Ralph Kruhm
30.01.2003, 08:01
Jetzt geht´s aber los...:
(Quelle: The Pulse)
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BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
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Think what you want ... but the only way comics are going to attract a wider audience is if they are in the mainstream and the non-comics buying public is aware of the product. Publishers have to start thinking outside the box to attract any kind of new readership and come up with innovative marketing plans and ideas to attract the non-traditional audience.
That's just what CrossGeneration Comics is doing - thinking outside the box by merging comics with popular magazines, and arranging for issues of their books to be reprinted in Cinescape Magazine. CrossGeneration Comics has just signed an exclusive deal with Cinescape Magazine, and their parent company Mania Entertainment.
The terms of the deal require CrossGen to provide Cinescape Magazine with a CrossGen comic to be stitched into the center of each issue, beginning with the May 2003 cover date issue. The first CrossGen comic to be included in the periodical will be Way of the Rat # 1. The comics that appear will be stitched into the center of each issue of Cinescape and be Traveler's edition trim size. They will be printed in a 32-page signature, with at least 22 page stories. "The first CrossGen comic to be featured, Way of the Rat #1, will include never before seen artwork, possibly some film development sketches commissioned for the movie by Way of the Rat film director Chuck Russell (The Mask, Eraser, The Scorpion King). The film version of Way of the Rat is being produced by Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption), Castle Rock Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures. Michael E. Uslan is also the executive producer of Way of the Rat - as he is on all CrossGen TV and Film projects.
"Cinescape has developed a strong audience among fans of genre movies," explained Tony Panaccio the Vice President of Product Development for CrossGen. "As it's quite likely Way of the Rat will be the first CrossGen film to be in production for the time frame that this partnership kicks off, it makes perfect sense to get that movie crossover audience. Secondarily, our partnership begins also in a similar time frame as Free Comic Book Day, for which we're also using Way of the Rat #1. In fact, we're calling that issue a 'Movie Special' because it will have additional content regarding development of the film. Most of the readers of Cinescape are familiar with manga, so introducing them to the Compendia format is familiar and a common frame of reference for those readers. Also this format also helps the comic stand out from the rest of the magazine, and hopefully encourage people to open it up and give it a gander."
At least a portion of the materials contained in Cinescape will be exclusive to Cinescape - whether it be sketches, behind-the-scenes information, or something else. "When you're in a partnership and getting something as incredibly valuable as this level of exposure, you need to deliver something that measures up to the value that you are getting," explained Panaccio. "For the purists who absolutely want to have every element of Way of the Rat in their possession, I don't feel bad about, in essence, coercing them to buy an issue of Cinescape because Cinescape is a great read. You are getting a lot of value out of buying the magazine. This isn't like a comic with one or two pages of extra stuff, or a variant cover that has exactly the same guts and nothing else. This is a magazine that likely is going to have a great deal of editorial content of interest to them, because Cinescape covers comics as well as all other medium that cater to the comics fan."
This deal also creates opportunities for comics that are not just from the CrossGen existing stable, but for new properties developed in conjunction with Mania Entertainment to be created with CrossGen for Cinescape's exclusive use in its pages. CrossGen would also provide those original comics to the mass marketplace as graphic novels at a later date.
"These properties will be produced using intellectual property that's either co-developed or partially developed by Mania Entertainment, Cinescape's parent company," Panaccio commented of the original comics.
"We introduced our comics coverage to Cinescape Magazine a little over a year ago and over the past year it has proven to be one of our most popular sections, both in print and online at www.cinescape.com" said Chip Meyers, CEO of Mania Entertainment. "Comics is having a rebirth with the mainstream public and we wanted to show our support of this rebirth by being the first magazine to include an actual comic book in each of its issues. The genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror in film have drawn much inspiration from the medium of comics over the years, and in trying to bring the audiences that enjoy both the mediums of comics and films together. We could not think of any place in comics that does this better than CrossGen. In addition to CrossGen's many comics that are currently in active development for films, we intend to introduce through the Cinescape Magazine pages the next franchisable original comics from up and coming artists, as well as stories from legendary genre creators, of whom some are already part of Mania's advisory board. We look forward to offering our readers these already established exceptional stories from CrossGen, and original and fresh stories through Mania's internal development, which will hopefully spawn a new generation of comic book fans in both print and at the movies."
