S01.E10: Season Finale

[Tara Ariano]

In the season finale, the winner is revealed after Shane receives surprising news, while Anna deals with test-screening questions, and both filmmakers turn their attention to marketing and distribution.

[WaltersHair]

Suprise, (not) Shane won.

 

I give Chris Moore and The Chair major props for going out there and giving it a shot. However, he's trying to apply a scientific method to something that is anything but science. He is basically right back where he started, and for some reason that makes me happier than anything else that The Chair has shown.

 

I can't speak for everyone, but I knew those movies would show up eventually online. Going to the movies today is nothing like it used to be and now we have choices. I chose to wait.

 

BTW, Shane has such disdain for anyone over the age of 30. Not the first, won't be the last, but Shane? I'm not a middle aged white guy. Just sayin.

[Latverian Diplomat]

In the opening conversation with Shane, you can really see that Chris Moore is a veteran of dealing with narcissistic assholes. He went in with an agenda, a) get Shane to do another edit that addressed the pacing concerns b) break the news about Quinto pulling his producer credit. He tried not revisit the past, he didn't try to catch Shane in his obvious re-writings of history, he took responsibility for any misunderstanding (maybe I wasn't clear, I just assumed you didn't agree before, etc.). It was like an annoying version of watching a hostage negotiator talking the gun wielding maniac into surrendering.

 

And ultimately he got what he wanted. Josh and Lauren got sucked into calling Shane on his bullshit a couple times, and every time Shane got defensive and retrenched with an even more obvious lie about what he said or how he said it, but eventually, they seemed to pick up on what Chris was doing and stop getting in the way.

 

Really enjoyed Quinto reveling in the bad reviews for Not Cool, and I liked how Chris seemed shocked and amused by them. He had to know they'd be bad, but clearly he was surprised to break new ground in negative criticism. Someone needs to tell Shane about the Alan Smithee credit. The ability to take one's name off a project is something most creative people understand and would not begrudge anyone.

 

I did watch both movies and voted, and I appreciate the effort to screen out people who didn't give both movies a chance, but it was an impossible task. I can't believe that there wasn't a cheat sheet for the quiz part circulating among Shane's fans.

 

Was a little surprised that Shane's fans showed up for him, but not his movie. I guess it's one thing to con your parents into taking you to a "celebrity" appearance, and another to con them into letting you see a crappy R rated movie (Were they were technically unrated, since the MPAA rating service is expensive and cumbersome and wasn't discussed?)

Edited November 9, 2014 by Latverian Diplomat

[Gregg247]

The first scene, where Chris, Josh, and Lauren confront Shane about how his movie needs more work, was riveting.  Finally, Shane was forced to interact with people as an adult, not as a special snowflake, and he failed miserably at the task.  He whined and sniveled like a little kid trying to negotiate a later bedtime.  Chris, Josh, and Lauren were VERY patient with him, but eventually got him to do what they needed him to do.  That scene (and the eventual lack of box office dollars) is why we won't be seeing any more Shane Dawson movies ever.

 

Lauren really impressed me during that scene, though.  She started this show as Shane's sidekick/partner-in-crime, and has ended up looking like an actual movie producer.  I get the feeling that, in the search for fresh young talent that "The Chair" billed itself as, Lauren may be the one "new" person here who ends up getting more work as a result.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, maybe more than all the previous episodes combined.  I found it fascinating how hard it really is to convince people to come see your movie.  There was no money for TV commercials, but they at least had the advantage of a 10 part TV show, famous producers, lots of press, and more money than most low-budget movies.  Even so, they just couldn't get people to come watch these films.

 

Shane's movie should have opened big, which I assume is why they opened it in LA.  He really does have a rabid and sincere fan-base, which of course is why he was on this show in the first place.  They love this guy!  Shane also seems to genuinely appreciate his fans, so I give him credit for that.  If we assume that they needed to make $1 million on "Not Cool" to be a success (probably more, but let's go with it), then Shane needed about 100,000 of his 10,000,000 fans to pay $10 at the box office.  That's just 1% of his rabid fans.  Apparently, they only made $35,000 on his movie during the 1 week engagement.  That's 0.35% of Shane's followers.  Hollywood may have been impressed that this guy has 10 million subscribers, but if it doesn't translate into tickets, then who cares?  Translating subscribers into dollars is a nut that hasn't yet been cracked, I guess.

