When indie producer Hart Sharp Video released Morgan Spurlock’s Oscar-nominated fast-food documentary “Super Size Me” three years ago, two versions came to market: a regular edition for consumers, and an educationally enhanced edition for teachers, with 24 lessons and various game-like assessments and quizzes.

The enhanced edition, which allowed Hart Sharp to break into the lucrative institutional market and sell thousands of additional copies of the film to schools, was produced by Scope Seven, a Los Angeles production company…

…The documentary chronicles former “Inside Edition” correspondent Rick Kirkham’s destructive drug addiction. The enhanced DVD, which is being marketed to schools, includes a wealth of educational features the company hopes teachers will use in the classroom, including lesson plans in health, life skills and language arts; on-screen prompts to guide student viewing, spark discussion and lead to classroom activities; and curriculum connections linking the film to the standards-aligned Anti-Drug Education Program from the New York Times. The DVD also comes with an instructor’s manual and printable teacher guides and student handouts.

“Films have long been used in the classroom to educate students, but learning doesn’t always happen in a linear fashion,” said Bob Hively, chairman and CEO of Scope Seven. “Through educationally enhanced DVDs like ‘TV Junkie,’ youth are able to explore the issues presented in the film as they arise, rather than waiting to discuss them at the end of the movie.” {source}

Now, isn’t that amazing? I see big opportunities for savvy documentary producers all over the world who jump on to this potential gravy train of cash. And that includes Africa too. Heck, why didn’t I think of this idea? Just think of how many schools there are around the world. And don’t forget the additional income to be had from producing said topics in other languages. Anyhow, I’ve got a ton of enhanced DVD topics running through my mind right now.

So, you think this concept is gonna catch on fast?

“This resulted in an educationally enhanced DVD that is fully aligned to teaching standards, which further legitimizes its use by educators in the classroom,” he said. “From the very beginning of the film, it was clear that this story had the power to help others battling addiction.”

In a related development, 20th Century Fox and MGM are adding optional tracks of bright, bold “Kids Captioning” to popular family films in an effort to build reading skills. The first wave of enhanced “Follow Along” DVDs arrives in stores July 10 and includes “Robots,” “The Sandlot,” “Ice Age,” “Garfield: The Movie,” “Anastasia,” “Ferngully: The Last Rainforest,” “Stellaluna,” “Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Kids,” “Good Boy!” and “Thumbelina.” {source}