THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408050088
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG A. SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 211 lines
``That's very curious!'' she thought. ``But everything's curious to-day. I think I may as well go in at once.'' And in she went.
Lewis Carroll,
``Alice in Wonderland''
LAS VEGAS - A SHAPELY BRUNETTE in black - tassled bra, stiletto heels, chaps and G-string - stops conversation on Aisle 4000. Up front, another long line forms outside Jurassic Park. At the Nintendo display, the floating head of Donkey Kong is talking serious stream-of-jive.
Everywhere, people pose for pictures.
With Jerry Lewis and Richard Lewis.
With old porn queen Marilyn Chambers and new porn queen Letha Weapons.
With Paula Abdul, ``Macho Man'' Randy Savage, Lassie and Regis & Kathie Lee. With Leonardo, Donatello, the Playboy Calendar Playmates and Ren & Stimpy.
The 13th annual Video Software Dealers Association convention, a four-day, full-throttle blitz of sight and sound, didn't bring the Red Queen or the Cheshire Cat to Las Vegas late last month. If they'd gone, they would have been at home. But George Bush and Boyz II Men were there. So were a near-record 14,000 retailers and industry types, enough to populate a small city.
And if conventioneers couldn't attend the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, they did make ``Warner's Wild West'' reception, washing down ribs and chicken with iced bottles of Lone Star while neo-cowboys twirled six-shooters and women in fishnets vogued with bare-chested pretty boys to music by Madonna and Randy Travis.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Next stop: The looking glass.
Regis Philbin looked beat.
The VSDA appearance, to promote his heart-healthy exercise video, capped a weekend of sold-out dates at Bally's with partner Kathie Lee Gifford. That afternoon, he had to catch a flight back to New York.
But he was a gamer, flashing a grin every time someone yelled ``Regis!'' or thrust a resume into his hands with the admonition, ``I'm the only person in America who's never been on your show.''
``My Personal Workout,'' Philbin said, was born of necessity. He was on a cruise ship when he developed heart problems. The diagnosis: A blocked artery.
``I'd worked out all my life, but didn't exercise my heart.''
Now he does, regularly and, yes, to his own tape.
The VSDA isn't just a four-day schmooze-in.
Joe Theismann talked about ``Managing to Win.'' Larry King led a discussion about the future of home entertainment. Frank Mancuso, chairman and CEO of MGM/UA, challenged everyone to work together.
The VSDA isn't just pep talks.
It's show and tell.
And SELL.
This year's theme: ``Taking Care of Business.''
Suppliers create a demand - for high-profile titles (``Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'') and harder sells (``Cyber Ninja'') - then bait the hook with sweatshirts, T-shirts and hats, water bottles, beach towels and buttons.
Retailers resent it when the trades poke fun at them for loading up in the giveaway lines. Most run little Mom-and-Pop places, and they give the freebies to their customers. They don't like being left out of the studio/distributor/chain store shuffle, either.
Roxanne Brown, who owns a small store in Cadillac, Mich., had customers who wanted to buy the feature cartoon, ``The Land Before Time.'' When she talked with the distributor, Brown was told MCA/Universal had but a moratorium on the tape. Later, it went on sale - at McDonald's.
It was no surprise, then, when a corporate-type woman in a sharp suit, hustling through the Las Vegas Convention Center, asked her male colleagues:
``What's the pat answer when you aren't supposed to answer?''
For all the seminars and sales pitches, everyone on the video food chain - retailers, execs, the press - devotes serious time to star-gazing.
Celebrities do, too. TV-movie star Andrew Stevens was at the VSDA for no apparent reason except to schmooze with Chuck Norris.
Anywhere anyone showed up, so did conventioneers. The PR corps working the throngs around Kathy Ireland and Paula Abdul earned their pay. But Jerry Lewis' people got the efficiency award. They kept a long line moving at a steady clip, and everyone walked away happy - with a pack of playing cards bearing a caricature of the comic great to boot.
Favorite outtake (where the Olsen Twins were holding court): ``Oh, they're so cute. They're trying to smile.''
Second favorite outtake (where porn star Letha Weapons was signing autographs): Editor's note: not in a family newspaper.
Favorite special-interest crowd: The one queuing up for Angus Scrimm of the ``Phantasm'' movies.
Favorite coincidence: On the same day, at the same time, on the same aisle, parallel lines led to LaToya Jackson and Marilyn Chambers.
Elbow room? There was plenty up and down the aisles where the accessories were laid out: patterned carpeting, gumball machines, tape-cleaning machines, tape cases, miniature marquees, superhero cards.
Two separate displays featured free-standing drop-boxes for returning tapes.
Global Zero, L.P., a little company in Westbrook, Maine, was playing David at the VSDA, promoting its G Zero videocassette, a cartridge made of recycled plastic, the only one of its kind on the market.
The reason there aren't others, said company rep Matt Bowen, is economics. When JVC created the VHS tape long ago, the corporate giant also copyrighted the cartridge design. When a studio produces videos, royalties must be paid. Bucking the trend would cost more.
Global Zero spent $15 million developing its alternative.
``We just want to let producers know there's an environmentally sound cassette they can put their products on,'' Bowen said.
