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Post by mjwillia on Nov 29, 2002 13:11:05 GMT -5
Hey UncleGordo!
Here is the letter that I sent to each of the advertisers. There is one sentence that I change to fit the company I am writing. It is the one with the Blanks in it. I would be happy to type in the addresses I used for each of the advertisers as well - if people want me to do that. I got the advertisers off of a FF webpage. Some one here on the DA page referenced the site and I went there and got the addresses. (I am sorry but I don't remember who.) Anyway, here is the letter:
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing to express my disappointment with the Executives at the FOX Network for poor customer service and poor social responsibility in not giving the fans of “Dark Angel” a conclusion to the series.
First, the Executives of the FOX Network ask people to commit to their network’s show “Dark Angel” and then they abruptly cancel it with no sense of resolution or closure for the viewers. Does asking for a conclusion to a story that the Executives asked me to loyally watch seem like too much? I would expect the pair of _____ I buy from ________ to have a _________.
The networks are hurting themselves and their advertisers by letting loyal customers, people who sat through a season's worth of commercials, end their experience feeling cheated. How many people may even be boycotting FOX channels due to this poor treatment? How many people are not seeing your advertisements?
Second, “Dark Angel” exemplifies the best of socially responsible TV unlike Buffy the Vampire slayer (a show that portrays women being raped and killed) or Fire Fly (a show that portrays prostitution as a socially esteemed career). “Dark Angel” is about a courageous young woman of a mixed ethnic background that is fighting for her rights, a male hero is admired for his intellect and the fact that he is wheel-chair bound is only used to show his strength of character, there is a positive portrayal of an African American gay woman and I can not forget to mention the entire “normal humans” vs. “genetically enhanced humans” dichotomy of the future being seen as a portrayal of everyone’s essential rights to: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What can be more American than that?
Please join me in asking FOX to be both more consumers responsible and more socially responsible by giving the many loyal viewers of Dark Angel a conclusion!
Thank you for your consideration,
My Name Address
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 29, 2002 13:13:05 GMT -5
Hey UncleGordo,
It just occured to me that I should also post the thank you letter I send the advertisers after they reply to me.
Here it is:
Dear Customer Care Department,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply to my earlier letter regarding the FOX TV show “Dark Angel.” Kudos to your customer service department! If only FOX’s customer service department was so conscientious! I have been writing FOX Headquarters on a weekly basis for the last 6 months and have yet to even get a form letter back from them!
Since you wrote in your reply letter to me that you would forward my concerns to your marketing campaign department, I thought it would be relevant for you to also share with them the following information:
According to Futon critic (www.futoncritic.com) DARK ANGEL not only did considerably better than Firefly “ratings wise” in the Friday time slot, but DARK ANGEL’S ratings in the Tuesday time slot was better than Fox's new series 24! Where have these millions of viewers gone? They currently are NOT watching FOX during those time slots.
Your marketing department may want to use this information to negotiate lower advertising costs during these two time slots since your advertisements are not getting the viewers that they once had when Dark Angel was on the air.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 29, 2002 13:24:45 GMT -5
Hey Everyone! I heard back from the person at www.darkangelx5.com/episode.html who I wrote about helping with an "Eyes-Only cable hack email" and he/she said they would like to help! Maybe we can put this idea together! For a script: I was thinking we should start out with the usual thing Logan says... Then, say basically what my "letter to the advertisers" said but change it to fit Cameron. Then, ask Cameron to make a virtual season 3 in the way he would have done it on tv if FOX hadn't cancelled the show. Logan could suggest that Cameron make an "anime" cartoon that he could make available on his "Industrial Velvet" website. End of script. If we could get Cameron on board with us then, we would have to come up with the money to buy DA and produce our own series. Cameron could do a "pay-per view" deal so that he could cover his production costs and perhaps of course some profit. All we would have to do is use a credit card to pay to download the show onto our computers. Anyway, that was what I was thinking. What do you guys think?
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 29, 2002 15:19:44 GMT -5
Hey Everyone!
I got a "thank you for my thank you" from Coca-Cola today! I think it is a very encouraging letter and I would like to share it with you.
Here it is:
Dear Ms. Williams;
Thank you for contacting The Coca-Cola Company again. We appreciate you sharing your concerns with us.
Please be assured that your comments are being shared with the appropriate company representatives. We value the comments that we receive from our consumers. We not only review this feedback carefully, but it helps guide the selection of programs in which we advertise. Your comments, along with the correspondence we receive from others, will play an important role in our future purchases.
We invite you to contact us again should you have addititonal comments or question in the future. Best Wishes!
