Because I know very little about making films and...

Because I know very little about making major films and most of my schooling has been about taking a story direct to video, I started doing research today about the direct to DVD market, which is what I was taught to do in college.

It makes sense as costs are much smaller. It gives you, the creator of the film, a market test to see if your story will work as a movie.

I found this interesting article in Variety Magazine online.

The last paragraph is important, Nolan Gallagher states that the distributors like to place independently made movies in the Video on Demand (VOD) market first to see how it performs.

My thinking is you have to have an opening scene that will force people to tell other people to come watch your movie. And then a story to back it up.

Another search today offered this from the world of PBS.