But it doesn't exist anymore.

Merging with existing websites is always fraught with danger. The only site I would even consider would be BOG but that won't happen.

Let's keep it simple people.

I'm not in a place financially, yet, where I could contribute monthly as far as funds are concerned. But I have time to do daily things that need to be done, etc...

But they're dead & gone. KJ is alive and kicking.

Congrats Eagle on the new job and baby!

I sure wish I could contribute to the site but I'm a fairly broke 20-something. This community has been a part of my life for more than half my life though, I hope we'll be able to continue.

At this point, so many people pledged to support it financially that it'd be enough if each of those put up $5-10 a month AND as Karl has pointed out multiple times, some of the costs should be convered by ads, so in the end, it really wouldn't be more than $5 a person a month, if anything at all... That is really one of our smallest problems at the moment.

Of course, I'm sure most of us would chip in x amount to keep this running year to year. It'd be like a yearly kickstarter type of thing and having the forum alive is the perk. I don't want this forum to disappear like the old bom forums.

I don't want this to become a situation like BOF? just went through, where half their forum is now "premium" members. That's dumb.

The problems with BOM Forums, then BOF Forums, and now WOKJ Forums just proves one thing; there really isn't a lot of money to be made in this industry of online box office analysis. It's one or two big sites/forums, and that's it. A small community, and if dedicated people such as Eagle give up, then I'm afraid that people will have to migrate to one of the two bigger platforms. I hope one KJ member can take over. I feel that getting an IT professional involved or having multiple owners or merging with an existing forum will just mean the end of WOKJ.

I disagree. I think there is a sizable market for box office analysis. Panda has 11k followers on Twitter. Subers 6k. The old BOM forums had how many members??? We know from the Sony e-mails that execs frequent both BOM and it's forums.

What you need is some real substance. Use our insights and promote them. KJ's knowledge should be considered it's own version of tracking, IMO. Folks here have THAT good of a feel, that strong of taste.

I'd be happy to run the main page for a few months. There are a lot of things we could do to boost traffic.

I agree with Lecter. Let's concentrate on Forums. The main website, Derby and any other money making strategies will come later.

We really need to start with the list of people ready to fund and calculate how much will be the cost monthly and annually. Based on that we can find what will be additional cost for IT guy if we find someone outside of the forum.

I'd like to contribute a sum total annually because that guarantees the forum is alive for a year and its less hassle personally, plus we can hire an IT guy for a good amount of time as well.

But we have known each other for years. We can all agree that there will be no benefits to those giving the money, it'd just be doing good.

Boost site traffic and it will fund itself. Funding the site isn't the problem. We just need IT support. I am sure Eagle to point us in the right direction.

For starters, I think we should use the main page exclusively on 1) film box office (aka no more reviews, or tv shows, etc. That shit is a waste of time. Keep it simple and to the point) , and 2) big movies/notable ones. Nobody cares about the weekend in September or January or the little films which come out at that point. That's like the guy who analyzes 7th round picks for the NFL draft, when 90% of followers really only care about the big ones. So I would say the focus should be on big film analysis. Tracking and analyzing of marketing, release dates, cast and crew, all that stuff. We'll find more success carving a niche for evaluating would-be blockbusters which people actually care about than analyzing every little film and every weekend. It will also cost less time and energy. Think of the website as "blockbuster consulting".

I'd like to analyze every stage of production through release. A process to be used on every big film. So when a studio announces a big movie, it goes on the big board for that year. When a big actor joins a concept, we analyze it's impact. When they announce a release date, we analyze it. For example, we could say "Read WHY Batman V. Superman's new release date means GREAT things for it's box office!". When a trailer is released, analyze it. Etc etc. Then, when a film is say ~4 weeks away, it gets a weekly update w/ updated long range predictions. Week of release, it gets a very thorough evaluation and final prediction. After it opens, updated analysis measuring accuracy, key takeaways, etc.

I'd have the following set up on the main page:
-Large attractive banner of a crowded movie theater lobby/line around the block
-Text saying we're the Internets oldest active forum and smartest collection of talent
-Massive chart analyzing how accurate our predictions are, i.e. "Accuracy from 8 weeks: 4 weeks: 2 weeks; 1 week:" etc.
-A "Big Board' of upcoming blockbusters, ranked in order of anticipation. Within each page would be brief info, current forecasts/predictions with reasoning explained. I'd have sub categories, such as a "Breakout Buzzer" - maybe a little star or something next a to movie which seems likely to break out/overperform, and another thing films which look to flop/disappoint.
-Yearly top 20
-Primary headlines (latest news piece), i.e. "Affleck is Batman: How It Affects The Films Potential", "Lucasfilm announces Indy 5 - Is Anybody Excited?" etc.
-A series of weekly columns about various subjects of interest - why films from the past flopped, why a future films looks likely to disappoint or break out, etc.

People largely only care about blockbusters so that is where the focus should be.

Then it is all on marketing. Obvious get a twitter and facebook account. Boost the pages to get more viewers. Actively engage users on Facebook, Twitter, other box office forums.

Again these are enhancements that come later Excel. Yes we can boost the website if we have dedicated writers who can do this but we really need to focus on saving the forum first because those are afterall what this discussion is about. I want to come back to the forums and not the Main site...not yet.

So, a plan of action would be, once we get funding set up and it support secured:

-The creation of big time movie profiles. I think our first article should be dedicated to how and why Terminator is going to tank. Follow up with likely success of Minions. Update every big film worth tracking for the summer. Etc

-The upcoming releases of STAR WARS and BATMAN V SUPERMAN mean a lot of people will be seeking box office analysis. Get analysis of these films up to par.

-Creation of facebook, twitter, etc. For fanbase movies, go to their site (i.e. theforce.net, etc). Leave remarks in the box office section of bigger sites, i.e. Forbes.

-I'd say run it through the release of BVS and see how it's going at the point. Adjust as needed.

The forums are going nowhere, thats settled.

We need to first plan a good action plan for a long and sustainable model for the forums. Generating money through other sources will need time which can be done later.

In addition to a box office derby with real prizes, we can host a "best fan edit" trailer thing, we prizes, best fan poster, maybe best blockbuster fan script contest with an entry fee?

For some real effort this forum could decent cash.

Where are the forums when we spend all out time and money into the website....ugh
#savekjforums

Excel, your optimism and enthusiasm are to be commended. I like your vision.

If you need a staff of writers, I volunteer to write articles, Excel.

I may be biased but KJ is the home of some of the most insightful box office predictors - so many of us put the "experts" to shame. Sure, we're wrong sometimes, but I'd place a bet on the collective knowledge and experience here any day. There is such potential to not only save KJ but also give it a rebirth into the go-to place for solid box office discussion. I have no doubts this will come to fruition, backed by the many members who are the foundation of this great site.

Excel, I know you mean well, but can you just please for a moment shut the hell up with your grandiose plans? The matter of the forums is far from settled. Shouldn't you be busy opening some Bonchons or flying out to the West Coast to eat pizza?

Late congrats on the baby girl.
So is excel's grand plan for the forum is make it all Superman based?