CrossGen's relationship with Cinescape began at the 2001 San Diego ComiCon. Long before the Spider-Man movie had brought superheroes and comics to the attention of the masses, the two companies were discussing the way comics were about to explode on the scene and how both could work together to help that happen even faster. Through a series of "what if" scenarios, a dialogue was established posing the question, "What if Cinescape put comics together in the magazine?" "At this dinner CrossGen has annually, the one rule is you can't talk shop, unless you're sharing a really good story," began Panaccio. "I was sitting with the managing editor of Cinescape, Eric Moro, and when he posed that question, the wheels began to turn. Because Cinescape really is about the genres of sci fi, fantasty, and horror, than it is about movies per se ... that's why the magazine includes a movie, book, TV, and comics section along with its specific genre coverage. Cinescape recognizes that comics, like films, are simply another medium for the presentation of genre-based stories, and that concept is at the fulcrum of this arrangement."
Not long after the Convention ended, Chip Meyers picked up the phone and began talking with Panaccio about making the idea a reality. "This is great for the comics industry," enthused Panaccio. "By putting comics within the pages of a popular strong newsstand consumer magazine and, as a result of the inclusion, putting comics on the same par as books, popular TV, and movies as a medium, exposes comics to an audience that traditionally doesn't pick up comic books or go to the comic shops. That's been part of our mission statement from day one, to expand the audience base for the medium of comics. This arrangement is a real world manifestation of that mission. At the end of the day, this is a win-win for Mania, for CrossGen and for comics in general."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tja, da muß ich wohl anfangen, CineScape zu lesen...
Kommentare?
(Quelle: The Pulse)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Think what you want ... but the only way comics are going to attract a wider audience is if they are in the mainstream and the non-comics buying public is aware of the product. Publishers have to start thinking outside the box to attract any kind of new readership and come up with innovative marketing plans and ideas to attract the non-traditional audience.
That's just what CrossGeneration Comics is doing - thinking outside the box by merging comics with popular magazines, and arranging for issues of their books to be reprinted in Cinescape Magazine. CrossGeneration Comics has just signed an exclusive deal with Cinescape Magazine, and their parent company Mania Entertainment.
The terms of the deal require CrossGen to provide Cinescape Magazine with a CrossGen comic to be stitched into the center of each issue, beginning with the May 2003 cover date issue. The first CrossGen comic to be included in the periodical will be Way of the Rat # 1. The comics that appear will be stitched into the center of each issue of Cinescape and be Traveler's edition trim size. They will be printed in a 32-page signature, with at least 22 page stories. "The first CrossGen comic to be featured, Way of the Rat #1, will include never before seen artwork, possibly some film development sketches commissioned for the movie by Way of the Rat film director Chuck Russell (The Mask, Eraser, The Scorpion King). The film version of Way of the Rat is being produced by Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption), Castle Rock Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures. Michael E. Uslan is also the executive producer of Way of the Rat - as he is on all CrossGen TV and Film projects.
"Cinescape has developed a strong audience among fans of genre movies," explained Tony Panaccio the Vice President of Product Development for CrossGen. "As it's quite likely Way of the Rat will be the first CrossGen film to be in production for the time frame that this partnership kicks off, it makes perfect sense to get that movie crossover audience. Secondarily, our partnership begins also in a similar time frame as Free Comic Book Day, for which we're also using Way of the Rat #1. In fact, we're calling that issue a 'Movie Special' because it will have additional content regarding development of the film. Most of the readers of Cinescape are familiar with manga, so introducing them to the Compendia format is familiar and a common frame of reference for those readers. Also this format also helps the comic stand out from the rest of the magazine, and hopefully encourage people to open it up and give it a gander."
