Picture This! - Frequently asked questions

We delight in providing very cool movies of interest to a gay audience. Some of the films are totally gay -- gay characters and gay stories. Others are films we think will interest gay audiences due to any number of factors: the theme, the actors, elements of the plot, the locale or because the filmmaker may be gay/lesbian. Why? Because gay people watch a lot more than just gay films. Here at Picture This, we do love releasing quality gay films, but we would rather release a great film that may not be gay per se, (but which is of considerable interest to gay audiences) than a mediocre or bad film solely because it has a lot of "gay" content.

What if I'm looking for "Movies From A Lesbian Perspective"?

You can go directly to that page by clicking here. Again, some of the films are totally lesbian, but others are of interest due to the theme, actress, plot, locale or because of the filmmaker herself.

You also seem to have a lot of "Coming-Of-Age" films. What's the connection?

At Picture This, we have always specialized in two types of acquisitions: gay/lesbian & coming-of-age films. We believe that gay folks usually have a more dramatic childhood than their straight peers, and therefore have a lingering interest in films depicting that time of life. Most of the fllms in this collection have won film festival awards and have excellent production value. For your convenience, we have included the coming-of-age titles within the main Picture This site. However, if you prefer to peruse them in their own, dedicated website (and you have Flash installed in your browser), you can click here: comingofagemovies.com.

About playing our trailers

I'm having trouble playing your trailers on the site. What to do?

We have recently started updating our technology to provide much clearer, larger and more exciting trailers in the H.264 format. For more info about this technology, click here.

You will need to upgrade to the latest version of Quicktime in order to see them.

If you own an iPhone, you can now see our most recent trailers on your iPhone directly in the Safari browser -- either via wi-fi or AT&T's Edge network. Check them out on wi-fi; the quality is amazing!

(If all else fails, you can also go to YouTube.com and type picturethisent in the search field.)

About our products

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 in many cases we produce ourselves. All of our titles include trailers for other Picture This DVD 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.

I am looking for porn. Where is the adults-only section on your site?

We don't have one. Like we said, we are not trying to be all things to all people. Our films all have strong stories, good acting and critical acclaim.

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 can be slow and they take up a lot of space on a computer hard drive. Eventually, you'll probably just end up deleting them to make space. DVDs are much easier to use and collect long-term.

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.