 

Ah-na's movie premiering in NYC made a lot of sense, too, as its more of an artsy-fartsy dramedy that's more critic-friendly.  As much as I dislike Ah-na, I was rooting for her movie to do well, as she seems to have some talent at this.  However, her movie only brought in $3800!  Yikes, that's awful!  That's 380 people in one week.  I get the feeling her problem is that the movie was, as one of the critics said, "aggressively inconsequential".  It's kind of interesting, but not really worth going out to see.

 

I blame to script both directors were given for some of this.  I know they said that it had passed through many hands over the years, as producers found it kind of interesting, but no one had been willing to put any money into it.  To be honest, the story feels more like a TV movie to me.  Take out the sex, the language, and the emsemble, and you'd have a Hallmark Channel movie.  Add some violence against "Tori" or "Heather" and you'd have a Lifetime movie.  Add some criminals and you'd have a Spike TV movie.  The story is too small and has too much naval-gazing to really work as an actual movie-movie for me.

 

I've enjoyed "The Chair" and hope they do another season (doubtful, I'd guess).  if they do, they need a better script with a real hook to it, and a couple of less-pretentious first-time directors.  (Also, more yelling by Chris Moore.) LOL 

[Primetimer]

The Chair's excellent first season comes to its unsurprising conclusion. Sarah has a few last questions.

Read the story

[Sarah D. Bunting]

 

I can't believe that there wasn't a cheat sheet for the quiz part circulating among Shane's fans.

I'm pretty sure there was. Members of the SD Army were DMing it to each other, "allegedly."

[quangtran]

I'm pretty sure there was. Members of the SD Army were DMing it to each other, "allegedly."

Not just allegedly. Here an articles about how Shane's fans were posting some answers on his facebook page.

Starz filmmaking competition ‘The Chair’ torpedoed by social media

[ApathyMonger]

Myles McNutt interviewed Chris Moore before writing his review of the finale; Moore says they're looking at making the survey results public: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/chair-outside-bubble-211607

 

Moore says they’ve yet to tabulate all of the data from the surveys on a question-by-question basis, but they intend on doing so, and are looking into ways to make the data public in a way that isn’t just a jumble of SurveyMonkey information.

[QuinnM]

 

Not just allegedly. Here an articles about how Shane's fans were posting some answers on his facebook page.

Starz filmmaking competition ‘The Chair’ torpedoed by social media

I know a subscriber to Shane's channel on Youtube. Yes, I know people that are 14.  She got two different DMs about how to answer questions.  She said the second one had a lot more questions on it like maybe they ask from a random pool.  She said it was answers for both movies so that you didn't need to watch either.

[LotusFlower]

The first scene, where Chris, Josh, and Lauren confront Shane about how his movie needs more work, was riveting.  Finally, Shane was forced to interact with people as an adult, not as a special snowflake, and he failed miserably at the task.  He whined and sniveled like a little kid trying to negotiate a later bedtime.  Chris, Josh, and Lauren were VERY patient with him, but eventually got him to do what they needed him to do.  That scene (and the eventual lack of box office dollars) is why we won't be seeing any more Shane Dawson movies ever.

Great description of that scene. I thought Shane's immaturity and defensiveness was also on display when he talked about Quinto. He really went all ad hominem - calling him out for both his art house taste and his low-brow Tori Spelling gig. He didn't seem to get that someone's taste isn't defined by indie vs. mainstream, but rather good vs. bad. Quinto considered Not Cool to be bad because it was racist and offensive, and he couldn't recommend it, let alone put his name on it, not because it was a more mainstream broad comedy.

The contest was rigged from the start, but Anna really won in every aspect except the official win/prize money. I think she positioned herself well, with experience, contacts, and new confidence, to work in the biz. Shane, on the other hand, positioned himself to take this money and make more YouTube videos, albeit on a larger scale, all starring himself. And all catered to that same young demographic. As Moosa said, he's a personality, not a director.

However, the show - I loved! I loved the concept, the characters, the drama, all the behind the scenes stuff... I'm sad the show drew such dismal ratings, as that makes another season unlikely. Maybe the low ratings were due in part to reasons similar to good movies not getting greenlit - the lack of stars attached. Project Greenlight was on HBO, which had (and has) more subscribers than Starz, but Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's involvement undoubtedly drew viewers. Chris Moore said he's going to keep doing what he does, so who knows....

