We have talked about what will be on the DVD boxed set for THE CROW: STAIRWAY to HEAVEN, here is an update on what will not as well as an update on two of the features that will be present.

There will not be a behind the scenes featurette. According to Bryce Zabel, exec Producer and writer for STH let us know there was never anything shot for this kind of feature when STH was in production. Beyond that, usually “making of” type features tend to be a rights nightmare. For those who don’t remember, the Crow collectors series DVD box set was minus Alex Proyas and David Schow due to them not signing off on anything that used their likeness or voice (the reason behind that changes depending on which person involved you ask). It would cost Arts Alliance more than what they probably are willing to invest if they were to try and do a new making of/behind the scenes featurette.

According to Arts Alliance they are still ironing out the details on how the instrumental score will be embedded on the disk. There has been a push for this to be available via IPod/Mp3 compatible files on the DVD-ROM portion of the disk. We will see how that turns out.

As far as the audio commentary track recorded for the show, Bryce Zabel had the following to say…..

“The way the commentary works is Mark and I were in an audio booth with earphones and microphones. They show the first two episodes and you talk as you see them. So, yes, your comments are tied to what you see, but you are also free to “roam” based on your inspiration. It came out very nicely everyone says.”

This sounds like it will be one of the gems on the set.

Stay tuned to ABaHB and CrowFans.com for more information on The Crow: Stairway To Heaven Box Set.

Earlier this morning I received an official list from Tim over at Arts Alliance America the company in charge of putting together The Crow: Stairway To Heaven DVD box set.  This list is not the final list as there is a couple more features being worked out.   

“The Crow: Stairway to Heaven” Special Features 

1. Gag Reel
2. Production Dailies from the following episodes “Death Wish”,”Dead To Rights” and “A Gathering Storm”
3. The Pilot Script
4. Original Episode Descriptions
5. Photo Gallery
6. Mark Dacascos Filmography
7. Audio Commentary for “The Soul Can’t Rest” and “Souled Out” by Bryce Zabel and Mark Dacascos
8. The Crow: Stairway To Heaven Original Score by Peter Manning Robinson
“Main Title”, “101 Opening”, “Sonya Says See Ya”, “How To Fix It”, “Albrecht’s Map”, “Telling A Story”, “When I Was Twenty”, “See, Land, Asylum”, and “End Credits”

Arts Alliance America has opened up a MySpace page to help promote The Crow: Stairway To Heaven DVD Box Set.

To purchase The Crow: Stairway To Heaven DVD Box Set click here.

Cuervo Muerto from over at CrowColl alerted us to a new James O’Barr interview caught on video over at Fanboy.tv. It is short, but a really cool listen for fans as James speaks to the new project that is coming out from him.

Another item was sent to us from David Jeffers, also from CrowColl. He sent us over an interview from 2006 with stuntman and friend to Brandon, Jeff Cadiente. That name should sound familiar as he was the main body double for Brandon in THE CROW. He a long with Chad Stahelski (body double for Keanu Reeves in all three Matrix movies) were stunt doubles for Brandon.

Here is the interview with Jeff.

Recently heard from a representative from Hart Sharp Video and a long with the previously mentioned commentary from Bryce and Mark on the first two episodes and a “making of”, we can also look forward to a gag reel (supposed to be pretty funny), a large amount of dailies and more photos and possible other extras. They are also trying to get permission to reprint some articles on Mark that appeared over the past few years.

All in all, this is shaping up to be an excellent release for fans of the show. This is great news. In the past, THE CROW and DVD have been synonymous with disappointment. Perhaps that tide is turning.

Hey folks, some news NOT related to the upcoming STH release on DVD for you. Fellow fan John Thomas has put together a petition to get O’Barr to finish the long rumored, but never realized THE CROW “AUTHOR’S EDITION” graphic novel completed. This has long been mentioned by O’Barr himself as a work in progress but there has never seemed to be much in the way of progress. We have featured extra pages on ABaHB that would encompass such a re-release of the original graphic novel. Go out to the petition and sign it. Perhaps if O’Barr sees the interest is there he can find a publisher for it.

