'Scarfies' wins exclusive deal in video release

By LOUISA CLEAVE

The acclaimed New Zealand movie Scarfies is released on video today but forget renting it unless you are a member of Video Ezy or have one of its stores in your town.

In an exclusive deal, the first of its kind for a local movie, the video chain has bought the right to rent the film to its members for the next four months.

The deal was made between Video Ezy and the film distribution company that acts for the Film Commission.

Commission marketing director Lindsay Shelton said the "very unconventional" agreement was made after drawn-out negotiations with the Video Dealers Association, which represents all video stores.

The association is understood to be unhappy with the agreement, which is common practice in the United States and Australia.

Mr Shelton said Video Ezy offered a substantial advance payment for the rights and pledged a strong commitment to marketing the black comedy movie about Dunedin students.

"Although Scarfies was a huge success, I know [distributor] Essential Films was having difficulty getting a video deal of a substance that the movie deserved," Mr Shelton said.

The commission was the main investor in the film, giving $800,000 towards the $1.53 million it cost to make. Other public funding came from New Zealand On Air ($400,000) and TV2 ($80,000).

Mr Shelton said Scarfies had taken $1.2 million at the box office, of which the cinema companies keep two-thirds. Even with the video deal, the movie was not yet profitable.

He said people who did not have access to Video Ezy would be able to rent the movie in June, when it would be available to all video stores.

Video Ezy managing director Russell Clark said the chain had 115 stores, covering 25 per cent of the market and 85 per cent of the population.

Mr Clark said the only similar exclusive deal he had made was with the Australian movie Dating the Enemy.

He considered Scarfies one of New Zealand's three best movies - along with Once Were Warriors and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? - and believed it deserved a lot more marketing muscle behind its release.