Fall Video Release Strategies Revised

In the weeks following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., it's not business as usual for the video industry, but studios are moving ahead with the fourth-quarter release schedule largely intact. Still, how some of these titles will be launched and promoted is changing as a result of the tragedy.

For instance, Miramax Home Entertainment was forced to reschedule its TV advertising campaign for the Sept. 18 release of the family adventure Spy Kids. Pre-street date ads for the title were scheduled to run the week of Sept. 9 but were pre-empted when round-the-clock coverage of the attacks began Sept. 11.

"We took all the spots and loaded them into the week of Sept. 16," says Miramax executive VP Kevin Kasha. "We'll have a better idea how they worked by the end of September, but under the circumstances, we're very pleased with the title's performance."

But consumer awareness of the video's availability suffered, according to Best Buy senior VP of entertainment enterprises Joe Pagano. During its first week of release, Pagano says, Spy Kids sold below forecast at the chain. "There's no question that the horrific events rocked everyone's world," he says. "But the events of the last 15 days are not predictive of what the next 30 days are going to be like."

While Miramax was forced to re-vamp advertising plans for Spy Kids, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment delayed the Sept. 25 VHS release of A Knight's Tale to remove a trailer for the upcoming theatrical film Spider-Man. The trailer, depicting a scene that is not in the film, shows the superhero spinning a web between the twin towers of the former World Trade Center. After the trailer was removed, the tape version of A Knight's Tale arrived in stores Sept. 28. The DVD-Video of A Knight's Tale was not affected and went to stores as scheduled.

marketing alterations

Nearly every company is carefully looking over publicity and advertising materials to remove anything that might appear insensitive to the tragedy. Besides Columbia, no other major studio contacted by Billboard has changed their marketing materials.

Additionally, indie studio Artisan says it won't change marketing plans for the direct-to-video title Ticker, an action film about terrorists, starring Steven Segal. "We're positioning it as a Steven Segal action film, and it remains on our schedule," says Artisan president of sales and marketing Jeff Fink. Ticker will be released on DVD and VHS Nov. 13.

While release dates aren't affected, events heralding titles' arrivals at retail have been severely altered. Buena Vista Home Entertainment abruptly canceled a Sept. 29 event at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to celebrate the Oct. 9 DVD release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Buena Vista publicity manager Jennifer Lang says, "We're not rescheduling it and will rely on our press relationships to get the coverage lost from this event."

MGM Home Entertainment also canceled an event slated for Tuesday (2) to celebrate the 30th anniversary, special-edition DVD release of Fiddler on the Roof. The event would have gathered 30 fiddlers at the popular Beverly Hills, Calif., deli Nate & Al's. "With the lack of soft news coverage, it's not worth making a big fanfare," says MGM VP of publicity Steve Wegner. "Besides, we just thought it was inappropriate."

Artisan Home Entertainment canceled a premiere event for Barbie in the Nutcracker, which had been scheduled for Sept. 29. The direct-to-video title arrives in stores Tuesday (2). "To pull in celebrities to attend the event would have been difficult, since no one wants to be out in public these days," says a company representative. "Without celebrities, major news outlets just won't cover the event."

Other companies are moving ahead with events to usher in blockbuster fourth-quarter releases. Universal Studios Home Video will go ahead with a Tuesday (2) street date event for Mummy Returns. The studio, however, did postpone an event for the horror compilation Boogeymen. The Boogeymen event was moved from Sept. 20 to Sept. 28, and the location was changed from a Hollywood graveyard to an alleged authentic haunted house in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. The title is in stores Tuesday (2).

"We have not changed any other marketing plans for big event titles, because these are fantasy titles," says Universal Studios Home Video president Craig Kornblau. "These are titles people want to have to escape."

AT THE CHECKOUT COUNTER

As expected, consumers are indeed looking to their local video stores for counter-programming. According to weekly rental information from VidTrac, consumer spending on VHS and DVD rentals for the week that ended Sept. 16 was up 29.7%, compared with the same week a year ago. The figure was also 2.2% higher than the previous week. The Video Software Dealers Assn., which compiles VidTrac stats, says under normal conditions, rentals trend downward in September because of kids heading back to school.

While some dealers reported increased activity on such titles as Die Hard and Under Siege, Blockbuster Entertainment says new releases were the chain's best renters. "Overall, we're seeing an increase in traffic because people want to stay home," Blockbuster spokeswoman Elizabeth Greene says. "We've seen a little more activity on distraction movies like Meet the Parents or uplifting films like Remember the Titans.

In related DVD news, the DVD Entertainment Group has rescheduled its DVD Conference USA from Oct. 9 in San Francisco to Dec. 5 in Los Angeles.