Duplication Factory

Also known as

• The Duplication Factory

History

The Duplication Factory was founded in 1987 as the duplication arm of Dean Johnson's Hometime Video Publishing. Initially set up to produce home videotapes of the PBS program Hometime, the Duplication Factory soon took on national clients. In 1997, following a scandal at Gateway 2000's previous duplicator involving a disgruntled employee splicing 30 seconds of pornographic material into one of its promotional videos, the video was recalled, and Gateway 2000 hired the Duplication Factory to remove the offending content and duplicate the reedited video ahead of a reissue.

List of Customers

• Aid Association for Lutherans (one known copy of Fit for Fun)
• The Biltmore Company (some Biltmore Estate tapes)
• Boulden Publishing, Inc.
• Carretta Sport, Inc. (one known copy of Pro-Kick Instructional Video)
• Casaa Productions (some Champion Auto Stores tapes)
• ComposTumbler
• Dart Distributing LLC (some copies each of The Big Garage and St. Bear's Dolls Hospital)
• Eli Lilly and Company (some rare tapes)
• Feature Films for Families (one known copy each of Willy the Sparrow and The Buttercream Gang)
• Firm Flex Video (one known copy of Body by Jake Firmflex Workout Features Jake's Simple Seven)
• Gateway 2000 (1997)
• Hometime Video Publishing
• The International School of Minnesota (one known copy of A World Class Education)
• METACOM
• Miracle-Ear (one known copy of Miracle-Ear: Hearing Loss & You)
• Nextel Communications, Inc.
• Piano for Life, Inc.
• Remington Arms Co. Inc. (one known copy of An Important Message: The Safe Use & Care of Your New Firearm)
• Sony Wonder (2001) (one known copy of Elmo's World: Birthdays, Games & More!)
• Sylvan Learning Center (2002) (one known copy of Sylvan Learning Center: Learning Feels Good)
• TNM (seen on the American Rifleman Video Collection)
• Trans World International, Inc.
• Wagner (one known copy of Instructional Video for Wagner Models 355 375)
• Wet Cement Productions (some Ewe Know tapes)

How to Tell

• Some tapes from this duplicator had a print date in dark ink, which was formatted like the following examples:

Example 1:

T-80 DFI 37288 11/10/93 09:36

Example 2:

T-115 DFI 106608.01 2ND 5/3/01

• Sometimes the printings looked like this instead:

Example 1:

HTC-UNDERGROUND 106243.11 2ND 4/23/01

Example 2:

EWE THANKFUL 112086.05 2ND 10/22/02

Example 3:

EWE GOING THERE? 112993.02 1ST 11-15-02

Example 4:

#1 GARAGE 119741.08 2ND 1/12/04

• However, some tapes from this duplicator, particularly in its formative years, did not have any form of printing at all.
• Tapes from this duplicator do not have anything in the vertical blanking interval.
• One known copy each of The Buttercream Gang and Willy the Sparrow duplicated here had a code with a date and a clock on the bottom of the screen at the end, similar to what CDI Media did, sticking out from the bottom of the vertical blanking interval on their tapes. This was followed by a few extra seconds of black screen following the blank space along with the "fading rainbow" at the tail end.

Gallery

• 
• 
  An example of what print dates on tapes from this duplicator looked like.
• 
  An example of the code at the end of one known copy each of The Buttercream Gang and Willy the Sparrow by The Duplication Factory, this example being from said copy of the former.

Locations

• Chaska, Minnesota

Website

• duplicationfactory.com (via the WayBack Machine)