Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first direct-to-video release to enter production was E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind, a 1984 project produced by CineTel Films and directed by Robert Hegyes. This film did not appear in movie theaters, nor did it air on television, but instead went straight to the video shelf. It created a new marketplace that existed entirely apart from traditional cinema.
The practice of creating and releasing regular fiction specifically for video did not truly take off until 1994. That year saw the release of Disney's The Return of Jafar and Universal's The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, neither of which was intended to hit theaters at any point during production. By 1994, an average of six new direct-to-video films appeared each week.
In November 2007, Ed Burns' Purple Violets became the first film to premiere exclusively for sale on the iTunes Store. It was exclusive to the platform for a month. This event marked the emergence of direct-to-digital releases alongside or in lieu of home video.
In Japan, OVA stands for original video animation, while V-Cinema refers to non-animated works. Toei released the first film in its V-Cinema line, Crime Hunter, in March 1989. The OVA market developed in the mid-1980s, appealing to filmmakers because it allowed them to include more controversial content compared to broadcast television.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in worldwide closures of cinemas, prompting direct-to-digital releases for several major films. One example is the Chinese film Lost in Russia, which was acquired by ByteDance for 630 million yuan and streamed on its platforms for free. This shift demonstrated how direct-to-video distribution could adapt to different markets during global crises.