There seems to be some confusion or miscommunication or just normal internet noise about the status of The Action Report. Some of that is probably my fault so I want to clear things up. This gonna be long so for the TL;DR crowd: TAR is still around just doing things differently.
For the readers among us:
TAR is not dead. I'm not going into details but the short story is Chad Pollman, Mark Griffin and I were partners in TAR. Chad passed away leaving Mark and I. Mark and I have went our separate ways amicably and no longer work together or are business partners. I own the TAR intellectual property and catalog. As long as I am around TAR will be around in one form or another.
Going forward TAR will be focused on more traditional forms of media production. Projects like Darren Appleton's Perfect Practice Series presented by Predator Cues and other similar projects. Working with Andrew Cleary we have plans for more instructional videos with the worlds best players and a different take on them from traditional videos. Check out the trailer for the new Appleton project here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIKzO-tEwPw
Another thing I have been working on is getting the TAR catalog available OnDemand for anyone who missed a match or wants to own one. There are currently fourteen titles available on demand for streaming to any device or download to your computer. More are coming soon and the prices average about $1 per hour of content for the old matches. You can see the available titles here:
https://vimeo.com/tarondemand/vod_pages
Something I just launched is to make available quality prints of the four photos that were by the table in the TAR Studio. Many people over the years expressed interest in buying them or getting copies. Now they are available. The response has been great. I have always thought there may be a niche for quality original photography and artwork for high end home and commercial rooms. I will be exploring that more in the future. Here are the just released prints:
http://theactionreport.com/studio-series-paper-edition/
As for live streaming and matches. I no longer own or have access to the gear to stream at the level TAR was known for so that is one reason you will not be seeing any in the near future from TAR. Honestly though I dont know if I will ever stream again. I feel like I have done everything there is for me to do in that area and it doesnt really excite me anymore.
Same goes for matches. I look back at all TAR did and I am happy that there really is no match I wish we would of done that didnt happen. With one exception: I wish I could of gotten a partners game or ring game done in Nasty's name. If I ever do another match that would be the one to motivate me. Outside of that I think the TAR matches are probably done.
One thing I do want to do with TAR going forward is to produce more documentary style content. Its hard to monetize but telling stories of the game and people around it in a documentary style motivates me. I did some of this type thing focused on cuemakers in the past and we did the barebones of the style with player interviews on the podcasts and I want to take that further.
The TAR podcast is something I am proud to have created and in the future you will probably see it revived. My current thinking is much shorter in length with basically me talking about what is going on with TAR and maybe some opinion mixed in. If I decide to get deep into it I may go the whole Skype route and have guests on which I know would be more interesting. The podcast will come back just not sure how yet.
So thats it. TAR is still around and will be around just going in a new direction. TAR was ahead of the industry with PPV man on man matches, the podcast and a few other things. My goal is to keep innovating and creating interesting content for the people who have supported TAR over the years and people who haven't even entered the game yet. Thirty years from now I want some new player to see an interview with Shane or Efren, a photo on a pool room wall, a documentary or instructional that TAR did and get excited about the game. Going forward that is what TAR will be doing.
In conclusion I want to thank everyone who has supported TAR since the beginning. TAR was born on this forum and would have never survived with out the support of the people who make it up. TAR isn't dead. Not even sick.
