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Oh! Rocky I forgot to tell you...Shane Stone who also works for us plugged your video "Ashtons Eleven" on our video...we have a blooper/behind the scenes chapter and Shane (Ryan) was talking about your new video...
It can be seen in our newest release "Shane's Addiction"
http://www.dandevideo.com/DEP21Box.jpg
Chad Phoenix works for me, too.
:-p
I was wondering about "Shane's Addiction"!!! I told him it's lucky he got that title first before I snagged it!
*giggle*
Rocky
Good thread, very useful info in it. thanks :juggle:
Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I would like to speak to the risks or negative side of the DVD business as well, in the interest of full disclosure to people looking at it as an instant, easy money business.
The notion of selling in the high hundreds or thousands of copies for a title would be very unusual for a new studio.
For us, the DVD production side of our business has been very profitable, and the majority of our titles have sold in the thousands of units, but we've been told by many sources (producers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers) that this is quite unusual for a newer studio to achieve.
Rocky's debut release is an exception because he has Ashton Ryan in it, and Ashton has a name and history that will carry the video. But in general, based on the conversations we've had with a number of producers and/or webmasters trying to become producers, it is much, much harder than it first appears for many of them. We've talked to a number of producers, some with great quality content and good packaging, that were delighted to sell 3-400 copies of a title, including those sold through distribution and those sold direct to retail.
There are other factors to be considered... a number of distributors are notorious for slow pay (think 90-150 days), returns are not uncommon, and most distributors will not take any major quantity until they've had a chance to test the waters and see how the title will actually sell. I've also heard that some distributors are little more than order takers and the studios pretty much have to get out there and hawk the titles to the retailers that buy them.
Don't get me wrong -- there are some excellent people in the industry, and it is quite possible to make good money out there... we are delighted at how well our titles have been received... but I also know of some producers that have been very disappointed and haven't made back their initial outlay. I just felt it was important to let people know that, just as most folks won't be able to set up a new adult website and suddenly be making 10 grand a week, releasing a DVD and getting 1000 pressed doesn't necessarily mean making 20 grand.
BTW, for those who are looking for a low cost, easy entry way into the business, I highly recommend talking with Chris at Pornteam. We've been working with them for about 3 years, and Chris and his team will do everything from editing and authoring to marketing, manufacturing, distribution and retailing. And I think they have some revenue share deals that don't even involve any up-front cash outlay. He took on some of our really old, crappy VHS solo stuff and managed to sell a bunch of it for us, and now he's doing quite well as one of the retailers for our DVD lines.
Hope that helps!
Also, if you're looking to distribute in Canada, you'll likely be looking at a gigantic pig fuck. You could mail order your DVDs to Canada with few problems. The odd one might get seized at the border.
However, if you're looking at distributing in video stores in Canada. It gets interesting.
Before DVDs, you had to submit your video cassette along with a viewing fee of $4.20 per minute to the Ontario Film Review board. They would review it for prohibited content. If they found any, they would ship it back, tell you what needed to be removed, you would edit it, ship back the tape with another viewing fee, and have them review it again. Then if the movie was approved, your film would be assigned a number and you would have to purchase stickers for each of your cassettes that you wanted to sell. I believe a sticker was 50 cents to $1.00.
Video stores can only sell video cassettes with stickers and inspectors come around and check. And distributors can face up to $100,000 in fines for not complying with the policies.
And guess what? Each province has its own Film Review Board, so you have to go through the process 10 times if you want to sell in every province. Most distributors would only bother with British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.
DVDs didn't fall under the law because the law said "video cassettes" so there's been a bit of a free-for-all for the past couple of years. However, a 2002 annual report of the OFRB said they intended to address the DVD issue. I don't know where they are in that process because I haven't worked in the video biz since 2001.
cheers
dzinerbear
Boyfunk made a very excellant remark...we have been doing video producing and distributing for 4 years now and it took us at least 2.5 years to sell our DVD's in the 1000's. We were lucky to sell a few hundred years ago.
But if your consistent and you have the knowledge and the content it maybe worth your while to start DVD promotion and mass distribution.
In the past, if I didn't sell 1000+ copies (at $10 to $40 per copy) before the release date it wasn't a good release. That was including VHS and DVD, and US sales only. The number of dvd copies made up about 60%+ of the 1000+ I would sale.The normal sales for most new video lines is about 500-700. (From talking to other studios.)
Studios should have already started seeing a huge boost in DVD sales for a few reasons. 2 of the major reasons are lower cost of DVD Players and the simple fact that quite a few larger electronic stores have started fazing out their VCR sales. (If they haven’t stopped selling them already.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xstr8guy
Lee, over all yes you are correct. The price is a little less for replication of the DVD now. You can prob have them done for $0.40 to $2.00 per copy now. (Wrapped in plastic.) Depending on the level # of the disc you need to use, and the production cost of the movie. (Editing, cover design/printing, models, equipment, ECT.)
You really need to be careful when picking a distribution company also. One word of advice, do NOT just give a distribution company exclusive distribution rights. They tell you they will sell X amount of movies over Y time frame and just do not deliver. I have seen it happen to many times. If they want exclusive rights to sell you’re videos they will work for it and prove they can handle it and make you money.
Chip also mentioned some really good points that you should really think about before you even start putting together ideas for a movie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
At some point, is someone gonna mention what happens to the DVDs that don't sell within the first, oh, say 3 weeks at the distributor?
And are they gonna mention that there really isn't a "catalog" system in place?
As in, after the initial release, you are pretty much done?
(No pun intended)
:honest: