That's a great question. I wonder who works with the Estate in help with digitizing any tape or stuff documented in the storage vault. I wonder what their rates are to digitize film especially when it's tapes that have been here for a long time. Do they hire a company to manage their films and tapes and just leave that process to them or do they just put experienced people in that category on their payroll so the Estate could have their teams do them their selves? The average minimum cost for digitizing tapes especially if it's (VHS, U-matic or mm film) is from $10.00 to about $95.00. But the Estate probably has lots of tapes so the cost of them all together would be higher especially when it was shot on special equipment. They would probably have to spend a lot if they want it the best and professionally done for their standards. I know they don't have that much of an archive but they have a lot of stuff, even if it isn't music. The short film tapes, concert tapes, studio session tapes & rare tapes is probably the most worthy thing of their vault. I'm gonna give a random date and example. Let's say Michael has tapes documented in his collection from January 1979 (The reason I don't go back farther cause most of the pro-shot and rare tapes shot from July 1968 to 1978 is most likely in the Motown and Epic archive vaults) to all the way to June 2009 (including the working cameras that filmed Michael in rehearsals for himself to watch & critique). There has to be a lot of tapes to unwind and digitize them. About 500-1000 tapes at least? Cause Michael constantly had film crews with him and documented almost everything from plane flights, hotel tours, van rides to the arenas & stadiums, airport arrivals, personally never-before seen tour interviews, studio footage, the creative process, almost everything you could think of. Michael even had tapes of him holding the camera and documenting himself. They probably have also a few short-film tape masters, the behind the scenes and the making of it. That has to cost big money. I know some tapes are unorganized and lost but they have to have many decent tapes in there. And that's the problem, nothing will be done if they don't wanna bail because of the risks and if they don't make a good enough profit of the footage. I feel a documentary based on his artistic and creative side (more longer, detailed than the Bad 25 doc & without fillers) would be best if they really want to make a big profit. They need great PR marketing & maybe preview screenings for fans and media people first. Maybe based on the reactions to a screening would make them feel positive about putting their faith into it. They need to also sign up with big companies like IMAX & AMC (If they are confident in partnering with the Estate). to put it in lots of theaters all over the world. That would be a win-win-win, win for the Estate, the fans & companies.
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