IF IT AIN’T BAROQUE DON’T FIX IT or DID YOU FALL FOR IT?

Chapter 1: The Fire on the Mountain.  

The painting above is by the great Italian Baroque master Caravaggio titled, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599 - 1600). This perfect example of the Baroque style with its chiaroscuro, deeply ominous shadows and sense of foreboding, shows a group of men huddled around a small table counting gold coins. These men, the dreaded tax collectors, seem to be participating in their everyday routine of counting and sorting. However, at the very moment we, the viewer, glimpse this otherwise normal daily routine a mysterious figure has appeared off center and to the right of the frame. This figure, deeply shadowed and almost entirely obscured, is reaching his arm towards the man sitting center at the table. The man at the table is Matthew, he who by calling of this fateful day is soon to be Saint Matthew, author of the Gospel of Matthew. The shadowy figure calling out for him with his almost zombie like, monstrous hand of certainty and fate, framed by the ethereal light of heaven, is of course Jesus. A reproduction of this masterpiece sits framed above my desk and today, I can't help but find symbolism within it that we can all learn from. 

Several years ago a company appeared on the horizon with a distinct message. This message was unique in that it was delivered with such certainty and conviction it was hard not to take notice. What was that message? 

"Customers do not want to buy DVDs anymore." 

I didn't say it was an eloquently worded message or even factually accurate for that matter, but like the deadened zombie hand of fate calling to St. Matthew (who I might add had previously been content collecting his gold and sitting after hours with some buddies counting those coins) the message was terrifying and certain (so it seemed) and thus the industry was struck dumb, framed beautifully by ethereal light streaming into the room. Thus, Video-On-Demand has been the great topic on everyone's mind since that message started appearing and three years later, what have we learned? 

The adult industry has always been the torch bearer when it comes to new technology and for many years, the DVD has been its calling card. And why shouldn't it have been so? The DVD is almost a perfect format for the collector. Its structure is durable and consistent unlike the much maligned VHS or Laser Disc.  From a collector and retail perspective, it looks good on the shelf and provides consistency for a studio's marketing and design. Like the book, the DVD is a perfect piece of tangible goods. The medium is unchanging yet familiar while the wrapping and content leaves the consumer in awe.  There are, of course, limitations on "collectibility". There are only so many shelves we are willing to dedicate to "collections" before space becomes an issue or our significant other begins to take notice, especially when we are talking about porn. Yet, as humans, we do continue to collect. We choose carefully those pieces that we require to possess and we lovingly and carefully research and then educate ourselves and acquire them. Ultimately, they define some part of us. This equation of content plus limited space equals the most important outcome of content production: desirability. This, my friends, is what a brand is built upon. And so with the DVD the adult industry steamed ahead with maximum profits and maximum brand opportunity. 

Then came 2005 and VOD. Of course, VOD had existed before that great message of DVDs demise came down the mountain, in fact, AEBN, the largest VOD provider (I believe in the known universe but I could be wrong) had been successfully delivering content in this format for some time quietly and peacefully. One might say, living in harmony with the DVD world status quo. However, when Hotmovies began its marketing push and took out ad after ad about the death of the DVD the great industry shook off the dust and took notice.  Hotmovies proclaimed that this new technology was the perfect medium for the consumer. It offered an endless supply of content but only charged the customer for what they watched. Gone were the membership fees and hidden charges. On the studio side they provided a new revenue stream for new releases and catalog content alike, always a good thing. Contracts were quickly signed (at royalty rates that no one really took the time to understand of course) and content began to flow. With no production costs or additional hassle other than shipping some dusty DVDs stockpiled in the warehouse profit margins went up, a new revenue stream was found and when the money begins to flow there is no stopping the Leviathan. As a DVD retailer, my company too, was very interested in adding this new technology to my our customer offering and in fact, signed a deal with National A-1, Hotmovies' parent company, to have them tackle the annoying task of encoding content for our VOD site. Everything seemed to be on the fast track to Mount Awesome but then, a funny thing happened. 

Next week: Chapter 2 - But, I Like Me!