GREG: it is time to give the community concrete answers!

::::: UPDATE:::::

Greg said...
Hey everyone, I am going to write up an answer this weekend (it is the Jewish holiday so I have some family obligations today). Thanks

A while back you may remember Miles said:

"Greg and I are going to make a concerted effort to be better about communicating with you guys about what we’re doing with LG15. We aren’t perfect and sometimes we get incredibly busy with everything that we are doing with EQAL, but we understand the need for better communication and will do a better job."

With those words in mind the community entered into a dialogue with Greg in regard to questions about TSIY-2. The option of a live chat was suggested but Greg responded:

"We can do a live chat if that would be helpful. To be honest, I feel that people are more comfortable asking questions here. Let's start with leaving questions here and I will do my best to answer all of them. If we feel that a live chat will be more helpful, I will do that after."

Fair enough. So the dialogue began, and Greg did answer some questions. However as Greg began to respond slower and slower he also began to evade questions and give inadequate or incomplete answers. What happened to "the concerted effort to be better about communicating with you guys"? Why have questions not been answered directly?

With time fast running out before producers will have to submit their pilots/treatments and it seems reasonable to expect that we should have these questions fully answered in a timely manner so that the producers can approach their projects fully informed.

Will Eqal live up to it's commitment to better communication? We certainly hope so! We understand that they are busy running a multimillion dollar company but we also expect Greg and Miles to be good for their word. To do our part we have compiled a list of open questions for your convenience.

See the entire list of questions and answers so far: http://lg15today.blogspot.com/2009/08/lg15-show-is-yours-2.html

Site features

• How far in advance to TSIY2 will the "upgrade" to the latest version of the software happen? Will we have time to point out bugs and issues before TSIY2 starts, or will the winning team have to prepare for working in a bug-ridden environment?


• After TSIY2 started, will technical issues be addressed, or will the community have to fix them on their own (again)?


• Will EQAL make an effort to at least have the most basic parts of the show's page working, e.g. the header link?

Legal issues

• On a previous question about retaining rights, you said "We will be acquiring the rights so the producer cannot submit the show places without our consent."; is that limited to the particular pieces of content created for TSIY2, or does that extend to the characters and additional mythology created in support of it, i.e. would EQAL fully and exclusively own the rights to the characters of the winning show? (Thus blocking continuation of the series independently.)


• Once the winning show is over, will there be any remaining/future liabilities for the winning team, or does the contract just end?


• Given that TSIY shows are officially canon, how would credit be handled in potential future plots which use characters or plot elements created by the winning team? e.g. would there be "Based on characters created by..." credit? Or is all of that swallowed when EQAL obtains the rights? (This is of importance even if EQAL does not plan to continue LG15 or to touch upon TSIY storylines, because future TSIY teams might do this.)


• You have had 16 days to look into the IRS issue. What tax-status will the $5000 have?


• Given that the rules specify certain submission times and dates, what legal problems will arise if a team misses a video deadline? Will the team be in breach of contract or other kinds of legal trouble? Will the contract include clauses about punitive damages in case of non-delivery?


• What if the team does deliver the episode on time, but EQAL's quality assurance deems it unfit for broadcasting?


• What if unforeseen events preclude the continuation of the show, say, an accident or family emergencies?


• What kind of obligations does the contract specify for EQAL? From what we know, the contract will obligate the winning team to provide the specified number of episodes, at a specified time. Does the contract obligate EQAL to upload all episodes, in a timely manner? Does the winning team have any legal means to ensure their series is broadcast in full and in a way that does not damage its reputation or narrative? (e.g. delay of publication, thus halting or screwing up an ongoing event)


• What happens if it's EQAL who breaks the contract?

Organization, Communication & Interaction

• What is the exact process of releasing a video, in terms of access rights and communication with EQAL? Does the winning team just upload the finished video to the LG15 YouTube account and wait for feedback from EQAL, or is there more to it? Does the process require live communication with EQAL?


