Montreal Triple Screening – CANCELLED

Note: This letter was sent to the over 330 people who were signed up for the LOTR-Triple Screening planned by TheOneRing.net’s Michael Regina (Xoanon) and Sebastien Mineau of MONSFFA. A copy has also been sent to Susan Smythe susan.smythe@allianceatlantis.com (VP, Publicity and Promotion) & Julia Caslin julia.caslin@allianceatlantis.com (Director, Publicity and Promotion) as well as several media outlets in Montreal.

Ladies, Gents, Fans

We have sad news to announce you today, it seems we will not be able to host a Montreal Triple Screening of the Lord of the Rings movies.

This comes to an even blow to us since we feel like we let you all down. Please read this e-mail to its end. Thank you.

Now for the full story:

Jim Sherry, C.E.O. of Alliance Film Canada as finally answered our numerous attempts at contacting him. Here is what he had to say without even having heard all the options we had to propose to him :

Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with three prints of the Lord of the Rings extended versions to screen at a theater of your preference under conditions which you find ideal. We’ve offered the trilogy to the Montreal market in two locations and are happy to provide this benefit in consideration of the fans support of these films. In doing so, we’ve provided each fan with an equal opportunity to be the first to see it.

Jim Sherry

I would like to point your attention to this particular phrase:

As for respecting your organization, I’m not familiar with your organization and therefore couldn’t possibly be discourteous of it.

He is clearly disrespectful of the fans who go to see his movies and give him our hard-earned money.

We still want to hold an event, and we will most definitely get back to you later in the week on the details, but we can tell you it will most likely be a simple buffet-line party as we did last year.

The cost would be 20$ and there will be tons of presence prizes and fun to go around. In the hopes that you will still attend our line-party.

Sebastien Mineau & Michael Regina

FAN REACTIONS:

I’ve compiled a list of fan reactions that may interest people to read.

I hope you will pass this along to Sebastien Mineau & Michael Regina. That letter was so rude and needlessly hostile. The response ought to be clear. Anyone with the means should endeavor to see Return of the King at a theater that does not use Alliance Film Canada as its distributor. Letters should be send to the theater managers letting them know that you plan to boycott Alliance Film Canada films at every opportunity.

That letter was threatening and terribly offensive. This man needs to be hit where he lives, which is clearly his wallet.

Jonathan

*****

Oh dear. Well truly sorry to hear about your predicament. I am a huge fan like you, but I was thinking that perhaps this fellow is either ill informed or totally unaware of TORn (which I find truly hard to believe), and was just following corporate policy as to film distribution and rights etc. Trying to keep the pirates at bay and all that. There are a lot of legal issues involved. But I don’t of course know all the details. I wish you the very best of luck with getting to at least see the trilogy somewhere. I know we’re all the way across the country but there may still be tickets at the Capital 6 in Vancouver. (Now there was one weird situation when it came to getting tickets in the beginning). Must go now as Elijah is on Leno tonight and I can see it twice – at 8:30 (cable from east) and at 11:30 on west coast stations. You truly do have my sympathy regarding the Trilogy. Peace.

Linda Sims

*****

in reposnse to the news concerning the Montreal Triple Screening (even though I had no plans of attending).

First, I want to say that ANYONE who’s been in and out of your site knows that ALL you do is for the fans. I don’t think that anyone would consider that ANY of you let them down in any way. We are, as ever, appreciative of all you do for us.

Secondly, that man was cutting off his nose to spite his face. Whether they could or could not do what you asked, there was NO reason for him to be rude and condescending about it. I think he has a big head, unfortunately it houses very little, if any, brain matter.

After all the smoke clears and you all have a chance to breath again, perhaps you might want to let Peter Jackson know about this. I’m certain, given the amount of respect he has for the fans, and especially your site, that he would want to know.

Again, please know that the Canadian fans know that you truly did your best.

Nora in Chicago

*****

I’m a big fan of TORn, but have never written an email to you guys before. So pls excuse how childish or uneloquent (if that’s even a word) I sound at my ripe age of 22. I read that letter from Jim Stupidhead, CEO of the anal retentive film whatever, and was SO RAGING. I just wanted to sympathize with you guys about his completely narrowminded and rude letter. Lines like not requiring any further correspondence, not knowing the organization, and threatening that he has “copies” of the emails as if he’s ready to defend himself against some huge legal battle. Which he deserves. But I think the best way to deal with spineless wimps who brandish empty, pathetic threats is to laugh at him. And I and my friends will, even from all the way here in CA. So just wanted to support you guys in your cause. If you need anything, don’t be shy to call on your neighbors.

