Home Movie Premiers Restructured

A letter to the editor in Home Media Retailing has let the cat out of the bag. "What if a major studio skipped theaters and released a decent new movie on broadband, video-on-demand, Internet download and pay-per-view simultaneously, promoting it via sellthrough at major retailers and advertising it as it would a theatrical release?" asks the reader.

When will the sacred train of the entertainment business be turned upside down as the movie industry learns from gaming?

We no longer live in a world in which people have to go to a movie theater to see the story of the week so they can discuss it at the watercooler. For one thing, more and more people don't work in situations where there even IS a watercooler! With international sales over the Internet, buying clubs, ubiquitous retail chains, our way of life has changed. Yes, it is engaging to sit in a dark theater with a hundred of your closest strangers, but in this safety and disease-conscious age, sitting at home with a few of your closest family and friends is gaining appeal. Especially with big screen TVS, HD and surround sound--and no sticky floors or tall people to block your view.

Marketing entertainment has become as fragmented as other staples of modern life like PC computers, cars and even vacations. Think niches. Think ubiquitous place. Think smart consumers.

Home premiers are just around the corner, following on the heels of innovations such as worldwide premiers, -- which we saw in the last couple years with The Matrix Reloaded -- special venue exhibition -- which we saw with the Passion of the Christ -- and the tidal flood of indie movies that are going straight to DVD and online distribution.

Hold onto your tall hats and hot buttered popcorn, the world it is a-changin'!

BOOKSHELF & TOOLS FOR FILM & VIDEO