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Seinfeld DVD News
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Posted by: DougF

From CNN's money page:

http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/23/new...dex.htm?cnn=yes

Apparently, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss will not be participating at all in the upcoming DVD releases of "Seinfeld". They were offered only recording fees and no share of the profits.

I'm sure some of you will say they are rich enough already, but this was a true ensemble show, regardless of the title. The studio, Seinfeld and Larry David will make a fortune off of these sets. I think the supporting cast is absolutely justified to want a cut.

Posted by: MacThor

Larry and Jerry should seriously re-consider this. What would they (the other 3) be happy with...1% of revenue each? Commentary by the whole cast would, IMO boost sales tremendously, enough to cover the 3% of top-line forfeited.

Then again, it's the writers' and producers' commentary that generally adds the most value.....

Posted by: devdogaz

I would be much more likely to buy this collection if it had commentary from all four actors. They would be able to reminisce about what happened when filming certain scenes, etc. I also would love commentary from the writers, telling what their inspirations were for certain plotlines and stories.

Posted by: IJustLikeTivo

Boo Freakin hoo. The actors are just trying to drill a dry well again. I said all I have to say here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-v...?postid=1600578

Posted by: Peter000

IJLT, While I agree in sentiment about what you said in your linked post (boo freakin' hoo), the reality is if the actors commentary would considerably increase sales, the producers should consider cutting them a better deal. It's all a matter of value. That's why they got such a huge chunk of change per episode... they helped keep the ratings up, and sold more ads. They aren't just worker bees like techinicians, they're celebrities, and they make their money with their names. So if their names are advertised as giving value to the product, as in performing on the show, why not give them residuals? Same with the commentaries which are pretty much a "performance."

Now I would not buy the set just because all the actors had commentary... generally they do the worst at commentary. I would much rather hear the producers/writers commentary. In this case I think the producers were wise in denying them a cut of the revenue on the DVD sets. The value of the commentary just isn't worth the extra money spent on the actors.

And you're right.;. it's just the actors trying to rewrite their contracts after seeing what a cash cow TV series DVDs are.

Posted by: IJustLikeTivo

quote:
Originally posted by Peter000
And you're right.;. it's just the actors trying to rewrite their contracts after seeing what a cash cow TV series DVDs are.

Which is my real issue here. If they negotiated a lower initial payment in return for other revenue (cross promotion, dolls etc) then that is fine, but they can't have their cake and eat it too. For a while, actors on TV were paid ok but since there were no secondary markets (e.g. syndication). They were just paid for the work and that was the end of it.

Then, as syndication came along, they negotiated a chunk of that. In this case, they decided to take a large up front payment in return for a very small residual payment (most actors on big shows make more than 100K on residuals). At the time they made that deal, sell through video did not really exist except for some small markets like Star Trek to sci-fi fans. Therefore, they did not negotiate any rights to that money. The producers who own the shows are free to sell anywhere not covered by an existing contract and take the money.

I think they are the ones who paid out all the money originally for actors, studio time and technicians and they were the ones who would lose it all if they did not get enough shows in the can to syndicate it. No actors has to give money back if the show loses money. If they give it back to get some backend revenue, more power to them. They took a chance and they would reap the reward.

Now, personally, I am not enough of a Seinfeld fan to buy these anyway so I am not the market and I agree that generally actors are so self-absorbed that their commentary is pretty limited to I this and I that which is not real interesting to me. I find directors and writers make much more interesting comments. In any case, the presence or absence of the commentary here makes no difference to me and clearly the producers felt it as not important enough to give them the money. I expect they will be right. If you are a fan, you will buy then anyway. And if you are not, you would not anyway.

Posted by: DougF

What the actors were paid for their work on the series and for syndication residuals isn't at issue here, as I see it. They were approached to do interviews (and probably commentaries) for the DVD sets. This is an entirely separate job to them, even if it involves previous work.

They weren't trying to rewrite contracts, they were simply trying to negotiate brand new contracts for a brand new job. They gave their price, the studio said no. It's no different than if you were offered a job for $50,000/year and said no because you think it should pay more.

Posted by: smak

I don't think i'd miss them that much. Sometimes you can have too many people commenting.

If Seinfeld and David are commenting, that's plenty for me.

George Costanza is mostly Larry David, and he modeled Kramer after his neighbor, so i'm sure anything those 2 need to say, Larry David can say it for them.

