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NEWS: Media Blasters Lays Off 60% of Its Staff


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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:56 pm Reply with quote
ShanaFan852 wrote:
Also kinda of off-topic, but I would say one reason for the decline in 2008-2010 is singles disappearing. Companies while they sell more copies of shows don't make as much money as singles make more money.

Be careful of the verb tense here ~ singles made more money when people were willing to buy them, especially when people were willing to double dip for a limited edition boxset with extra features.

But singles also have a higher distribution cost than the same number of episodes in one or two broadcast season boxsets. And when you have an unexpected number of returns, its easier to move boxsets by selling them at a discount, since someone who doesn't have volume 4 and sees volume 5 dirt cheap has to ask themselves if they want to buy volume 4 at regular price so that they can get volume 5 dirt cheap.

So while its certain that a market reduction of 1/3 over two years means lower net revenue to the producers ... it might not be 1/3 lower net revenue for those distributors who were able to trim costs and keep up with the market.

And in any event, if a sufficiently large part of the market was no longer willing to buy the singles, the fact that they would make more money in a different market is kind of neither here nor there when it comes to deciding release strategy.

Quote:
I'd say Media Blasters downfall (Well the start of one anyway.) right here would be mainly due to bad business decisions because really, how many titles do they have that a lot of people want to buy that'll earn them the kind of money Sentai and FUNi does?

On the one hand they may be putting a brave face on it, but on the other it could be that they really are going to be having about the same release schedule, just with a lot more work shopped out to freelancers.

So while this is bad news for the staff who've lost full time work, it may be premature to write Media Blasters off entirely right now.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:58 pm Reply with quote
Hmmmmmmmmm.................. One of their supervisors was an officer in the same club with me.............. Good luck................ Confused


agila61 wrote:
ShanaFan852 wrote:
Also kinda of off-topic, but I would say one reason for the decline in 2008-2010 is singles disappearing. Companies while they sell more copies of shows don't make as much money as singles make more money.

Be careful of the verb tense here ~ singles made more money when people were willing to buy them, especially when people were willing to double dip for a limited edition boxset with extra features.

But singles also have a higher distribution cost than the same number of episodes in one or two broadcast season boxsets. And when you have an unexpected number of returns, its easier to move boxsets by selling them at a discount, since someone who doesn't have volume 4 and sees volume 5 dirt cheap has to ask themselves if they want to buy volume 4 at regular price so that they can get volume 5 dirt cheap.


Stores also prefer the boxsets and the less # of SKUs to keep track, particularly for longer series, and less worry about people not buying Vol #10 because Vols #7, #5, #4 are missing. But with the prices also becoming a fight to the bottom, the profit margins became slimmer in comparison.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:18 am Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
Stores also prefer the boxsets and the less # of SKUs to keep track, particularly for longer series, and less worry about people not buying Vol #10 because Vols #7, #5, #4 are missing. But with the prices also becoming a fight to the bottom, the profit margins became slimmer in comparison.

That's the way it is with free markets. All prices tend towards zero which is actually a good thing. You have to come out with newer, better products to keep your profits up.

In any case, I'm not too worried about MB at the moment since they are still keeping the same schedule and haven't dropped any shows. Things can change later, but their strategy of using a smaller crew and freelancers instead makes sense since they didn't really seem to have their plate full or were lining up for new licenses.
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britannicamoore



Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:18 am Reply with quote
Sadly this isn't shocking to me. I personally can't remember the last time I bought a Media Blasters release nor looked forward to one. I can't remember any titles on the store shelf outside of Queen's Blade.
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vgiannell5



Joined: 10 Jan 2012
Posts: 86
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:20 am Reply with quote
configspace. I think you maybe right about that.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:32 am Reply with quote
Just pulled the trigger on Morbito Vol 2 BD and The Twelve Kingdoms Vol 2 BD.

