Xena DVD news
When Davis-Panzer asked me to consult on the 3rd season DVD set, I explained to them that they had to pack the set with extras just to make up for the weaknesses of the previous two sets. Having something for each episode was, for me, the minimum they had to do in order to even start getting back into the fans' good graces. And they delivered by far the best Xena set ever. Now the challenge will be to raise the bar with the subsequent DVD sets.
Having the interviews on each episode and one video commentary on each disk elevates the whole Season 3 set. For sets 4-6, I am trying to convince them to have more than one video commentary per disk for important episode arcs and to expand the
interview participants to include a lot of the crew from New Zealand. In fact, Bret Rudnick lives down there now and he will be doing the interviews for the Kiwis for Xena and Hercules. He will also do the lion's share of work on a feature we want for the 5th season DVD set that will be totally filmed in New Zealand. I will be working on features for sets 4 & 6, the season 4 one more similar to the Sacrifice Retrospective I did for DVD 3. The season 6 feature will be more of a documentary than retrospective (less talking heads).
Also, I think I have scored more deleted/extended scenes for seasons 4-6 (I have requested scenes from more than one episode too). I also have pitched a few extras for seasons 4-6 that I hope will enhance the sets.
By the way, I pitched a lot more stuff for DDV set 3 but a lot of it did not make it in because of various reasons (for example, I wanted a director's cut added to it but it was nixed because of room so we settled on the deleted/extended scenes; I wanted to get Bitter Treat on as an alternative audio track and subtitles, but Universal nixed it; etc.) I am pitching more stuff this time around because if they cut 50% of it, then I still have a lot more stuff than in DVD 3.
Anyways, I have submitted my suggested content layouts for seasons 4-6. Now all I have to do is wait to see what they keep and what they cut.
The absolute earliest they can probably have DVD 4 ready for market is July.
Having the interviews on each episode and one video commentary on each disk elevates the whole Season 3 set. For sets 4-6, I am trying to convince them to have more than one video commentary per disk for important episode arcs and to expand the
interview participants to include a lot of the crew from New Zealand. In fact, Bret Rudnick lives down there now and he will be doing the interviews for the Kiwis for Xena and Hercules. He will also do the lion's share of work on a feature we want for the 5th season DVD set that will be totally filmed in New Zealand. I will be working on features for sets 4 & 6, the season 4 one more similar to the Sacrifice Retrospective I did for DVD 3. The season 6 feature will be more of a documentary than retrospective (less talking heads).
Also, I think I have scored more deleted/extended scenes for seasons 4-6 (I have requested scenes from more than one episode too). I also have pitched a few extras for seasons 4-6 that I hope will enhance the sets.
By the way, I pitched a lot more stuff for DDV set 3 but a lot of it did not make it in because of various reasons (for example, I wanted a director's cut added to it but it was nixed because of room so we settled on the deleted/extended scenes; I wanted to get Bitter Treat on as an alternative audio track and subtitles, but Universal nixed it; etc.) I am pitching more stuff this time around because if they cut 50% of it, then I still have a lot more stuff than in DVD 3.
Anyways, I have submitted my suggested content layouts for seasons 4-6. Now all I have to do is wait to see what they keep and what they cut.
The absolute earliest they can probably have DVD 4 ready for market is July.