VCA Pictures starts shipping its big-budget production of Veronica Hart’s Misty Beethoven: The Musical, the company’s most ambitious production in some time, today.
The June 1 release kicks off a summer-long marketing push, right through the end of September. “Our aim is to create a continuous buzz factor,” VP of Sales and Marketing Peter Reynolds told AVN.com.
The promo campaign’s opening salvo will be “Sunset on Sunset,” a personal appearance by star Sunset Thomas at the Virgin Megastore on Sunset Strip on Thursday, June 17, 7 p.m.
“Sales-wise, we’re off to a glorious start,” Reynolds said. “From a salesman’s point of view, it tells me something that even distributors who only purchase catalog are buying this. It’s so unique; they share my enthusiasm.”
The movie is a musical version of the Henry Paris porn classic of 1976, The Opening of Misty Beethoven. The songs are actually performed by the actors, including Thomas, Randy Spears, Chloe and Evan Stone. The DVD package contains three discs: the movie, the bonus extras, and a soundtrack CD.
A separate soundtrack CD will be released July 27 on Reality Records. It’s going out to regular music retailers through Caroline Distribution, which Reynolds said is giving it a “huge pre-release push.” It will also be downloadable online through iTunes.
The single track being promoted is “The Penis Tango,” sung by Spears—and his penis. Snatches can be heard on the web at www.vcapictures.com.
Reynolds originally comes from a music business background, and he’s been working his contacts in that industry. “Everybody who heard it was really impressed and excited about project,” he said. He was able to hire a radio promotion firm that created a campaign targeting Alternative Rock stations. “We want people to play segments of soundtrack and talk about movie,” he said.
Misty will also be promoted at the annual Radio & Records trade convention June 24-26 in Los Angeles, a major music industry event. “With all these radio programmers,” Reynolds said, “what better way to get their attention than to throw a party?”
VCA and Sonic Entertainment will host a private, music industry-only bash at The Roxy on Sunset Strip on Friday, June 25. Several labels will present new artists, and there will be appearances by the movie’s principal cast members. A special club edit of segments from the film will roll continuously, with the soundtrack playing between sets.
A Misty poster has been sent out to video retailers, and VCA is also marketing the movie through a number of web retailers and mail order companies. Reynolds promised that “consumers are going to see a lot of that image of Sunset with the microphone.”
Reynolds, an adult industry veteran, came on board at VCA in February, a year after the movie was shot. He said he was blown away when he saw it: “Somebody had raised the bar.” He found it the perfect vehicle for uniting adult entertainment and pop music.
“Marrying a video project with a music project and selling it in different outlets—this is all new. That’s what makes it especially exciting,” Reynolds said. “It’s fun to have a project this good to sell and promote. There’s no downside to it. I consider it an honor.”
Misty Beethoven: The Musical was named an Editor’s Choice with a 5-A rating in the June issue of AVN.
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