I wonder, do you have any say at all which films' trailers will be placed on your DVD? And if not, would having some say make you feel any more comfortable about helping sell other films?

hi caveh, you raise good, legit points about not wanting your film to serve as an ad for other movies... i used to hate all those trailers that existed on the front of VHS movies...

but sometimes, i watched them... which leads to my point. one of the ways that many people learn about new movies is from preview trailers, so why not? now on a DVD, they can be put in an unobtrusive place, but especially for people who don't live near an arthouse where they might see a trailer in front of a film, a trailer on your DVD might give them a chance to learn about something they may not have otherswise known about.

i cant quite imagine which movies TWC might want to promote with yours, but thats a whole other issue (and is not meant to 'dis your film in any way).

i am in the minority who HATE trailors. i CAN'T STAND when they are at the beginning of a dvd. Sadly, at least FILM THREAT wanted to put them on a seperate link. "Immediate marketing assult" is well said.

They'd say it's not yours anymore. Hi Caveh. This is a great blog and very instructive on many points. I think the issue you're raising here is that the release is really not about your film any longer. The marketing machine of the distribution side takes over -- because they do in fact have a lot of money now invested in this project. And for reasons of who owns what, they can legitimately claim space on "your" DVD. There was an alternative, now, wasn't there? :-) This is a great series of posts, and I'm reading them carefully. The question at the end will be whether the tradeoff worked for you.

i'm in aggreeance with sug here.

most people, at least this is how i think when dropping a dvd in, know why they're watching that dvd. to see YOUR film. and most people are savvy enough to skip passed trailers if they absolutely don't want to see them. depending on who is distributing the dvd makes a big difference as to what kind of trailers you get. if they're "in tune" with the persons preference of films, they're welcomed.. if they're obviously rubbish, they're overlooked and passed up.

i like trailers, personally, and i really do use them to find other films. i just watched "the worlds fastest indian" the other day because of a trailer, and i'm sure i'll add more films to my netflix queue because of them. "marketing assult" absolutley, but you figure they need to make their money, too. it's a trade-off for sure, but in the end i feel it's worth it. my two cents.