'Family Friendly' Dove Foundation Extends Reach
NEW YORK - This bird flies high on wholesome wings.
The nonprofit Dove Foundation, which helps parents choose "family-friendly" videos via its coveted seal of approval, is expanding into cyberspace, CD-ROM's, and audiobooks. At the same time, the 4-year-old group is extending its reach to include nontheatrical titles. Movies have been the stars until now and received most of the attention during Dove's First awards ceremony at the Video Software Dealers Assn. convention in Dallas, May 21-24.
Retailers appear willing to follow Dove anywhere. customers want "something that's for the whole family," says Sharon Harris of American Video Store in Pendleton, Ore. "The Dove seals make it easier for them to find what they want."
On June 1, Dove launched its own site on the World Wide Web, offering a complete list of its approved titles updated daily - including some movies reviewed before they reach theaters. The site will also include reviews by film critic Holly McClure, and Dove is developing a service to provide photos, sound, and clips that can be downloaded onto users' multimedia computers. For those without PCs, Dove has set up a regular telephone line that offers the list and McClure's reviews at a cost of 95 cents per minute.
Meanwhile, Dove is completing agreements with publishers of audiobooks and CD-ROM's who want to use the foundation seal on their family-friendly product. "This will allow them to isolate and target the family market says Dove president/CEO Dick Rolfe. He claims Dove's image of a bird in flight is considered by many to be equivalent to "the Good Housekeeping seal."
Rolfe has taken Dove a long way since its beginnings in 1991. "We were a group of parents who were confused and intimidated by all the choices in the video store." The Motion Picture Assn. Of America rating system "is unpredictable, and many titles are made direct for video and have no ratings at all. So we found ourselves renting fewer and fewer videos, " says Rolfe. "But we decided there had to be quality, wholesome product out there, because once in a while we would find a good video."
He formed a group of 200 volunteers - all parents - who set out to review, as many theatrical and nontheatrical tapes as possible. In the first year, they evaluated about 12,000 titles - "and boy, are my eyes tired," quips Rolfe. Of those, about 600 met the group's guidelines for wholesome entertainment. "Generally speaking, we look for movies without extreme violence, exploitative sexual content, or profane language."
Today, the Dove-approved list numbers about 1,400 releases, and the group reviews about 40 a month. Initially, "we were just going to video stores and renting them," says Rolfe, "but now studios and independent producers submit titles." Dove charges $25 per review.
The group has 650 member video stores who pay $100 for the list, stickers to flag approved titles, signs, shelf talkers, and other point-of-purchase material. All are under the heading "Videos with this seal have been rated family-friendly by the Dove Foundation."
Stores, like all members, also get a quarterly newsletter and monthly updates. Each of the stores averages 3,000 customers, or a total of about 2 million who regularly come in contact with Dove titles.
Most of the members are independents, but some video and supermarket chains have joined, including Meijer Video Centers, with 90 locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois; 49-N-More Video Superstores, including 16 stores in Texas; and Furr's Supermarkets, with 65 in New Mexico.
By using the Dove seals, "stores demonstrate to their customers that hey have a large selection of family titles," says Rolfe. "It adds a degree of confidence to parents."
Retailers concur. "We've been using it for two years now, and it's had a wonderful effect," says American Video's Harris, "A lot of people come in and that's all they want to rent: something that's good for the whole family. It's definitely easier for them to find what they want."
At Red Carpet Video in Carlsbad, Calif., "We're always getting requests from concerned parents: 'Is this good for our kid?' " says assistant manager Dan Farias. "Now, since we brought in the Dove program (in March), we can just say, 'Any title with a Dove sticker is good for kids,' and they don't have to worry. It's a blessing. It's easier for families to find movies now - they just come in, browse, and pick the ones with stickers. It has had a very positive effect."
Dove has a mailing list of 8,500 people, among them the heads of pro-family organizations that pass the information to their members. And it received considerable exposure through the media. "With all that, we estimate our exposure level is something like 30 million people," Rolfe maintains.
The foundation is 50% supported by grants and donations and 50% by its fees for reviews and video memberships, which are free for individuals.
Although Dove's video store program bears some resemblance to the Kids First! program launched by the Coalition for Quality Children's Video (Billboard, Feb. 25), the two aren't competitive, says Rolfe. "I think we really work well together and complement each other."
Rolfe notes, "They're dealing with a targeted segment-children's product, whereas we're dealing more with the broad spectrum of entertainment. For example, we have found many independent distributors of wonderful product for teenagers that wouldn't necessarily fit the criteria of the Kids First! program."
Dove's mailing do not include the reviews, although that will change with the addition of McClure's reviews on the Internet site. Titles fall into one of two categories: "all ages" and "12+." Among the latter are "Journey To The Center Of The Earth," "Star Wars," "12 Angry Men," "Oliver!," "Mutiny On The Bounty," "Hello, Dolly!" and "His Girl Friday."
Rolfe sees nontheatricals as "an overlooked segment of the market. We believe this is one area that needs more promotion and more credit for the wonderful product they put out."
During VSDA, the group presented its Dove Home Video Awards, which honored qualifying titles that have achieved sales benchmarks of 50,000, 75,000, and 100,000 tapes. A Diamond Dove went to an actor or actress who has appeared in a series with aggregate sales of more than 1 million units.
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