Anyone up for a fantasy movie draft?

[timmer]

This is a fun event I'm a part of on a different site, and thought it might find a welcome home here, as well?

The basics:

It's a fantasy draft combining films and individual actors to compete on two fronts - box office and end-of-year awards.

The first draft is for films, followed by a second draft for actors.

You are free to drop films and replace them with available ones right up until the day they are released in the United States, but once a film opens (including preview screenings on Thursdays!!) it is locked on your roster forever.

You are also free to drop actors and replace them, as long as they have not had a film open while on your roster... replacement actors may have had a film open already, but since no one owned them yet it is okay.

Phase 1 of the contest lasts from May 1st to Dec. 31st. and is the box office phase. All of your films' box office receipts count up until Dec. 31st and no more, so a huge film that opens Christmas Day may not actually make you as much money as you had hoped.

IMPORTANT: on Dec. 31st, the bottom most grossing players are eliminated. We then move to Phase 2-6 which are Golden Globes/BFCA/Guilds/BAFTA/Oscars, with each phase dropping the lowest scoring players out until only a few remain (we will have to tweak this once we see if we get enough players)

To win, you need enough box office to get into the awards phases, but not so many box office films that you then have no Oscar contenders...

I can explain more later, but for now.... anyone interested???

[insertnamehere]

I'm down.

[dunya]

I'll be interested.

Maybe [mention]JaggedJimmyJay[/mention], [mention]Iron_Dwarf[/mention] and [mention]Ricochet[/mention] too?

[Iron_Dwarf]

Depending on how it works I might be in.

[timmer]

Here is a cut and paste of the complete rules for how it works:

Spoiler: show

Studio Draft & Ownership:

Each studio head will draft a roster of 5 films and 10 actors to compete with for the season. Just like real world studios, your hope is that the films and actors you own the rights to will earn lots of money and win all the awards.

Film selections will perform as an umbrella pick, earning points based on the money and awards that the film is responsible for as a whole (including directing, writing, acting, crafts, etc.).

Actor selections will perform as an individual pick, earning points based on the money and awards they receive for their roles in all their films that open during box office season play (regardless of whether or not another studio owns the rights to the film). An actor selection who is also a director or writer only earns points as an actor. For example, in 2014, Angelina Jolie as an actor pick was eligible for Maleficent, but not Unbroken. Angelina Jolie as a director earned points for the studio that owned Unbroken as a film pick.

Each film and actor can only be owned by one studio.

Draft begins April 1 and will conclude before the end of the month. The draft is your first chance to acquire films and actors that you'll own throughout the year--unless, of course, you drop your rights to them. The order of the draft will be determined at random and follow a snake pattern. In a snake draft the first to choose in round 1 becomes the last to choose in round 2 and the first again in round 3. Each studio will fill all of their film slots before selecting actors.

While the draft is in progress, no changes to your picks are allowed. If you make a selection it is locked as soon as you submit--no edits. However, once the draft is complete and all studios have a full roster, studio heads can begin dropping and adding selections as they see fit up until Dec. 31, 2018, as long as the film has not had an official opening yet. Once a film or film that an actor is in has had its theatrical box office/streaming premiere in the US, limited or otherwise, that film and/or actor selection becomes permanently locked to that studio roster for the season.

To note: This is an annual game. Next season, any returning studios will allowed one contract pick before the start of the draft. A contract pick is an actor that the studio owned in the previous season and wishes to bring along for a consecutive season without the threat of another studio drafting him or her. If retained, your contract pick is an automatic first round actor pick in the draft, meaning you’ll make your first new pick on your turn in the second round. This could factor into whether or not you draft someone this season, knowing what they have in the pipeline for next season. If you play again next season, you maintain your studio. If you don't play again, a new player will inherit your studio.

League Structure:

Round 1: Box Office Regular Season

The box office round runs from Tuesday, May 1, 2018 to Monday, December 31, 2017, making any film with a US opening, limited or otherwise, in that time frame eligible to be drafted & earn points, as well as the actors that appear in them. Box office earnings is for US totals only, not international. Limited/awards qualifying openings count, even if no official box office earnings are reported. Films with openings before or after the season cut-offs are ineligible to compete (in any capacity) in the league. For example, in 2017, Logan could not be drafted by a studio. Hugh Jackman could be drafted by a studio, but his role in Logan was ineligible because it opened before the start of the league. His role in The Greatest Showman was eligible though because that opened in the window.