At least a portion of the materials contained in Cinescape will be exclusive to Cinescape - whether it be sketches, behind-the-scenes information, or something else. "When you're in a partnership and getting something as incredibly valuable as this level of exposure, you need to deliver something that measures up to the value that you are getting," explained Panaccio. "For the purists who absolutely want to have every element of Way of the Rat in their possession, I don't feel bad about, in essence, coercing them to buy an issue of Cinescape because Cinescape is a great read. You are getting a lot of value out of buying the magazine. This isn't like a comic with one or two pages of extra stuff, or a variant cover that has exactly the same guts and nothing else. This is a magazine that likely is going to have a great deal of editorial content of interest to them, because Cinescape covers comics as well as all other medium that cater to the comics fan."
This deal also creates opportunities for comics that are not just from the CrossGen existing stable, but for new properties developed in conjunction with Mania Entertainment to be created with CrossGen for Cinescape's exclusive use in its pages. CrossGen would also provide those original comics to the mass marketplace as graphic novels at a later date.
"These properties will be produced using intellectual property that's either co-developed or partially developed by Mania Entertainment, Cinescape's parent company," Panaccio commented of the original comics.
"We introduced our comics coverage to Cinescape Magazine a little over a year ago and over the past year it has proven to be one of our most popular sections, both in print and online at www.cinescape.com" said Chip Meyers, CEO of Mania Entertainment. "Comics is having a rebirth with the mainstream public and we wanted to show our support of this rebirth by being the first magazine to include an actual comic book in each of its issues. The genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror in film have drawn much inspiration from the medium of comics over the years, and in trying to bring the audiences that enjoy both the mediums of comics and films together. We could not think of any place in comics that does this better than CrossGen. In addition to CrossGen's many comics that are currently in active development for films, we intend to introduce through the Cinescape Magazine pages the next franchisable original comics from up and coming artists, as well as stories from legendary genre creators, of whom some are already part of Mania's advisory board. We look forward to offering our readers these already established exceptional stories from CrossGen, and original and fresh stories through Mania's internal development, which will hopefully spawn a new generation of comic book fans in both print and at the movies."
CrossGen's relationship with Cinescape began at the 2001 San Diego ComiCon. Long before the Spider-Man movie had brought superheroes and comics to the attention of the masses, the two companies were discussing the way comics were about to explode on the scene and how both could work together to help that happen even faster. Through a series of "what if" scenarios, a dialogue was established posing the question, "What if Cinescape put comics together in the magazine?" "At this dinner CrossGen has annually, the one rule is you can't talk shop, unless you're sharing a really good story," began Panaccio. "I was sitting with the managing editor of Cinescape, Eric Moro, and when he posed that question, the wheels began to turn. Because Cinescape really is about the genres of sci fi, fantasty, and horror, than it is about movies per se ... that's why the magazine includes a movie, book, TV, and comics section along with its specific genre coverage. Cinescape recognizes that comics, like films, are simply another medium for the presentation of genre-based stories, and that concept is at the fulcrum of this arrangement."
Not long after the Convention ended, Chip Meyers picked up the phone and began talking with Panaccio about making the idea a reality. "This is great for the comics industry," enthused Panaccio. "By putting comics within the pages of a popular strong newsstand consumer magazine and, as a result of the inclusion, putting comics on the same par as books, popular TV, and movies as a medium, exposes comics to an audience that traditionally doesn't pick up comic books or go to the comic shops. That's been part of our mission statement from day one, to expand the audience base for the medium of comics. This arrangement is a real world manifestation of that mission. At the end of the day, this is a win-win for Mania, for CrossGen and for comics in general."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tja, da muß ich wohl anfangen, CineScape zu lesen...
Kommentare?