Home Media Magazine - February 3-9, 2008 - (Page 4)

NEWS BRIEFS I ‘MARTIAN CHILD’ SNIPPED FOR DOVE FOUNDATION New Line Home Entertainment has trimmed minor lines of dialogue from Martian Child to secure the Dove Foundation’s seal of approval for the DVD. As indicated on the Dove Foundation’s Web site, Martian Child, while in theaters, was not awarded the Dove seal due to dialogue that “includes the use of the Lord’s name in vain.” According to a New Line spokesperson, these lines have been edited out of the ‘PG’-rated movie by the ﬁlmmakers, allowing it to be released on DVD Feb. 12 with the Dove seal. – John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com Image, BTP Merger in Trouble By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLER Image Entertainment’s protracted merger with BTP Acquisition Company LLC appears to have veered off a cliff, with both sides accusing the other of breaching the agreement. BTP, which is headed by film financier David Bergstein, Jan. 23 issued a default notice to Image claiming the Chatsworth, Calif.-based DVD distributor had failed to satisfy various closing conditions, including obtaining approval from its current lender to help facilitate $60 million in cash toward the transaction. Image, in turn, filed a notice of anticipatory breach claiming BTP does not intend to complete the $130 million merger. The transaction was slated to close Feb. 1. BTP seeks a return of $3 million deposited in an escrow as a condition of it extending the merger closure four times since the deal was first announced last March. “Yes, [the deal] is in jeopardy,” confirmed Image COO David Borshell. Image Jan. 24 filed a motion against CT1 Holdings LLC — which was denied Jan. 25 by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge — alleging that a multiyear feature film DVD and electronic distribution deal was being used as leverage by BTP against the merger. CT1 is parent company of ThinkFilm and Capitol Films and headed by Bergstein. LIONSGATE INKS INTERIM DEAL WITH WGA By Erik Gruenwedel I MTV GOES UMD Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and MTV are making programming from the cable channel available on UMD, for use with Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) game system. Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection Vol. 2 and Vol. 3; Jackass Vol. 2 and Vol. 3; Wildboyz Vol. 1 and Vol. 2; Viva La Bam Vol. 2, Vol. 3 and Vol. 4; and Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated Collection (two-disc set) hit UMD Jan. 22 at $14.99 each. – Billy Gil I AMAZON Q4 UP, CEO TOUTS DIGITAL INITIATIVES During a call with investors, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said, “As media becomes digital and downloaded … our relative advantage over time should improve.” Still, the sales of physical media helped Amazon.com enjoy its most successful year ever. Worldwide media sales accounted for $3.33 billion of the fourth-quarter earnings, a 33% increase from 2006. – Chris Tribbey “[BTP] are claiming rights to the [CT1] output distribution agreement, and we are going to court to protect our rights,” Borshell said. “We believe they are claiming that because they cannot complete the merger itself.” He said if BTP can’t close the deal a special committee created to handle the merger will decide what action the Image board will take. Image CEO Martin Greenwald Jan. 28 sent a letter to Bergstein rejecting all default claims, calling for a meeting with CT1 and continuation of the output deal while all disagreements are dealt with in arbitration. “It is not a surprise that things are coming to a head,” Borshell said. “At some point something had to give. Either they close, or they won’t. Then it becomes a blame game.” The deal came under question late last year when BTP said it would consider acquiring cheaper shares of Image on the open market rather than paying the merger cash share price of $4.68. Bergstein reiterated that BTP had been in compliance with all provisions throughout the merger talks. He said the output deal between CT1 and Image had undergone multiple revisions. “I have enjoyed a close and cordial relationship with … Image, and it is unfortunate to witness the meltdown of these two large transactions — the merger and distribution relationship — by boardroom fiat, to the detriment of [Greenwald] and his team,” Bergstein said in a statement. Lionsgate Jan. 24 followed The Weinstein Co., United Artists, CBS News, Spyglass Entertainment and others by signing an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America (WGA). The deal, similar to previous interim agreements, calls for writers of re-used TV and movie content distributed over the Internet and other new media to be paid 2% and 2.5%, respectively, of the distributor’s gross receipts. There is no change to the DVD residual rate, which pays 3% (for TV) and 3.6% (for movies) of the producer’s gross receipts. “Lionsgate is considered a leader in the industry, and its signing an interim agreement again confirms that it is possible