Description
Book SynopsisThe history of the rise of home video as a mass medium.
Trade Review"This book represents a real addition to our shared knowledge of video, film, and media history, and I have no doubt that it will receive much acclaim. There is no [other] comprehensive history of the video industry, and Wasser's book offers just this in a clear and very useful manner." Justin Wyatt, author of High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Signs of the Time
- The American Film Industry before Video
- The American Film Industry and Video
- The Political Economy of Distribution
- Video and the Audience
- Structure of the Study
- Chapter 1: Film Distribution and Home Viewing before the VCR
- A Brief Review of the Early Days of the Movie Industry
- From Universal Audiences to Feature-Length Films
- Movies at Home
- Tiered Releasing
- Broadcasting: The Other Entertainment Medium
- Postwar Film Exhibition
- Distributing Films to Smaller Audiences
- Television Advertising and Jaws: Marketing the Shark Wide and Deep
- Chapter 2: The Development of Video Recording
- Broadcast Networks and Recording Technology
- Television and Recording
- Home Video 1: Playback-only Systems
- Home Video 2: Japanese Recorder System Development
- Chapter 3: Home Video: The Early Years
- Choice, "Harried" Leisure, and New Technologies
- The Emergence of Cable
- The Universal Lawsuit
- VCR and Subversion
- X-rated Cassettes
- The Majors Start Video Distribution
- Videotape Pricing
- Renting
- Chapter 4: The Years of Independence: 1981-1986
- Independence on the Cusp of Video
- New Companies Get into Video Business
- Hollywood Tries to Control Rentals
- Video, Theater, and Cable
- Pre-Selling/Pre-Buying
- Video and New Genres
- Vestron's Video Publishing
- Conclusion
- Chapter 5: Video Becomes Big Business
- The Development of Two-Tiered Pricing
- The New Movie Theater
- Microeconomics 1: Overview
- Microeconomics 2: Rental
- Video and Other Commodities
- Retailing Consolidation
- Breadth versus Depth
- Video Advertising
- Video and Revenue Streams
- Production Increase
- More Money, Same Product
- Chapter 6: Consolidation and Shakeouts
- High Concept
- Disney Comes Back On-line
- The Majors Hold the Line on Production Expansion
- Vestron Responds
- The Fate of Pre-Selling and the Mini-Majors
- LIVE, Miramax, and New Line
- Conclusion
- Chapter 7: The Lessons of the Video Revolution
- Media Industries after the VCR
- Home Video and Changes in the Form of Film
- Images of Audience Time
- A Philosophic View of Film and Audience
- Whither the Mass Audience?
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
