Pre-ordering the DVD

The Film Threat store still doesn't have an active link to pre-order the DVD, but it's already showing up on various other sites. List price is 20 dollars, but so far everyone is offering it at a discount:

Amazon $17.98
Barnes & Noble $15.98
Mr. Skin $17.99
Video Universe $14.29
BestPrices.com $15.25

Interesting to note that the site called "Best Prices" actually comes in second, although maybe they have cheaper shipping. (I don't have the energy to investigate the various shipping options available through each of these sites, although I think most of them offer shipping for about 2 or 3 dollars, unless you're wanting Next Day Air or something...)

One clarification: "Mr. Skin" is probably best known for their popular home video guide, "Mr. Skin's Skincyclopedia: The A-to-Z Guide to Finding Your Favorite Actresses Naked", which is sold in most bookstores next to all the Leonard Maltin books. However, their online store is not entirely devoted to nudity-- they have a whole "mainstream" section which sells all manner of films from Duck Soup to The Incredibles, and that's where our movie is being sold. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want anyone to get the impression that our movie is being sold through them because of all the nudity in our film. I say this not out of some prudish impulse on my part, but because I simply don't want people to get the wrong idea. People who don't like nudity might decide not to buy our film, while people who really love nudity might purchase the DVD and be sorely disappointed.

However, in the spirit of full disclosure: Ian McConnel appears (briefly) in an undershirt and a tight pair of briefs. I appear wearing a bathrobe on a few occasions, and at one point you can see my stomach. If there is anything else that might be even vaguely indiscreet, I cannot recall it.

Living In Missouri: JULY 12 on DVD

First things first: The DVD is out soon. You will be able to order it from this page shortly.

It's been almost six years since we filmed this thing, and five years since it was more or less finished. We had our premiere at the Austin Film Festival four years ago, and a year later it had pretty much run its course on the festival circuit. Since then, the film has been screened from time to time, and last year it finally started looking like we'd be able to put it out on DVD.

Our plan was to produce and distribute it ourselves. Obviously, there are some disadvantages to this method, in that Shaun and I would rather be working on getting another movie made than spending all our time trying to hand sell our last one, or begging stores to take a handful of copies on consignment.

Fortunately, at the last minute, we got a lucky break: Film Threat DVD stepped in and agreed to distribute our movie. That means that people can order it from them, and it also means it will be available through a whole lot of stores. Real stores, with bricks and mortar and all that. Now, I don't know how many of them will actually have copies of it in stock, but at least places will be able to order it for you. After years of schlepping around on our own, doing everything ourselves, it finally feels like a real, honest-to-goodness movie.

Even better: the quality of the disc will be top-notch, and the DVD will be packed with bonus features. Shaun and I recorded an audio commentary, and he also put together a ton of behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes, deleted scenes and more. It's probably more extra content than anyone could ever possibly want, but that's the whole point of DVD, right? (I say this as I glance over at my collection of DVDs that I bought specifically to get the bonus features, most of whose features I have yet to even sample...)

So there you have it. Living In Missouri on DVD. I hope you enjoy it. It's cheap, too: 20 bucks is the list price, which is great for a special edition with so many extras. I'm told it will be available to rent on Netflix as well, but so far they don't have it listed in their database.

Even back when we were shooting the film, the big question I would get from everyone was "when's it gonna be out on video?” I'm glad to finally have a satisfying answer to that question. Interestingly enough, when we shot the film we had two characters interacting in a video store with a small DVD selection, and now that same location is a DVD store with NO video selection. Our film is already a period piece.

More soon.
Connor Ratliff
Writer/actor/producer, Living In Missouri