[Latverian Diplomat]

I know a subscriber to Shane's channel on Youtube. Yes, I know people that are 14.  She got two different DMs about how to answer questions.  She said the second one had a lot more questions on it like maybe they ask from a random pool.  She said it was answers for both movies so that you didn't need to watch either.

I had the impression that the questions were from a random pool, but it couldn't have been a very large one, since they seemed to cover very basic plot points. In any case, at some point it becomes self-defeating. If you make the quiz questions too difficult or obscure, you start screening out legitimate, good faith participants who just forgot a detail.

[Jamoche]

 Show creator Chris Moore has promised an “unbiased” voting system that requires survey takers to answer random questions about Martemucci’s “Hollidaysburg” and Dawson’s “Not Cool” in an effort to ensure that both films have been watched.

Hahahahaha! That doesn't work in high school - it's why Cliff Notes exists! - what makes them think it'll work here?

Edited November 9, 2014 by Jamoche

[PetuniaP]

I watched the Chris Moore, Lauren, Shane and Josh scene like it was a master class in managing difficult people. Chris was incredible because he knew what he wanted coming out of that meeting and he got it. Regardless of whether or not we get to see "The Chair" again, I REALLY hope the Brothers Henry, who produced this series, get tons more documentary style work because they made an incredibly illuminating and compelling show that valiantly tried to make this experiment a success.

 

I'm not surprised or even disappointed that Shane's movie won. I don't think there was any other plausible outcome given the parameters that were set. The producers would have had to literally twist themselves into knots to make Anna the winner and that would have ruined the integrity of the experiement. I can only hope that both filmmakers learned a lot from this process and that both go on to make movies that put these early attempts to shame.

 

I was trying to think about what would have actually gotten me to see these movies and I realize that only two things compel to me to consume any piece of media. The first is deep interest in the subject matter. I sought out The Chair on Starz because I am a huge reality show fan. Project Greenlight was one of my favorite shows ever so I was very interested in seeing how Chris Moore followed that up, even without Ben and Matt. The show itself did not disappoint even though it didn't do the job of interesting me enough to go see either movie. The second driving force is FOMO. I watch things that I know everyone else is watching because I want to have a voice in the larger conversation. So, the question for Chris is....how do you create a movie/marketing plan that instills FOMO? Solve that and you may crack the mystery that "The Chair" tried to solve. I truly hope Chris figures it out!

Edited November 9, 2014 by PetuniaP

[Surrealist]

I'm pretty sure there was. Members of the SD Army were DMing it to each other, "allegedly."

 

I came across a few sites' on which a couple of users had cut & pasted questions about Shane's movie looking for answers.

[Al Lowe]

Someone, somewhere, give Moore & Moosa a very late night half hour where they are just sitting around in a hotel bar laughing about the absurdity of their daily lives and the absurd people in them. Like, just these guys incredulous about how they had to talk some idiot off the ledge and at some point Josh walks in and just falls on the floor from exhaustion. I love them all.

I had some weirdly conflicting moments watching the finale. Like, at a FEW points, I found myself thinking that Shane... had a point about some stuff? It was a strange sensation. Then I forgot about those feelings during the multiple segments in which he congratulated himself for all of his hard work.

I really, really enjoyed The Chair and hope there's another season. I don't think it's possible to construct a "fair" voting system. Maybe if they showed the completed films prior to airing the show? Otherwise, no matter what, your feelings about the "characters" on The Chair are going to interfere with your opinion of that person's finished film... though in the case of Not Cool, nothing could have influenced me more negatively than the film, itself.

[FastLou]

I found the early scene with Chris Moore saying he was still on the fence about working with Shane again, followed immediately by Shane being a whiny defensive baby, hilarious. Talk about a master class in how Not to take a creative meeting. At one pointed he said he wanted to add a beat to a scene. Everyone said, "fine, go ahead" and then he argued about it for fifteen minutes. They said yes! Stop selling!

I had gained some respect for Shane by the time they wrapped, and he just threw it all away w/ the behavior we saw in post.

I agree that it would have been nice to delve further into why both of these movies failed commercially, but I'm sure no one wanted to dwell on that too much.

