Originally Posted by
gaybucks_chip
Shaun,
We have about 20 titles, including several that have been in the top 5 or 10 with each of the VODs we're with, and we've talked to just about all the companies. Here are my thoughts, unvarnished.
MaleFlixxx takes absolutely forever (I know a number of producers who have waited well over a year and still aren't live; we've been getting commitments since January and will supposedly go live in September), give a million excuses, are really arrogant, almost never return calls, but supposedly when you actually go live with them (if ever) they perform pretty well. Do not under any circumstances sign an exclusive deal with them; they are aggressively pushing that on every studio, and it isn't in your best interest to do that with them or anyone else. The small additional benefits aren't worth the potential loss in revenues from the other VOD providers, particularly AEBN.
AEBN is the "big gorilla" and has more theaters than anyone. (meaning, more eyes, more money to you.) No matter who else you go with, you should be with AEBN, but I wouldn't go exclusive with them either. They aren't super responsive, but they produce better than anyone else and are definitely the largest player in the marketplace.
GayHotMovies has, for us been 100% nonresponsive in spite of all sorts of promises. They have also not updated their gay site in ages, so it looks like they aren't putting much energy into their gay products at present.
Naked Sword are wonderful people and have a great product, but I believe they are going through some changes and I'm not sure what they're doing with taking on new studios at present. If they're taking new studios, they'd be great people to work with, and they have some interesting projects up their sleeves.
The other people I would very highly recommend is Doggone Media. They are part of the Badpuppy network. They are currently pretty small, but their service is extraordinary, and they are working very, very hard to build up their network, both in terms of studios and traffic. I wouldn't go exclusive with them, but they will do everything possible to work with you to market your titles and set you up a custom theater if you have traffic to send them. Unlike the others, they can typically get your product up and running within a couple weeks of receiving DVDs. (They are converting all their existing content to Windows Media, so they may run a little longer right now, but if that's the case, it's only a temporary glitch.)
They have produced very well for us, both as a producer and as an affiliate, and we've been up with them for about a year now. We''ve also got a special arrangement with them such that any studio that signs up for Doggone Media through us get an extra 10% over what they normally pay (which is already quite competitive) and, while they won't be your major VOD revenue stream in the short term, I think with the plans they have in place, they will be a very major force to contend with in the next year.
PM me or email me (chip at gaybucks dot com) if you need any more info.
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