Festival screenings/premieres do not qualify as official openings. For example, any film that showed at Sundance or Berlin is available for draft, unless of course they have their theatrical run begin before May or after December.

Films without official release dates set are eligible to be drafted. If they never get their release date, they can be dropped and replaced as the owner sees fit. Similarly, films without official titles can be drafted, so long as it is clear which work-in-progress film is being drafted.

Film selections will earn points based on the total box office earnings of that film, represented as one full point for every million dollars earned and down to the fraction of one thousand dollars.

2016 example:
- Finding Dory earned $486,295,000 by Dec. 31, 2016 for 486.295 points
- Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk earned $1,738,000 by Dec. 31, 2016 for 1.738 points

Actor selections will earn points based on a percentage of the total box office earnings for each film they’re in. The total box office for each film will be divided evenly by all league actors that appear in the film (in any capacity—credited or uncredited) validated by being listed on the film’s IMDB page. Totals of films starring only one league actor will be divided by 2 (not 1).

2016 example:
- Finding Dory had 4 league actors, each earned 1/4 of the film’s points for 121.57 each
- Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk had 2 league actors, earning 1/2 of the points for .869 each

Rounds 2 through 6: Awards Playoffs

At the end of the regular season on Dec. 31, 2018, box office tallies will be finalized and only the 12 top grossing studios will advance while the 4 lowest grossing studios will be eliminated.

In this postseason phase of the league, the focus of your studio now turns to how well your films and actors perform at a select number of awards shows. In each round, studios will compete for the highest number of nominations and wins at five different shows. The order of rounds is determined by their air date—I expect that round 2 will be the Golden Globes, round 3 Critics Choice, round 4 a collection of all the guild awards, round 5 BAFTA and the final/round 6 is the Oscars. At the end of each round the lowest scoring studios will be eliminated from play with only the final 4 competing at the Oscars.

Earning awards points:
Your film and actor picks earn you points in the following ways during awards play:

- Nomination: 1 point each (films earn 1 point for every nomination in any category, actors earn 1 point for every nomination they specifically earn, but not for ones their film earns)
- Best Film win: 10 points (film selections only; for the Golden Globes, 10 points will be given to the two films that win Drama and Comedy/Musical); if a studio owns a doc, foreign or animated film they only earn 10 points for BP-equivalent wins, not their genre-specific categories (that counts as "All other categories" below)
- Actor win: 5 points to actor selections, 2 points to film selections (lead and supporting, and only 2 points to an actor and film when part of the SAG ensemble win)
- Director win: 5 points (film selections only)
- Screenplay win: 5 points (film selections only)
- All other categories: 2 points (film selections only)

In the case of a tie during any round, a winner must be determined between the tying studios. To settle this, the points each studio acquired in nominations will be removed. That means which ever studio earned the most points based solely on wins will advance. If this process does not determine a winner then a hierarchy of wins will be established, where a studio with the rights to the winning film in this succession of categories will move on: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Original then Adapted), Best Lead Actress then Actor, Best Supporting Actress then Actor, Animated, Foreign, Documentary, Score, Cinematography, Editing, Song, Production Design, Costumes, Makeup, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing. (Note that the hierarchy is for film rights, not actor rights.)

Elimination Chart:

Round 1 (Box Office):
Top 1 advances to Round 3
Middle 11 advance to Round 2
Bottom 4 eliminated

Round 2 (Golden Globes):
Top 9 advance to Round 3
Bottom 2 eliminated

Round 3 (Critics Choice):
Top 8 advance to Round 4
Bottom 2 eliminated

Round 4 (BAFTA):
Top 6 advance to Round 5
Bottom 2 eliminated

Round 5 (Guilds):
Top 4 advance to Round 6
Bottom 2 eliminated

Round 6 (Oscars):
Top 1 wins

General Advice on Strategy:

There are really two things you need to focus on when drafting for your studios--money and awards. Selecting box office juggernauts is going to secure your spot in round 2. This is a good thing. You can’t win the league without making it beyond box office.

But once you enter the playoffs your box office won’t matter so you’ll want to keep in mind that in order to make it through the playoffs you’ll need to own some awards contenders as well. As an example, the top 5 grossing films drafted into our 2017 league (that debuted from May to Dec.) were: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and It —few of which were major awards contenders, but the owners of each of those films did make it to the playoffs.

The hardest rounds to navigate are box office and the Golden Globes. Box office because not all big money films secure you enough awards capital to matter in the later rounds. The studios that owned Darkest Hour and The Post last year were eliminated in box office. Golden Globes because there are so few categories to compete for. Nominations here are important or you'll drop out.

The best and clearest advice is to have a mix of blockbusters and awards fare—for every Marvel film you pick, add a Call Me by Your Name. Or pick an actor that excels in both arenas, like Woody Harrelson who banked money from War for the Planet of the Apes and awards for Three Billboards. Additionally, you’ll want to keep a close eye on the playing field as the season progresses, adding and dropping films & actors as their buzz rises and falls. Actors in high grossing films with small casts (think Sandra Bullock in Gravity, for instance) can earn you a lot of box office points, sometimes more than film picks can.

But essentially it all comes down to what you believe will have the biggest presence of the year, and that’s what makes it fun to compete.

[dunya]

I don't know if I'm this much knowledgeable in cinema but I'm willing to give it a go

[timmer]

Hmm, sounds like not enough interest, it was worth a shot!

[dunya]

[mention]timmer[/mention] how many people should sign up minimum for this to work?

[Golden]

I hadn't seen this. It could be interesting.

[Tangrowth]

I know nothing about movies, but I'll participate too if it helps get this off the ground!

[timmer]

Ideally it needs about 10-12 players!

[dunya]

Ideally it needs about 10-12 players!

that's doable. let's see what we do. Can you add a poll for people to sign up so we can see #s of signups easier.

[timmer]

I added a poll and included myself in it. I had hoped to only run the game but I'll participate if it means we get the numbers!

[insertnamehere]

ALL IN ON STUHLBARG

[dunya]

[mention]Iron_Dwarf[/mention]

[mention]JaggedJimmyJay[/mention]

[mention]Ricochet[/mention]

[mention]MovingPictures07[/mention]

get in on this?

[dunya]

maybe [mention]DharmaHelper[/mention] too?

[DharmaHelper]

Is there going to be a list of eligible picks or are we responsible for that

[JaggedJimmyJay]

I don't know what I'm doing, but I can give it a try.

[dunya]

perhaps [mention]G-Man[/mention] and [mention]ColinIsCool[/mention]

and [mention]Enrique[/mention]

[DharmaHelper]

Fuck it I'll give it a go.

[DharmaHelper]

If there'll be a list of actors that we can pick from that'd be super. I found one for films.

[dunya]

If there'll be a list of actors that we can pick from that'd be super. I found one for films.

sharing is caring. where's the film list

[DharmaHelper]

http://www.firstshowing.net/schedule2018/

[timmer]

The list is literally every single movie coming out. Box office will count from May 1st to Dec. 31 so any movie whatsoever that the internet says is coming out can be yours to draft. If that film you draft changes its release date to next spring you can dump it and grab another available film.

[timmer]

In terms of awards potential, some films will earn bank and get lots of noms (Dunkirk) others will not earn any money by Dec 31st (Phantom Thread) but get noms.

For this year, Ad Astra seems like it had awards potential galore but it isn't opening, as of now, until Jan. 4th. So you could draft it, but you would have to count it as a zero for expected box office. It would be exclusively for awards, and THE BOTTOM BOX OFFICE EARNERS DON'T MAKE IT TO THE AWARDS ROUNDS. lots to think about....

Also you can stock on awards y films but choo with box office strong actors, or vice versa, or find a balance between the two.

[timmer]

For awards potential check out gold derby. They should soon start putting up Oscar predictions etc. For which stars are in which films you've got imdb and also hsx could help.

[Tangrowth]

I don't know what I'm doing, but I can give it a try.

This.

[Golden]

It's better for the fact that no-one knows what they're doing. Although having someone like a Ricochet in the mix would also be good.

[DharmaHelper]

I mean the worst that'll happen is I lose so lets go

[DharmaHelper]

Just hoping for a high draft pick.

[DharmaHelper]

The list is literally every single movie coming out. Box office will count from May 1st to Dec. 31 so any movie whatsoever that the internet says is coming out can be yours to draft. If that film you draft changes its release date to next spring you can dump it and grab another available film.

Any movie that's in theatres may 1st or any movie whose release date is on may 1st onwards?

[G-Man]

How involved is this? Are we constantly picking up and dropping picks or do we ride out the year?

[dunya]

I mean the worst that'll happen is I lose so lets go

[dunya]

How involved is this? Are we constantly picking up and dropping picks or do we ride out the year?

I think you can be as involved in this as you like. You can pick stuff out to build a fantasy draft and stick with it all, or you can change as the year goes on.

I'd say it's technically low intensity and as much as you want to give it (if I understood the rules right).

[timmer]

The list is literally every single movie coming out. Box office will count from May 1st to Dec. 31 so any movie whatsoever that the internet says is coming out can be yours to draft. If that film you draft changes its release date to next spring you can dump it and grab another available film.

Any movie that's in theatres may 1st or any movie whose release date is on may 1st onwards?

It must open in theatres on May 1st or later. Sadly, a certain superhero movie will be missing by mere days...

[timmer]

How involved is this? Are we constantly picking up and dropping picks or do we ride out the year?

You could reasonably do the draft and then not even look at your roster for months at a time.

/the first phase lasts until Dec 31st, so if you draft a few big budget films and with some rudimentary research a few awards hopefuls, you can sit back and enjoy your life, lol...

The first big shift typically happens during fall film festival season when the toronto/telluride/new york premieres happen, and that's september, so... there ya go

[DharmaHelper]

The list is literally every single movie coming out. Box office will count from May 1st to Dec. 31 so any movie whatsoever that the internet says is coming out can be yours to draft. If that film you draft changes its release date to next spring you can dump it and grab another available film.

Any movie that's in theatres may 1st or any movie whose release date is on may 1st onwards?

It must open in theatres on May 1st or later. Sadly, a certain superhero movie will be missing by mere days...

Son of a Bitch, that would have been the Antonio Brown of box office picks.

[Iron_Dwarf]

@Iron_Dwarf

@JaggedJimmyJay

@Ricochet

@MovingPictures07

get in on this?

A bit too busy at the moment to be playing this I'm afraid.

[dunya]

[mention]Ricochet[/mention]

answer my call, damn it

[Ricochet]

Blah.

[dunya]

Blah.

finally. now I have someone to copy and look smart.

sorry [mention]Golden[/mention], I just called dibs on copying Rico.

[dunya]

I'll hunt for 3 more people to join.

[dunya]

@Iron_Dwarf

@JaggedJimmyJay

@Ricochet

@MovingPictures07

get in on this?

A bit too busy at the moment to be playing this I'm afraid.

It starts May 1

[DharmaHelper]

Blah.

FUCK ITS JOHN MADDEN

[timmer]

I know nothing about movies, but I'll participate too if it helps get this off the ground!

[mention]MovingPictures07[/mention]

You should sign up, then...

[Golden]

Blah.

finally. now I have someone to copy and look smart.

sorry @Golden, I just called dibs on copying Rico.

I don't want to copy rico, it's a lose lose - Rico will always be better than me at his own game! If I go a completely different way, I can only either look like the complete fool I actually am (so no real loss) or else appear like I am unexpectedly sage and wise about these things, depending on the results. It's sort of a win/win.

[DharmaHelper]

I got plans on plans on plans.

[timmer]

We have plenty of time on this, I would want to start that draft around April 1st so hopefully we can find 2 more!

[Iron_Dwarf]

@Iron_Dwarf

@JaggedJimmyJay

@Ricochet

@MovingPictures07

get in on this?

A bit too busy at the moment to be playing this I'm afraid.

It starts May 1

In that case send me a reminder then.

[timmer]

So... close...