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May 21st 04, 06:31 PM
May 20, 2004
In the Era of Cheap DVD's, Anyone Can Be a Producer
By PETER WAYNER - NY Times
In the fall, on the Monday after each University of Texas football game, the
university's athletic department produces a bulk mailing for the post
office: DVD's containing a complete video of the game, interviews with the
coaches and other features.
There may be more college football on television than ever before, but even
so, schools like Texas with prominent football teams can't count on reaching
a national audience every Saturday. So the university offers DVD's of its 12
games as a $300 package; so far about 300 fans around the country are
subscribers.
Sports events may seem an unlikely subject for distribution by DVD, but
football games are far from the only discs in the mail carrier's bag these
days. Independent filmmakers, specialty magazine publishers, artists,
educators - all those with a video to sell, no matter how narrow the niche -
are turning out DVD's and distributing them through the mail. It's a trend
that began in the era of videotape but has accelerated with DVD's because
they are inexpensive to duplicate and ship.
"The costs have come down, and it's an open market to put whatever you can
on a disc," said Maureen Healy, publisher of DVD News, a trade publication.
Poetry Television, for example, a San Francisco-based group devoted to
verse, sells a DVD of readings, "Weapons of Mass Production: The Spoken War"
for $20 through its Web site, www.poetrytelevision.com. The DVD is part of a
planned subscription series.
"We're looking to reach at least 500 subscriptions by the end of the year,''
said Isaias Rodriguez, the group's founder. "It's a small number, but it
will have a huge impact."
For $29.95, fans of mountainboarding (a sport best described as all-terrain
skateboarding) can subscribe to a year of Mountainboard Video Mag on three
DVD's (www .mountainboardvideomag.com). Each installment contains video of
daredevil runs and spills, interviews and features on the sport's culture.
And Primedia Workplace Learning, a division of the media company Primedia,
ships programs of continuing education for firefighters, police officers and
other emergency workers on disc so that lessons can be paused and replayed
between calls. February's selection was "The A and the B: Airways and
Breathing."
As these and other projects demonstrate, even 500 cable or satellite
channels aren't enough for a nation filled with so many stories, lessons and
events. DVD distribution has helped create a market for specialized visual
programming.
At its most developed, DVD distribution includes companies like Netflix,
which rents movies - everything from Hollywood blockbusters to small art
films - to consumers by mail. Netflix (www.netflix .com), which charges a
flat monthly fee for rentals, had revenues of $272 million last year.
Beyond Netflix, lots of individuals and groups are producing videos in a
market that is as varied and heterogenous as the book industry. The market
has even spawned companies like CustomFlix (www .customflix.com), the
equivalent of a custom book publisher, which for a fee will duplicate DVD's
in small runs and help distribute and sell them.
Consider Jimi Petulla, a man who says he invested $400,000 of his own money
to produce "Reversal," a semi-autobiographical film he wrote and starred in.
Mr. Petulla said that several early screenings of the film about a
high-school wrestler and his father brought about 20 distribution offers
from companies specializing in smaller independent films. The terms,
however, were too onerous.
"I've met so many people who've done good little movies, and they've never
seen a penny from their distributors," he said. "It's insane what these
companies can get away with."
Instead, Mr. Petulla began making the DVD's himself. To date, he said, the
film has grossed about $650,000 and continues to bring in $15,000 to $18,000
a month. The discs sell for $29.95 at www.reversaldvd.com.
John Geyer, the vice president for marketing at CustomFlix, tells the story
of a customer who made "RoadRace," a movie about people who race motorcycles
on weekends. "He's an accountant," Mr. Geyer said. "I think he works for a
Fortune 500 company and he races motorcycles on the weekend. He went around
and put five video cameras on his bike. In two months he sold $10,000 worth
of his product."
Mark Brereton, the movie's director, is also the director of credit and
payroll for the tire maker Pirelli North America. "I just wanted to film a
few things and make something for my friends as a memento," he said. "Then I
showed it to some friends and they said, if you put a bit more work on it,
you can take it out and sell it."
