Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film to the public immediately on home video formats rather than a theatrical release or television broadcast.^[1]

Because inferior sequels or prequels of larger-budget films may be released direct-to-video, review references to direct-to-video releases are often pejorative. Direct-to-video release has also become profitable for independent filmmakers and smaller companies.^[2] It is not unusual for a direct-to-video genre film (with a high-profile star) to generate well in excess of $50 million revenue worldwide.^[3]

A production studio may decide not to generally release a TV show or film for several possible reasons: a low budget, lack of support from a TV network, negative reviews, its controversial nature, that it may appeal to a small niche market, or a simple lack of general public interest. Studios, limited in the annual number of films to which they grant cinematic releases, may choose to pull the completed film from the theaters, or never exhibit it in theaters at all. Studios then generate revenue through video sales and rentals.^[4] Direct-to-video films are marketed mostly through colorful box covers, instead of advertising, and are not covered by publications like Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide.^[1]

Direct-to-video releases have historically carried a stigma of lower technical or artistic quality than theatrical releases.^[6] Some films released direct-to-video are films which have been completed but were never released in movie theaters.

This delay often occurs when a studio doubts a film's commercial prospects justify a full cinema release, or because its release window has closed. In film industry slang, such films are referred to as having been "vaulted".^[7] Like B-movies shown in drive-in theaters in the mid-20th century, direct-to-video films employ both former stars and young actors who may become stars later.^[1]

Direct-to-video releases can be done for films which cannot be shown theatrically due to controversial content, or because the cost involved in a theatrical release is beyond the releasing company.^[8]

Animated sequels and feature-length episodes of animated series are also often released in this fashion.^[8] In 1992, Warner Bros. Animation released Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, a direct-to-video movie based on the animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. The Walt Disney Company started planning to make sequels to many of its animated films for video release beginning with The Return of Jafar (the sequel to Aladdin) in 1994 and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (the second sequel to Aladdin) in 1996. Universal Studios also began their long line of The Land Before Time sequels that same year.

By 1994 an average of six new direct-to-video films appeared each week.

Erotic thrillers and R-rated action films were the two most successful genres.^[1] Family films became more important than such genres later in the 1990s, as retailers stocked more copies of blockbuster films instead of more titles. According to the Los Angeles Times:^[9]

Some horror films that are unsuccessful in theaters, like Witchcraft, begin successful direct-to-video franchises.^[1] Studios may also release sequels or spin-offs to a successful live action film straight to DVD, due to a lack of budget in comparison to the original. An example is the Behind Enemy Lines

During the Golden Age of Porn in the 1970s, many pornographic films were released in theatres, some of which became some of the highest-grossing films in their release years and in the pornography industry altogether. Towards the 1980s porn began to shift to video release, because video allowed the producers to work on extremely low budgets and dispense with some film production elements like scripts, and the increased privacy and convenience of the format change were preferred by the target market.

During the late 1990s and onwards, pornographers began releasing content through paysites on the Internet.

Occasionally, a studio that makes a movie that was prepared as a direct-to-video film will release it theatrically at the last minute due to the success of another film with a similar subject matter or an ultimate studio decision.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Other times, a direct-to-video movie may get a limited theatrical screening in order to build excitement for the actual release of the video such as was done for 2010's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and Planet Hulk, 2016's Batman: The Killing Joke ^[10] or 2013's Sharknado

As DVDs gradually replaced VHS videocassettes, the term "direct-to-DVD" replaced "direct-to-video" in some instances.^[11] However, the word "video" does not necessarily refer to videocassettes; many publications continue to use the term "direct-to-video" for DVDs or Blu-ray discs. Both disc-based release types may also be referred to as "direct-to-disc". A new term sometimes used is "DVD premiere" (DVDP).^[12] Such films can cost as little as $20 million,^[3] about a third of the average cost of a Hollywood release.^[13] According to Variety, American Pie: Band Camp sold a million copies in one week, despite retaining only two actors from the original trilogy.^[14]

Some direct-to-DVD releases recently have tended to feature actors who were formerly bankable stars.

In 2005, salaries for some of these direct-to-DVD actors in the multimillion-dollar range from $2 to $4 million (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and $4.5 to $10 million (Steven Seagal), in some cases exceeding the actors' theatrical rates.^[3]

Direct to iTunes is an online distribution method that avoids all upfront DVD production, marketing and distribution costs as well as upfront cinema distribution and marketing costs. Apple distributes the film for 30% of the revenue, while an additional 10–15% may go to the person who formats the film for iTunes compatibility.^[15] The first independently produced feature-length motion picture to pursue the direct-to-iTunes marketing scheme was Ed Burns' Purple Violets, which debuted on iTunes on November 20, 2007. It was the first feature-length film to "premiere exclusively on iTunes". It was distributed exclusively on iTunes at a price of US$14.99 for a month before being made available through other distribution channels.^[16] The movie, which was produced at a cost of $4 million, had premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, where it was reviewed positively, but only received modest distribution offers.^[15] At the time of the Purple Violets release, most studios were not distributing via iTunes early in the process and only Walt Disney Studios, which was the first movie studio to distribute via iTunes,^[15] was distributing at iTunes simultaneously with DVD distribution.^[17] It was not very common for consumers to make digital movie purchases at the time.^[18] The Polish brothers' 2011 For Lovers Only, which had virtually no production costs and was released to iTunes on July 12, is regarded as the first profitable feature-length direct-to-iTunes product.^[19] The direct-to-iTunes method is also becoming common with both books and music.

When Purple Violets was released, several short films had already been distributed through iTunes. Previously, marketing of short films had been prohibitive. However, Apple distributed the February 25, 2007 79th Academy Awards nominees for the Animated Shorts, Live Action Shorts and Documentary Shorts as well as half of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival shorts, beginning a new era.^[15]

Due to the growth of YouTube and other video-streaming websites, premieres of long-form films increasingly occur through online streams. Long-form films to premiere on YouTube or other sites include Home (2009), The Cult of Sincerity (2008), Life in a Day (2011), Eyes and Ears of God: Video Surveillance of Sudan (2012) and Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007). In 2010, Striker

In 2013, the Netflix and Amazon Video subscription video streaming services began to release original content.

Naoko Iijima started her career appearing on late night TV variety, and then focused on such V-Cinema titles as Strawberry Times 4 and Zero Woman: Final Mission (Zero WOMAN　警視庁０課の女 Zero Woman: Keishichō 0-ka no onna) before moving into a career in mainstream movies and TV. Cult director Takashi Miike has released quite a few of his works as V-Cinema, perhaps preferring the freedom. Weather Report Girl (1995) starring Kei Mizutani is a rare case of a work being released to video and then recalled by the maker and released to theatres to considerable success. V-Cinema may be used for the sequels to a successful feature film (e.g. Zero Woman, Sasori, Kunoichi Ninpoden, Baka Yaro or Pantsu no Ana). The content can be sexier or more violent than a mainstream feature film.

In the case of anime, this is called original video animation (sometimes capitalized, and abbreviated OVA or OAV). They are often used to tell stories too short to fill a full TV season, or to take creative risk without pressures from TV studios and sponsoring companies^[20] and were particularly common in the early 1990s. Sometimes OVAs garner enough interest to justify commissioning a full TV show, such as Tenchi Muyo!, El Hazard, and Read or Die

With the convenience of the 13-episode season format, OVAs are less common now.

The majority of OVAs released in today's market are usually continuations or reworkings of recently completed TV shows.

For instance, the DVD release of a TV show might, as a sales hook, include a bonus episode that was never broadcast.