Industry Days - Let’s Get Physical (Media)! Is the DVD Comeback Real?
Friday, October 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM until 1:00 PM
AMC Newcity | Screen 5, 1500 N Clybourn Ave c301, Chicago, IL 60610
festival
Judging from the headlines (“DVDs are the new vinyl records!”; “Buy to own: the resurgence of physical media!”), you might think it’s 1999 again, when DVD players were declared the fastest-selling consumer electronics product in history. While VHS exchanges are a fun new hobby and 4K/UHD Blu-Ray collectible sales are on the rise (check out this year’s Physical Media Fair), how much is physical media actually making a comeback, and does it really meaningfully change the way independent filmmakers can distribute and monetize their work? Filmmakers, distributors, and collectors discuss the allure of physical media, the economics of its distribution, and whether the resurrection of non-streaming video is real.
Moderator William Morris (Programming Manager, Music Box Theatre)
Speakers Andrew Van Beek (Music Box Films), Roy Millonzi (MPI Media), Natalie Djordjevic (Librarian, Archivist, and owner of Night Natalie), Robert Sweeney (Kino Lober)