Tweet
Howdy movie fans!
Walter Olsen, the man behind Scorpion Releasing, was kind enough to take some time out of his schedule to talk to Rock! Shock! Pop! about his past, present and future in the home video business, the companies that he has worked for in the past and his current efforts at Scorpion. So without further ado…
Ian Jane - At one point you worked as Media Blasters' acquisitions person - what was that like? What were your accomplishments, regrets, disappointments, etc.?
Walter Olsen - Well, interestingly, this came about from another label whom I was helping with acquisitions that will remain nameless, wasn't paying me anything, a few hundred dollars yearly, and they passed on a list of titles, so I noticed John Sirabella's name pop up at the forums. So on a lark, I called him, we spoke, and I offered my services, and I stayed with him for couple of years.
I brought many titles to them such as THE PREMONITION, GIRLS' NITE OUT, EVILS IN THE NIGHT, the Liberation/Film Ventures catalog (DAY OF THE ANIMALS, GRIZZLY, GRIM REAPER, THE DARK etc.), ONE DARK NIGHT, BLOODSUCKERS FROM OUTER SPACE, LOVE CAMP, LADY EMMANUELLE, THE BEING, etc., and at first I was happy. But, then he turned down a lot of titles at the last minute after I wasted my time negotiating on his behalf, like WHO CAN KILL A CHILD, BONNIES KIDS, CENTERFOLD GIRLS, the Paul Naschy stuff and the animation show BANANA MAN. Plus, the way MB does their scheduling, by putting a street date immediately on titles that get signed without inspecting the materials and not spending time looking for better elements that were easily accessible if necessary, it was very difficult for me. Also, they hired incredibly shoddy out of office extra producers, where instead of using a professional recording studio, they had these guys with mini-DV cameras pointing their cameras toward the TV set and the participants mic'ed in very shoddy ways, with guys who had no idea how to use the equipment. And to add insult to injury, they charged MBV more than what a recording studio would have charged for booking a two hour slot. Anyway, I got really disenchanted with the whole thing.
I will say I remained loyal to him, actually the word should be faithful, but even then, after a while, one can only go so far before you kind of give up.
IJ - Didn't they at one point try and get the rights to Roger Corman's library, which eventually wound up with Shout! Factory?
WO - Yes, they almost did! It was just a signature away! MB had the contract on their table, it just needed their signature, and the head of the company just “lost interest†so Corman's people “pull the dealâ€. They also did this with the Paul Naschy stuff that eventually went to BCI previously so it was disheartening! In the end, I am so glad BCI and Shout Factory and my friend Cliff gotten the aftermentioned libraries, for Cliff did so much better job than the ones MB was planning on anyway! In a way Cliff is one of the true champions of cult cinema, and he really should be commended for it.
IJ - From there you helped start Code Red DVD, who have released some really interesting and obscure cult titles over the years. How did this come to be?
WO - Well to be honest, when MB started to turn titles down, I felt bad for some of these licensors, so I decided to give it a try, so it didn't hurt to start a side project, especially with MB being the distributor initially, so I can still bring higher profile titles to MB, but maybe release titles that are a bit not as commercial on my own. But since I already had my obligation and allegiance with MB, I let my brother run the side business, and have him pick the titles on his own.
IJ - Eventually you split from Code Red - why?
WO - When my brother (and in a way I) wasn't happy with MB's bookkeeping, there was an opportunity chance meeting with Cliff McMillan when he was at BCI, so I negotiated with Cliff and BCI and went there. I was very happy to have him help distribute the titles. However, these things happened:
1: Cliff (and BCI) was terminated by Navarre, and if the only guy who believed in you is gone, I felt there is no point staying with that distribution company. Cliff spoke with RYKO/ADA, and they were interested in picking up Code Red. However, my brother simply refused to go, for he felt he had way too many enemies over there, and it would not be a safe arrangement. Plus, he felt they would simply not successfully push his titles to retailers. But I did not want to miss the opportunity to sign with a distributor who did a great job with other cult labels, so I started my own label and took with me films I personally licensed. I just don't believe in sitting and going through the motions and see your product die out without a sales staff. If an opportunity opens up, which could open doors for your label, I say grab it!
2: Also, there was a major film that I knew WB's rights expired to, and I'd been working with the rights holder to acquire it, but the minute they saw the Code Red website, and samples, they were puzzled by these kind of films. As well, I had also gone after another acclaimed film about a soldier who loses his body parts. (I won't say the names of these two films, but you can probably guess both.) I like all genres: horror, documentaries, foreign films, you name it as you can see from your first question, but I felt being just exclusive to horror would prevent one from exploring other genres. As you might have guessed, DAY AT THE BEACH and DERBY were originally my ideas, and they didn't really fit with Code Red's forte.