Edited November 10, 2014 by FastLou

[QuinnM]

I really, really enjoyed The Chair and hope there's another season. I don't think it's possible to construct a "fair" voting system.

Didn't Moore say at one point that The Chair itself had been incredibly successful. I hope that means they made money and STARZ made money and they'll do it again.

Favorite Moore moment: When he was saying that Not Cool had the worst reviews he'd ever seen in his life and he was laughing so hard he could barely say it. That's why he's my husband.

[LotusFlower]

I found the early scene with Chris Moore saying he was still on the fence about working with Shane again, followed immediately by Shane being a whiny defensive baby, hilarious. Talk about a master class in how Not to take a creative meeting. At one pointed he said he wanted to add a beat to a scene. Everyone said, "fine, go ahead" and then he argued about it for fifteen minutes. They said yes! Stop selling!

Because not only were they supposed to agree to what he wanted, but they needed to tell him the idea was brilliant. The guy needed constant praise and validation.

I really, really enjoyed The Chair and hope there's another season. I don't think it's possible to construct a "fair" voting system.

I don't see how the voting can be fair either. Question - why does the public have to vote? Isn't that why shows like American Idol always produces bad winners, because people vote for reasons that often have nothing to do with what makes a successful recording artist? Remember when A&R guys made this call? Why not just let the experts pick the winner. Or maybe something like 50% of the vote is determined by the public, and 50% by a panel of judges, sort of like Dancing with the Stars (yes, I watch a lot of reality tv!).

Speaking of the contest, do you think Anna was being a little sly when she congratulated Shane at the end, and said she hopes he enjoys a thousand victory laps around the internet.. Or am I reading too much into that?

[Gregg247]

Did they really inform Shane and Ah-na the results of the $250k win via e-mail?!? 

 

Talk about anti-climatic.  They say that the mark of a good producer is one who can recover from a disaster quickly and move on to the next project right away.  It certainly appears that's what happened with the (many) producers associated with "The Chair".  I'll bet that if Shane tried to call Chris Moore et. al. right now, their cell numbers would all have been mysteriously disconnected.

[hoodooznoodooz]

In the opening conversation with Shane, you can really see that Chris Moore is a veteran of dealing with narcissistic assholes. He went in with an agenda, a) get Shane to do another edit that addressed the pacing concerns b) break the news about Quinto pulling his producer credit. He tried not revisit the past, he didn't try to catch Shane in his obvious re-writings of history, he took responsibility for any misunderstanding (maybe I wasn't clear, I just assumed you didn't agree before, etc.).

It was like an annoying version of watching a hostage negotiator talking the gun wielding maniac into surrendering.

Really enjoyed Quinto reveling in the bad reviews for Not Cool, and I liked how Chris seemed shocked and amused by them. He had to know they'd be bad, but clearly he was surprised to break new ground in negative criticism.

I totally agree with all of this.

But I am still confused why tween girls worship him. One said that his videos make them feel less insecure? It is okay to be different? How did they react to Shane's version of Heather?

Edited November 11, 2014 by hoodooznoodooz

[Surrealist]

Favorite Moore moment: When he was saying that Not Cool had the worst reviews he'd ever seen in his life and he was laughing so hard he could barely say it. That's why he's my husband.

 

This was my favorite part of the series. My stomach was hurting from laughing hard when Chris said that.

[sandwoman]

Here's a nice long interview with Chris Moore about the show, Shane, Anna, etc. Apparently Shane and Anna were allowed to request that certain scenes get removed from the show, which I didn't realize.

 

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/the-chair-producer-chris-moore-on-shane-anna-and-the-finale/single-page

[WaltersHair]

Here's a nice long interview with Chris Moore about the show, Shane, Anna, etc. Apparently Shane and Anna were allowed to request that certain scenes get removed from the show, which I didn't realize.

 

http://www.hitfix.co...ale/single-page

 

Thanks for this. Very enlightening. I find it interesting that Zach was brought in after the directors choices were made.

 

I've been thinking about my reaction to Shane's movie. I recently saw 'This is the End' and I loved that movie. Loved it. It's just as raunchy and offensive, and marketed to the same demographic, but it doesn't go too far. As an audience member, TITE made me feel a part of the movie; that I was laughing with the characters. Shane's movie made me feel like it was made for him and his fans and if I didn't like, too bad. I can't point to specific scenes that made me feel that way, but it did.

