Welcome to the Invelos forums. Please read the forum rules before posting.

Read access to our public forums is open to everyone. To post messages, a free registration is required.

If you have an Invelos account, sign in to post.

    Invelos Forums->DVD Profiler: Contribution Discussion Page: 1 2 3 4  Previous   Next
CoO of "A Fish Called Wanda"
Author Message
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantJonM
Registered 28 Dec 2000
Registered: March 13, 2007
United Kingdom Posts: 343
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
This is a murky can of worms! Can't we retreat into common sense? I don't care who paid for it, A Fish Called Wanda is a British film. Written by. Starred in. Set in. The very theme is British. Take the word "origin" at it's most literal, it has to be British.
Jon
"When Mister Safety Catch Is Not On, Mister Crossbow Is Not Your Friend."

DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorT!M
Profiling since Dec. 2000
Registered: March 13, 2007
Reputation: Highest Rating
Netherlands Posts: 8,736
Posted:
PM this userDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting JonM:
Quote:
This is a murky can of worms! Can't we retreat into common sense? I don't care who paid for it, A Fish Called Wanda is a British film. Written by. Starred in. Set in. The very theme is British. Take the word "origin" at it's most literal, it has to be British.

Thank you! And indeed, Michael Shamburg is a producer, not a company. The fact remains that the movie was produced by U.K. company Prominent Features.
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRifter
Reg. Jan 27, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
United States Posts: 2,694
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting JonM:
Quote:
This is a murky can of worms! Can't we retreat into common sense? I don't care who paid for it, A Fish Called Wanda is a British film. Written by. Starred in. Set in. The very theme is British. Take the word "origin" at it's most literal, it has to be British.



Says who?  You ever heard of filming on location?  By the way, when filming on location many times local laws require a local producer be involved to protect the local film industry.  That's to keep the big bad US company from importing all the crew and other personnel and not hiring locals.
John

"Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice!" Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964
Make America Great Again!
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantJonM
Registered 28 Dec 2000
Registered: March 13, 2007
United Kingdom Posts: 343
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting Rifter:
Quote:
Quoting JonM:
Quote:
This is a murky can of worms! Can't we retreat into common sense? I don't care who paid for it, A Fish Called Wanda is a British film. Written by. Starred in. Set in. The very theme is British. Take the word "origin" at it's most literal, it has to be British.



Says who?  You ever heard of filming on location?  By the way, when filming on location many times local laws require a local producer be involved to protect the local film industry.  That's to keep the big bad US company from importing all the crew and other personnel and not hiring locals.


This is exactly what I mean! If memory serves correct, it was filmed in the UK.

I don't give flying monkey poo if it was filmed in Outer Mongolia using painted tents and plastic trees. It's a British story, a British theme and British characters. If I sort my list by country of origin, I expect to see Taxi Driver in America, Seven Samurai in Japan, Alfie in the UK. All this prevaricating could easily see a film like House of Flying Daggers appearing under Norway!

But hey as long as we know who stumped up the cash it doesn't matter, eh? 
Jon
"When Mister Safety Catch Is Not On, Mister Crossbow Is Not Your Friend."

DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorRHFactor
Is this program dead?
Registered: March 13, 2007
Reputation: High Rating
United States Posts: 188
Posted:
PM this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting Squirrel.God:
Quote:
Michael Shamberg is just the producer isn't he?


Michael Shamberg is the head of Michael Shamberg Productions.
Build a man a fire and you keep him warm for a day.  Set a man on fire and you keep him warm the rest of his life.
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributorhayley taylor
Past Contributor
Registered: March 14, 2007
Reputation: High Rating
United Kingdom Posts: 1,022
Posted:
PM this userVisit this user's homepageDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting JonM:
Quote:
This is a murky can of worms! Can't we retreat into common sense?


Common sense would dictate not to have included CoO into the new programme. It will result in too many arguments IMO.

I wonder how the BAFTA awards determine CoO, as they clearly mark a country on all films in their award lists??
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantFUBAR
It's Gonna Work
Registered: March 21, 2007
Canada Posts: 171
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
My original point was that this movie didn't necessarily originate in the US.