IJ - After your split from Code Red, you started Scorpion Releasing. What was the inspiration behind the genesis of your new label?
WO - Well as you can see from the previous answer, I figured a label, similar to Hens Tooth then, maybe now to Olive Films, would suit my taste better. So that way, I won't run into the issues I had earlier, but still release cult/horror titles as well. One of the titles I licensed was Volker Schlondorff's VOYAGER, as it is a well-regarded film in Germany. It's a thought provocative and fascinating film as well, and I was hoping the Germans would accept my new label, but in the end, I got outbid for that Warner title anyway. But I am good friends with the other labels now, so the old saying goes, “All's fair in love and war.†And sometimes you have libraries like Cinerama's, which have a little bit of all genres, and you finally put them out onto DVD, which is a rewarding experience.
IJ - How do you feel about certain companies selling direct and doing self distribution? How do you feel this impacts the business and are there plans for Scorpion to do this in the future?
Well, there are two ways to do it. The best way is to set up accounts to retailers and ship direct; some labels are doing this practice. But as you might know, one certain label is selling things direct so you can send PayPal to him, and frankly, even though you might get the whole money, in the end, it must be exhaustive and a big strain to ship out all these orders daily, especially with more than 1 title listed, and you will then lose track of time and deadlines so you can't keep up with keeping a regular schedule to release titles in a timely manner. But if he is getting the “whole enchilada†than power to him, I suppose. I might do the first route one day, but I really don't think I have the strength and will power to do the latter in that capacity. However, I like Twilight Time's approach to their limited edition Blu-rays, so I am thinking of trying out that to see if its durable to do a limited edition Blu-ray once every two to three months and see how it works. A decision that remains to be seen.
IJ - Scorpion has become well known for the Katarina's Nightmare Theater brand of horror films which have been hosted by Katarina Leigh Waters. How did you come up with this idea?
WO - Well, it all goes back to that earlier question. I wanted my label to be a diverse line, with different themes each month (a month for documentaries, a month for comedy, a month for children's fare, etc.), but I might have miscalculated by releasing SILENT SCREAM first as my inaugural title. I felt I misled many genre fans' expectations when I then started releasing non horror films after the first batch of them. What I should have done was release VOYAGER first, then other genres, and then eventually the horror genre stuff, sort of like Olive Films perhaps.
So one day, while going over some interviews sent to me by Dick Klements of Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine for NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT, I was thinking, “Wouldn't it be more interesting if someone told us these facts instead of me writing liner notes for it?†There was a horror hostess idea that another label tried to do years ago, but it never came to fruition, so I was thinking, hmm, can this idea work? Then, my editor who is a big wrestling fan, was talking about wrestling, and mentioned in passing about this British wrestler Katie Lea Burchill who just got released by WWE. I saw her pic, and couldn't believe how strikingly similar she looked to Caroline Munro in her WWE photo shoots. After watching her stuff on YouTube, on a lark, I contacted her, and she agreed to do it. Then I got to thinking, what if I go out of my way to license some more horror titles, and start a new “brand†that only deals with the horror/genre titles that would suit Katarina's personality, as well as get my focus on the horror genre I loved as a teenager back on track again (I mean, I once took a hour bus ride to see THE SENDER and DOUBLE EXPOSURE!!). So this line was to create a separate identity for the horror films, and still keep my status for the Scorpion line to release other more artsy fare.
IJ - How and why did you choose Katarina as the hostess? What do you feel she's able to bring to the releases that someone else could not and do the releases that have her involved sell better for you than those that do not?
WO - Well, like I said, her resemblance to Munro to me was striking. And her intriguing accent, it's a mix of British and German. Plus, before contacting her, I watched the promos she cut on TV on YouTube, and was pleased with the way she did it, and I came to a conclusion that if she can cut this promo in front of a live audience of 20,000, then she should be a natural for a DVD line, plus it helped a lot she lived in L.A.!
Also, a good thing about someone like her, is that she is trained to cut a scripted promo in front of a live crowd of 20,000, almost like a professional actress/hostess, yet unlike a professional actress, she won't belong to SAG or AFTRA, so that too helped the negotiation process.
