Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective: A Study in DVD - Company Business and Marketing

Emedia Professional, March, 2000 by Marla Misek

Adding to Holmes' cachet is an accompanying Web site (http://www. consulting-detective.com) teeming with bonus information for fans of the legendary detective. For instance, visitors may post messages and ask questions about the title in an online chat forum; unlock key clues to solving the mysteries in the "Hint Section"; purchase the title in the online store or access a list of retailers; and watch scenes from any of volume one's cases. Owners also may monitor Infinite Ventures' progress on volumes two and three, which Evans says are planned, but have not been scheduled for immediate development.

When the time comes, though, expect to see DMI using many of the tools it used for volume one. "We firmly believe that no other authoring package on the market would have allowed us to create the Holmes product," Tucker emphasizes. "We still believe that we have a top-of-the-line authoring package that doesn't inhibit our ability to create anything our clients may request. Of course, with version 2.0 of Scenarist just being released, we will now have a lot of productivity enhancement features that probably would have shortened development of volume one by at least four weeks."

As for the future of DVD, Tucker predicts that DVD and the Internet will continue to integrate and direct the industry in the next two years (even though the Holmes disc and site are not integrated as such). "We already have that capability through DVD-ROM-equipped PCs," he explains, "and now we're seeing announcements about DVD-Video players featuring an Internet connection and Web browser. Having a DVD disc in your player or PC, with high-quality video content under the control of a Web server, will provide marketing and entertainment opportunities we can only begin to visualize."

Editor's Note: Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective is distributed by DVD International (http://www. dvdinternational.com) and available for sale for $24.95 at the official Sherlock Holmes Web site, as well as through online and national retailers.

[Dynamic Media, Inc., 8370 Court Avenue, Suite 104, Ellicott City, MD 21043; 410/203-2553; Fax 410/203-2566; http://www.dynamicmediainc.com. Infinite Ventures, Inc., 20919 Watermill Road, Purcellville, PA 20132; 540/338-7443; Fax 703/995-0498; http://www.infiniteventures.com.]

Marla Misek [mjmno1@aol.com], a former Associate Editor of EMedia, is an editor and freelance writer based in Alexandria, Virginia.

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