Sincerely, Christine Fitzgerald Consumer Affairs Specialist
You see everyone! Our voices do count to the advertisers! We are their constitutents! Please write the advertisers and when the write you back then, you need to write them a thank you. They do keep track of feed back. When they to to FOX and tell them that THEY are unhappy with FOX's treatment of THEIR consumers then FOX will listen. You see, we aren't FOX's consumers the ADVERTISERS are. So, it is like a chain reaction. We pressure the advertisers and the advertisers pressure FOX.
WE CAN DO THIS! WOO! WOO!
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Post by UncleGordo on Nov 30, 2002 0:53:12 GMT -5
Hey mjwillia Thank you very much for posting your advertisers letters, they are tremendous, as well as your thank you letters I would hope that the rest of the members who have not written to the advertisers will use your letters as sample. Obviously you are getting great results. Thanks again.
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heat
Devoted Fan
Posts: 187
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Post by heat on Nov 30, 2002 7:41:34 GMT -5
a cartoon season 3? lol that seriously isnt a good idea to ask for...what good is that seriously..u should ask him to go to another network or do a movie...
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 30, 2002 15:42:37 GMT -5
Hey Heat,
Yeah, I agree with you - I would rather have are real season 3 with the original actors and/or a movie too. But, I figure we have to play the "ODDS" here.
The way I see it is the "odds" of getting a real season 3 with the original actors are really really bad. The casts are going on to other projects, (especially Jessica Alba - Honey looks like it will be a hit and that will make very expensive to hire back as Max), the sets and props have all been auctioned off and there is the whole Gail Bergman thing too.
BUT - the odds are better if we can get James Cameron to make an animation conclusion to DA. Look at it from a business perspective: James could have complete control of the project, no actors to pay, no sets to build, no make-up people and stunt people to pay. Just an investment in some computer software to draw the animations, some people to be the voices of the characters who are cheap and a website to post it - which he already has for Industrial Velvet.
It just seems to me that it will be a lot easier to convince him that with a "small investment" on his part that he could stand to make a profit without too much hassle.
If I thought our group could raise the money to buy the rights to DA and make our own animation like Phil suggested I would prefer to do that because I think our writers are better and I like the idea of controlling our own destiny as well. But, I don't get the sense from our posts here that we have the money or the people power to pull that off.
So where does that leave us? Again, it leaves us with our best shot, and our best shot is James Cameron. He owns DA, he's got money and Industrial Velvet. He could take on this project at minimal expense and minimal effort and make money doing it. What we get - is the conclusion he envisioned before FOX screwed him and us over....
PS. I really love the season 3 that our people have been putting on! I am just curious to know what James Cameron had envision.
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 30, 2002 15:51:01 GMT -5
Ok everybody - I wrote a Draft Script for the "Eyes-Only cable hack email" to James Cameron. This is only a draft and I've never written anything like this before so please help me fix it. Envision all of us coming to this site to copy this attachment on "Real Player" or something like that. Then, we email it to James Cameron. When he opens it he will see and here something like this:
Draft Script for: “Eyes-Only cable hack email”
We see the “Streaming Freedom” banner of Eyes-only
Voice:
This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. This cable hack is meant for you James Cameron. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the coming from Terminal City.
For six months now, my transgenic friends and I have been held up behind the chain link fence topped with razor wire that surrounds Terminal City. With the help of some citizens in America who share in our dream for freedom we have managed to feed ourselves, to take care of our injured and to keep hope alive that one day we can walk in the sun and share the same rights as the citizens on the other side of that fence.
In the last six months, since that fateful night when we fled to Terminal City our friends out there have gone through a lot for us. They have raised money for advertisements. They have made countless phone calls and written an endless stream of letters. Some of their hard work has paid off. Their hard work brought “our plight” to the attention of newspapers and magazines. Mr. Cameron - you are lucky and we are lucky to have someone who cares so much about our plight.
Some say that we are as good as dead. Some say you can’t raise the dead. Mr. Cameron - this is not true! Sometimes, if you are willing to go through a little hell you can raise the dead. We know by now that our homes have either been destroyed or new squatters have taken them over. We know by now that all of our possessions have been sold to the highest bidder. However, Mr. Cameron - There is another way to help us out of Terminal City!
Imagine if you will, a conclusion to our plight told in animation! No cast to recruit. No sets to build. No stunt doubles either. Your corporation Industrial Velvet where we were created has the technology to do this! Better yet, you would not have to even get the networks involved. The conclusion to our plight could be available directly from your Industrial Velvet website! You could distribute our conclusion on a “Pay-per-View” basis. Our loyal supporter would learn how our plight ends by typing in a credit card number and clicking the “Download” button. Our plight’s conclusion would be right there on their computer! No DVDs to burn and mail. No phone operators to take orders. It would be as easy as leaping over a 10 foot razor wire fence!