 

I think Chris Moore was looking for American Pie 2014.

I also wonder a little about Shane's reaction to his fans. He seemed embarrassed. I don't know if he has ever had that many show up at one of his events, but I think he was overwhelmed at the sheer number of teen girls willing to go see him.

 

I may have to revisit both movies at some point when I don't feel as strongly as I do now.

[QuinnM]

 

Here's a nice long interview with Chris Moore about the show, Shane, Anna, etc. Apparently Shane and Anna were allowed to request that certain scenes get removed from the show, which I didn't realize.

 

Interesting article.  I'm happy that STARZ got the viewship they needed to discuss Season 2.  I would definitely watch it again.  I would like them to choose Mpls for the city so that I can stalk CMoore.  JK, kinda.

 

It sounds like we will see the actual final numbers.  I am shocked that it was close.  But then I was shocked that subscribing to a youtube channel did not translate into ticket sales.  Or even iTunes downloads.  It was like $.99 on iTunes and it had good downloads but not 6 million.  I know most tween girls can come up with a dollar to watch their hero, so that is interesting.

 

And it appears I have some therapist to blame for CMoore getting all mellow on me.  Hopefully there will eventually be a melt down of the volcanic type if The Chair continues.

[absnow54]

It sounds like we will see the actual final numbers.  I am shocked that it was close.  But then I was shocked that subscribing to a youtube channel did not translate into ticket sales.  Or even iTunes downloads.  It was like $.99 on iTunes and it had good downloads but not 6 million.  I know most tween girls can come up with a dollar to watch their hero, so that is interesting.

It was $9.99 on iTunes, and I know with Shane's movie, it was readily accessible by illegal means, so while he definitely drew in viewers, he didn't necessarily draw in viewers who were willing to pay for it.

[LotusFlower]

Great interview with Chris Moore. Kind of shocking that he doesn't consider Shane's movie offensive. At all. I guess that speaks to his sensibilities and taste, but it's hard for me to link someone being smart with appreciating material that's so blatantly racist. I'm pretty sure that's what the reviewer from the Times meant when he wrote that no one involved in making Shane's movie should get to make more movies. Chris viewed that as censorship, but I read it as a common philosophy or movement in trying to move society away from damaging stereotypes.

The good news, though, is that there seems to be interest in another season. Chris indicated that maybe upping to more recognizable names (directors, actors) might help next time 'round, something I speculated on upthread in questioning why Project Greenlight was a bigger success. Interesting to read that he tried to resurrect Greenlight a few years ago, but was shut down by "lawyers," which maybe means HBO and Ben and Matt, since they're now starting it up again. I wonder if they had a falling out.

[AyeshaTheGreat]

I generally enjoyed this show, just how I enjoyed watching Project Greenlight.  However, just like Project Greenlight, I had no interest in watching the movies.  I like these kind of shows because I am interested in filmmaking and like to see the behind-the-scenes action.  I generally find it more interesting than the movies.  But these were not the types of movies I would see.  I can't even see myself watching it on demand and I'm pretty liberal about what I watch there.  

 

Also, I am not surprised that Youtube subscribers do not translate into ticket sales.  I am not saying it is not possible but there is a big difference between watching something for free and having to pay to show your support.  Most of the actors that I am a fan of, I have seen their movies and have no problems paying to see them in the future.  However, for those making web series and online reviews, just because I laugh for free does not really mean I am ready to pay to see you entertain me.  As such, I can see why the girls would only go to the movie when Shane was there.  

[C. Toastncrunch]

Man, I wish the panel that featured Moore, Shane, Anna, and Quinto had been televised, or scenes from it included on this episode. It seems like it would be sooooo awkward, and I really wish I could have witnessed that.

[QuinnM]

I notice that when Shane is defending how collaborative he is that he keeps referencing how he didn't throw out the script and work collaboratively with the writer.  He said this a couple of times and I see it in the article he did.  So the writer, Dan, slams Anna's script and declares Shane's superior.  And now Shane is pointing to his work with Dan as proof that he is a collaborative person.  Early on in the series Shane thought he would be a coauthor on the script with credit.  

 

I think that first time script writer Dan and first time director Shane became BFFs.  I think they really have no idea how the big time movie business works.  And the two of them talked themselves into some bad decisions.  

