Wasteland.com is looking to ramp it up a little higher by moving toward filming full-length features at a higher level and producing DVD releases for retail sales, mastermind Colin Rowntree said this week.
The first release in this new program, which you could call a self-improvement program for the longtime BDSM/niche Web operation, is The Schoolmaster's Revenge, which isn't intended strictly for Web broadcasts.
"It's a professionally produced and directed spanking film," Rowntree told AVNOnline.com, "set in historic Charlottesville, Virginia. It's two normal school students, 18-19 years old, and they are caught cheating on an exam. The teacher spanks and flogs them. It's just a whole lot of spanking, flogging, razor stropping, caning, all in an historic setting. And we're moving into a higher end of production rather than just Web broadcasts. Those are for sale now."
But Rowntree is also preparing Wasteland.com to broaden its horizons beyond its core BDSM niche success. The plans include launching a psychic astrology site, CosmicVillage.com, at the end of April, which he expects to capture many different kinds of sales.
"The concept is getting a small taste of the type of reading - Tarot spread, astral charts - between $9 and $15 per chart," he said. "And we've been showing a pattern where people are coming back and buying more, just in the beta testing."
Rowntree hasn't given up on adult Internet content and activity by any means, but he said branching toward non-adult, non-erotic interests will probably prove to make sense over the coming months. Part of it, he said, is a distinct difference in atmosphere regarding adult entertainment between the U.S. and Canada and Europe.
"There's not a whole lot of growth happening in the U.S. and Canada," he said, "but in Europe there's growth." Asked if he thought the prospects of U.S. government crackdowns on adult entertainment were factors, he said that wasn't the case just yet. "I think it's good in general to diversify. We've seen so much free porn on the Internet, it really kind of ruined it for so many of the pay site owners. It's still there, but there's very little growth."
For more information, visit Wasteland.com on the Web.
