Fox Talks DVD 2001...and Beyond

Following the panel discussion, Fox VP of Marketing Peter Staddon held an informal roundtable chat with 20 home video print and web journalists, DVDFILE among them. One of the few current studio home video executives to take a noticeably public role in promoting the format, Staddon is also a frequent contributor to popular web communities like Home Theater Forum, and has emerged as one of the more visible studio reps to champion DVD in the format's short history.

After a big-screen demo highlighting clips, menus and packaging for many upcoming Fox titles due out in the first half of 2001 (X-Men, the Die Hard series, Big Trouble In Little China and Me Myself & Irene among them) Staddon discussed at length Fox's DVD attitudes, plans and policies for DVD, as well as the considerable effort and difficulty that went into producing the X-Men special edition. (For more on Fox's future DVD plans, see our Studio Day 2000 report.) Staddon was a personable, open and funny guy, and had plenty to say about Fox and DVD past, present and future. His comments also offer a very illuminating look at the decision-making process that goes on behind the scenes at a major studio, and his thoughts will certainly be of great interest to any DVD enthusiast.

DVD - Heir Apparent to VHS?

Certainly a major topic of conversation for the home video market today is the ever-increasing share of the VHS market that DVD is beginning to command. But according to Staddon, even as many pundits claim DVD is the heir apparent to VHS and will eventually overtake tape, Fox isn't ready to take sides just yet. "I don't want to get into the VHS versus DVD sales numbers" Staddon stated, then using X-Men as an example added "I think one of the things we (Fox) always try to do is, we don't try to force the acceptance of DVD or the penetration of DVD, or force the penetration of X-Men as a title. We just try to make the best DVD as well as the best VHS (version) as we can."

And he also reminded the roundtable that even with the great gains DVD has made, VHS still has plenty of life left in it. "Keep in mind that 85 million households have VHS players in the US. So no matter how fast DVD is increasing it will be years until it is in the majority. What we (Fox) want to be able to say (to consumers) is that 'If you buy either X-Men product , you're going to get the 10 minutes of additional footage, you're going to get the behind-the-scenes footage, no matter how you choose to experience it." And lest there be any confusion, Staddon is a major DVD enthusiast himself. "As a DVD fan myself, I go with the DVD. But as a studio, Fox isn't pushing that (DVD) as an agenda. We want to push the DVD, but at the same time we want to push the VHS."

Another major factor facing DVD is that of cramped replication schedules, and ever-shrinking theatrical-to-video "release windows," both of which clearly put a strain on producers trying to deliver the extensive DVD special edition content that fans demand. As Staddon elaborated, X-Men was a perfect example of the ever-tightening deadlines facing studios in prepping major DVD releases. "Yes, we were scared in terms of replication! Bear in mind, if something streets on November 21, we have to ship it six weeks earlier to our 'early ship' customers. So when you take that into consideration, we had to get the product finished by the first week of October. And then we then we have to bring that deadline back and give ourselves a month for (the physical) production (of the discs), so it is by the first week of September that you have to go to the presses." With such a crazy production schedule, it is no wonder Fox eventually "took the VHS and DVD to separate replicators" to complete the arduous task on time.

The DVD-18 Factor

Being the first major studio to release a single-title special edition as a two-disc set, Fox has so far notably forgone utilizing the "DVD-18," or a double-sided, dual-layer disc. With DVD-18 replication costs remaining high and some consumers complaining of hard-to-read DVD-18 disc labels and "flipping" problems, Staddon chose to underscore Fox's decision to go with 2-disc sets by highlighting their heft and visual appeal. "The double-disc set means something, it means you're going to get a lot of shit on the disc! A DVD-18 is a single disc, they (consumers) don't get it, they don't understand the difference between a DVD-5, a DVD-9, a DVD-18. They don't realize that you're still talking about quite a large amount of content."

And like some other studios, including New Line, Staddon further reiterated that as DVD goes more mainstream, consumers may need some educating to understand what the benefits of disc types like DVD-18 even are. "Only the early adopter, the hardcore DVD enthusiast, they know that DVD-18 is a good thing. But to the general Joe Six-Pack just getting into the format, it (a DVD-18) is just a disc. It's like, if you could get a CD that could play the equivalent of four CDs, it is still just a CD. That's the level of education we're at."

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