Bryce Zabel reports in his latest blog that the commentary track featuring he and Mark Dacascos has been completed. We are looking foward to hearing this commentary when the THE CROW: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN complete series is available July 24th. You can pre-order the set from Amazon.

After a bit of touch and go there, all is going forward with Bryce Zabel and Mark Dacascos’ involvement with the upcoming region 1 release of THE CROW: STAIRWAY to HEAVEN boxed set. Yesterday, Bryce and Mark got together for a commentary track that will be featured on the set. Thanks to everyone that voiced their support for this to Hart Sharp Video, who as I said, are all about giving us a quality product. I can’t wait to get the set and hear the commentary track. Bryce is also supplying a behind the scenes feature for the release.

You can go here to read Bryce’s latest blog entry and you can go here for the updated advertisement from Hart Sharp Video.

As you know, we have followed the recent troubles that Rochelle Davis (real name Andrea Ruano) has endured since Oct 26th, 2006. The upshot of everything, given all of the charges that were being leveled at her (I saw the transcript and it read like a laundry list from hell), she ended up only being charged with conspiracy and child endangerment. These were far lessor charges than what she could have seen thrown at her.

Recently, Frank spoke to Rochelle’s manager Jaine Flanagan. By her own account, Jaine has been more of a friend than a manager to Rochelle over the last 10 years. Jaine reports that Rochelle suffered a great deal after Brandon’s death. They had become close friends and Rochelle described herself as one of Brandon’s biggest fans. According to Jaine, Rochelle had a hard time after the accident auditioning for other parts. Her heart just was not into it. Though things came to a head on October 26th of last year with her arrest, Rochelle had other challenges that she had endured since her last acting job on The Crow. Finally, it was a lack in judgement which cost her dearly when the people whom she had become friends with turned out to be some pretty unsavory characters. She has learned a valuable lesson through the course of the events that have transpired over the last 8 months.

Will she act ever again? Who knows. Right now, she is just trying to get her life back on track for her and her son Destin. We hope that she will feel up to talking with fans in the coming months. I know that she is loved by the fan base and everyone is pulling for her to get back on her feet. When I was visiting with Robert Zuckerman he mentioned how much he would love to reach out to her now. I hope she knows how much she is loved, by those who know her and by those who have never met her. We are all a family and when one of your family hurts, everyone hurts.

I pray for nothing but the best for Rochelle and Destin.

Great news to report. After speaking with reps from Hart Sharp Video, the door has not been totally closed on the extras and who will be involved with the set. If all works out, Bryce and Mark will be participating in the DVD release of THE CROW: STAIRWAY to HEAVEN. This is great news for fans as we know how much Bryce put into the series and how much he was open to the fans. I think it speaks volumes that a DVD company is interested in a quality product first and I feel very confident that Hart Sharp Video is dedicated to giving us the best possible release of STH on DVD.

At any rate, we will keep you updated on the release.

Frank took a trip today that I know everyone is going to be interested in hearing about. We will have his report and pictures soon, so be looking forward to that.

Folks, I got word from Bryce Zabel that neither he or Mark have been contacted about their involvement with the DVD. Whats more, it would seem Bryce will not have any input to the DVD and we will be given a less than stellar release. I can’t begin to put into words my disappointment in this news. The franchise as a whole just seems to be getting crapped on at every turn. I will not go down without a fight however. The director of marketing for the dvd, Marylou Bono, needs to be contacted by us and told how we feel about them releasing the series on DVD in this fashion. We need to be intelligent in our emails to her, don’t send her a mindless rant. We need to let her know what this series means to us and the lack of involvement of Bryce and Mark is inconceivable. Here is the email address: marylou.bono@hartsharpvideo.com .

Here is an article that Bryce has posted. He goes on to talk about how the latest promotion article by Hart Sharp Video makes several typographical and content blunders, the most telling, the misspelling of Mark’s first and last name as well as a ludicrous synopsis that totally misses the point of the series all together. This screams loudly that they don’t care about this release and are basically throwing it out there. If they can’t get the basics right, how are we to trust them with the most important content of all, the episodes themself?

Time to wake up folks, I have been saying we need to get more involved in this franchise. Now is the time for fans of the series to not sit back and take what we are given.