What Now, What Next, Where To?

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

All things Elvis are always complicated because there is always someone who want's to make a fast buck out of the likeness and music legacy. With rights to Elvis fragmented to say the least, the question is...

What Now, What Nest, Where to?

[KPM]

Good question, the eggs (so to speak) are not all in the same basket and that makes a totally coordinated plan to the legacy of Elvis very unlikely.
Sony, Turner/Warners/movie owners, and EPE/CKX/Apollo....seem to work together to a point.... but each has the sayso for their particular fragments of Elvis and his legacy. I would love to see the estate end up owning the music and movies someday-but that is a longshot that I do not see happening in my lifetime.
The handling of all things Elvis will continue to be fragmented and to a certain degree haphazard-with each entity controlling their end -with limited input from the others on marketing on "major anniversary projects"
Sad, that the Colonel did not somehow keep some ownership of the films and recordings...similar to the TV special deals he made which did leave the door open for eventual ownership.

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

Hi Ken, I agree there is a huge divide between all the separate fragments of the Elvis legacy. I would like to see a future where all the eggs are put in one basket and a coordinated approach of how they can keep the legacy alive without cheapening the person would be great. Not much to ask I know ;)

I just believe that there are too many people feeding at the trough without putting anything back in to sustain a project that has class. Sillerman is struggling with the recession, I just don't see that Sillerman will have anything to offer in the immediate future and in all likelihood will sell his rights to the highest bidder.

EPE frankly use Elvis as a cash cow to fund Priscilla, Lisa and the family; Elvis would probably have wanted them to be looked after but they are very short sighted in that they have become indifferent to how to promote and reinvent their key asset.

To be honest, the Elvis world seems pretty stagnant, a real shame when an entrepreneur could take advantage of all the technology and media out there. Simon Cowell would be someone who could change the Elvis world around, not everyone likes him but he is a master manipulator just like the Colonel was...

[KPM]

I watched the commercial with Spinout footage seemlessly used to put Elvis in a whole new setting and wondered why they did not do that when ALLC was a worldwide hit in 2001-2002. The party footage from Live a Little Love a Little would have been great to blend in with footage of Clooney, Pitt and crew from the Oceans 11 remake.....Elvis in very stylish turtleneck and black jacket walking with Clooney and Pitt and singing ALLC....
ALLC was a great hit for Elvis, but I really think a great video with the film footage from Oceans 11 interspersed would have made it a MEGA hit and help with the "illusion" of being alive and current.
Perhaps that is part of the future for Elvis's legacy-the occasional appropriate song that is used in new film and a really great video which brings Elvis seemlessly in contact with the stars of the film.
I know its expensive but sometimes to get the right image, the right "buzz" you have to spend some cash.
The question is-who foots the bill?
Maybe if all the parties involved agreed to contribute to a fund that would finance the videos every few years....wishful thinking I'm sure.
But also I have come to the realization that this fragmented problem is not the making of EPE, Sony or the movie people.....The Colonel and Elvis himself set the stage for what has happened. The Colonel IMO was shortsighted, he worried about upfront profit too much, and not about what to do down the road.
Elvis by not growing as an individual, was easily taken by the Colonel who knew how to push all the right buttons on Elvis' insecurities and shortcomings...so the ownership of the recordings was not important, the movie rights were not important, the growth as an artist was not important......and so all that remained of importance to the Colonel (and the part he stressed to Elvis) was how much money could be dropped onto his desk when he demanded it........you do not change the method or thinking until the money quits being dropped on the desk-and it never really did until Elvis was not here to make the drop happen.
So whats left in the "now" is what we have-fragmentation and erosion of the image thru little real coordination that total ownership would allow.

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

I here ya Ken and I'm a little pissed that the people who can make things happen just don't have the will or the know how to prevail in these straightened times. It seems to me there are are several groups of people who own Elvis rights & keep them for the income but are like children in their outlook, the toys are mine and you can't play with them!

[KPM]

I here ya Ken and I'm a little pissed that the people who can make things happen just don't have the will or the know how to prevail in these straightened times. It seems to me there are are several groups of people who own Elvis rights & keep them for the income but are like children in their outlook, the toys are mine and you can't play with them!
Thats it in a nutshell the childish attitude, "Its my ball! I decide how its used"
If they would look beyond the importance of their own interests, and a little more to fostering the growth in respect for Elvis and his contributions to music.....the growth in profits might be a little easier achieved.