What's better about Picture This DVDs?

Almost all of our titles go out in the Widescreen format, making them well suited to the new breed of 16:9 televisions. (They still play on regular 4:3 TVs, too!) Almost all of our titles include an optional 5.1 audio track giving customers with surround-sound DVD systems a more enriching experience. (A standard stereo track is also included). Many of our titles go out with special features like filmmaker / actor interviews that we produce ourselves. All of our titles include trailers for other Picture This DVDs and theatrical releases. Almost all of our subtitled films make the subtitles optional, so persons wishing to view the film in the original language with no subtitles have the opportunity to do so. All of our titles include chapter stops to facilitate resumption of viewing in households where several persons share the same DVD player. All of our short film compilations include a host who introduces each film, putting it in context with the other films in the collection. Many of our DVDs have additional subtitles in French and Spanish, making them more valuable collectibles.

Do you carry movies from manufacturers other than Picture This?

No. We are the publisher/manufacturer of Picture This product and proudly offer it for sale directly to you. We believe strongly in each of our titles and do not want to dilute our product quality by trying to be all things to all people.

How do you decide which movies become Picture This movies?

Our acquisition team attends film festivals around the world (Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, Toronto, etc.) and pursues award-winning, critically acclaimed, exceptional cinematic fare that touches them emotionally or aesthetically. Filmmakers and sales agents also send their submissions directly to the company.

Why do most of your movies come from other countries or have points of view unlike the standard "popcorn" movies I see at our local multiplex?

We started Picture This to provide an alternative to the filmed entertainment one finds on TV and at the neighborhood video store. We feel the typical commercial American movie has been done over and over to the point where only the cast and director change, but the stories are same ones just reformulated from 20, 40, 60 years ago. By digging outside our own borders, we have discovered alternative points of view and subject matter that we feel enlightens as it entertains.

I've been hearing a lot lately about movie downloads. What 's the best way to ensure that the movies I buy today I can still view 20 years from now?

Buying a tangible format like DVD means that as technologies advance, you will still have an archival format of the film. Think back on VCRs. Emerging in the 1970s, these machines still play VHS tapes today. No matter what happens to your computer (average life span = 3 years), a DVD disc will still be playable on a DVD player. And as new High Definition DVD formats come into being, the new machines will be backwards-compatible with today 's generation of DVDs, ensuring seamless playback. At present, movie downloads are slow and they take up a lot of space on a computer hard drive. DVDs are much easier to use and collect.

Technical questions

Why does the image look all squeezed on my TV set?

You need to SET UP your DVD player to correspond to the type of TV set you are using with it. You would be surprised to learn how many people do not know this! Find the SET UP button on your DVD player remote control. Select ASPECT RATIO under VIDEO selections and pick “4:3 letterboxed” if you have a standard 4:3 TV set. If you have a newer, widescreen set, choose “16:9”. This is very important and should make the image look normal on a 4:3 set. It will be letterboxed but not squeezed. On a widescreen set, you may need to choose “Full” on your TV remote control to unsqueeze the image so it fits perfectly on your set.

How do I get the subtitles to appear?

You need to SET UP the disc by selecting SET UP from the Picture This DVD main menu. There you can choose which subtitles or closed-captions you would like to appear. In most cases, you can also choose none. From this menu you can also select between regular 2-channel stereo (2.0) or 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound (5.1)

I get a message on my TV screen that my player won’t play this type of disc. What do I do?

Make sure your DVD player is Region 1 designed for DVDs distributed in North America. If it is, try ejecting the DVD, taking it out, repositioning it in the machine and trying again. This will fix most problems of this sort. If the problem persists, try other DVDs. If they play with no problem, try one more time. If you still can’t get the disc to play it is probably the one in 5000 that is defective. You can exchange it for a new DVD from where you bought it.