From the ashes of the defunct distributor Odyssey, former Odyssey general manager Bob East has risen to create a new distribution company named Phoenix Releasing.
“We are producers representatives. We are not a one-stop, we are not traditional distributors or wholesalers. We handle exclusive lines. In the real world we’d be called a manufacturers' rep,” Bob East told AVN.com.
Phoenix has its first four releases from Max’s of Sweden, featuring “the beautiful women of Scandinavia,” according to East. Titles already on the market in both formats include Nordic Newcomers, Volume 1, Swedish Beginners, Volume 1, What Women Want and Scandinavian.
Phoenix will also release the work of three female directors: veteran gonzo director Shane, newcomer Cherry Rain, and pro-am performer Oasis. Initial titles of new lines from all three are due out this fall.
The catalog of Shane’s World DVDs featuring Shane will also be distributed by Phoenix.
After 20 years in adult, 13 of those working for Odyssey before the distributors demise March 31 of this year, East is trying to take the best of what he has learned while leaving room for new ideas and ways of doing business.
“I’ve learned from some of the mistakes that we made at Odyssey. A lot of those had to do with the passing of Bob Tremont,” East explained. “We needed to change things to reflect the changing market but we didn’t mostly because we wanted to do things the way Bob would have done them. That was the wrong idea.
“We had some restrictive policies that we will not be enforcing here. For example, we couldn’t take orders after two because we couldn’t get them out on time. Now we’ve switched to Fed Ex instead of UPS and we can take an order whenever and get it out that same day,” East said
East also learned from what Odyssey did right.
“I think variety is the key. It’s what made Odyssey work. Variety is the key, too many people release the same type of tape over and over and that hurts everybody,” East said.
Phoenix Releasing is still looking for additional lines. For more information call Bob East at 800.637.0101 or email him at [email protected].