You can contact me with your answer through my informant that emailed you this message.
Remember - We were made in America by you - isn’t it time to take responsibility for us?
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Post by Tilter on Nov 30, 2002 15:58:33 GMT -5
yeah, i agree, as much as it pains me , the chances of getting DA back as it was is slim, so this is better than nothin. alot of people, i think, arent even aware of this board or that there are real doable ideas and campaigns out there, which is true, or who feel its a lost cause and choose to not continue fightin for DA (thats totally BS), i think we can definitely pull this off, if only we had more exposure and people power as mj said, like over on farscape. ("I am FARSCAPE.") For DA, hows about somethin similar/different, any suggestions? ps: i downloaded the trailer from darkangelx5.com site-very good actually considering it was made at home-with the right script and voice over-an eyes-only broadcast to send to cameron would be sooo awesome!
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 30, 2002 16:39:18 GMT -5
Thanks Tilter!
OK - so lets make this "Eyes-Only cable hack email" a reality! Please write me with any "fixes" you think the "Draft Script" needs.
I found one fix already! I am very very sorry to the fans over seas! I didn't mean to make it sound like only American fans are trying to save DA! The sentence that says:
With the help of some citizens in America who share in our dream for freedom we have managed to feed ourselves, to take care of our injured and to keep hope alive that one day we can walk in the sun and share the same rights as the citizens on the other side of that fence.
Should say:
With the help of some people around the world who share in our dream for freedom we have managed to feed ourselves, to take care of our injured and to keep hope alive that one day we can walk in the sun and share the same rights as the citizens on the other side of that fence.
Can anyone suggest any other changes?
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 30, 2002 16:46:08 GMT -5
Hey Tilter,
I like the "Save Farscape" website too. They have a lot of good ideas over there.
Tilter - do you like the "Known Space" community thread? I was thinking Maybe we could do something like that here.
I was thinking we could do something more simple like a thread called: "What's your 411? And who ever wanted to could put in the alias and there email address so we could email each other and we could see how many of us there are...
What do you think?
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 30, 2002 17:01:07 GMT -5
Tilter - you gave me an idea!
Does anyone know if there is any left over money from selling the DA Merchandise? If so, it says at the bottom of this website that for 6.99 you can buy 50,000 ads. Well, how expensive would it be to make an ad for this site and buy time over on ebay or google? Those two sites get Thousands and Thousands of hits a day and a lot of DA fans would see our ad and come here.
What do you all think?
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Post by Jeiara on Nov 30, 2002 20:40:51 GMT -5
OK - so lets make this "Eyes-Only cable hack email" a reality! hey... I have finals coming up so I won't have much time, but after that is winter break, so I'll have free time. ;D I can fire up some video editing software and I guess snip some scenes from some episodes of the "streaming freedom bulletin" and then if someone who has a michael-weatherly-like voice or has audio software to distort your voice, read the script and save it to a sound file. I can dub that over the scene. After that I'm pretty sure I can just convert it to Real Player or whatever format . There is also QuickTime and Windows Media Players out there. oh yeah, I saw you wrote a script. here's some beginning and end tidbits of the streaming freedom bulletin, I don't know if you'll want to change your script to be exactly like it, but here ya go: Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in the city.
This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin...via the Eyes Only informant net. Peace...out.
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Post by mjwillia on Nov 30, 2002 22:47:50 GMT -5
Hey Jeiara!
That is awesome news! Thanks! If you are willing then you are the "Video Executive" on this project! Thank you for volunteering!
Tomorrow, I will add your fixes to the script plus any others and post Draft Script #2. Then people can check the new draft out and add anymore fixes.
Thank you again for being willing to help!
ANY GUYS OUT THERE WILLING TO HAVE THEIR VOICE RECORDED?
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Post by Jeiara on Dec 1, 2002 0:25:42 GMT -5
no problem... If you need software to record your voice (and you have a microphone with your computer) you can use this program called Total Recorder. It's only 1.21mb. Also, it looks like this shareware version limits you to 40 seconds of recording. You could buy it to get past that, or hunt for different program. I read the script outloud at my own reading speed, and clocked it at about 1 min 30 seconds. Though I think the general rule of thumb is 15 words for every 10 seconds. Oh yeah, after reading I just realised you were asking for an animated Dark Angel. I really (like most others) would like a season 3, but yeah I agree with Titler, that asking for an animation might be a better bet? Hmm... wasn't there somwhere in the campaign to ask for mini movies? Oh well, it's up to you guys of what to ask of Mr. Cameron.
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