Sincerely,
Jen Jen Chen

*****

I’m so sorry about idiocy you’ve encountered from Mr. Sherry. I wonder what New Line would think about “unknowns” from TheOneRing.Net trying to rent prints of their films? Who do you think you are, anyway??? 😉

I’m sure it’s no consolation, but Mr. Sherry has soulmates at National
Amusements down here in the U.S. who are just as “smart” as he and have even less PR acumen. National Amusements’ corporate lawyers won’t let us have a Line Party at Showcase Springdale because they’re afraid it might encourage people to line up outside in the cold and they don’t want to be liable for slip-and-fall accidents. (How do I break it to them that it’s the general admission seating that encourages people to line up in the cold–and they could solve that issue by letting people wait inside? Oh yeah–I told them that and they ignored me.) And they’re also afraid that spontaneous swordfights will break out in the lobby and people will be maimed. (As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.)

I worked for weeks to try to get our Line Party together, and I got sponsors lined up and even had preliminary plans for Cincinnati Clear Stage to participate. We were hoping to display costumes and props from their recent Return of the King stage play–and maybe even get some live performances in the lobby. Most of all, I was excited about our Second Breakfast food drive. We had a food pantry lined up and they were thrilled about getting donations from LOTR fans.

National Amusement’s promotions department gave me permission–then their corporate lawyers yanked it. I was so angry (I’m still so angry) that I’ve sold the 2 Trilogy Tuesday tickets I bought from Showcase Springdale. I’m trying to find tickets to the Columbus, Ohio showing…but who knows. I may miss out on Trilogy Tuesday entirely, after spending 2 frantic hours on the phone to buy the tickets.

Are people like Jim Sherry evil, or just plain stupid? Or both?

I’m so sorry about what you’ve gone through. I can soooo relate. But in the end, there are more of us (kind, intelligent, generous fans) than there are of them (evil, stupid, scum-sucking worm-tongues). And what goes around comes around.

Kathleen Hanover
Former Line Party Leader
Showcase Cinemas Springdale

*****

One cinema owns the exclusive rights to the Lord of the Rings in all of Canada? Newline needs to be made aware of this guy’s arrogance and how much he has offended so many fans. BTW, I think his E-mail address is jim.sherry@allianceatlantis.com Maybe we could all give him a piece of our minds. In doing so, we “couldn’t possibly be discourteous” because we are “not familiar with” him. His logic mirrors his hubris.

*****

What an #*! that guy is! Such a *diplomatic* way to handle it! Hope you can work something else out~~~
Laurelin

*****

I’m one of the long time fans of The Lord of the Rings and I was eagerly awaiting for the event of the Triple Screening in Montreal. I have never been to a party like that and I was really looking forward to it. It was really very saddening to hear that it was cancelled and I was quite angered at the sheer disrespect Jim Sherry, C.E.O. of Alliance Film Canada has shown The One Ring.net organization! It is completely unbelievable!

I just want to let you know that whatever your decision ends up to be, we, fans of Lord of the Rings and of The One Ring.net will always be there to support it. You guys have worked very hard to keep us updated on the smallest details concerning our all time favorite Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books and movies, and frankly you deserve the best!!! Keep up the good work and don’t hesitate to call on us for help!!!!

Sincerely,

Isabelle.

*****

He is unbelievable!!! And he’s the only one on the planet that doesn’t know TORN. Has this situation happened in other cities this year?

Can we get this guy’s email address?

This is so sad, I will never understand how those people “think”. But yes, we will be there on the 17.

Thanks for everything

Luthien

*****

I hardly post anything on the message board, but I check this site extremely often. When I read the post on Mr. Sherry I was honestly appalled by how rude and disrespectful he was not only to you guys, but the entire community. I couldn’t find any messages on the different discussion boards about this topic, which I find ridiculous… I would have thought this would have caused an uproar… Anyways, I’ve also sent you here my message on the board at the end of this message if you haven’t read it already. My point is that I’ve never actually felt this angry or cheated by a large company. I don’t know how the legalities work around this kind of thing (I’m not sure what you guys were planning for Montreal), either way, Mr.Sherry’s response was unprofessional – sorry, no, it was disgusting.

Sorry to waste your time with this message, but I’ve never felt this angry about something along these lines. And who should I email at Alliance to express my opinion?

Thank you very much, the website is incredible, and Mr. Sherry has made a HUGE mistake that will only come straight back to him.

