Friday, August 18, 2006

It's Not Just Me Is It?

The LA Daily News had a nice little piece about Universal and their DVD Premieres.

Look at the numbers here and tell me this isn't a good business.

I especially like these bits and pieces:

"It's all about creating a line of product that is of theatrical level quality based on properties that have tremendous demand," Kornblau said.

Kornblau said that for a $24 billion a year industry, there is a surprisingly small amount of product made specifically for the DVD market.

"When Universal gets a franchise title where they don't feel it's worth $15 million to $20 million to launch with a national theatrical run, they just pocket the money and do it direct-to-DVD," observed Ralph Tribbey, editor of the industry newsletter DVD Release Report. "They are trading on a brand that has already been created."

(And some of you wonder why I tell you to work on your brand...)

3 comments:

Dave said...

Getting back to the topic of D2DVD television series, wouldn't it be prudent to try it with an already proven concept?

I speak specifically of my favorite television series Deadwood, which was not exactly cancelled, but HBO let the actors seek out other work after the third season was finished shooting, and they have said they won't be picking up the show for a fourth season.

I mean, the show's already got a dedicated audience.

Cunningham said...

As I understand it they are going to do a wrap up movie or series of wrap ups...

I agree with the concept - Deadwood comes out as a dvd set...but what I don't know is their budget, which I would estimate is around $2.5M per episode.

I'd also have to look at the numbers for the dvd sets, foreign sales, etc... my guess is they could swing it.

Cunningham said...

I can't declare anything until I see numbers and assess everything. I don't know that it's a flop.

I am taking a "wait and see" attitude, then we can do a post mortem.