[jaj]

Finally got around to watching the finale. 

 

I'm curious about what the numbers from itunes/amazon look like. 

 

Shane baffles me honestly. Unclear how much of his lack of insight is personality driven or editing. And I guess I'm getting old (interestingly, I'm still in this fools demographic), because I too was bothered by him sighing teenager boobs because I feel like it's emblematic of what bothers me the most about him. He doesn't know where to draw the line and nor is he interested in hearing from other people when they think he has crossed the line. This is why he ended up with a movie full of gags.  No he is not responsible for policing what his fans watch, wear, do, but honestly he's a 20-something yr old man. This is where, as an adult, he should go, "yes, I know you're a big fan, but that's not appropriate." His attacks on Quinto were ridiculous, but his point about Quinto having read the script was valid. What happened between then, and why didn't Quinto say something even when he was clearly horrified when he visited the set and Shane was doing that drag character. Not that Shane would have listened, but at least it would have been on record. His rant about not wanting people to think he stuff was offensive was amazingly ironic. LOL, then maybe try to not to make movies/youtube videos with a punch jokes based on stereotypes. And I guess if you are, they at least need to be funny.

 

I really like Corey Moosa, so I really want to read an article where he talks about what he liked about this movie. Casual offensiveness aside, I laughed maybe twice during the whole thing. It just wasn't funny. I liked American Pie and actually watched Superbad the other day for comparison purposes & Not Cool is not comparable. 

 

For how neurotic and indecisive they made Anna look, she got a good edit at the end. I felt like she actually grew and you saw how she became more confident as it went on. I wish her well. She needs to take Victor's twitter away though. 

 

Great show, I hope they bring it back. I was engrossed. Kudos to the producers!

Edited November 12, 2014 by jaj

[absnow54]

I'm curious about what the numbers from itunes/amazon look like.

I'm really curious about this too. The movie played on what? 1 or 2 screens? The producers came off rather arrogant against Shane and his following when they went on and on about his fans not showing up. Did the producers expect Shane's 10 million tween followers to scrape together their lunch money to fly out to LA or NY to see the movie? Where his fan base would deliver, it would be for digital downloads, and they sort of breezed over that component so that both movies would look like box office failures.

 

The end of the series was kind of odd with all the weight they placed on ticket sales. The real experiment here seemed to be: can you replace an advertisement budget with name recognition. They were hoping that taking the name "Shane Dawson" would mean they could fill seats without doing any marketing, and they didn't do as well as they had anticipated. 

 

Overall I really enjoyed the series and hope they do it again. I'm interested to see how they'd shake up the format because I really like the concept.

[Gregg247]

I think one of the things the producers were trying to figure out with this "experiment" is this: How does YouTube subscriber numbers translate into movie goers.  

 

Stars like Tome Cruise or Tom Hanks have millions of fans who usually go to see their new movies when they open.  As stars, they have a certain number of Facebook/Twitter followers (maybe in the millions, maybe not).  Shane isn't a famous star, but he has 10 million YouTube subscribers.  I think the feeling was that this test could give some kind of rough correlation between movie stars vs. Internet stars and their effects on the box office.

 

If Tom Cruise has 10 million "rabid fans" (defined in some way), how does that compare to Shane's 10 million subscribers?  As it turns out, they don't really compare at all.  I'm sure there's some guy, somewhere in Hollywood right now, trying to make a mathematical equation of

 

[Tom Cruise Fan = (Shane Dawson fan) / x], where "x" is the relative fall-off of film vs. Internet video

[LotusFlower]

The producers came off rather arrogant against Shane and his following when they went on and on about his fans not showing up. Did the producers expect Shane's 10 million tween followers to scrape together their lunch money to fly out to LA or NY to see the movie?

Apparently that's what they do when Shane makes an appearance at conferences like "Vidcon" (sp.?) - his fans show up in droves, as they showed in the last episode. That's why one of the producers said that Shane's fans see him as a personality, not as a director.

[absnow54]

Stars like Tome Cruise or Tom Hanks have millions of fans who usually go to see their new movies when they open.  As stars, they have a certain number of Facebook/Twitter followers (maybe in the millions, maybe not).  Shane isn't a famous star, but he has 10 million YouTube subscribers.  I think the feeling was that this test could give some kind of rough correlation between movie stars vs. Internet stars and their effects on the box office.