for both writers to be compensated fairly and respectfully for their work and for companies to operate profitably,” said Patric Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West, and Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East, in a joint statement. The WGA has been on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers since Nov. 5. SUPPLIER Movie Gallery Gets Reorg Plan Extension By Erik Gruenwedel RETAIL Movie Gallery’s path toward exiting Chapter 11 protection received a boost when a judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Virginia granted the video rental chain a fourmonth extension to June 13 to formally file a plan of reorganization. In addition, Gallery’s major creditors and bondholders formally approved the No. 2 DVD rental compa- PEOPLE I SONY NAMES BERSCH Steven Bersch has been hired as president of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. Bersch will report to Peter Schlessel, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s president of worldwide affairs. Bersch will oversee acquisitions for the division and co-ﬁnancing of pictures for various Sony Pictures distribution platforms. He also will manage the Stage 6 Films label. Bersch joins Sony Pictures after 14 years at 20th Century Fox, most recently serving as COO for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. I REDBOX DVD RENTALS HIT 100 MILLION Rental kiosk operator Redbox has rented its 100 millionth DVD, thanks to more than 13 million customers. Redbox has also passed 6,700 locations nationwide, the company announced, with kiosks in every state in the contiguous United States, most notably in McDonald’s restaurants and Albertson’s and Stop & Shop grocery stores. – Chris Tribbey ny’s financial reorganization plan. The filing deadline had been Feb. 13. A court hearing to discuss Gallery’s reorganization plan is slated for Feb. 5. The Dothan, Ala.-based chain in previous filings had said that without further protection, there could be “unwarranted interference from a dissident party attempting to derail the consensual restructuring pro- cess that has taken place.” Former owner of Hollywood Video Mark Wattles has been mentioned as a potential investor in an alternate reorganization plan but said in a December filing that he would not enter a rival plan. Gallery said it would ask the court to confirm the new fiscal plan and expects to exit from Chapter 11 protection in the second quarter. FOREIGN-LANGUAGE DVD RELEASES BY RELEASE TOTALS: 1997-2007* Since the launch of the DVD format in 1997, roughly one out of every 12 DVD releases has been a foreign-language feature film. As of Dec. 31, 2007, there had been 7,393 such titles released with domestic distribution. The undisputed leader in the category is Spanish-language product. Spanish-language films account for 37% of the DVD releases in this category — that’s more product for consumers to select from than the next top three language groups combined (Mandarin/Cantonese, French and Japanese). — Ralph Tribbey I WEINSTEIN CO., MYSPACE LAUNCH HORROR CONTEST The Weinstein Co. and MySpace through Feb. 29 are soliciting aspiring horror ﬁlm directors to submit videos to the community site for possible inclusion in zombie creator George Romero’s forthcoming Diary of the Dead DVD. The top 10 video submissions — as determined by site visitors — will be reviewed by Romero with the winner included on the DVD. Diary is Romero’s ﬁrst independent zombie ﬁlm in 20 years and is slated for theatrical release Feb. 15. – Erik Gruenwedel I All Others 29% I Japanese 9% I French 10% I GAIAM ACQUIRES VP 2,108 2,699 I Spanish 37% I Chinese (1) 15% Gaiam Inc. has named Sam Toles VP of content acquisitions. He will report directly to Gaiam’s president of entertainment and worldwide distribution, William Sondheim. 683 760 1,144 * Totals as of 12/31/07, includes titles released and subsequently discontinued. (1) Chinese includes Mandarin and Cantonese I NEW WAVE EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL TEAM New Wave Entertainment has hired former Warner Home Video executive Kristin Gallagher as VP of international development, based in Europe. I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Jan. 25, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through June 30, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,225+239 82,792+292 I RHINO NAMES SALATA Rhino Entertainment has named Marc Salata VP of marketing. He most recently was senior director of marketing. – Billy Gil I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY As of Week Ended Jan. 25 . . . . .Released I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR HD DVD As of Week Ended Jan. 25 . . . . .Released 404 Scheduled 49 386 Scheduled 39 Home Media Magazine February 3–9, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com

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Contents News Commentary Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - February 3-9, 2008

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