The story behind the CT studio that made ‘Dirty Dancing’
THE STORY BEHIND THE MOVIE STUDIO THAT MADE ‘DIRTY DANCING’
While major movie distributors and production companies such as Universal and Warner Bros. were capitalizing the market share of major motion pictures, Vestron, Inc., a relatively small film company in Stamford, was revolutionizing the home video industry.
Established in 1981 by then-HBO Executive Vice President of Programming Austin O. Furst Jr., Vestron came about when Furst Jr. was in charge of dismantling the Time-Life Films label. When no companies would buy the film rights to Time-Life Films. Furst Jr. decided to purchase the rights to those films and to distribute them himself with his own home video distribution company. Vestron was the chosen name for Furst Jr.’s endeavor, combining the name of the Roman goddess Vesta with the word “tron.”
At the time, home video was a fledgling industry that was making its mark with movie releases on videocassette. The likes of Blockbuster wouldn’t be open for another four years. “I believed in the video business. I could see it coming,” Furst Jr. said in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media.
In a short period of time, Vestron went from obscurity to commercial success with its venture into feature films and the 1987 release of “Dirty Dancing.”
“The movie was enormously successful. It wasn’t just another low-budget movie from a video company, it was a real movie,” Furst Jr. said.
And just as quickly as the small Connecticut company skyrocketed, it fell.
Starting out with six people in the old Phillips Chemical Company building in on Glenbrook Road in Stamford, Furst Jr. started Vestron’s distribution efforts with a number of the unsold Time-Life Films that he had bought as well as a number of independent and low-budget offerings.
According to Furst Jr., the company was “profitable from day one.”
Amid the rise of Vestron, home video was going through growing pains as technology was evolving from videotape to videodisc, and purchasing physical media could cost upwards of $100. Video rental stores began to emerge in the early-to-mid-80s in order to offer a new way to view movies without shelling out copious amounts of money.
Though as more video stores opened around the country, Furst Jr. saw a new opportunity.
“We had one thing going for us that I hadn’t figured out when I started the company and it was sort of an unintended benefit. Every time a video store would open, they would need to order not only the latest hits coming from the studios and Vestron, but they would have to order all of the backlist of titles that had been previously released,” Furst Jr. said. “They needed to have a fully-stocked library.”
Under the Vestron Video label, movies like “An American Werewolf in London” and “Mad Max” saw home video releases as Vestron made distribution deals with the likes of National Geographic, Polygram and VidAmerica.
In 1983, Vestron tapped into the budding music video industry with the establishment of Vestron Music Video and the release of “Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller,” which became one of the best-selling releases for Vestron.
“[It was] extraordinarily successful around the world,” Furst Jr. said. “We couldn’t make them fast enough.”
With its surge in popularity and financial success, Vestron went public with an offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 1985 at an initial public offering of $12 a share, according to a 1985 Associated Press story.
At Vestron’s height, Furst Jr. said that the company employed over 1,000 people across the brand.
“We were innovating and making a difference,” Furst Jr. said. “I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I wish it had gone on forever.”
Amid the number of sub-labels that emerged from Vestron, including Lightning Video and Vestron International Group, the sub-label that propelled the film company to new heights was Vestron Pictures, which produced “Dirty Dancing.”
Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the leading roles, the movie became Vestron Pictures’ biggest hit with a $214.6M box office takeaway.
“We had a fabulous soundtrack put together. The songs were all brand new and they were terrific,” Furst Jr. said. “[The songs] got [sic] played on the radio every day.”
In the Netflix documentary “The Movies that Made Us,” it was revealed that the initial scripts of “Dirty Dancing” were rejected by most other Hollywood studios before becoming a box office hit for Vestron.
Other successful Vestron Pictures endeavors included the international release of “The Princess Bride” and the Patrick Swayze-led “Steel Dawn.” Though Vestron Pictures remained the company’s bread-and-butter, the company’s low budget films continued to be a staple, comprising roughly a quarter of Vestron’s sales, according to Furst Jr.
“That was our niche. We quickly identified the best filmmakers in the genre,” Furst Jr. said. “The product, even the horror films, often had a sense of humor that made them fun. At the same time, they were horror films.”
Movies like “C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.” and “Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat” became cult hits among the b-horror movie community. For many, home video was the only way to see these movies as many generally received a direct-to-video treatment.
“The whole thing was a beautiful ride up until we had a hideous problem with the bank,” Furst Jr. added.
That trouble with the bank led to Vestron’s downfall when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was sold to LIVE Entertainment for $27.25 million in cash and preferred shares in 1991, according to a 1991 L.A. Times articles.
In a the newest season of Netflix’s “The Movies That Made Us,” it was revealed that Vestron was set to release the 1990 mega-hit “Pretty Woman” before its bankruptcy the following year.
Despite financial success from the movies, Furst Jr. said that while he was working with the company’s bank, the bank was actively seeking to sell itself. The bank was sold to Bank of America and in turn, Furst Jr. ended up suing Bank of America. Furst Jr. said he walked away with a $100 million settlement.
However, that did not stop Vestron from seeing its financial collapse.
“We were on our way to the moon but it was not meant to be,” Furst Jr. said. After a few changes of hand, the rights to Vestron’s film catalogue ended up with Lionsgate in 2003. While the Vestron label no longer exists today, film history junkies can still find Vestronlabeled Blu-ray and DVD releases through Lionsgate’s Vestron Video Collector’s Series, which saw its first release in 2016.
After Vestron, Furst Jr. went on to start Furst Properties, a Wilton-based building development and property management company, in 1996. He currently serves as its owner and president.
The old Glenbrook Road facility still stands and boasts a number of industrial businesses within the building.