The final version included video shot from the motorcycle of a friend who
races, along with music from a local band. Mr. Brereton is at work
documenting this racing season and promises that the next DVD will
incorporate suggestions from fans.
Both Mr. Petulla and Mr. Brereton showed a knack for marketing. The DVD for
"Reversal," for example, includes testimonials from celebrities like the
gymnastic gold medalist Shannon Miller and the track and field star Carl
Lewis. Once he received these endorsements, Mr. Petulla paid college
students $10 an hour to spread the word about the film by e-mailing
wrestling groups, electronic newsletters and Web sites.
Mr. Brereton gained publicity by donating $5 from the sale of each disc to a
charity for equipping racetracks with special barriers that can reduce the
injury during a crash. Now several Web sites that report on motorcycle
racing carry notices about his generosity, and also mention the film.
In some cases, DVD producers get lucky. Mary Dalton, a professor of
communications at Wake Forest University, also creates documentaries,
including one about an artist named Sam McMillan.
When an article about Mr. McMillan appeared in Smithsonian magazine, Ms.
Dalton started receiving requests for copies. So she started making 50
copies at a time, storing them in her bedroom and selling them online.
The Internet is more cost-effective as a medium for advertising and selling
DVD's that are delivered by mail than as a video distribution network.
Andrew M. Odlyzko, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies
the evolution of broadband, says that it would cost $5 to $10 to deliver the
four gigabytes of data on a standard DVD over the best high-speed Internet
connection.
Discs, on the other hand, cost between 60 cents and a dollar to fabricate
and can be sent through the mail for the price of a first-class stamp.
Moreover, some DVD's contain 9 or even 18 gigabytes of data. These cost
slightly more to duplicate, but no more to ship.
Videographers for the Poetry Channel discovered the cost advantage recently.
They captured poetry readings for the local cable public access channel,
then jumped to the Internet when they realized that it would extend their
reach beyond the San Francisco Bay area. The video clips at their Web site,
however, were small and often took a long time to download.
"The DVD subscription allows people to affordably get more content," Mr.
Rodriguez said, adding that their new DVD burner will enable them to
duplicate the DVD's themselves.
The notion of DVD's by subscription is growing because of its simplicity and
economic stability. Craig Lillard is the owner of Visual Realities, a
company that ships a disc called "Video Illustrations for Youth Ministry" to
churches four times a year. The vignettes come in two formats and can be
displayed either with a standard DVD player or incorporated into a
PowerPoint presentation.
"Why sell one when you can sell four at one time?" Mr. Lillard said. "That's
really how we started our business. We were selling four videos when we
hadn't finished one of them. We were getting payment up front."
CustomFlix and a number of other companies are hoping to help serve niche
markets in a similar way. Amazon, for example, stocks DVD's and videotapes
from small companies alongside films from major studios. The DVD creator
must produce the duplicate DVD's. Amazon collects 55 percent of the list
price for the service.
CustomFlix offers a more sophisticated service, bundling manufacturing,
order processing, payment collection and shipping. A filmmaker pays $50 to
open an account and $9.95 for each film that is produced on demand. The
filmmaker receives any revenue beyond that. If the title is popular, the
profits can rise because CustomFlix's price drops to $7.95 per disc after 20
copies and $6.95 per disc after 50 copies.
While these companies can help deliver the discs to a niche marketplace,
they can't do much for the greater challenge of finding a large audience. It
is still difficult for small productions to break into the larger
marketplace.
Warren Lieberfarb, the former head of Warner Home Video, said that the big
studios continue to dominate the stores and other major distribution
channels. "There's a concentration of retail distribution," he said.
Although companies like Amazon are doing a good job of reaching out through
the Web, he said, "specialty retail akin to what's happened in books and
music just hasn't materialized."
"It's hard to get into a store," said Ms. Healy of DVD News. "It's the same
problem that we've always had with this industry. The studios dominate the
distribution.''
"You can sell it online," she said, "but then you've got to get your Web
site out there."
