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Hi all- The holidays are upon us and I know everyone is busy. Just wanted to share some things with you. As always, if you are reading this from the message board or as email, please check out our campaign site for easy to click on links. The URL http://start.at/prey

1. Can you believe it? We are coming up to the first anniversary of PREY's initial air date, January 15th. DNA Bob mentioned it to me and suggested that we might want to do something special to let people know of our continuing support. I think it is a great idea (thanks DNA Bob!) and as Mr. Schmidt planned to be working on options for PREY at the first of the year, I think it would be a great tie in. I will be contacting him and asking for some suggestions from his angle. I would also like to ask all of you for your ideas. I really want people to know that the PREY audience is still there and waiting for the quality that PREY represents. I would like to see the media pick up our activities for the anniversary. Let me hear from you. I will post ideas and suggestions in my next update.

2. I heard from a PREY fan in Israel the other night. Seems they have 2 episodes to go and people want more!! I let them know about our campaign site and activities. Think about how exceptional a show must be to get people from other countries excited as well. We know that PREY has an extraordinary vision and that vision seems to be able to touch many people. PREY has the heart and vision to succeed, it just needs the opportunity. I will continue to do everything I can to give it that opportunity. Hundreds of shows have come and gone in the last year or two. How many still have people as excited about them, representing them at conventions, chatting about them online and creating and enjoying continuing fan fiction? Not many, I can tell you.

3. I have some exciting news from Roxanne, the author of many of the wonderful fan fiction stories we all enjoy so much. Roxanne has started a new charity called The Medical Fund for Timothy Bartz. In Roxanne's words- "The proceeds will go to help pay for the lung transplant expenses of Tim, a 35 year old PREY fan. Tim has Cystic Fibrosis, a terminal disease. The only hope he has is a lung transplant. He's already approved for it and should receive the operation within the next 3 to 4 months, but the operation will cost him $50,000 for his portion of the costs, and after a lifetime of high medical costs, his family simply can't afford it. The Friends of Tim (Roxanne among them) have established a web site at www.artistsinresidence.com/tim to help with the fundraising efforts. In the online auction listed on the site there is something you're all going to want to check out...**A copy of the WORKING DRAFT of the original PREY pilot, which is completely different from the pilot which was filmed and aired on ABC...rare enough, but it gets better still...it's been signed by no less than William Schmidt, creator of PREY and writer of the script.** As PREY collectibles go, it doesn't get much better than this. Mr. Schmidt was kind enough to sign this rare item for the charity auction, so please, don't let him down! The auction will begin on January 1, 1999 and continue through January 15th,1999 for this item. The items will change on the 1st and 16th of each month. If you have any questions about the process, you can email Roxanne at rcat@fastlane.net "

This is me again. This is indeed quite a wonderful PREY collectible item. Mr. Schmidt is a kind and thoughtful man, in addition to being exceptionally talented. His signature really makes it a great PREY keepsake. I have had a chance to read this script and it is certainly an interesting experience to see the genesis script for the show we love. Thanks to both Roxanne for donating the script and to Mr. Schmidt for signing it. What a win win situation- a chance to own something unique from the show we love and help a young man as well! Check out the web site. There are other interesting items, with something for everyone and more being added.

4. As most of you have heard, sweeps week showed the continuing trend that has been evident for some time in network television. Every network, with the exception of the WB network, was down in total viewership from the same time last year. NBC was down 14%, FOX 5%, ABC 7%, CBS 7%, UPN 40% and, in a departure, WB was up 19%. Of course spin masters can take statistics and make them say anything they want them to say, but it is abundantly clear that the networks can no longer operate as they have done for years and survive. Letting go of old paradigms is one of the hardest things for an organization to do, but it is the only thing that can save them. I believe that as they look at the numbers, they will see that instead of dropping everything that is not an instant megahit, they will be better served to put on good shows ( do the work up front before they air) and then support what they put on. WB, which is showing the strongest growth, only draws a 1.9 share!!! They renewed ALL their new dramas and seem to have a handle on what they need to do to hold an audience. No network, I repeat NO network is ever going to pull in a 30 share anymore. The highest rated network show only pulls in a share in the teens! PREY has the potential to draw and hold a solid and loyal audience, something that should be of value to any executive who values the bottom line.

5. As most of you know, Jeanne is finishing up her project with her message board. I know that we have all enjoyed using her wonderful board. I have checked with AOL and the cost of bringing that cgi script to AOL is too high. It would be considered a business account and too costly (running around $200 per month plus start up costs). I am going to continue to explore other message board options. I would like to have a board that is linked to my campaign site so I can monitor it closely and make sure things are going well. I should be able to find a board that will work for us that I can link to from the site. Please continue to use both the WB board and Tiffany's board as I look into alternate boards. I will let you know as soon as I have something that will work for us. I will try to get a board as close in operation to Jeanne's board as possible. I am not sure when Jeanne will need to take her board down, probably soon. Thanks for your patience and know that I am working on the issue.

6. Well, I have finally gotten one of the yellow ABC merchandise catalogs in the mail. I think the most telling quote in the book was this one from their yellow t-shirt collection- "You're breathing. We're broadcasting. Let's get together." Of course it runs a close second to that other appropriate quote "Don't just sit there. OK, just sit there". Struggling to maintain my consummate professional air, I just have to say, my brain is still functioning, thank you very much. I have a great deal more to do with my time than sit and practice breathing in front of the television set. You and any other network need to give me a reason to sit there, not an opportunity to practice breathing. Everyone I showed the catalog to thought the quotes were insulting versus funny. Perhaps we need to suggest some alternative themes for future catalogs.

I hope to hear from lots of you with suggestions for our first anniversary promotion. Email me at gevers3@aol.com

Gina