Billboard Stars-rhino Entertainment: Home Video Thrives

In its 20-year history, Rhino Home Video has stayed true to its oddball mentality.

With a catalog ranging from "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" to "Laugh-In" and "H.R. Pufnstuf," the company has released DVDs that are representative of pop culture and feature extensive extras and packaging.

"Our brand is nostalgic," says Paul DeGooyer, VP of home video for Rhino Entertainment. "Releases are put together in a very caring way. We look for stuff that is super creative and really captures the spirit of its time."

The company, which formed in 1985 to accompany Rhino Entertainment's eclectic audio business, releases titles in a number of genres, including music, TV, kids' programming, comedy, documentaries, lifestyle, cult horror and science fiction.

Led by the renowned Arny Schorr during most of its existence, the company crafted a product line that includes such brands as Transformers, Gumby and G.I. Joe. DeGooyer claims that Schorr pioneered the TV side of the video business, which is now one of the largest growth categories in DVD.

Even after Rhino became part of the Warner Music Group in 1998, the division has stayed its course while taking advantage of the WEA reach.

"Because we have WEA and all their systems, we're really not in the shipping-and-forgetting-about-it business," DeGooyer says. "If there's a hot market, we're going to leap and can sustain things due to our structure."

DeGooyer estimates that Rhino video products generate less than one-quarter of Rhino Entertainment's total revenue, but he says that the division is "poised for exceptional growth."

Some of its top sales successes are music titles. In June, "The Eagles: Farewell I Tour—Live From Melbourne" sold 114,000 copies in its first week, nearing the 120,000-unit first-week music DVD sales record set by another of the company's titles, "Led Zeppelin," in 2003, according to DeGooyer.

Other big sellers include "Concert for George" (2003) and Eric Clapton's "Crossroads Guitar Festival" (2004).

Though many of its sales successes in music appeal to fans of classic rock artists, the company is looking to the future. "The next big challenge on the music side of the business is how to use DVD to develop and break acts," DeGooyer says.



UPCOMING RELEASES

Rhino's fall music DVD releases may be its strongest quarterly slate yet.

Titles include a new Ramones DVD set featuring material "rumored to exist but never seen," according to DeGooyer.

Other releases include "Concert for Bangladesh," the Cream reunion show ("Cream Live") and the first in a series of Barbra Streisand projects focusing on her classic TV appearances.

While its music titles include many Rhino staples, such as standout packaging and extras, the TV category takes these concepts to the next level.

A current example, the just released 10-DVD set "Candid Camera: Five Decades of Smiles," has a suggested retail price of $99.95 and includes a cover with its own hidden camera and such features as a two-hour greatest-moments disc.

The company has a particular affinity for the works of Sid and Marty Krofft, having put out three seasons of "Land of the Lost," "Lidsville: The Complete Series" and "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" in addition to "H.R. Pufnstuf" titles.

"These shows weren't trying to sell you toys or teach a life lesson, but they were so creative," DeGooyer notes.

Many of Rhino's TV releases also fall into the kids' category, such as products from the Transformers brand, but are developed with an adult fan in mind.

"There's a number of ways to get TV titles into the marketplace: single sticks and very expensive sets," DeGooyer says. "We land in the middle. We have maintained a high price point."

For its other categories, the key is releasing titles that consumers will not find anywhere else.

In the horror genre, for example, Rhino has released several "Horrible Horrors" collections, which are literally horrible horror movies.

"By picking what we do, we give people a reason to own it," DeGooyer explains.

The company tends to own the rights to all of its titles but does currently have a joint venture with Destroy Entertainment to seek out lifestyle/sports titles.

Rhino believes in developing strong marketing campaigns and working closely with retailers.

Most of its campaigns are centered on more grass-roots elements instead of large media buys. According to DeGooyer, "Customers are jaded. They are sick of seeing billboards and TV ads for big titles."

The company will do TV promotions for many of its classic titles on TV Land and Nick at Nite where appropriate, but tends to go after viral and word-of-mouth marketing more often.

Rhino also works closely with such specialty retailers as Virgin Megastores.

"Rhino has always had the feel of a label that is really run by fans," says Bob Bell, DVD product manager for Virgin.

Bell notes that while many Rhino releases present shelf-space challenges, the chain will do what it can to carry the titles and "wants them to keep doing innovative products."

DeGooyer says that Rhino is actively determining how it will involve itself in video-on-demand and other means of digital distribution. He says Rhino will embrace these channels because they will offer an easier way for consumers to seek out its specialty content. ••••