Plus, as we've seen, the other 3 aren't really all that funny outside the show, and Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld are.

-smak-

Posted by: grecorj

I bet the "Friends" actors get a sweet deal on that show's DVD sales.

BTW, the Box Set of seasons 1-6 of Friends goes on sale in March 2004 -- about $160 from Amazon IIRC. :D

Posted by: Big_Daddy

I haven't watched Seinfeld for a few years - I sort of overloaded on it around the time the show went off the air. Well, TiVo has been capturing Seinfeld episodes as "suggestions" recently and I've been watching. They're still as funny as ever. I'd seriously consider buying the DVD set depending on the price point.

Posted by: jones07

Without the Fab Four no Sale. Now for 1/4 the asking price I might consider it ;)

Posted by: IJustLikeTivo

quote:
Originally posted by jones07
Without the Fab Four no Sale. Now for 1/4 the asking price I might consider it ;)

Fab four? I see one funny person and three sidekicks. I guess I am not the target audience. ( I mean aside from my issue with the compensation anyway)

Posted by: njtaz

quote:
Originally posted by IJustLikeTivo
Fab four? I see one funny person and three sidekicks. I guess I am not the target audience. ( I mean aside from my issue with the compensation anyway)

No way, one of the reasons the show was so great is that all four were really funny.

Posted by: appleye1

quote:
Originally posted by IJustLikeTivo
Fab four? I see one funny person and three sidekicks. I guess I am not the target audience. ( I mean aside from my issue with the compensation anyway)

Oooh, that is just so wrong. Jerry was the lead, but the real comedy was mostly provided by the supporting actors. And not just the "fab four" either. When I think of the funniest moments I think of characters like Newman, and Putty, and Mr. Pitt, and Frank Costanza, and the hundreds of hilarious scenes that Jerry Seinfeld was not even a part of. I love Jerry's comedy, but this was definitely an ensemble show, and the real genius was evident in Larry David's creation.

As for the DVD set, I really wish they could work something out. It will be a much better set with their commentary. But I'll buy it regardless.

Posted by: zyzzx

I still haven't seen a schedule for this. Anyone know when the first set is scheduled to be released?

Posted by: NDgrad1998

"I still haven't seen a schedule for this. Anyone know when the first set is scheduled to be released?""I still haven't seen a schedule for this. Anyone know when the first set is scheduled to be released?"

"Screensaver" show on TechTV mentions that release date is Dec 2004, one year from now.

Posted by: Shemp65

Update: Kramer has caved. He will be involved in the commentaries for the DVD. He said he would like to be compensated, but also is proud of his work, and wants to make the DVDs a great product.

They can easily do it without Elaine and George.

--b

Posted by: njtaz

quote:
Originally posted by Shemp65
Update: Kramer has caved. He will be involved in the commentaries for the DVD. He said he would like to be compensated, but also is proud of his work, and wants to make the DVDs a great product.

They can easily do it without Elaine and George.

--b

That's really good news if its true maybe if one caves the other will start to also. Where did you hear this news?

Posted by: smak

That's enough for me. If the other 2 cave, hopefully they'll do it like the simpsons, where if there's a George story, Alexander will comment, if there's an Elaine story, Louis-Dreyfus will, but every episode should have Seinfeld & David, like every Simpson's commentary had Groening & Simon.

I'm interested in the ideas, and how they came about, not really about how they were acted.

-smak-

Posted by: jasonl99

Not having commentary from Jason Alexander is a feature of this DVD, right?

Posted by: chrisnorton

I might be one of the few people who thinks that Jerry was the least funny of all of them. He was, though not completely, the straight man of the outfit. Everyone else got their laughs because of him, but even then, Jerry did the least to entertain me. All in all, I'll buy the DVD's when they come out, and the other three should get more money, lots more.

Posted by: BrettStah

Update:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112945,00.html

quote:
A potentially bitter dispute over royalties between Jerry Seinfeld and his three co-stars has been settled - allowing the release of a DVD collection of "Seinfeld" with newly filmed interviews and other material.

