Unlike in the days of VHS where space and access was limited, DVDs have room for more stuff and makes it easy to get to. It's become a hard and fast rule that you can't just release the DVD of a film without a little something extra to sweeten the deal. With everybody else who puts their film on DVD adding more stuff to fill the disc, a filmmaker can't afford to just put just the movie alone on the disc. With this hunger for more content, most filmmakers take the easy road and shoot a making-of documentary and put that in there. Then they watch the movie, talk about it and record that and add it as an additional audio track on the DVD.

Although behind the scenes footage and DVD commentary tracks hold value, they aren't the best way to add value to your DVD release.

Lessens Suspension of Disbelief

When you only see an actor in the guise of a character there is an extra layer of seeming authenticity. Having a person's likeness only exist within the world of a story is so rare and such a treat. Seeing an actor only in the fictional world makes it seem that much more real. Conversely, with each contact with the actor outside of a fictional construct the less real it becomes. Soon you are more worried about the "real" person and not the characters they play. Soon the portrayal of the character isn't as compelling since you've had more impressions of the actor in "normal" mode.

Mostly Appeals To Other Filmmakers

For those who want to know how sausage is made, behind the scenes filmmaking material is a God-send. It's a cheap film school and a way to imagine themselves in the same situations and live vicariously through the film makers. The material can be made compelling to normal people, but it's something that is more interesting to those drawn to the making of films than just the watching of films. Your average film goer would rather have more episodes of a TV show rather than a making-of documentary. Most would prefer a sequel to the movie as opposed to interviews with the cast.

May Overtake Storyworld

Your movie's story may be of the subtle variety. It may be a quiet and nuanced portrait of a less-than-exciting character. It may be a valuable film experience, but may not seem so when compared to the documentary of the making of the movie. A movie will be compared to the other features offered on a DVD and you may not like the conclusions people come to. If your star is a very dynamic personality in real life but is playing a subdued character in the movie, showing substantial amounts of his real personality will make the movie pale in comparison.

Better Given To Media To Disseminate

It would be disingenuous to say that only filmmaking type people care about the making of films. People are interested in people and any compelling story will keep their interest. If they like the film, they will want to know more about the people who made it. So there is a desire for information about the behind the scenes, but it's not something that should be offered in a medium that competes with the storyworld of the film. Non-fiction stories like behind the scenes anecdotes are best left to smaller segments on video and lengthy treatment in print. These happen to be things that media (TV, newspapers, radio) have a need for on a daily basis. The media needs interesting stories, you want more fans and to downplay the comparison of these stories to your fictional storyworld. Give them the stories, your problems are solved.

Behind the scenes film making stories are important and something that interests lots of people. Instead of just doing as everyone does and filming the production of the film and putting it on the DVD, give it to the media so they can tell the stories in a way that won't undercut the fictional world you are creating in the first place. Don't do like everyone does, consider the principle behind tactics and create your own strategy.