The Hunger Games UK release: my letter to Lionsgate - and their reply

If you look at the poster, they have added a caveat!

In the past year, I have found that communicating directly with directors of huge companies more helpful than going through switchboards and customer services. Why? Because if you use enough initiative and guesswork, you can sidestep the gatekeepers and get direct responses and solutions, from someone who is often full of commonsense, rather than the pencil pushers lower down. This worked with a telecomms company I was having trouble with, and my problem was solved within one week.

This time, I was annoyed to find out that the uncut version of The Hunger Games was only being released in the UK on Blu-Ray format. Not a problem, a lot of you may say, but when you are not in possession of a Blu-ray player but  a perfectly functioning DVD player, the decision seems rather cynical. I mean, it's ony seven seconds of extra footage, but I just wanted to see what they decided to cut  to get a 12a rating.

So I decided to write to Lionsgate. After failing with their social networking channels (nobody got back to me) I decided to go to the top. I found out the name of the UK director of home entertainment, one Nicola Pearcey, and after some guesswork, emailed her directly.

Not only did I get a response within one week, she also took the time to respond to my query in full - very politely as well.

Below is my email to her, and her personal response. For privacy reasons I am leaving out the email addresses for both of us.

So why am I publishing this, you may ask? Because I want to show you that big organisations are not necessarily faceless and unaccountable - you just need to show some commonsense and ingenuity to reach the right person. 




09/08/2012

Dear Miss Pearcey,

 I have been trying to contact Lionsgate UK via various social networking channels hoping to get an answer to my query, however nobody has responded to me.

I pre-ordered the DVD version of the Hunger Games which is due out in September, before the certification was announced for both formats. With so much media coverage focusing on the fact that the film was cut in places to procure a 12-rating, Lionsgate's previous responses led led me to believe that the 15 certificate version would be available on home release in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats. Imagine my disappointment to find out that the 15-rating will only be released on Blu-Ray. I have since cancelled the order for the DVD.

I am a 29 year- old professional, and particularly enjoy the books and the film in it's 12 version, but I am also keen to see what the difference would be between the certifications.
In order to do that now, I would have to buy not only the Blu-Ray version, but also a Blu-Ray player, at least an extra £60 cost. How does that tally with Lionsgate's wish for as many people to see the film as possible? Blu-Ray players are somewhat of a rarity at the moment, with the vast majority of people in the UK owning DVD players. This decision will most likely result in people burning off copies of the 15 version, and pirating them across the web, and on counterfeit DVDs.

If you would be so kind to respond to my query as to what the reasoning was behind giving the 15 version a Blu-Ray release only, as opposed to both formats, I would be very grateful.

Yours sincerely,

Natalie


Her reply:

16/08/2012

Dear Natalie,

 Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate any feedback, and my sincere apologies that you’ve had no reply via social networking channels – for the UK we have 2 channels: the Facebook Page is “The Hunger Games UK” and our Twitter feed which is “@HungerGamesUK” which will ensure a quicker response.

It is definitely Lionsgate’s wish for as many fans to see The Hunger Games as possible. We were disappointed to be the only territory not to receive a 12-rating equivalent certificate for the original film, because a huge proportion of the book fans are of a young age. So with the BBFC’s guidance, we made some amends to the film which allowed us to achieve a 12 rating and allow that audience to see the film. We did this without compromising the action or changing the story in any way and without cutting any scenes out.  The details of the changes in the film can be found here (contains spoilers) http://www.bbfc.co.uk/CFF284121/.

 Had we not made these changes, children under the age of 15 would not be able to legally watch or own The Hunger Games. This is also why we chose to offer a 12 rating on DVD. 

 The reason that the Blu-Ray is released as the 15 certificate version is for the “fans of film’’. Our research shows that these fans are also keen to own the high definition version as well as it being unchanged from the Director’s original edit. It is very common for Blu-Ray versions of films to contain more bonus features, audio commentaries or exclusive elements for this reason. Had we not offered the 15 version (the original version of the film) in the UK, we could have encouraged importing from the US where it is available as a lower certificate.

 Hopefully the BBFC information above highlights the few differences between the both versions and explains a little about the decisions we faced in order to bring this film to as wider audience as possible.

 We welcome your feedback and would obviously encourage you to purchase the DVD, safe in the knowledge that the 12 rated version is just as enjoyable as the 15 version.  The 12 certificated version of the film just has a little less blood and menace. 

 Alternatively, you will be able to legally download the 15 cert version of the film to own in HD from digital retailers from 3rd September.

 Thank you for your enthusiasm and support for the film.

 Best wishes,

Nicola