Pure Play Media has secured the exclusive rights to distribute the Swank Digital line of DVDs beginning in 2006.
Swank Digital launched after the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo this year and has already released 50 titles.
Its wide variety of lines include Swank XXX, Swank Teens, Swank Extreme, Black Lust, Leg Action and Just 18, among several others.
“The first DVD was released in early February, and right from the beginning we had very good sales,” said Swank Digital president James Baes. “Somehow it hit with the public. Swank is a big brand and this helps. And then of course, there was the content.”
Swank Digital specializes in high-end, hardcore content that is shot in Europe. The company has an exclusive agreement with producer Denys Defrancesco, who consistently hires the top girls available from Budapest, Prague and the south of France to appear in his productions.
Defrancesco is a longtime friend of Baes, the former creative director at Hustler Video.
“This was a deal we had to get,” Pure Play Media CEO Richard Arnold told AVN.com. “As a company, it was a no-brainer. I’ve seen what James has done numbers-wise on his own and we'll be putting it all together now. … A lot of people ask us to distribute their product line, but it's got to be complimentary to what we already have.”
Arnold, who lives in Toronto, recalled visiting an adult store in Canada earlier this year and seeing Swank Digital product “all over the place.”
“Just look at the boxes. They pop,” Arnold said.
Baes, whose adult experience spans three decades including many years as an erotic photographer before he managed the development of Hustler Video, gives special attention to the cover design. In fact, he sends each Swank Digital box to Gravor, Switzerland for color separation.
“It is very expensive,” Baes said. “When you look at the girls, their skin is not yellow, not green, and not orange, they are real skin tones.”
He continued, “With the box covers, I wanted something really clean and popping out with a white background like a magazine, with the most beautiful girls because this is key to the business. What Denys does is very clean and direct. It’s not beating around the bush. You can feel the skin of the girl, that’s the quality of the photos and the video. You really see the young girl, and she is gorgeous, not beaten up, not worn out by porn.
“I think the consumer finds that they like it. By the month of May, we had huge reorders already and no returns. There was something we did right.”
Swank Digital increased its release schedule to eight titles per month by the end of the summer. It will start its new agreement with Pure Play by releasing Swank XXX 6 on Jan. 9. Swank XXX Teens 4 will be available on Jan. 30. Pure Play is planning seven Swank Digital releases for January, and six-to-eight each month after that.
Meanwhile, Baes will continue to be intimately involved in the creative side of the line. He even writes box cover copy.
“You have to give this kind of product that kind of attention,” Baes said.
Both Baes and Arnold pointed to one factor that was crucial in closing the deal - the presence of Craig Jelin as Pure Play's VP of sales and marketing. Jelin was formerly national sales manager for Hustler Video, where he worked closely with Baes.
“We’re just thrilled to have the line. It’s a phenomenal line, a great-looking product,” Jelin said. “I'm happy to be teamed up with Mr. Baes again. It’s a good match. We work well together. I think the Pure Play muscle and the Swank design is a winning combination.”
Baes said that Pure Play was also an ideal fit because of its international distribution reach and the opportunity for additional video-on-demand and cable deals.
“They are very well established, and I like Richard,” Baes continued. “I like his personality. I knew him already. He was the first person who called me when I left Hustler. So I’m very comfortable about this deal.”
Arnold said he likes the variety Swank Digital offers based off its numerous magazine lines.
“All the DVDs are supported by the magazine,” he said. “We learned with SCORE that when a line is backed by a major magazine or an Internet presence, it makes our job a little easier.”
In 2006, Pure Play will also begin distributing the Genesis line of videos as part of the agreement. The Genesis DVD line will feature American porn stars, and is expected to immediately benefit from Genesis magazine’s brand appeal.
Arnold said he is pleased with Pure Play’s direction heading into the new year. Pure Play also distributes Seymore Butts, Suze Randall, Private and SCORE Group.
“We’ve come a long way in three years,” he said. “What we set out to do was create an environment that would allow us to bring in producers and let them do what they’re best at – producing - while they let us handle the other aspects of the business. One of the things I recognized years ago was that just because you can produce a great movie doesn’t mean you’re great at selling it.”
Arnold also noted that Pure Play’s revenue participation package continues to be one of its strengths.
“I believe the way to keep producers happy is to give them a piece of what they’re producing,” he said.
Swank Digital titles will be completely high-def in a few months, giving Pure Play its first HD line.
