"Extreme' hunters target video market
Thursday, June 02, 2005
By Bick Treut
Brothers Karl and Dave Zainitzer of West Amwell Township and good friend Paul Lee of Stewartsville share a passion for hunting.
And for years, the three landscapers who work at different firms in the area considered getting into the hunting industry. They thought about opening a hunting store but didn't like the idea of being cooped up inside.
Then the idea struck.
A year ago, they bought three video cameras including a $5,500 Cannon XL2 mini digital video camera and entered the hunting video production business. They founded Xtreme Outdoors by recognizing that the Northeast "never really gets the recognition it deserves as a hunting region," said Karl Zainitzer, 36. His brother is 33, Lee is 37.
They considered the idea for about a year "game planning, trying to figure out when and how to get into it" he said. "I tried to get into the industry by using other larger video companies but they were unresponsive. So we decided, why not do it ourselves?"
For now, Xtreme Outdoors is a sideline but all indications are it could become the trio's full-time gig.
Their first video, Xtreme Whitetails One, will be released shortly and they project sales of 5,000 to 10,000 units, according Zainitzer. Orders are flying in from local and regional sporting goods chains and retail behemoth Wal-Mart expressed interest in the title, he said.
There seems to be a large untapped market. With all of the people who hunt in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York "most of the video industry coverage is in the Midwest and the west," said Karl Zainitzer.
Xtreme Outdoors plans to release one new video per year.
"Right now we're busy wrapping up the editing (of their first video)" he said. "We've just sent it to be duplicated and we finished the DVD cover. We're also very busy with the marketing side of things."
The company hired a professional editor to put together the final cut but the principals do all the camera work themselves. "With outdoor film, shaky footage is ok," said Zainitzer. "It gives people a better feel for hunting so we mount the camera on our shoulder instead of using tripods."
Xtreme Outdoors doesn't like to do cutaways. "When there's a split in the scene, people realize it's not real. We try to keep both the animal and the hunter in the same shot. We also do a lot of panning back and forth," he said.
The company has assembled 22 videographers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Ohio for up coming videos. "They tend to go out in pairs," Zainitzer said. "One person hunts and the other holds the camera."
Long term, Xtreme Outdoors plans on assembling annual turkey and big game hunt videos. "We're talking about elk, caribou and bear. We're also going to put a guy in Africa," Zainitzer said.
For more information on Xtreme Outdoors, visit their Web site at xtremeoutdoorspro.com or call 347-3366.
Topic: Worst Idea Ever...HUNTING ALERT!!! READ & EMAIL! (Read 60035 times)