• Do show's character accounts of the winning team have the necessary access rights to post content on the front page on their own, or do they need EQAL employees to do that for them?


• What submission deadlines are imposed on the team in terms of times of the day, and based on what timezone are these deadlines made? There's a big difference between having to deliver until noon or midnight, and there's a big difference between noon Pacific Time and noon GMT.


• If an episode is rejected for whatever reason, how does that affect the deadlines for other episodes? e.g. if one week's submission is rejected, will they still have to deliver the next week on time, no matter how long fixing the previous submission takes, or is everything pushed back?


• Once an episode has successfully been submitted, what happens to it? Does EQAL determine when it is broadcasted? Or does the winning team get to control when it is released? (As in, what video on what day of the week, and at what times of the day?)


• If EQAL is the one pushing the button, what about situations where they are unwilling to release at the time necessary for the video? e.g. if a video is supposed to go up at 3 in the morning?


• What about conditional releases, say as the result of or response to a puzzle? How is something like that handled?


• With the content having to be submitted a week in advance, what about community interaction within content? Can there be exceptions for such cases, or does that mean response videos to anything will always be at least a week late?


• What if unforeseen events negate a video? Can it be pulled? If so, does it have to be replaced?

PR

• Will there be an official EQAL press release when the winning show launches?


• Will EQAL promote/mention TSIY2 and/or the winning show in the same way it promotes its other shows? (e.g. namedrop it to reporters in interviews)


• On topic of the embeds on show accounts, can you confirm that all episodes of the winning show will be embedded on both the lonelygirl15 YouTube channel as well as the Resistance one, for the entire run of the show, with little to no delay after the release of the episode?

OpAphid & Nikki Bower

• Which exact "version" of OpAphid and other related characters can/should be used? Should any post-LG15 character developments (e.g. RE88) be disregarded, or should the characters as they stood after their full storylines (e.g. after RE88) be integrated?
  
• In the past, we were explicitly told not to regard Nikki Bower Reports as canon. Nevertheless, Nikki Bower had important roles in several high-profile LG15 episodes, making the character itself canon. In that light, how should writers treat the information from "Following the Drugs - NBR Investigates", in which Nikki B. states "OpAphid is missing and hasn't been heard from in weeks. And Tachyon and Brother... they're missing too." as well as "Tachyon, Brother, and OpAphid, they were the only people watching Bree's videos". Should this be regarded canon LG15 information and thus form the starting point for any TSIY storyline not based on RE88 events, or should this be disregarded like other NBRs, and the teams are free to make up their own explanation of the characters' absence (with Glenn's help)?


• While we're on the topic, is Nikki B. eligible for TSIY storylines?


• What is the process for incorporating "OpAphid assets" in TSIY? For example, will EQAL or Glenn provide, say, the voice of OpAphid, or is the cooperation limited to "only" Glenn himself (as in, no Mari, no Op/Tachyon actresses)? How does a producer go about determining what is possible and what is not?

The more official, ordered and business-like EQAL wants TSIY2 to be, the more information it has to release in advance, in order to ensure all sides are clear about the terms of the deal. In addition, any contract the winning team is required to sign should be a mutual agreement between both sides, and not just a list of demands from EQAL. Especially the question of what EQAL is contractually obliged to do, and what happens if EQAL fails to hold up its end of the bargain, is an important one.
The question of promotion is an important one both because it influences the number of viewers, but also because, as we have seen on Wikipedia in recent weeks, getting the name out there is important.
In addition, as a matter of fairness, if EQAL does talk about the new TSIY to reporters, they should ensure to mention The Last, if only to highlight how TSIY1 was successful, well-received by the fans, and how much they learned from it.

NOTE: If anyone has more questions it might be a good idea to keep them all on the original thread:

http://lg15today.blogspot.com/2009/08/lg15-show-is-yours-2.html

There is also a direct link there at the top of the blog.~mm