Movie Web Series - New Trend?

Is this a new trend? Movie studios producing companion web series, without captions? The Paramount Pictures Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles web series is the first one we know of. What if more movie studios begin producing and releasing uncaptioned web series in advance of theater releases? Are you going to meekly accept being left out? Are you going to accept being totally disregarded as a movie viewer and a consumer??

For all we know, the Terminator Genisys web series could just be the first of many! What if the new Star Wars movie coming out in December 2015 has a companion web series without closed captions? How will you feel about that?

If you don't complain to Paramount now about the lack of closed captions on the Terminator Genisys web series, then there is little incentive for Disney to closed caption if they do produce a Star Wars web series!

Captioning Petitions, Petitions, Everywhere!

Out of sheer frustration at the difficulty of getting the attention of certain organizations or companies, more and more people are starting petitions with the aim of getting captioning access. This continuously revised blog post will list currently open captioning petitions on the Internet. Review petitions and decide which cause you want to support! This page will be permanently linked to on the right side of this blog.

Update: Some people say petitions are ineffective. Sometimes that is true, sometimes not. Petitions are a good tool for increasing awareness.

Some of these petitions were started by Caption Action 2. Others were started by other people or organizations.

Caption Action 2 Petitions:

Paramount Pictures, Closed Caption the Terminator Genisys Web Series Now!  (Petition started 6/23/2015)

Start Captioning Smosh! (Petition started December 2014)

Others' Petitions:

Add Captions to the Rooster Teeth Website (Petition started May/June 2015)

Make E3 Accessible with Closed Captioning on Twitch (Petition started June 19, 2015)

Provide Closed Caption Devices in Every AMC Movie Theater (Petition started July 2014)

Subtitle It! (Action on Hearing Loss - UK) (Actually an online form; start date unknown)

Supply Captioning for the Deaf (Petition to Celebration Cinema in Mount Pleasant, Michigan; petition started May 2015)

Tell CNN to Stop Closed Captioning in All Caps for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (Petition started June 2015)

YouTube Gaming Must Provide Closed Captioning (Petition started June 2015)

Terminate Paramount Pictures!

Update: A petition has been created demanding that Paramount Pictures closed caption this web series now! https://www.change.org/p/paramount-pictures-closed-caption-the-terminator-genisys-web-series-now

Update 2: Bleeding Cool wrote an article about this: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/06/23/petition-started-to-get-closed-captions-on-terminator-genisys-webseries/

On June 22, 2015 a new web series debuted on YouTube: Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles. Featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and YouTube stars, this web series lacks closed captioning. A total failure on the part of Paramount Pictures to consider that there may be deaf and hard of hearing fans (and other closed caption users) wanting to watch it! The web series was released in advance of the upcoming movie of the same name, Terminator Genisys, due out July 1, 2015 in theaters.

Why is this so important? It is important because it is an indication of the failure of both marketers and producers to remember the necessity of closed captioning! It is unacceptable for major movie studios to produce web series based on their movies, without any closed captioning!


If you want to try to watch the web series, go ahead, but you will have to put up with nonsensical, ridiculous autocraptioning crap like this:

Each part of the web series is being hosted on a different YouTube channel, none of which closed captions by the way. Part one is on the Machinima channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh0d3FZvcmM. Part two is on the Tobuscus channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mxRZqW7ipI. Part three is on IISuperwomanII's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsb-8fsQ04U.

What can you do? On Twitter, tweet @paramountpics. On Facebook, post comments on the Paramount Pictures Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Paramount) or better yet, on the Terminator Genisys facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TerminatorGenisys. On Tumblr, post a blog.  They must get the message that we will not tolerate being neglected like this! Don't let them get away with failing to closed caption this! What about deaf and hard of hearing Terminator fans?? Don't they exist??