Standard Digital has been in business for three years and its catalogue so far consists of three DVDs. “That’s one per year,” says general manager Jon Islas. The reason he’s not crying is that they’re not just any movies, but the first three volumes of Kirdy Stevens’ still enormously successful Taboo series.
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Their first release was a Special Collectors Edition of Taboo in 2001, followed in 2002 by Taboo II. Standard Digital then had a distribution deal with Odyssey Group Video. That company’s collapse left Standard to go it alone with Taboo III and the rest of the line.
Standard, not VCX (as indicated in AVN’s December 2003 cover story, “Classic Porn on DVD”), is the place for distributors to go to order copies of Taboo. VCX does sell Taboo on DVD, but, says Islas, “they buy it from us. They are actually our biggest customer.”
A long dispute over the title’s ownership was adjudicated several years ago. VCX now owns VHS rights to Taboo, Metro has VHS rights to the rest of the series, and Standard owns the DVD rights to Taboo 1-6.
Taboo has several DVD extras, including an interview with star Kay Parker and an audio commentary by director Stevens and writer Helene Terrie (his wife). It’s a unique instance of a director’s commentary on a classic adult DVD.
Islas told AVN.com that being such a small company means they’re a bit under the radar in the adult industry. They may get into new releases at some point but for now they’re just reissuing the Stevens catalog.
Stevens, a member of the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame and the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award from the Free Speech Coalition, was among the most active of Golden Age directors, always shooting on 35mm film.
Standard plans to reissue all of his films. Coming out in January is Playing With Fire, from 1983, with Brooke West, Cara Lott and Tom Byron. After that comes Taboo IV, with Ginger Lynn and Jamie Gillis. The fifth and sixth editions will follow at some point.
Stevens’ other titles include The Animal in Me, Daisy Chain, Lollipop Palace, Me and Marla Strangelove and Empire of the Sins. Standard will eventually reissue all on DVD.
The contact number for Standard Digital is (818) 780-0131.
