Home Media Magazine - September 2-8, 2007 - (Page 44) NEWS ADV Films to Handle Geneon Titles Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com SVP of sales and marketing. “We don’t have the double-digit growth in home video that we saw four to five years ago, but the category is still growing,” he said. “For all that, anime remains a niche business compared to other categories. With all the consolidation that has taken place at the retail level, we believe that combining our two catalogs enables us to compete at a higher level.” According to The DVD Release Report, ADV’s total released titles, not including re-releases or boxed sets, are 891. Geneon’s tally is 709, with Funimation a distant third with 461. After peaking in 2004 and 2005, every U.S. anime distributor has seen their total number of new titles decline annually. ADV believes this deal will help produce more anime DVDs. “Stronger companies mean more anime,” Bailiff said. “The efficiencies Geneon and ADV achieve through this deal allow both companies to concentrate on bringing more anime to market.” Much like 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM, ADV Films has merely reached a distribution, sales and marketing deal with Geneon. Geneon will still be in charge of production of its products. However, Bailiff said ADV sees an opportunity in updating and re-releasing some of Geneon’s top catalog titles, including the bestselling Akira. “By Q1 you should start seeing some new configurations that are going to make fans very happy,” Bailiff said. A Geneon representative, however, said ADV would not be able to update catalog. “Essentially this is a distribution deal only,” said Jim Yardley, Geneon VP of sales and marketing. “ADV won’t retouch or redo Geneon properties.” Still, Bailiff looks forward to distributing classics from Geneon. “The thing about anime is that even while we’re holding on to fans as they get older, we’re constantly renewing our fan base as young people discover the genre for the first time,” he said. “Our challenge, and the fun part of this job, is introducing new fans to evergreen titles such as Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion. This is one aspect of the Geneon deal that is very positive for ADV, because Geneon has a lot of evergreen titles.” “The efficiencies we’ll achieve ultimately will mean more anime for the fans to enjoy,” Geneon president and CEO Eiji Orii said in an official statement. There has been no announcement on any layoffs or other impact on Geneon employees. “Nothing’s been finalized at this time,” Yardley said. ADV co-founder and president John Ledford added in a statement: “As we look ahead to an increasingly digital future, scale matters. In bringing anime to new media platforms, ADV Films and Geneon can only benefit.” Cruising Warner, Friedkin Tout Controversial ‘Cruising’ on DVD The 1980 film hits disc for the first time Sept. 18 By Billy Gil one point, Steven Spielberg was in talks to dierhaps no film in William Friedkin’s oeu- rect the film, which is partially adapted from vre is as misunderstood as Cruising. The Gerald Walker’s novel of the same name. 1980 film from the maestro of controver- Protests plagued the actual filmmaking as well sy stars Al Pacino as a cop sent undercover to as its release, putting star Pacino on edge. find a killer in New York’s leather and S&M gay “I understood the protest because it was the bars. It was met with outrage, both from shocked beginning of gay rights; the leaders of that comaudiences and an offended gay community. munity [may have thought the film] was not the Friedkin, also the director of The Exorcist, best foot forward at the time,” Friedkin said. “I was on hand Aug. 29 at Grauman’s Chinese think it’s more seen now as a film than a politTheatre in Hollywood, Calif., to ical statement, which it never was.” answer questions prior to a He was especially surprised screening of the film. Warner since the director said he went to Home Video hosted the screening great lengths to portray the New in advance of its Sept. 18 release of York scene accurately, spending the film on DVD, for the first time. six months visiting bars to get a Cruising – Deluxe Edition feel for the milieu, a fact portrayed ($19.97) will include a commenon the DVD’s special features. tary from Friedkin, a remastered Also on those special features is soundtrack, and the featurettes testimony that Friedkin tried to “The History of Cruising” and “ExWilliam Friedkin keep his actors on their toes durorcising Cruising.” ing his films through methods Friedkin thanked Warner’s Jeff Baker, such as firing a gun on the set of The Exorcist George Feltenstein and Ronnee Sass for help- right before filming a scene, according to ing to put the film out on DVD and in a the- Venice Magazine editor in chief Alex Simon, atrical run. Warner bought the rights to the who held the Q&A with Friedkin. film, among other films, from United Artists. “I don’t remember that,” Friedkin said. “I When the studio asked fans which films should look at [the DVD].” among those it should put on DVD, Friedkin Friedkin, who on the day of the event was said, “Cruising was way at the top of the list.” celebrating his 72nd birthday, was especially “This print is magnificent … no matter what enthusiastic about DVD in general, which he you think of the subject matter,” Friedkin said. called “the true cinematheque.” Despite appearing quite confident about the “Up until the invention of DVD, most [oldfilm, both when it was released and how it holds er] films were destroyed,” Friedkin said. up today, Friedkin admitted to rough patches “Now, studios realize old films … still have while making the film. He initially “had no in- [value] to new audiences. terest in [making the film] whatsoever,” and at “The legacy of film is because of DVD.” Blockbuster Continued from page 1 McKidd from “Rome”) who travels through time to change people’s lives. “Bionic Woman,” with British actress Michelle Ryan, is an updated remake of the 1970s TV series starring Lindsay Wagner, about improving a human woman with cybernetic implants. “Chuck” is an action-adventure comedy with Zachary Levi (Less Than Perfect) as a computer nerd transformed into a government spy. Drama “Life” is about an LAPD detective played by Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers), who is given a second chance at life. Under terms of the promotion, Total Access members can rent the DVD online or in stores. In-store rental rules apply, however, which means due dates and appropriate late fees will be enforced. The NBC fall prime-time TV season begins Sept. 24. P CLASSIFIED SHOWCASE STOR E F IX TU R E S U S E D TA P E S & D V D S U.K.: DVRS COULD HURT DVD SALES CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING MAKES DOLLARS AND SENSE! By Chris Tribbey U.K. government report on the use of Digital Video Recorders casts a less-than-rosey picture for future DVD sales and TV ad revenue in the United Kingdom. A DVR report for the United States released this summer mirrors the results on ads. The U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) said in its report that 15% of the population owns a DVR, and 78% of those responding to Ofcom inquiries said that they fast-forward through commercials. 44 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Kurt Wohlman (714) 338-6749 kwohlman@questex.com www.homemediamagazine.com “Film is the genre that most DVR owners prefer to watch recorded,” the report reads. “As the majority of DVDs are films, one of the likely consequences of this could be an impact on the amount of time spent watching DVDs.” According to the report, 28% of DVR owners claim they watch fewer DVDs because of the DVR, while 9% said they watch more. And as hard drives for DVRs become cheaper and can hold more programming, users will be even less likely to purchase hard copies, the report reads. Home Media Magazine September 2–8, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.jdprinc.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.cwdi.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.