Digital Video - March 2009 - (Page 20)

A VERSATILE DISC INDEED one with even a small store-bought collection at home. U.S. Digital Media offers cases such as these for less than 20¢ apiece, and they’re also available in many colors or even multi-disc configurations. For the outer sleeve artwork (commonly referred to as a “wrap”), you have the choice of doing them yourself or having them commercially printed. Inkjet or laser printers can load pre-scored case wraps, which produce professional results for lower quantities. For a more professional look, online printing services such as AmericasPrinter.com offer very reasonable rates on offset-printed wraps for quantities as low as 250 (currently $99, or for $10 more you can get 500). Content targeted for retail sale will need a UPC code, which are the barcodes scanned at checkout that you see on almost everything these days. A UPC code uniquely identifies your product with vendors such as Amazon.com, and it’s mandatory if you’re doing anything more than selling on your own Web site or at conventions. Many companies such as Discmakers.com will issue you a free UPC code when you use them for duplication services, or sell you one for as little as $19. If you plan to sell more than a few titles per year or make distribution your full-time business, it’s more cost-effective to obtain a company prefix from GS1 (www.gs1.org), the worldwide organization responsible for overseeing such barcodes. UPC codes must be placed on the back of your product in the upper right or lower right corner and nowhere else. If your duplicator provides the UPC code, it will be a graphic that you can simply drop into your layout prior to printing. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to invest in software such as Mac-only Barcode Producer ($199, www.intellisw.com), which allows you to input your numbers and export a barcode graphic in many formats, including PSD or PDF. Otherwise, you’ll have to invest in the additional expense of having UPC barcode stickers made and then attaching them to each piece. The final touch for any product you intend to sell is shrink wrap, that annoying clear plastic we all have to rip through to get to whatever it is that we’ve purchased. Invest in a small shrink-wrap system and buy ready-made bags (the vendors previously listed sell them, or check out specialty vendors such as Uline.com or SpecialtyStoreServices.com). Slip your DVD case into it, seal the open end and use the included heat gun to shrink the plastic around your case. Along with a UPC code, shrinkwrap is usually a requirement for selling your product with retailers. Primera’s Bravo SE Blu Disc Publisher offers cost-effective Blu-ray duplication. DISTRIBUTION While it’s impossible to get into the nuts and bolts of DVD distribution here, times have changed over the years. In the late 1980s through the ‘90s, a lot of video product was moved to rental shops by way of “boiler room” sales — imagine a room full of people on the phone all day, selling to mom ‘n’ pop video stores across the country. Today, with almost everything consolidated under major corporations, it should be no surprise that distribution is a much tougher game. Hollywood studios often deal directly with big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy, and shelf space in such stores is generally unavailable to independent producers as a result. Smaller chains such as Hastings are often more accessible, but only through wholesale distributors such as Ingram, Baker & Taylor or VPD, who buy product from you at 50% off suggested retail price (SRP) and sell it to the retailers (both brick & mortar and online). But it’s a catch-22 because wholesalers like Ingram (and even e-tailers like Netflix) won’t sign new companies with even a handful of titles, which often leaves producers giving up a share of their profits to a third party who can get their titles into those accounts. However, even that approach has pitfalls, because all product sold to these wholesalers is 100% returnable — which means you could ship 1,000 units today and get 900 of them back a year or more later if they don’t sell! Thankfully, there are some easier options. Amazon.com has its Advantage program (www.amazon.com/advantage), which is nonexclusive and open to anyone willing to pay $29.95 per year to sell DVD product that has a UPC code and shrink wrap (you can also list music CDs and other product in the same account). Titles listed with Advantage appear on the main Amazon site along with everyone else’s product. Amazon pays monthly for the previous month’s sales. Your cut of the sale is 45%, and there are no returns (except for the occasional defective product). Amazon also owns CreateSpace.com, which offers one-stop manufacturing on demand and sales to Amazon.com for those who don’t want to invest in the gear to do it themselves. Send them your DVD-R master and artwork, and within weeks your movie will be on Amazon’s site for sale, and you’ll start getting monthly payments as it sells. Self-distribution isn’t for everyone, but it’s often advantageous for producers to keep the rights to their content and give it a go. Even if you intend to license your content for sale later on, it can be worth it to produce a limited run of discs and sell them yourself on your Web site, at conventions, screenings, festivals or other appearances, keeping 100% of that money and possibly recouping a chunk of your production costs before unleashing it on a bigger distributor where you may wind up a small fish in a very big pond. DV www.dv.com 20 dv march 2009 http://www.AmericasPrinter.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.Discmakers.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/advantage http://www.gs1.org http://www.intellisw.com http://www.CreateSpace.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.Uline.com http://www.SpecialtyStoreServices.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - March 2009

Digital Video - March 2009 Contents MX02 Instant Expert First Look: EOS 5D Mark II Powerlight 1735W Color by the Numbers A Versatile Disc Indeed Slice/Dice DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - March 2009

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