Watching Films at Home: Distribution Practices from Home Video to Digital Platforms

This book demonstrates, in contrast to statistics that show declining consumption of physical formats, that there has not been a mass shift towards purely digital media. Physical releases such as special editions, DVD box-sets and Blu-Rays are frequently promoted and sought out by consumers. And that past formats such as VHS, Laserdisc and HD-DVD make for sought-after collectible items. These trends are also found within particular genres and niche categories, such as documentary, education and independent film distribution. Through its case studies, this collection makes a distinctive and significant intervention in highlighting the ways in which the film industry has responded to rapidly changing markets. This volume, global in scope, will prove useful to those studying the distribution and exhibition of films, and the economics of the film industry around the world.

Jonathan Wroot is a Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, UK. He teaches classes within film and media studies. His previous research concerns the distribution and marketing of Japanese cinema and he has published numerous journal articles on the topic in Arts and The Market, The East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, Frames, and Participations.

Andy Willis is a Reader in Film Studies at the University of Salford, UK, and Senior Visiting Curator for Film at HOME, Manchester, UK. He is a co-author of The Cinema of Alex de la Iglesia (2007), and the editor of Film Stars: Hollywood and Beyond (2004). He is also the co-editor of Defining Cult Movies (2003), Spanish Popular Cinema (2004), East Asian Film Stars (2014), and Chinese Cinemas: International Perspectives (2016).