I think the CoO is the UK.

This is based on:  John Cleese wrote the original story, as well as the screenplay.  The majority of the actors are British.  The location is British.  The director is British.  Prominent Features is a British production company owned by the Monty Python group.  Michael Shamburg worked on behalf of Prominent Features.

The only things that are US are two of the main characters, Michael Shamberg is a US citizen, and MGM is the distributor.

The preponderance of facts lean strongly towards the UK being the country of origin.

The British Film industry considers this to be a British movie.

If it can't be accepted that this is a UK film then neither can it be accepted that it is a US film.
Graham
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registranttarantino
Registered: March 15, 2007
Canada Posts: 131
Posted:
PM this userDirect link to this postReply with quote
I think we need to find a common ground about the Country of Origin to make this information less subjective.
In case of international co-production, it could difficult to get a single country.  For example, Heavy Metal 2000, imdb lists 25 production cies all over the world and co-production between Germany, Canada and USA

As for A Fish Called Wanda, I voted Yes for USA, because of the end credits that state the copyright is registered in USA.
I was looking also for Prominent Features, but found both a british and a american company with that name, so I sticked with the end credits.

For the record, I too, consider this a british movie, so I'll probably write UK for my local profile and put a lock on it. 
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRifter
Reg. Jan 27, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
United States Posts: 2,694
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting JonM:
Quote:
Quoting Rifter:
Quote:
Quoting JonM:
Quote:
This is a murky can of worms! Can't we retreat into common sense? I don't care who paid for it, A Fish Called Wanda is a British film. Written by. Starred in. Set in. The very theme is British. Take the word "origin" at it's most literal, it has to be British.



Says who?  You ever heard of filming on location?  By the way, when filming on location many times local laws require a local producer be involved to protect the local film industry.  That's to keep the big bad US company from importing all the crew and other personnel and not hiring locals.


This is exactly what I mean! If memory serves correct, it was filmed in the UK.

I don't give flying monkey poo if it was filmed in Outer Mongolia using painted tents and plastic trees. It's a British story, a British theme and British characters. If I sort my list by country of origin, I expect to see Taxi Driver in America, Seven Samurai in Japan, Alfie in the UK. All this prevaricating could easily see a film like House of Flying Daggers appearing under Norway!

But hey as long as we know who stumped up the cash it doesn't matter, eh? 



The story hasn't got a damn thing to do with the country of origin as we are using it in DVDP.
John

"Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice!" Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964
Make America Great Again!
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRifter
Reg. Jan 27, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
United States Posts: 2,694
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting FUBAR:
Quote:
My original point was that this movie didn't necessarily originate in the US.

I think the CoO is the UK.

This is based on:  John Cleese wrote the original story, as well as the screenplay.  The majority of the actors are British.  The location is British.  The director is British.  Prominent Features is a British production company owned by the Monty Python group.  Michael Shamburg worked on behalf of Prominent Features.

The only things that are US are two of the main characters, Michael Shamberg is a US citizen, and MGM is the distributor.

The preponderance of facts lean strongly towards the UK being the country of origin.

The British Film industry considers this to be a British movie.

If it can't be accepted that this is a UK film then neither can it be accepted that it is a US film.


If I understand what Gerri said correctly, the country of origin has to do with the LEGAL definition of that.
John

"Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice!" Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964
Make America Great Again!
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantJonM
Registered 28 Dec 2000
Registered: March 13, 2007
United Kingdom Posts: 343
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting Rifter:
Quote:

The story hasn't got a damn thing to do with the country of origin as we are using it in DVDP.


So what's the point then? A list of meaningless facts and figures. Whoopee. I agree with RichieRich; maybe it shouldn't have been included at all.

A Fish Called Wanda. American. That is just stupid! What earthly use is this field if it has little or no bearing on the material, the stuff we actually buy the DVD for in the first place.
Jon
"When Mister Safety Catch Is Not On, Mister Crossbow Is Not Your Friend."

DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributornorthbloke
Registered: March 15, 2007
Reputation: High Rating
United Kingdom Posts: 5,459
Posted:
PM this userDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting Rifter:
Quote:

Did you not read the copyright notice I posted?  That makes the ownership clear.  What does it say at the end of the 'Wanda' credits?  That takes legal precedence over what's shown at the beginning.


Hi Rifter,
anyone from anywhere can buy the rights to a film, all you need is money. Just because MGM own the rights to Wanda, it doesn't mean we use them as the basis for the CoO, as that would mean the country could change as films are bought and sold. The only thing that can't change is the production company, which in this case, I've been informed, is UK.

PS I have to admit, I'm in agreement with those wanting rid of this field - or at least open it up so we can type in what we want (multiple countries etc.). That way in this situation we could type in UK/USA and stop all the bickering!
 Last edited: by northbloke
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRifter
Reg. Jan 27, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
United States Posts: 2,694
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting northbloke:
Quote:
Quoting Rifter:
Quote:

Did you not read the copyright notice I posted?  That makes the ownership clear.  What does it say at the end of the 'Wanda' credits?  That takes legal precedence over what's shown at the beginning.


Hi Rifter,
anyone from anywhere can buy the rights to a film, all you need is money. Just because MGM own the rights to Wanda, it doesn't mean we use them as the basis for the CoO, as that would mean the country could change as films are bought and sold. The only thing that can't change is the production company, which in this case, I've been informed, is UK.

PS I have to admit, I'm in agreement with those wanting rid of this field - or at least open it up so we can type in what we want (multiple countries etc.). That way in this situation we could type in UK/USA and stop all the bickering!


Of course they can, but when they do, they don't go back and edit the movie and put different info at the end of the credits.  That represents ownership and country of origin legally speaking at the time that movie was released.
John

"Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice!" Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964
Make America Great Again!
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar Contributornorthbloke
Registered: March 15, 2007
Reputation: High Rating
United Kingdom Posts: 5,459
Posted:
PM this userDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting Rifter:
Quote:

Of course they can, but when they do, they don't go back and edit the movie and put different info at the end of the credits.  That represents ownership and country of origin legally speaking at the time that movie was released.


Hi Rifter,
actually they'd be well within their rights to re-edit the film and change the credits. It happened quite a bit with foreign exploitation films that would be bought up by an american studio, dubbed, the boring bits (the plot) cut out, and released onto the american market with all new english credits.

But the point I was trying to make is that we should not be using the copyright as an indicator of CoO (unless told otherwise from upon high). For example, I've just looked at the DVD of the James Bond film, Die Another Day. According to the end credits "Danjaq, llc and United Artists Corp is the author and creator of this motion picture", but both of those companies are US based. However the production company, Eon, is UK based - and the James Bond films are most certainly UK films!
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantJonM
Registered 28 Dec 2000
Registered: March 13, 2007
United Kingdom Posts: 343
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Quoting northbloke:
Quote:
However the production company, Eon, is UK based - and the James Bond films are most certainly UK films!


Not by the rationale of some of those here. 

"Origin" does not mean "Copyright Owner". As you say, that could be anyone. No, wherever the production company who actually provided the initial legwork live, that's Country of Origin. Not the ones with the biggest cheque book.
Jon
"When Mister Safety Catch Is Not On, Mister Crossbow Is Not Your Friend."

DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorLopek
Lovely day for a...
Registered: March 13, 2007
United Kingdom Posts: 813
Posted:
PM this userEmail this userVisit this user's homepageView this user's DVD collectionDirect link to this postReply with quote
Interesting reference:
A Fish Called Wanda at the British Film Institute (BFI)

It states that the Production Countries are USA and Great Britain. 

I have to agree with those that have said this field either needs to be removed or explaned, as it's current format it is more trouble than it is worth.

To me it is pretty clear that it was USA funded, and produced by a British company - Prominent Features (setup by the Pythons - yes I know Gilliam is american  ).

That in my mind makes it a British film by any level of common sense - but I guess we need a final clarification from Ken and Gerri of what their intent for the field was.
Andy

"Credited as" Names Database
    Invelos Forums->DVD Profiler: Contribution Discussion Page: 1 2 3 4  Previous   Next