The Fly Fishing Film Tour is apparently partnering with the Outdoor Channel, though – due to an egregious amount of corporatespeak in the press release – we’re not sure exactly how or why:
Outdoor Channel Partners With Fly Fishing Film Tour
TEMECULA, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Outdoor Channel (Nasdaq: OUTD), America’s leader in outdoor TV, today announced that it will serve as a multi-year official partner for the Fly Fishing Film Tour (FFFT). FFFT is a well-established annual event series that premieres the country’s best independent outdoor and fishing features. Under the partnership, Outdoor Channel and FFFT will deliver popular fly fishing content to enthusiasts while partnering with each other for cross-promotional opportunities on air, on tour, through video-on-demand (VOD) and online to give Outdoor Channel’s viewers and affiliates access to an expanded, best-in-class variety of fly fishing content that includes the widest range of fly fishing activities.
When I see phrases like “cross-promotional opportunities” and “expanded,
best-in-class variety of fly fishing content that includes the widest
range of fly fishing activities,” I throw up a little in my mouth.
Still, I’m happy to see the Film Tour gaining a little traction. The business model for fly fishing video remains shaky, and some mainstream (read “broadcast”) acceptance couldn’t help but be a good thing.
Plus – judging by the comments seen on the Internet (and the fairly substantial amount of email I received after every film tour post) – attendees weren’t all that thrilled about paying to attend, only to discover they were mostly watching the same trailers and clips they’d already seen on the Internet.
Ramping things up a bit can’t help but be a good thing.
One oddity? The Drake wasn’t mentioned in the release, and I was under the impression Tom Bie had bought into the tour. Time to send an email, I guess.
Hey Tom–
Here’s my version of the press release, in 12 words: “The Outdoor Channel signed on as one of the film tour sponsors.”
That’s basically all the press release means. I’m still involved, but I didn’t buy the film tour by myself, I bought it with two partners, one of whom is quoted in the release. I try to avoid ever being quoted in corporate press releases, because the communication directors who put them out tend to re-word everything, using phrases like “best-in-class variety of fly fishing content” that no normal person would ever say in a million years.
As for the term “cross-promotional opportunities”–sorry ’bout the barf in your mouth, but they are a television network, and we are a film tour. I’m sure a smart guy like you can figure out “how or why” we’d chose to work together.
Lastly, regarding this paragraph: “judging by the comments seen on the Internet (and the fairly substantial amount of email I received after every film tour post) – attendees weren’t all that thrilled about paying to attend, only to discover they were mostly watching the same trailers and clips they’d already seen on the Internet.”
Like you, we also heard from some people who were bothered that they paid to watch “the same trailers and clips they’d already seen on the Internet.” But we received at least an equal number of complaints, maybe more, from people who were bothered that the films they paid to see “were nothing at all like the trailers we saw on the Internet.”
Just TRY finding a movie out there that doesn’t have a teaser somewhere on the Internet, usually on YouTube, the filmmakers’ own website, and at least a couple other places. But for the record, not ONE of the teasers on the FFFT website was the same as what was shown in the tour. Most of the teasers we had were one or two minutes, tops. But if the full teaser exists elsewhere–YouTube, whatever—and a potential Tour attendee thinks watching it on a 2-inch x 2-inch QuickTime player on his laptop offers the same experience as watching it in a movie theater, then perhaps the Film Tour isn’t for him.
Bottom line: If we include teasers on the website, some people will complain that they’ve already seen the film on the Internet. If we don’t include teasers on the website, some people will complain that they’re not able to preview the films.
Even more bottomer line: some people will just complain.
Tom Bie
Tom Bie(Quote)