Second-year student Robbie Jones is an avid collector. A
connoisseur, even. But one won’t find postage stamps, foreign
coins or vintage baseball cards in his high-rise dorm room.
Instead, movie fanatic Jones collects the media of the new age:
fully furnished DVDs.
Jones’ personally catalogued collection, which includes
films and television boxed sets, exceeds 170 DVDs, all in their
original cases.
But while Jones’ collection may be impressive, one look
across the room reveals the collection of roommate
“Chris,” who currently possesses between 350 and 400
DVDs.
But there’s a catch: They’re all bootlegs.
“I burn anything I’ll want to watch again,”
Chris explained, referring to a black binder filled with discs
burned from friends, family and Netflix rentals.
Despite a prevalent increase in DVD sales, it’s no
surprise that college students are taking the opportunity to burn
copies of their favorite films and TV shows.
“I am not hurting the market because I don’t have
money to buy DVDs anyway,” Chris said, expressing the
sentiment of many college-aged bootleggers. “If I
didn’t burn, I just wouldn’t own. Either way, I
wouldn’t be buying movies.”
In fact, students like Chris are surely not creating stagnation
in the DVD market. Quite to the contrary, DVD sales are
unquestionably the fastest-growing division of show business today,
with a 33 percent rise in value during 2004, according to the
Digital Entertainment Group. Domestic DVD sales grossed $15.5
billion in 2004, and rentals earned an additional $5.7 billion.
“Most people get a satisfaction from having the real
product rather than a bootleg burned copy,” said Lori
Griffin, a first-year math and economics student and employee in
the media department of the Best Buy in Westwood, arguably the most
popular location for UCLA students’ DVD purchases.
Jones certainly falls into that category.
“I give (DVDs) a great deal of respect,” he
explained. “I love owning DVDs and what I consider the whole
package: case, cover, label, disc. Also, I think I have an
impressive collection, which I care about and have paid a lot of
money for. It’s an appreciation that I wouldn’t have if
all of my DVDs were copies.”
Studios are thankful for people like Jones, who are not only
hesitant about breaking copyright laws, but appreciate the DVD
form. In 2004, videocassette sales and rentals totaled a mere $3.2
billion domestically, with theater ticket sales just under $10
billion, significantly lower than the profits earned through DVD
sales.
According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, income from the
sale and rental of new movies, television series and classic films
accounts for as much as 60 percent of a major film studio’s
profit.
If a film fails at the box office, DVDs offer a way to cover the
losses, with studios often collecting more from DVD sales than from
theaters. As the average studio release runs at a cost of $98
million, DVDs play an integral role in ensuring profits.
The issue of DVD release is also of concern, and slow release
may be an explanation for increased foreign bootleg purchases and
downloads.
“Often there are movies that I really want to re-watch,
but they are no longer being shown in theaters, so I eagerly wait
for them to be released on DVD,” Jones said. “In those
cases, I almost want to download the films.”
And what about downloading, Chris?
“No, absolutely not! That’s illegal!” he
exclaimed.
Fortunately, to remedy those who are tempted to download, films
are coming to DVD from theaters faster than ever.
The average studio release stays in theaters for five months
before it is released on DVD, according to the National Association
of Theater Owners.
But a recent trend, first noted with the speedy release of
Universal Pictures’ Oscar-winning biopic “Ray” in
early February just three months following theatrical release, has
demonstrated a changing attitude toward the DVD market. Studios
have realized the financial advantages to a swift DVD release.
And like Jones, many college students flock to stores like Best
Buy the day a film comes out.
“I’ll seek out DVD release dates online. I’m
ridiculous about getting DVDs the day that they come out,” he
said.
But before release, studios consider how to market a DVD to
consumer America.
“Marketers understand that people, especially college
students, are always looking for more, whether it be violence in
war movies, sex in romantic movies, or humor in comedies.
They extort this demand by offering multiple versions of the
same movie, just with different extra footage attached,” said
Greg Diaz, a first-year history student and Best Buy employee.
Jones, who has fallen victim to the trap of multiple releases,
says he learned that lesson the hard way after purchasing multiple
versions of “Memento” and “Lord of the
Rings.” According to Jones, other successful DVD ploys
include packaging films together to give the impression of saving
money and rampant special features.
“Special features are the deciding factor,” he said.
“Even movies that I love sometimes aren’t
“˜special’ enough to purchase.”
With marketing ploys, quick releases and the increasing inherent
appeal of DVD ownership, the American DVD market is bound to
continue growing. Some might burn, and others might buy, but
everyone will keep watching.