The announcement that the recently completed Web video series "Prom Queen" will be offered as a full-length feature is an interesting, but not entirely surprising move by Michael Eisner, the former CEO of the Walt Disney Co. (DIS).
Amazon.com (AMZN) is now offering it through their Amazon Unbox service exclusively for the next 30 days. It'll be priced at $10 to buy it and $4 to rent it for 30 days. The show was originally played online in 90-second episodes, and will now will run at full-length for 130 minutes.
Eisner's production company Vuguru, says that the online series ended up with 15 million downloads since its April debut.
"The wonderful thing about producing in the new-media landscape is that fans can reach shows like 'Prom Queen' on a number of platforms," Eisner said. "Amazon Unbox gives shows like 'Prom Queen' longevity and serves as a new mass medium and unique way for the show's followers to watch."
This is something for content owners to think about for ways to extend their creations to other venues. For Eisner, he's already made money on this venture, something that was a complete surprise for him. Now with the simple move of putting the story together in long-form, he's created another product for almost nothing, which should drive some decent sales for the company.
It's a good lesson in not being overly congratulatory to ourselves when we perform beyond expectations, and continue to look for ways to extend the monetization of our products or services.
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