DVD Publishing >>
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of programs
do you release?
Do you release DVDs of programs
that have not been widely seen on television?
Do you still release on
VHS cassette as well as DVD?
Do you author your own DVDs
or must they already be authored by the producer?
Do you region-protect your
DVDs?
Aren't you worried about
piracy?
What if our DVD is a PAL
formatted DVD?
Do you replicate all of
your DVDs or do you duplicate on DVD-R format?
What rights do you license?
Why do you need worldwide
rights?
Why do you need other sublicensing
rights?
Why do you need internet
and VOD rights?
How long is the term of
the contract?
What royalty do you pay?
Do you pay advances or
guarantees?
Can you provide us with
projections or marketing plans for our programs?
What markets do you reach?
How many units do you expect
to sell?
Do you sell to Walmart?
Then, shouldn't we just
find a label who will sell to Walmart?
What kinds of programs do you release?
We seek new, outstanding programs that inform, enlighten,
and entertain, in a wide range of subject areas. We release
either individual programs or collections or series of multiple
hours. Our primary categories include Biography, History,
Health & Wellness, Spirituality, Americana, Lifestyle, How-Tos,
Travel, Adventure & Exploration, Self-Improvement, Music Concerts,
and Performing Arts. We seek titles that can work in the consumer
marketplace as well as titles which work primarily for the
educational and institutional markets - public libraries,
schools, colleges and universities.
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Do you release DVDs of programs that have not been widely
seen on television?
We often release DVDs of programs that have seen wide distribution
on either public television or cable television. Their broadcast
history actually becomes a marketing tool for us. In fact,
producers should be aware that there are cases in which we
will not make an offer to release a DVD unless we can also
have the right to build a syndication campaign for the program
on public television nationwide. Such a syndication campaign
can cost as little as a few thousand dollars, and can create
a market for DVDs, as well as generating newspaper reviews
and free publicity in many markets across the country.
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Do you still release on VHS cassette as well as DVD?
No, although we still provide VHS cassettes on a special-order
basis in some cases.
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Do you author your own DVDs or must they already be authored
by the producer?
We author our own DVDs and we license finished, authored DVDs
as well. If a producer already has an inventory of replicated
DVDs, we might offer to buy part or all of the inventory at
cost, although we would certainly create new packaging, often
based on the original design, if we like the cover and think
it will work well at retail.
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Do you region-protect your DVDs?
No, we region-encode for "zero." In other words, there is
no region-encoding, and our DVDs can be played everywhere
in the world.
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Aren't you worried about piracy?
No. If we were distributing Raiders of the Lost Ark we would
be worried about piracy. But usually our titles are not the
kinds of titles that DVD pirates believe are worth stealing.
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What if our DVD is a PAL formatted DVD?
Then we need to re-encode it in NTSC. Most consumer DVD players
in Europe and Asia can play both NTSC and PAL DVDs, however
in America virtually all consumer DVD players at this time
play NTSC DVDs only.
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Do you replicate all of your DVDs or do you duplicate
on DVD-R format?
We replicate in minimum quantities of 1,000 units on our new
releases. We also duplicate DVD-Rs on our back-catalog titles.
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What rights do you license?
Exclusive manufacturing and publishing rights for the worldwide
DVD (videogram) market.
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Why do you need worldwide rights?
Although most of our retail, wholesale and mail-order catalog
customers are in the United States and Canada, we also look
to sublicense DVD (videogram) rights in foreign territories
or to specific target-markets here at home (Spanish-language
rights in the US, or French-language rights in Canada, for
example).
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Why do you need other sublicensing rights?
We sometimes sublicense DVD or hard-drive duplication rights
or closed-circuit cable rights to specific school systems
or districts, and many school districts are now acquiring
site licenses to entire content catalogs like ours. Sometimes
the programs are delivered on hard drives, sometimes through
secure internet delivery systems. Files are "wrapped" in DRM
(digital rights management software) to prevent unauthorized
use.
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Why do you need internet and VOD/EST rights?