But when those movies open, it's on over 2000 screens across the country. The film is easily accessible to everyone. Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise wouldn't be pulling in $30million openings if the movie was only opening in one theater in LA. But I do agree that there's a huge difference between Shane and the Toms' star power based off the next quote...

 

Apparently that's what they do when Shane makes an appearance at conferences like "Vidcon" (sp.?) - his fans show up in droves, as they showed in the last episode. That's why one of the producers said that Shane's fans see him as a personality, not as a director.

You're right, they also explicitly stated that he filled up theaters when HE was present at the showing, but no one showed up if he wasn't there. I just think the show was missing a huge component of viewers (both for Shane and Anna's films) who watched the film via online media, especially since many films are being released On Demand at the same time they're in theaters. Yes these films failed at the box office, but how far did they reach in this evolving industry?

[sandwoman]

 

Yes these films failed at the box office, but how far did they reach in this evolving industry?

This is a great question. They mentioned in passing that Shane was ranked #5 on Itunes for a while. That seems pretty impressive to me, but not to Chris Moore. By putting success into 'ticket sales' and not overall sales, Moore and the rest sort of demonstrated why indie films Are struggling: it's because the industry is not really evolving in terms of how they measure success. Similar to how cable and streaming has risen in importance in TV and 'networks' have had to adapt to lower ratings and DVR, the film industry needs to accept that traditional means of selling movies is over. I think Chris Moore realizes this, but he hasn't fully accepted it. 

 

Also, in shallow observations: I caught some of the episode again last night as my boyfriend was watching it for the first time and Shane's voice gets higher and scratchier the more defensive he gets. It's really something. I find it hard to believe that anyone outside the world of Youtube would ever want to work with him after seeing how conceited and difficult he was in post. 

[Gregg247]

The only true way to measure success of this show is to see what money they made from ALL SOURCES for each movie.  This would be box office from the 1 theatre they ran the movies in as well as any money from seeing it online, On-Demand, or whatever it is they use to watch these things nowadays.  I sound kind of old. :(

 

From the way the producers were talking, it didn't seem like those "other" sources of money really amounted to much (or maybe they themselves aren't that sure how they work).  I'm not sure how some of these methods work or how much they cost myself.  However, if I'd just spent $850k of MY money making a Shane Dawson film, I'd certainly get myself well-versed on every single way I could scrape together some extra cash (to pay for my therapy sessions for making a Shane Dawson movie in the first place!).

[Jordan27]

I really, really enjoyed The Chair and hope there's another season. I don't think it's possible to construct a "fair" voting system.

 

Well, of course, they could.  Certainly the one they used was incredibly flawed.  Take 15 critics and let them vote.  Majority is the winner.

agree that it would have been nice to delve further into why both of these movies failed commercially, but I'm sure no one wanted to dwell on that too much.

 

I didn't think it was that big of a mystery.  No stars, no big plot or action, no advertising budget.    I didn't expect either to do well.

I don't see how the voting can be fair either. Question - why does the public have to vote? Isn't that why shows like American Idol always produces bad winners, because people vote for reasons that often have nothing to do with what makes a successful recording artist?

 

Actually, the reason for inconsistent eliminations was the multi-voting.  Some would actually set up phones and dial 1000's of calls for their favorites.  It made for skewed results.  They should have changed, but never did because they wouldn't have been able to constantly advertise 10's of millions of votes.  I quit watching because of this.

Did they really inform Shane and Ah-na the results of the $250k win via e-mail?!?

 

Talk about anti-climatic. 

 

Wasn't it though.  One of the most disappointing things about this series. I was expecting some big celebration like AI with a big crowd and the announcement of a winner.  And all we got was Shane reading an email saying he had won and Anna saying congrats.  No reaction from any of the other participants.  I would have liked to have seen that. 

[Jordan27]

But I am still confused why tween girls worship him. One said that his videos make them feel less insecure? It is okay to be different?

 

Well, the majority don't.  It only takes a small percentage to like someone or something and it be popular or make money.  Like the Kardashians, rap and country music.  The majority don't like these, but they flourish. 

 

They are a percentage of teen girls that like raunchy, toilet humor.  Go figure.