SWAMP THING via DC Digital TV from James Wan (5/31/19) 2 2

[theCapraAegagrus]

Warner Bros. is a ing -show.

[Bosco685]

11 minutes ago, nearmint said:

Confirmed...

Confirmed: DC Universe Has Already Cancelled “Swamp Thing”

Motherf*#@%

 

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Update: Another source details creative differences between several involved, with one wanting something more in line with the horror genre, and the other pulling for a “weekly procedural”, hence the hiring of Len Wiseman to direct. There’s also some conflict over the subscriber base and what WBTV plans to do with their services in the next year. Expect a lot of changes from within.

 

[Anfield Fox]

I read that it was to do with state tax breaks. NC promised them $40m but really meant $14m.

https://www.cbr.com/swamp-thing-cancellation-north-carolina-accounting-error/

 

[Sauce Dog]

Yeah, it seems it is less about WB and more about a giant Tax SNAFU that happened which they were banking on to help with the shows $80mil budget.

[Key Largo Comics]

Yup the tax break debacle makes way more sense than they just all of a sudden decided they didn't like the direction of the show.

[Bosco685]

4 minutes ago, Anfield Fox said:

I read that it was to do with state tax breaks. NC promised them $40m but really meant $14m.

https://www.cbr.com/swamp-thing-cancellation-north-carolina-accounting-error/

 

Just saw this online. Wow!

[Anfield Fox]

Either way I don't see this platform lasting much longer. It's too small a niche for such a big market. Taking on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu (never mind the smaller ones like CBS) and with the likes of Disney and Apple entering later in the year is crazy. Worse still they are doing it without their big hitters Batman and Superman which is like going into a fight with one hand tied behind your back. Titans? Doom Patrol? Swamp Thing? Most people have never heard of these guys. Besides it's not like there is a shortage of comic book shows on the air or even DC shows on other networks.

It should have been a whole Warner Brothers streaming service like Disney are doing.

[Bosco685]

 

[Gatsby77]

Bummer.

I went to college in NC, way back when Dawson's Creek was still being filmed there.

But...for being an extraordinarily educated state (w/ Duke, Chapel Hill, Davidson, Wake Forest and a thriving banking, tech and biotech scene), parts of it are still really regressive...I'm glad I got out.

[DavidTheDavid]

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-swamp-thing-tv-show-has-been-cancelled-1835299761

However, after our initial publication Guy Gaster, director of the North Carolina film office, emailed us to say, “North Carolina’s budget discussions had nothing to do with Swamp Thing’scancellation.”

The state offered Warner Bros. an incentive of just under $5 million for the series pilot and an additional $12 million—the maximum the state can offer as designated by state legislation—and Warner Bros. accepted those offers before production on the series began. Once their audit is completed to verify the production’s qualified spends, the rebate will be paid as agreed upon.

[Bosco685]

2 hours ago, DavidTheDavid said:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-swamp-thing-tv-show-has-been-cancelled-1835299761

However, after our initial publication Guy Gaster, director of the North Carolina film office, emailed us to say, “North Carolina’s budget discussions had nothing to do with Swamp Thing’scancellation.”

The state offered Warner Bros. an incentive of just under $5 million for the series pilot and an additional $12 million—the maximum the state can offer as designated by state legislation—and Warner Bros. accepted those offers before production on the series began. Once their audit is completed to verify the production’s qualified spends, the rebate will be paid as agreed upon.

This is so confusing, as there are different stories from multiple reporting outlets.

1) Accounting error?

2) AT&T/WarnerMedia Streaming reeval

3) Production tone concerns?

[Bosco685]

17 hours ago, Bosco685 said:

 

More people are pointing to the story above because it comes from an industry writer/reporter who looked into this situation. 

Here's One Reason Why Swamp Thing Was Cancelled

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Here's the case laid out by industry writer/reporter John Gholson, which has to do with more than just "creative differences," but rather the financial dealings of the state of North Carolina, where Swamp Thing was shot.

