Straight-to-video no longer a dirty word

The Los Angeles Times brings in a thorough piece on the $3 billion and growing direct-to-video market. Noting the climb from schlock and titilation to expanded family fare with Disney's "Alladin" sequel "The Return of Jafar" in 1994, the Times points out that "Nearly every major studio has a division devoted to DVD "originals" or "premieres," as the studios prefer to call this cost-effective revenue stream."

And why is the LA Times focusing on this segment? Because the cool people are happy to participate, noting that

"A-list producers such as Joel Silver ("The Matrix," "Lethal Weapon") and John Davis ("I, Robot," "The Firm") have climbed aboard and, although the stigma has not fully evaporated, some stars are following suit."

More importantly, this distribution platform allows studios to take smaller dollar risks with higher available rewards,

"And at prices ranging from $2 million to $20 million, made-for-DVD movies are a bargain. They don't require costly film prints, $300,000 premieres and $50-million marketing budgets."

To give you a better sense of scope, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment released "Sandlot 2" in May to watch it sell more than a million units. Clearly, with ancillary revenues from television still available for these titles, making straight-to-video titles is a low risk decision that brings more content to consumers who need something to do when not attending movie theaters.

My favorite quote comes from Kevin Kasha, senior vice president of acquisitions and programming for New Line Home Entertainment, who reflected on his early days in the business, "When I started out in the mid-1980s, a direct-to-video movie was an action-adventure-horror piece like 'Ice-Pick in the Eye, Part 12'."