VHS Screeners: Junk Tapes or Grail Collectibles?

In the age of streaming, it’s easy to forget the impact physical media had on home entertainment. But before digital downloads and instant access, formats like VHS, Betamax, DVD, and Blu-ray ruled the industry. While the primary focus of these formats was to deliver movies and TV shows to end consumers, one unique aspect of home entertainment is the use of screeners. 

These promotional copies were sent to industry professionals, critics, and retail partners before the official release to drive buzz, facilitate feedback, and drive sales. Very few were produced compared to the commercial releases, and it was extremely frowned upon to share them with unauthorized people. While screeners are still in use by the Academy and other awards shows, older screeners from significant films have become coveted collector’s items in recent years.

Demo Screeners

There are two main categories of screeners that we see in the market today, each with its own purpose. The first type was sent to video retailers and were often referred to as “demo tapes” or “promo tapes”. These tapes, produced prior to the commercial release of a film, were sent directly to video stores by the studio or distributor so the store owner or manager could decide how many copies of the film to stock their shelves with. These tapes were meant to be a sales tool, so the back cover often features box office numbers, quotes from critics, or information on the marketability of a specific actor.

According to the Video Software Dealers Association, there were approximately 31,000 video rental stores in 1990. That number dropped to 27,000 in 1996, and then continued to rapidly fall in the early 2000s as the industry consolidated and eventually moved to on demand video. Knowing this, we can assume that there were likely no more than 31,000 demo tapes produced for any given movie. And with millions of commercial copies produced on average for a single movie, these demo tapes begin to stand out as rare variants of the original release.

Since demo tapes were not intended for sale, many of them were destroyed or sent back to the distributor after they were watched, making them even more scarce. It’s especially rare to be able to find a demo tape still sealed in the original manufacturer’s packaging because most retailers wanted the opportunity to watch the movie early and be able to make educated business decisions based on what they watched. 

Award Screeners

The second type of screener was sent to voting members of an award show like the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, or Screen Actors Guild Awards and are often referred to as “award screeners” or “for your consideration tapes”. The tapes often say “For Your Consideration” on them and notate which award categories the film would like to be considered for. For example, an Academy Awards Screener might be looking for nominations in categories like Best Picture, Actor, Original Score, or Costume Design.

These special screening VHS tapes (and eventually DVDs) were mailed to the homes of voting members, sometimes even before the film was released in theaters, so it was a serious offense to share them with other people. Getting caught doing so could result in expulsion from the award organization or possibly even prosecution. In recent years, studios have even begun watermarking award screeners for each specific person they send it to so they know exactly who the offenders are. 

There’s actually a very interesting story to how award screeners became standard in the industry. It all started in 1986 when John Boorman, director of The Emerald Forest, worried that too few members of the Academy had seen his film and he wouldn’t get the votes he needed. So John produced several hundred screening VHS tapes of the film to be made available for free to members of the Academy at local video stores. He even took out ads in entertainment publications to let people in Hollywood know that the tapes were available at stores. 

John’s stunt unfortunately did not work and The Emerald Forest received zero Oscar nominations. However, he basically invented the awards screener and started a massive tradition that still lives on to this day. Screener copies of The Emerald Forest can be identified by the “PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY NOT FOR RESALE” stamp on the back of the box. With only a few hundred produced and them being considered the first ever award screener, these tapes are extremely difficult to find. In the future, we believe these tapes will have the prestige, popularity, and scarcity to be considered grails for serious VHS collectors.

We also view these award screeners as rare variants of the original film, with far fewer being produced than the commercial release. And since voters were obligated to watch the film (especially from home), the popular films are incredibly difficult to find still sealed today. We are still researching the exact numbers for how many award screeners were produced for each film, but we can make some educated guesses based on how many academy members there were in a given year. 

In 2003, the Academy said it mailed out nomination ballots to 5,803 members. So it’s safe to presume that there were no more than 5,803 screeners produced for films in 2003, especially since not every member receives screeners and not every member votes for every category. The Academy grew to 7,258 members by 2018, which gives us a pretty good ballpark for how many DVD screeners were produced in that time. We don't know how many academy members there were in the 80s and 90s, but the voting body has only grown over time, so we can assume there were probably no more than 5,000 produced for any film prior to the 2000s. 

The Collectibility of Screeners

While many people don’t see the value in screeners, there are a ton of serious collectors who will pay big money for them, especially sealed. It’s ironic that a market has grown for these tapes, considering they were never intended to be sold in the first place. But I guess that’s how collecting goes – oftentimes the most valuable items were things that were never meant to be collectible.

To give you an idea of what these screeners can sell for, here are few examples that have sold on Heritage over the last couple years:

• A retailer screening copy of Steven King’s IT sold for $2,500
• An Academy screener of Terminator 2 sold for $1,618.75
• A retailer screening copy of The Nightmare Before Christmas sold for $1,250
• An Academy screener of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace sold for $1,250

The VHS market is still maturing and there isn’t a lot of price discovery yet, so there’s ample opportunity to find good deals for screeners. We’re regularly able to find sealed screeners of popular movies on eBay for under $100, but sometimes we have to spend a little more to get something special like sealed Academy screeners for films like the Lion King, Harry Potter, or Spirited Away. While sealed is always going to be the best, we also buy CIB (complete in box) screeners for significant movies. There are so few sealed copies of these screeners still in existence, so sometimes the next best thing is to get a clean CIB copy. 

Conclusion

In today’s digital landscape, it’s fascinating to see how screeners have transformed from simple promotional tools into highly sought-after collectibles. Their scarcity, combined with the nostalgia of the VHS and DVD eras, makes them a valuable part of film history. As collectors continue to recognize their significance, these screeners will likely remain a coveted piece of the home entertainment collecting market. The future of this market is bright, and we can’t wait to see how it grows!