Many of our internet retailers are also now making video files
available for download on a transactional basis, either for
streaming rights or one-time rental rights or download-to-own rights, sometimes called EST (Electronic Sell Through). We view these
files as simply unpackaged DVDs on a computer, and they are now easily played on a television monitor in any room
in the home with devices such as AppleTV.
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How long is the term of the contract?
We prefer a seven-year term, although in some cases we will
accept a five-year term.
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What royalty do you pay?
We pay a royalty of between 10% and 15% on our wholesale revenues
from the sale of our own packaged and manufactured DVDs, and
30% on the sublicensing of associated rights.
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Do you pay advances or guarantees?
Occasionally we pay modest advance guarantees.
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Can you provide us with projections or marketing plans
for our programs?
No, unless you wish us to do so on a fee basis (see Consulting).
However, our marketing plan is essentially the same for all
of the titles we release (see next question).
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What markets do you reach?
Our distribution network includes the following
markets:
- Mail Order Catalogs
- Internet Retailers
- Public Libraries
- Colleges & Universities
- Museum, Science Center & Aquarium Gift Shops
- Public Library & School Distributors
- Bookstore Chains & Independent Bookstores
- Non-Profits & Foundations
- Premium Buyers
- Direct Mail Accounts
- Continuity Programs
- Christian Market (CBA bookstores)
- Catholic Market (schools, parishes, bookstores,
mail-order)
- LPD Marketing ("logical point of distribution"
sales to niche markets specific to individual titles)
In addition, we actively promote via the Internet, via our own
website as well as with listings and links on third-party websites,
and via keyword marketing campaigns. We also have
a secure e-commerce "storefront" on the internet. We reach our
clients regularly with the Janson e-News Release, an internet
e-mail newsletter announcing our new releases, as well as with
regular print/snail mail press releases, and postcard mailings.
And, we advertise in key review publications such as Video Librarian,
Booklist, Library Journal and School Library Journal, publications which often publish
quite favorable reviews of our titles. We are members of
the Museum Store Association and advertise regularly in their
publications, and we attend several trade show every year.
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How many units do you expect to sell?
We hope to sell 5,000 units over the first few years of the
term. Successful titles can reach 10,000 units and "breakthrough"
titles, 20,000 units or more.
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Do you sell to Walmart?
Yes, via sublicensing. An entirely different consumer DVD market has
developed in the "big-box stores" or mass merchandisers, over
the last few years. Walmart has the most market share by far,
followed by Costco, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City and a handful
of others. The profit margins in this market sector are very
slim, and the price of entry very high (most of these companies
require steep annual advertising co-op payments to establish a vendor account). In addition, all of these retailers demand 100% returns,
and many order huge quantities, preferring to fill their supply
pipeline in case a product is a success and all the units
move quickly. If the product doesn't sell, they can quickly
return all unsold inventory. (As one small DVD publisher told
it, they'll be happy to order 20,000 units from you, and when
they don't sell they'll return 22,000 to you the next month.)
As a relatively small publisher of DVDs, we find the risk
of selling directly to the mass merchandisers is too great,
so when we have a title that has mass market potential we
sublicense rights to other DVD labels for whom the big box
stores are the primary market. We carve out a specific market
segment for them, and structure a minimum guarantee against
royalties. They bear all the risks of volume manufacturing
(usually in China), late collections, returns, etc. Sometimes
we help them create an entirely different title and different
packaging from our own product so it can be released at a
lower price point and not interfere with our own marketing.
We even help them author DVDs with edited content, or without
our extra features, etc. Generally these labels become interested
in our titles only as a result of the success we have had
in our own markets.
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Then, shouldn't we just find a label who will sell to
Walmart?
If your greatest desire is to have your DVD available in the
$7.99 bins at Walmart, then yes, don't let us stop you from
trying to sell directly to Walmart. But if you are comfortable with a much smaller "footprint,"
yet being part of a quality collection, with sales of a few
thousand to perhaps 10,000 units over a few years, and available
in a wide variety of markets from schools to to libraries,
from colleges and universities, from internet retailers and
mail-order catalogs, then you should consider our business
model. And there is still the outside chance your DVD will,
one day, become available in Walmart, or in a DVD catalog
in Australia, or...
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