Someone else could do a better or same job, maybe, but I think her accent and her classy looks make her more easy on the ears and eyes, and most importantly, I'm not sure how many others can memorize their script without a cue card or teleprompter like she can (obviously, something that girls in wrestling are trained at since they have to do this in front of a live crowd without any of those, plus her acting training is also the key here). I don't think ultimately it makes a difference content wise if she is on them or not, nor in terms of sales, as even in the wrestling world, she is not a top draw, but that was not the reason I hired her anyways, but ultimately, I think it did the job of re-establishing my label by creating a brand they can keep an eye out for, and to release some of my favorite horror titles, like DEATHSHIP.
IJ - You've recently been involved in producing the extras for the highly anticipated upcoming Olive Films release of The Boogens. What can you tell us about this and what do fans have to look forward to with this release?
WO - Well, I knew from the “inside†that they got the Republic library, and since by this time, I was in contact with them, and you know how they don't normally do extras, I told them “look, Rebecca Balding and her husband are friends of mine, I think it would help your release a lot if you included at least a commentary with them, since we are on a deadline and there's really no time to edit together an on camera piece.†So after agreeing to do it, the rest is history. Hope you enjoy listening to it, it's a good listen!
IJ - In the DVD industry a lot of company representatives will use internet message boards as marketing tools and also as a way to interact with their customer base. How do you feel about this - what do you feel are the pros and cons?
WO - Hmm, well I don't normally post on boards to talk to the fans, as I prefer to send email blasts to all the main sites who then cover your announcements. Some label heads do a good job communicating with the customers, and I feel sorry for the ones when they attack them, but honestly, without naming names, some should just stay off the internet message boards as they are not people persons and don't have the manners to reply back properly even if it's not warranted criticism. Another label head once told me why he no longer posts on most message boards: “Stick your head out of the window long enough, you'll get an egg thrown at you eventually!â€
IJ - Scorpion has released a lot of original titles but has also re-issued a few interesting titles as well - Final Exam, The House On Sorority Row and the upcoming release of Savage Streets all come to mind. There are some who say that reissues don't do well, but you and a few other companies seem to do well with them. What goes into considering reissuing a title and how have these done for you?
WO - Well, when I see a release that the previous one was botched, or lacking, and the title was popular enough, I take those into account. SORORITY ROW, for example - the last DVD was interlaced, with few extras, but as you can see, I went overboard with the extras on mine! Maybe too much. LOL.
As for FINAL EXAM, my brother felt the film could use a new telecine, as I too knew the old one could use an improvement, as well as the upcoming DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE and especially DAY OF THE ANIMALS, which will be presented for the first time anywhere in its original OAR uncut, from an IP, and not some beat up print or a misframed pan and scan TV version.
Can't say much about SAVAGE STREETS, as I am just releasing it, since Kat became a fan of the film. I just produced just two of the new extras, plus Kat's segment. My brother is good friends with the owner of both SAVAGE STREETS and FINAL EXAM, and he is the one who asked Myron Meisel to do the commentary with Kat, and when I started the Katarina line, I asked him if I could sub-license this from him for her to host, so I will give my brother props for that as well as allowing the new HD master to be created for both.
IJ - Scorpion has also been doing some interesting work with a few Crown International titles. These are movies that have been made available a lot over the years, the most obvious releases being the BCI multipack sets that they unleashed before they folded. Some of your Crown titles have been special editions, like Double Exposure. What went into getting these Crown titles out, what made you decide to release them again during a slower economy and an overall downturn in the sales of physical media?
WO - Good questions. I think it depends on the titles. Some did very well, because I was able to secure unique versions of the titles, like SATAN'S SLAVE and THE DEVIL'S MEN, so longer uncut European versions are still attractive to the fans. But, some films I felt if the OAR was wrong on past DVDs, like DOUBLE EXPOSURE, I could issue it in its correct scope ratio with extras and it would do well, but that didn't happen and it's maybe because it's already available in too many multi packs. So the key seems to be, if the movie is like a longer European cut, it will sell, otherwise, maybe not. But I might still be doing some of the Crowns that got improper releases, like ones which got full frame releases. But I am thinking of pairing them off with another title, probably non-Crowns, and have Katarina host them, to add some novelty to the proceedings.
IJ - You've recently launched a new brand using the Kat Skratch Cinema banner, once again with Katarina involved. The Nightmare Theater line is obviously horror-centric, what's the Kat Scratch line going to be all about? What can you tell us about this new line?
WO - It's for mostly action films, and like I said previously, on some of the Crown titles I am looking at. Some titles are MALIBU HIGH, etc., the ones that could use some fun added to it with her hosting (she really enjoyed MALIBU HIGH), or the double bills that will be mixed with Crown titles. Also some titles that are not too well known, unlike my upcoming JOYSTICKS and KILL AND KILL AGAIN releases. Those two I felt didn't need her hosting.