 

Indeed, a simple cursory look at reporting from out of North Carolina confirms that back in late April, a miscommunication between the NC House of Representatives and Department of Commerce left the state's film grant program unfunded for the fiscal year. The grant program acts as a sort of rebate to productions after they have finished shooting in the state -- a rebate that DC and Warner Bros. were counting on to balance the books on Swamp Thing. When the funding error was realized, the impact was a reported $85 million hit for Season One of Swamp Thing, a cost which forced DC Universe to scale back the episode order. Now that the cost-cutting incentives of shooting in North Carolina are gone, there's no reason for DC/WB TV to keep the production at the ready for a Season that wouldn't be cost effective to even make.

 

Given DC Universe's status as a "niche platform" streaming service, with limited viewership and reach, it's not surprising that the services original programs must stick to a strict budgetary line.

Though I bet it is NOT one root cause leading to this situation. It probably is a combination of the AT&T/WarnerMedia Streaming reeval, questioning of the show tone to fit in with the streaming strategy target audiences, and then budget.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Bosco685

[Bosco685]

Madame Xanadu was mentioned in the pilot. Here she comes.

 

[Bosco685]

North Carolina Film Office is trying to work with Deadline to pitch it was not part of the root cause leading to the cancellation.

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The series of tweets by Austin writer and cartoonist John Gholson blamed the show’s demise on a colossal tax credits snafu in North Carolina that drained the show’s budget by withholding the $40 million infusion of greenbacks that Warner Bros had been counting on.

 

The report was just detailed enough to sound credible so plenty of sites pounced on information, but all of it turned out to be a solid as swamp water and twice as muddy.

 

Guy Gasser, director of the North Carolina Film Office, said the report’s description of a tax-transaction trapdoor opening up under the fledgling series doesn’t match the facts. The numbers were way off, too, by citing a tax credit sum ($40 million) that not only exceeds the maximum payment per season for any production (which is $12 million), but it also exceeds the NC Film Office’s entire annual budget ($31 million).

 

Very specific contracts lock every detail of the deal in place in advance of filming, so a blind-side surprise (which Gholson describes) is an especially unlikely scenario, Gasser said.

 

Gholson, meanwhile, eventually returned to the Twitter debate but sounded like someone who knew his insider swamp knowledge was all mucked-up. “I don’t even understand some of it,” he tweeted. “Maybe my numbers are off, but it’s still a matter of money.”

 

Swamp Thing cancellation did seem surprising to many observers given the well-reviewed pilot and the imported imprimatur of executive producer James Wan, who is coming off his Aquaman triumph and enjoys a Midas touch reputation for horror projects.

 

The unexpected result seemed to demand an unusual cause, and Gholson’s tweet provided it. Still, to Gasser’s eye, the report was skimpy even at first glance but that didn’t stop it from taking root.

 

“Some outlets used an unverified source, but if they even went straight to Twitter, where the report apparently first started, they would have found that the gentleman had nothing to back up his own claim,” Gasser said. “He has certainly retracted some of what he was saying and now it appears that Twitter may ban him with all of this happening. I guess all I can say is I’m glad he’s passionate about a show filmed in our state.”

Meanwhile, the original reporter is sharing more details how it may have come down to a misunderstanding how the tax rebates are applied leading to the surprise (pilot episodes vs series funds).

Edited June 8, 2019 by Bosco685

[Bosco685]

This show is comic book horror at its best in only two episodes.

That reveal in the end of Episode 2 was fantastic and brutal. No playing around with the direction of this show.

[Bosco685]

This post gif demonstrates best how that costume looks in action. Fantastic!

 

[Key Largo Comics]

What in creation is WB/DC thinking cancelling this show? Just watched episode 2 and it was really, really good, great story, great effects. Like you finally did something right and you cancel it? WTF 

[Bosco685]

1 minute ago, Key Largo Comics said:

What in creation is WB/DC thinking cancelling this show? Just watched episode 2 and it was really, really good, great story, great effects. Like you finally did something right and you cancel it? WTF 

That costume is incredible. And how they went full-horror in this only adds to the atmosphere and intensity.

[Key Largo Comics]

1 minute ago, Bosco685 said:

That costume is incredible. And how they went full-horror in this only adds to the atmosphere and intensity.

I was going to cancel my DC Universe sub in protest to the cancellation but these two episodes were so freaking good I want to see what happens now lol.

[Stingrayiii]

Such a good series so far. Hope they can work something out to keep it going.