LETTER FROM THE PRODUCER

Yikes, it’s hard to believe it’s been 8 years since I launched Movie FX. That picture of me over there on the left is 10 years old, so I look a little older (and heavier fortunately) but I’m definitely wiser. Over the years, I’ve had many people come up to me at conventions and whatnot and say they loved the DVD magazine and want to know what happened. So I figure I’ll set the record straight. “Distribution” killed the mag. We had a 55% sell through at places like Barnes & Noble

and Borders (we were even in Chapters up in Canada) which is standard for magazines but Ingram Periodicals (our beloved distributor) never supported us. At one point, they were only ordering 5000 copies and they only had us in a handful of stores in L.A. (L.A.!?). Then they would take 45% of the cover price, hit me with all sorts of fees that were very vague, and I ended up losing quite a bit of money annually. But I LOVED making it, so year after year I cranked them out hoping Ingram would see the light. After fighting with them and the constant revolving door at the studios (having your contact leave every year really sucks when you need to get materials from them), I decided to pack it in. But I met some incredibly cool and talented people and had the chance to experience some neat stuff (like hanging out in the Inglewood Cemetery at midnight while they shot the Buffy finale, or checking out the Green Goblin glider while it was still being designed) so I don’t consider it money or time wasted.

Many of you don’t know, but by day, I run the Multimedia Dept. for Sony Computer Entertainment America (which is a very cool gig). One of the things I specialize in is video. A friend of mine pointed out that, even though the magazine is dead, I could still bring people new and interesting content through my website (and putting out a few new Master Class DVDs wouldn’t hurt either). One problem, I don’t build websites so redesigning the site was out. However, I decided to take a crack at updating it. And this is the result. It’s not going to have a bunch of flash videos on it, or custom graphics, but it will have new material and lots of video. Also, I just shot 8 new video lessons, so I will be cranking out tow more Master Class videos before July. Thanks for sticking with us and keep checking back for updates.

Take care and I'll see you around

-GARY BARTH