Don't start anticipating too much from this line though, it could be very short lived! LOL
IJ - Do you find that import releases have an effect on your sales? You've got Death Ship coming to DVD soon, and it's been released in the UK and in Japan on DVD before. What's going to make your release the one to own?
WO - This was an interesting discussion I had with two other well-known label heads, and I decided to make this one unique, to stand out from the import (even though, I don't feel imports will destroy ones U.S. sales, how, imports do not get into key retailers). I'm making it stand out by releasing it, just like I am with DAY OF THE ANIMALS and GRIZZLY, as a Blu-ray edition. Dave Block, who is one of the top colorists in L.A. as well as the colorist of choice for one of the top genre labels, worked on this, and I am hoping the picture quality of the film, as well as the sound, as we used the film's original 3 track mag, will make up for the lack of extras. But in the end, isn't picture and sound quality more important than extras, if new extras cannot be created? Plus now I can use the bitrates meant for the extras to be used to maximize the bit rate on the film. I certainly watch the film over and over, unlike extras, don't you?
IJ - Definitely, as much fun as extras can be, it's the film that matters most and I know I'm not the only one happy to hear you're going to be giving some of these titles Blu-ray releases. Are Day Of The Animals and Grizzly coming out on Blu-ray then as a double feature or as single disc releases?
WO - More likely single disc releases, for I am not too much into double bills, and in a way I agree with Olive Films' motto on releasing individual films as an individual piece. Plus, I might also do them as limited runs, much like Twilight Time does. Since, without naming which labels, I saw the kind of numbers some well known genre films with regarded directors did on Blu-ray, and trust me, they sold far less than what many may think. And going through a distributor, that makes it even worse if that's the kind of numbers they move on Blu. Therefore, Twilight Time's approach, to me, is quite reasonable.
IJ - You've not only released cult, horror and exploitation titles under the Scorpion brand but also some arthouse and drama titles as well. Do you find that releasing titles like this helped your company? Did they manage to maybe reach a wider audience?
WO - Yes, as I got coverage from magazines like Cinema Retro, who also contributed to my PUPPET ON A CHAIN DVD, which was quite cool. And I get emails from non-genre customers requesting titles all the time that are not genre related, so I suspect it's working.
IJ - There are a few titles that you've got lined up that have been talked about for some time now - Human Experiments and The Farmer being two of the big one's - what's up with these releases, are they still in the Scorpion pipeline?
WO - HUMAN EXPERIMENTS I decided to do a Blu-ray release, which was the delay, as well as issues with a participant who will remain nameless. Also, took me a while to find an affordable Blu-ray authoring house, and I found one that a major genre label uses, so I am hoping all goes well. I could do the same for THE FARMER, but other opportunities have come up for this title that might be more exploitable, so I am just waiting to see how it pans out. Maybe you will be seeing it soon via download and streaming, or on cable, which is the real future for “catalog†titles, sadly, but inevitable.
IJ - It does definitely seem that the mass market is going that way - does this mean we'll maybe see other Scorpion titles available on streaming services soon? Hopefully for physical media junkies the discs will still be available for some time to come.
WO - Well I have a agent trying to do just that, but it is tough to get your titles in Netflix nowadays for a small company. I would love to have them carry my films, despite some claiming I don't. Their money is good. But I think more and more studios will have full control of that market too, just like in the end they did with the movie houses, then video, and TV.
IJ - Are there any plans for Scorpion to start releasing either new or catalogue titles on Blu-ray?
WO - See above, yes, it will start with DEATHSHIP, to be followed by DAY OF THE ANIMALS, GRIZZLY, HUMAN EXPERIMENTS and some more that I am awaiting for the contract to be signed.
IJ - What else can you tell us about what the future holds for Scorpion? Any unannounced titles you want to fill us in on, any surprises in store?
WO - Well, aside from the above mentioned titles for the genre stuff, I licensed the 1984 films THE POWER, Greydon Clark's ANGELS BRIGADE and ALLEY CAT from Camelot, and am trying to license some more non genre titles, so not sure if they would have any interest to you? LOL. But you will see a release of one of the HOTEL EROTICA films, with Candice Michelle! And also, starting with DEATHSHIP, we are dropping the Katarina banner on some of the key titles, as I liked what I did with my PUPPET ON A CHAIN with other art and stills on the reverse, and we can't do that with both sides being identical, so it's more of a personal decision than business, so I'd like to hear peoples' thoughts on this.
IJ - More Greydon Clark will make some people very happy! Thanks for taking the time to do the interview! Those who haven't should do themselves a favor and check out Scorpion's website by clicking here!
Attached Files
