WantedList was an adult
DVD-by-mail service established in 1999, offering flat-rate subscription-based rentals by mail to customers in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It was based in
Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909, t ...
with an additional distribution center in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
.
WantedList had approximately 25,000 subscribers and 20,000 adult DVD titles in stock. It was founded by Anh Tran and Danny Ting, two Asian Americans who were formerly consultants for
Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...
. The technology for the entire operation was designed and implemented by African American / Canadian First Nation software architect Matthew Lopes.
WantedList attracted the attention of several men's magazines between 2003 and 2006, resulting in a number of adult industry novelty publications. One such innovation, the "Pornotron" suggestion engine, drew legal attacks from Hasbro toys, who claimed the product "damaged the good name" of the Transformer's Decepticon line, from which the original artwork was inspired.
Acquisitions
WantedList acquired competitor websites FlickSmart and RentFlixxx in Q4 of 2004. Shortly thereafter they acquired additional competitor websites Video Takeout and Flick Central (both holdings of VTO Enterprises Inc. founded by
Dennis Consorte). This last acquisition gave the company their
East Coast distribution point in New Jersey to support the
West Coast center in California.
Competition
WantedList is one of a number of websites in the pornographic video marketplace that mimic the Netflix model of subscription-based rentals by mail. Other sites include: DVD Empire, XRentDVD,
Intelliflix (closed), Intimatedvd, AdultDVDCentral.com,
Rentdvdxxx.com, URentDVDs and
SugarDVD
SugarInstant (formerly called SugarDVD) is an online adult movie streaming service. At one time, it was the largest renter of adult DVDs online. Initially, SugarInstant's services were limited to flat-rate membership-based DVD-by-mail, but sinc ...
Awards
WantedList won the
AVN Award for Best Retail Website in 2005, 2006 (tied with Adult DVD Empire) and 2007 and the Xbiz award for Web Retailer of the Year in 2007.
WantedList is a winner of the 2010 Best Adult DVD Rental award for best online porn DVD movie rental service.
Notes
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.wantedlist.com
Skin CityWired Magazine
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fr ...
November 2005.
Sex and Two Single GuysAsianWeek
''AsianWeek'' was America's first and largest English language print and on-line publication serving Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the “Voice of Asian America”. ...
October 2003.
WantedList.com Buying FlickSmart and Rentflixxx AVN November 2004.
WantedList.com Acquires Video Takeout and Flick Central AVN December 2004.
AVN AwardsXBiz Awards
Video rental services
Entertainment companies based in California
Companies based in Los Angeles
American companies established in 1999
Entertainment companies established in 1999
1999 establishments in California
Adult_entertainment_companies