and the fact they've done nothing about it outside of offering exchanges or refunds which is what any other company does. That's hardly an apology. I also pointed out how you as a consumer have a right to a refund or exchange if your product was defective or you were unsatisfied with it. How there is still an expectation for Mattel to eat the cost of re-engineering a defective part on a figure, going into full production and then not getting paid is beyond me at this point. As someone who has been collecting multiple toy lines for many years, no company has ever or will ever do that. And nobody "paid the price for it" as you put it, it's not like we paid for the figure's development and production costs. Also, don't confuse expectations with guarantees. Nobody expects their action figure to have defects, but no toy company will ever guarantee that their figures are 100% free of defects. Ever. I understand people being upset over purchasing something that was defective and/or broke right away due to a design flaw or substandard materials. But sometimes collectors (not only in this fandom) have these unrealistic expectations of what a toy company is and isn't supposed to do and also tend to overestimate their financial impact on said company.

[kylun flac]

before a snake man army builder was ever out I was hoping the would do two.
I hope for the next one to have some new heads & armor. to make them all the more unique.

[Tallstar]

Also, the idea that Damien wouldn't expect people to read his tweets doesn't make sense to me. Twitter exists because people want to be noticed. He's using social media to promote his ideas and concepts. Let's not kid ourselves here

But the thing is, I didn't say he was uninterested in having people read his tweets...

I tried to make the point that it seemed possible he was content with his existing followers/friends/acquaintences (which really wasn't *that* many people at the time and isn't currently) and that it may not have been his main objective to promote properties through Twitter.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that a significant portion of his updates are personal non-job-related comments/no holds barred jokes, many of which contain misspellings, poor grammer etc. (possibly because some of them are posted via Blackberry?), so if he was trying to draw attention to himself or impress folks outside of his circle, wouldn't he have been a lot more serious, meticulous and, more importantly, included his full name and place of employment right off-the-bat? (On a side note, he does appear somewhat intelligent in the video I suggested earlier, though some of that jokester side presents itself)

Now it is possible he saw the potential for more exposure once MOTU/POP fans started contacting him, however, prior to me stumbling upon his account it's not as if he had a bunch of retweets or anything that would make his updates go viral to inform the general public. Pretty much you had to do some work to find him - and really, there are easier ways to get noticed if that was the main goal.

And, while some of the folks he seemed to interact with on a semi-regular basis are random creators, models etc. that he potentially met through some sort of business ventures, they didn't strike me as the type of people who would be able to further him in some of those hypothetical objectives.

With regard to the "by the pride of greyskull" comment, soon after he posted that tweet, he explained that he was going to say "chastity" but changed it at the last minute. I have absolutely no idea what that has to do with anything ...but it doesn't exactly seem out of character for him to type these sort of impulsive comments.

I do agree he should be working to inspire confidence in the fan base though, instead saying stuff that's potentially going to worry people.