Sorry, MB, but that's all I can do for you right now. Money is tight, ya know?
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1816
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:50 am Reply with quote
Dammit. Guess I'll be buying more MB and BE titles this year. Remastered Magic Knight Rayearth. Strawberry Panic and Simoun. Ramen Fighter Miki. Etc.
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PurpleWarrior13



Joined: 05 Sep 2009
Posts: 2024
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:05 am Reply with quote
This isn't good news, but I'm honestly not surprised. Media Blasters hasn't been doing as much in recent years. The only new "big" titles they have are Squid Girl, Queens Blade, and Bakuman. They need a new giant title, and maybe they'll be as big of players as FUNimation, Viz, and Sentai.

agila61 wrote:

Also only FUNimation and neo-ADV still have in-house dubbing production anymore


To be fair, FUNimation and ADV are really the only major anime companies to ever dub their anime in-house. Most companies have traditionally outsourced their English dub production to companies like Bang! Zoom, Ocean Studios, NYAV Post, Studiopolis, etc. Sentai's current English dubs are kinda "half" in house since the actual production is at Seraphim Digital. I'm surprised more companies aren't doing it in-house right now since it saves a lot of money to do it yourself than to outsource production to another company.
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Sheleigha



Joined: 09 May 2008
Posts: 1671
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:22 am Reply with quote
Such disappointing news! I actually wonder if this decision was BECAUSE of Bandai going down. Perhaps they wanted to pull out while they could after the Bandai news Sad It's sad stuff, it really is...

I've been thinking ever since the remastered Rayearth boxsets got released to double dip and get them, but now I may... I already own the economy boxes under MB's "Anime Works" label, along with the Ah My Goddess season 1. I'm REALLY hoping Rightstuf has a MB and/or Bandai sale soon! Then I WILL jump on picking up my missing titles!
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Mc-Taz



Joined: 14 Jun 2011
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:32 am Reply with quote
chrisc1978 wrote:
I have always felt they listened to the fans and just tried harder then other anime companies.


I can vouch for this myself. They are the only anime company that has actually responded to emails that I have sent in to them. And what impressed me even more was that they responded within minutes of me sending the email. Granted this may not be the case everytime, but I feel Media Blasters is great when it comes to customer service.
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1816
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:55 am Reply with quote
Sheleigha wrote:
I'm REALLY hoping Rightstuf has a MB and/or Bandai sale soon! Then I WILL jump on picking up my missing titles!


I've noticed TRSI already has several Bandai titles at "max" discount (i.e., no coupons, membership, affiliate). I'm assuming a formal Bandai sale would just lower the prices.

Still recovering from my holiday spending or I'd snap them up immediately.
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Rukiia



Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 1897
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:12 am Reply with quote
tlsmith1963 wrote:
People can't afford to buy anime because of the economy.


You are saying people can't afford less then $15 for 12-13 episode boxsets or $20 for 24-26 episode boxsets (aka, S.A.V.E editions or re-releases from MB)? Really now? I pay rent, bills, groceries, and $150 a month for a bus pass yet can still afford my Anime.

If they want things like Madoka's Limited Edition sets then yes, I can understand that being expensive and unaffordable for most people. But $15-$20 for a complete series is something people can't afford? Confused

I swear, the excuses have gotten so old.
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 1818
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:12 am Reply with quote
Oh, I thought their precious Voltron, dubbed Queen's Blade and Dokoro Chan was doing mad bank cheese for them.

Guess not, oh well.

Too bad, so sad, hope the effected get jobs elsewhere in a timely mannor.
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NGK



Joined: 10 Mar 2010
Posts: 244
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:10 am Reply with quote
See this?

I think this kind of news for this industry will be commonplace. The only way for this kind of bleeding throughout this industry to stop is to hope & pray for congress to pass SOPA and PIPA swiftly this year!
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1816
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:02 am Reply with quote
NGK wrote:
The only way for this kind of bleeding throughout this industry to stop is to hope & pray for congress to pass SOPA and PIPA swiftly this year!


How exactly does that work? Stopping piracy won't necessarily increase sales of media enough to save the industry. In any case locking down the internet to stop piracy is overkill, like saying the only way to ensure public safety is to declare martial law.
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