I don't totally agree with that, [@TheUnknowable]. I mean, that is how they measure their fan following is with money in the bank. Firefly was totally on the fan platform and while the network totally messed it up, it didn't have enough income to sustain itself independently. Yet, with Starwars, Lucas specifically targeted merchandising off the bat and actually grew his following so well that it revolutionized the industry.

I do agree with your concept, and I know of a practical way to implement it. However, I doubt anybody will.

I can't say that I am a particularly die-hard fan of much of anything these days. Just about everything has lost its magic for me. I don't know if I'm in a phase or if the industry has sucked that badly (or both for that matter) but the last movie I was SUPER excited about was... let me think... Brave. And I thought it totally sucked.