In the Era of Cheap DVD's, Anyone Can Be a Producer
By PETER WAYNER - NY Times
In the fall, on the Monday after each University of Texas football game, the
university's athletic department produces a bulk mailing for the post
office: DVD's containing a complete video of the game, interviews with the
coaches and other features.
There may be more college football on television than ever before, but even
so, schools like Texas with prominent football teams can't count on reaching
a national audience every Saturday. So the university offers DVD's of its 12
games as a $300 package; so far about 300 fans around the country are
subscribers.
Sports events may seem an unlikely subject for distribution by DVD, but
football games are far from the only discs in the mail carrier's bag these
days. Independent filmmakers, specialty magazine publishers, artists,
educators - all those with a video to sell, no matter how narrow the niche -
are turning out DVD's and distributing them through the mail. It's a trend
that began in the era of videotape but has accelerated with DVD's because
they are inexpensive to duplicate and ship.
"The costs have come down, and it's an open market to put whatever you can
on a disc," said Maureen Healy, publisher of DVD News, a trade publication.
Poetry Television, for example, a San Francisco-based group devoted to
verse, sells a DVD of readings, "Weapons of Mass Production: The Spoken War"
for $20 through its Web site, www.poetrytelevision.com. The DVD is part of a
planned subscription series.
"We're looking to reach at least 500 subscriptions by the end of the year,''
said Isaias Rodriguez, the group's founder. "It's a small number, but it
will have a huge impact."
For $29.95, fans of mountainboarding (a sport best described as all-terrain
skateboarding) can subscribe to a year of Mountainboard Video Mag on three
DVD's (www .mountainboardvideomag.com). Each installment contains video of
daredevil runs and spills, interviews and features on the sport's culture.
And Primedia Workplace Learning, a division of the media company Primedia,
ships programs of continuing education for firefighters, police officers and
other emergency workers on disc so that lessons can be paused and replayed
between calls. February's selection was "The A and the B: Airways and
Breathing."
As these and other projects demonstrate, even 500 cable or satellite
channels aren't enough for a nation filled with so many stories, lessons and
events. DVD distribution has helped create a market for specialized visual
programming.
At its most developed, DVD distribution includes companies like Netflix,
which rents movies - everything from Hollywood blockbusters to small art
films - to consumers by mail. Netflix (www.netflix .com), which charges a
flat monthly fee for rentals, had revenues of $272 million last year.
Beyond Netflix, lots of individuals and groups are producing videos in a
market that is as varied and heterogenous as the book industry. The market
has even spawned companies like CustomFlix (www .customflix.com), the
equivalent of a custom book publisher, which for a fee will duplicate DVD's
in small runs and help distribute and sell them.
Consider Jimi Petulla, a man who says he invested $400,000 of his own money
to produce "Reversal," a semi-autobiographical film he wrote and starred in.
Mr. Petulla said that several early screenings of the film about a
high-school wrestler and his father brought about 20 distribution offers
from companies specializing in smaller independent films. The terms,
however, were too onerous.
"I've met so many people who've done good little movies, and they've never
seen a penny from their distributors," he said. "It's insane what these
companies can get away with."
Instead, Mr. Petulla began making the DVD's himself. To date, he said, the
film has grossed about $650,000 and continues to bring in $15,000 to $18,000
a month. The discs sell for $29.95 at www.reversaldvd.com.
John Geyer, the vice president for marketing at CustomFlix, tells the story
of a customer who made "RoadRace," a movie about people who race motorcycles
on weekends. "He's an accountant," Mr. Geyer said. "I think he works for a
Fortune 500 company and he races motorcycles on the weekend. He went around
and put five video cameras on his bike. In two months he sold $10,000 worth
of his product."
Mark Brereton, the movie's director, is also the director of credit and
payroll for the tire maker Pirelli North America. "I just wanted to film a
few things and make something for my friends as a memento," he said. "Then I
showed it to some friends and they said, if you put a bit more work on it,
you can take it out and sell it."