This was the last time until the next century that the VSDA will be held in Las Vegas. Starting next year, it rotates among Dallas, L.A. and Nashville. The move didn't sit well with retailers, who combine vacation with business. They also fret that Big D won't draw the celebs or the studios.
Stephen Einhorn, head of New Line Home Video, disagrees.
``They realize how important it is,'' he said, while making his way to hear George Bush's speech. ``Video has made so many of them a star. We had people who wanted to come this year that we had to turn down.''
New Line, now the property of high-rolling Ted Turner, made news last month when its cinema wing paid a record $4 million for ``The Long Kiss Goodnight,'' a script by hot action writer Shane Black (``Lethal Weapon 2,'' ``Last Action Hero''). Einhorn read the script on the flight out, and was impressed.
``The film,'' he said, laughing, ``will probably be a little less ambitious.''
Since leaving the White House, George and Barbara Bush have become regular customers at video stores in Texas and Maine. He also told a packed crowd in the huge Las Vegas Hilton Pavilion that except for friends in Washington, D.C., they miss little about public life.
The former president, forceful and funny, laid-back and commanding, has adapted well.
``I'm through with politics,'' he said. ``But on a personal point, it's important that good people, no matter the climate, try and suit up and serve. What worries me is the perception abroad that we are not willing to lead.''
Bush filled out his address with a list of world leaders he admires - not always for their agendas, but their style and tenacity. Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev were no surprise; Deng Xiao Ping of China was.
``He stood up to the traditionalists,'' Bush said. ``Now, China is thriving.''
Bush was interrupted often with standing ovations, but for sheer spectacle, he couldn't top the intro several minutes earlier by VSDA chairwoman Dawn Wiener. Wearing an evening gown, tiara and boa, she emerged from behind a curtain of ostrich feathers waved by two sculpted male models.
``Who were you expecting,'' she growled, ``Mother Teresa?''
Turner Home Entertainment is marketing something cool, ``Gettysburg'' on CD-ROM. The game includes an interactive guide by historian Shelby Foote and scenes from last year's marathon movie.
Big question: Can you change history? Can you move Sam Hood's Texans around the Union flank and overrun the 20th Maine of Joshua Chamberlain?
``Most definitely,'' said a Tuner rep.
Over at the Nintendo booth, people were trying out ``Uniracers'' and ``Donkey Kong Land.'' Across the aisle, at the Sega display, ``Tomcat Alley'' ``Jurassic Park Rampage Edition'' were the flavors of the day.
Michael Gertz, a staffer with Orion Home Video, was worried. Ernie Banks, ``Mr. Cub,'' would be there any minute and Gertz was wearing a Chicago White Sox uniform.
A minute later, Gertz was back - in a Cubs jersey signed by Banks.
Bats, balls and cards, the affable Hall of Famer signed everything. He stayed 90 minutes past quitting time so he could hear every Cub story, pausing once to send a ball over for Mickey Rooney to sign ``on the sweet spot.''
The National Pastime was also in vogue at Turner Stadium, done up with bleachers, a scoreboard and vendors passing out popcorn and peanuts to promote next month's release of Ken Burns' nine-part documentary, ``Baseball.''
Burns was there for the occasion, along with Bob Gibson, Rollie Fingers and Brooks Robinson. His next project, he said, will be on Thomas Jefferson.
Gibson was asked when he might be making a video. The Cardinal great was typically taciturn.
``Probably never.''
Tiffany, a native of Utah, was a Mormon until she posed for Penthouse magazine. ``Then, I was excommunicated.''
Seriously? Who cares? When you look as good as Tiffany, or the other 21 Pets who attended Penthouse's ``Christmas in July'' party at the Desert Inn, say whatever you want.
The party, with open bars, trays of finger foods, and Penthouse videos on monitors around the pro shop, didn't get rolling until the deejay cleared the floor and put on ``I'm Every Woman.'' Guys in Armani suits and women in spangly gowns took the cue, shimmying to Rick James, the B-52's and Depeche Mode until the early hours.
But not before discussing business. Penthouse has a harder image in the market, and publicist Lee Stimmel is comfortable with that. ``Our competition has gotten stale,'' he said. ``We're giving our customers what they want.''
For that reason, Penthouse is expanding - into tapes shot by and featuring amateurs and concept videos built around golf and tennis.
``You're not going to learn to play golf or tennis,'' Stimmel said. ``But they're fun. I think, `What would I want? Beautiful women.' ''
Four women dressed as Kathleen Turner in the John Waters film ``Serial Mom'' - black-and-white checked skirts, black sweaters, aprons and identical blond wigs - make their way down the escalator and head for the convention floor.
Once there, they'll join the FHP Health Care nurses, in tight white minis and white spiked heels, and the busty blondes in denim short-shorts and bare-midriff blouses who distribute The Twin News.
Another day at the VSDA is just beginning. ILLUSTRATION: CRAIG SHAPIRO COLOR PHOTOS
Jerry Lewis
Letha Weapons
Regis Philbin
Paula Abdul
Get your photo taken with the girls of Playboy
Photo
CRAIG SHAPIRO
The National Pastime was also in vogue at Turner Stadium to promote
the release of Ken Burns' ``Baseball.''
by CNB