Posted by: jones07

Great ! Now that the whole cast is pieced in, I'll happily buy into the Fab four DVD ;)

And to think I never watched this show once until it was off the air an in syndication. Now I Record 2 or 3 eps a day to watch over the weekend. I think I seen them all except for the first season

Posted by: grecorj

According to an interview w/Jason Alexander, there is still quite a bit of resentment between Seinfeld and the other actors:

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet...TPTechInvestor/

While I believe they should be getting compensation to do DVD special features, it all seems a tad like sour grapes -- "We only made $1MM per episode the final season! We've only made $250,000 in residuals over the years!" Come on.

Posted by: cbordman

i don't know why, but i always think of jason alexander and danny devito as the epitome of spoiled prima-donna actors.

Posted by: jones07

Everyone made lots of money with the Seinfeld show. My gut feeling is/was that it was a little low rent of Seinfeld to not be willing to offer royalties from the DVD collection. They was a equal part of the success of the show. I think the three was only asking to be treated fairly
.

Posted by: DougF

quote:
While I believe they should be getting compensation to do DVD special features, it all seems a tad like sour grapes -- "We only made $1MM per episode the final season! We've only made $250,000 in residuals over the years!" Come on.

Yeah, but keep reading and see that the series has generated over $1 billion in revenue. They were all a huge part of that success and deserve to be compensated. I'm glad they didn't cave (well, except for Richards).

These sets will easily be the top selling TV show sets yet. The participation of the other three will help drive that and they shouldn't be expected to do it for free.

Posted by: disco

quote:
"I'm not ashamed to talk numbers," Alexander said. "I would say in the years that we've been in syndication, Julia, Michael and I have probably individually seen about a quarter of a million dollars out of residuals, whereas our brethren have seen hundreds of millions of dollars."

Um, did you, Julia or Michael actually WRITE any of the episodes??

Posted by: jones07

"I said to Jerry when he made the decision years ago to not let us in, 'The day will come when you regret this decision, only because it's going to put us in a position eventually of seemingly tainting the wonderful impression of what this was for the four of us.

"You have created a rift between you and the three of us, and while we are in no way, shape or form looking for parity with you, you have created a chasm that is also inappropriate,' " Alexander recalled.

Posted by: grecorj

quote:
Originally posted by Frozen Solid
Yeah, but keep reading and see that the series has generated over $1 billion in revenue. They were all a huge part of that success and deserve to be compensated. I'm glad they didn't cave (well, except for Richards).

These sets will easily be the top selling TV show sets yet. The participation of the other three will help drive that and they shouldn't be expected to do it for free.

I couldn't agree more with your second statement. They do deserve to be compensated for anything they do for the DVDs (unless their prior contracts covered DVDs), and it was bad form for Seinfeld/Larry David/whoever to *not* approach them with that in mind.

As far as your first statement: they *were* compensated for their work as actors. $1MM per episode the last season (and I seem to recall them getting several hundred thousand per ep for at least a few seasons prior to that).

They don't own the characters & they didn't pay to produce the show. Ergo, they got what they deserved.

Posted by: KRS

I read the interview with Jason Alexander, and he sounds pretty logical. The 3 tried to get back end on the final season and were denied. They get relatively shoddy money for the syndication as a result. And now that the DVDs are coming out, once again the 3 asked for some royalties. I don't see this as sour grapes over their original contract. DVDs didn't even exist when they started doing the show.

Besides, while Seinfeld is a great comic in his own right, on the show he would not have lasted a season without such a strong supporting cast.

Posted by: devdogaz

Reading that article can really make you think Jason Alexander is a bitter A-hole.

But at the same time, if you look at it from a different perspective, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David are now rich beyond their wildest dreams and that is due largely in part to the acting talents of Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards. While you really can't single out any one aspect that made the show a success (writing, production, acting, timeslot, promotion, etc.), Jerry was never a good actor and a large part of the show's success (and thus Jerry's wealth) can be attributed to the brilliant casting of these other three actors. To deny them a larger-than-standard portion of the residuals is pure greed on the part of those who own the rights to the show.

I'm glad they worked out something to their satisfaction so they will participate both in the production and profits of the DVDs.

Posted by: smak

I sincerely doubt that they've only made $250,000 each from syndication over the years.

Also, i'm sure Jerry is paid the exact same thing as the others for his acting in the show.

There is a huge difference in money when you create the show, produce the show or act in the show.

That's why i'm sure in the 3 of their following series, they were producers.

As for the DVD's, they should absolutely get big money for them. They will sell like hotcakes, and if they participate they should be rewarded.

-smak-

Posted by: cbordman

How much have they made with their own sitcom endeavors?