The final version included video shot from the motorcycle of a friend who
races, along with music from a local band. Mr. Brereton is at work
documenting this racing season and promises that the next DVD will
incorporate suggestions from fans.
Both Mr. Petulla and Mr. Brereton showed a knack for marketing. The DVD for
"Reversal," for example, includes testimonials from celebrities like the
gymnastic gold medalist Shannon Miller and the track and field star Carl
Lewis. Once he received these endorsements, Mr. Petulla paid college
students $10 an hour to spread the word about the film by e-mailing
wrestling groups, electronic newsletters and Web sites.
Mr. Brereton gained publicity by donating $5 from the sale of each disc to a
charity for equipping racetracks with special barriers that can reduce the
injury during a crash. Now several Web sites that report on motorcycle
racing carry notices about his generosity, and also mention the film.
In some cases, DVD producers get lucky. Mary Dalton, a professor of
communications at Wake Forest University, also creates documentaries,
including one about an artist named Sam McMillan.
When an article about Mr. McMillan appeared in Smithsonian magazine, Ms.
Dalton started receiving requests for copies. So she started making 50
copies at a time, storing them in her bedroom and selling them online.
The Internet is more cost-effective as a medium for advertising and selling
DVD's that are delivered by mail than as a video distribution network.
Andrew M. Odlyzko, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies
the evolution of broadband, says that it would cost $5 to $10 to deliver the
four gigabytes of data on a standard DVD over the best high-speed Internet
connection.
Discs, on the other hand, cost between 60 cents and a dollar to fabricate
and can be sent through the mail for the price of a first-class stamp.
Moreover, some DVD's contain 9 or even 18 gigabytes of data. These cost
slightly more to duplicate, but no more to ship.
Videographers for the Poetry Channel discovered the cost advantage recently.
They captured poetry readings for the local cable public access channel,
then jumped to the Internet when they realized that it would extend their
reach beyond the San Francisco Bay area. The video clips at their Web site,
however, were small and often took a long time to download.
"The DVD subscription allows people to affordably get more content," Mr.
Rodriguez said, adding that their new DVD burner will enable them to
duplicate the DVD's themselves.
The notion of DVD's by subscription is growing because of its simplicity and
economic stability. Craig Lillard is the owner of Visual Realities, a
company that ships a disc called "Video Illustrations for Youth Ministry" to
churches four times a year. The vignettes come in two formats and can be
displayed either with a standard DVD player or incorporated into a
PowerPoint presentation.
"Why sell one when you can sell four at one time?" Mr. Lillard said. "That's
really how we started our business. We were selling four videos when we
hadn't finished one of them. We were getting payment up front."
CustomFlix and a number of other companies are hoping to help serve niche
markets in a similar way. Amazon, for example, stocks DVD's and videotapes
from small companies alongside films from major studios. The DVD creator
must produce the duplicate DVD's. Amazon collects 55 percent of the list
price for the service.
CustomFlix offers a more sophisticated service, bundling manufacturing,
order processing, payment collection and shipping. A filmmaker pays $50 to
open an account and $9.95 for each film that is produced on demand. The
filmmaker receives any revenue beyond that. If the title is popular, the
profits can rise because CustomFlix's price drops to $7.95 per disc after 20
copies and $6.95 per disc after 50 copies.
While these companies can help deliver the discs to a niche marketplace,
they can't do much for the greater challenge of finding a large audience. It
is still difficult for small productions to break into the larger
marketplace.
Warren Lieberfarb, the former head of Warner Home Video, said that the big
studios continue to dominate the stores and other major distribution
channels. "There's a concentration of retail distribution," he said.
Although companies like Amazon are doing a good job of reaching out through
the Web, he said, "specialty retail akin to what's happened in books and
music just hasn't materialized."
"It's hard to get into a store," said Ms. Healy of DVD News. "It's the same
problem that we've always had with this industry. The studios dominate the
distribution.''
"You can sell it online," she said, "but then you've got to get your Web
site out there."