And on a lighter note, enjoy RotK and close your eyes when the Alliance symbol drenches the screen!

-Ryan McDonald

*****

Although I am from San Antonio, Texas, US, rest assured that I will strive to avoid doing any business with you company if ever I return to Canada (and yes, I have been there twice before…to Vancouver and Toronto). I am a professional who holds a Master of Arts degree in English, and I am also a loyal Lord of the Rings fan. Let me say that I am sincerely disappointed with the curt, unprofessional, and extremely discourteous tone of the letter below (sent to Michael Regina and Sebastien Mineau. Although Mr. Sherry does not use excessive language in his reply, something any English student can tell you is that the tone of one’s writing is often more telling than the plain black-and-white diction itself. Let me tell you Mr. Sherry’s tone is egregiously ill-tempered. Also Mr. Sherry is quite mistaken in the following statement, “I’m not familiar with your organization and therefore couldn’t possibly be discourteous of it.” It is completely possible to disrespect an organization with which you are unfamiliar…..all one needs to do to be disrespectful is not to respond to another individual’s correspondence.

I would urge your organization to research TheOneRing.net at www.theonering.net, and then provide all of its staff, creators, contributors, and readers with a formal apology, sent to Sebastien Mineau & Michael Regina, whose e-mail addresses you should already have in your possession. As all three of you will hopefully note, Mr. Sherry’s reply, which I have cut-and-pasted below, fails even to contain a simple apology for not being able to help the fans of the movies in Montreal, Canada. A simple statement such as “We apologize / We are sorry for not being able to be of service to you or your fan-base” may sound trite, but it actually goes a long way to providing one’s clients with a courteous response. You may find in your research of the aforementioned website that the number of individuals who check this site regularly is astronomical, and that Mr. Sherry’s rude and discourteous tone has now been felt by many, many fans and probable clientele. I am not affiliated with TheOneRing.net, except as a fan and a devoted reader, but I promise you that I will defend the interests of like-minded fans as thoroughly as possible. All Lord of the Rings fans eagerly await your response to Mr. Regina and Mr. Mineau.

Thank you for your consideration and your time.

Regards,

Richard Farias
rfarias@satx.rr.com

*****

we probably haven’t “talked” before, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m shaking my head in disbelief here in Germany after reading that letter from the Canadian distributor’s CEO regarding the triple screening. Not only does the fact that that he hasn’t heared of TORn not speak for him, the general tone of his letter is also … well, rude. I hope someone at TORn has contacts at Warner in the US, and that you’re forwarding this letter to them as well. I can’t imagine that they’d be pleased.

Hope you’ll still find a way to realize this. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’m outraged, and that you have my sympathies.

Barbara
www.bschnell.de

*****

I just read your article on TORN about this… and I wanted to tell you I think that you have been treated very shabbily by Alliance and Jim Sherry.

The tone of “just go away and don’t bother me” was just terribly
disrespectful. Also Unbecoming. Unwarranted. Unprofessional (how may other UN- adjectives can I use?)

Although we only met the one time, and briefly at that, we have been
e-mailing back and forth for close to three years… I cannot imagine that you would ever have said or done anything to warrant such a response.

You have my support and my sympathies. I hope your line party event is a huge success.

Sincerely,

Marea
(Maria Litynsky Foss)

*****

Thanks for the update, much appreciated. Of course this sucks and one would have thought that a movie trilogy that was so dependant on internet traffic and support for the initial hype would be more courteous to a site that had a major hand in that.

We could set up a form letter and a link on TORN that would all anyone to send a note to Jim outlining our thoughts on the matter (or we could just set it up for the 300+ people who were in our line party). Unless you are just fed up and don’t want to pursue the matter further.

Regards,
Chuck (Ronin)

*****

It was with great sadness that I read your last email. For a moment I
identified with Nienel, who, distraught with horror and anguish, ran to the brink of Cabed-en-Aras and cast herself into the wild water of the Teiglin. Not to worry,though. The moment passed, and I quickly opted for plan B. To my wonder, the Cineplex Odeon at the World Exchange Centre in Ottawa (111 Albert St.) (phone 613-233-0209) still had tickets available for Trilogy Tuesday as of noon today. Hopefully, now, my two children will not be forever traumatised by the cancellation. We would still like to join you in Montreal, though, so keep in touch with details for the line party. Thanks, again, for all of your hard work. I am so sorry that things did not work out as planned.

Hoping to see you soon,

littlo

*****

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