Direct-to-video
In the case of anime, this is called Original Video Animation (OVA or OAV), and their production values usually fall between those of television series and movies. They are often used to tell stories too short to fill a full TV season, and were particularly common in the early 1990s. Sometimes OVAs garner enough interest to justify commissioning a full television series, like Tenchi Muyo!, One Piece, and El Hazard.