Home Media Magazine - September 30 - October 6, 2007 - (Page 6)

NEWS BRIEFS I NEW LINE FINED OVER ‘RINGS’ DISPUTE New Line was tagged with a $125,000 fine for failing to save required documents and e-mails related to its legal dispute with director Peter Jackson over proceeds from DVD sales and foreign box office receipts for its “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Several news agencies reported that the judge in the case last year required New Line to provide licensing and sales data related to the case. However, the Los Angeles Times reported New Line was not complying. Reportedly New Line was ordered to hire an outside data retrieval company. Jackson sued New Line in 2005, claiming the company was not honest in its accounting for DVD sales of the movies. The case has reportedly held up production of The Hobbit, the prequel to “The Lord of the Rings.” – Chris Tribbey www.homemediamagazine.com Gallery to Close 520 Stores No. 2 rental chain also suffers credit-rating drop By Chris Tribbey R E TA I L Beleaguered movie rental chain Movie Gallery Inc. announced last week it will close 520 “underperforming and unprofitable” Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores, another piece of bad news for a company that saw its credit rating cut a week earlier. “Closing these stores was a difficult but necessary decision to protect the future of this company,” said Joe Malugen, chairman, president and CEO of Movie Gallery. “These stores are being closed after evaluating a number of factors, including store profits and the terms of the leases at each location. “This action will allow us to focus our resources on the approximate 4,000 stores that have a stronger operating performance and prospects for future growth.” While Movie Gallery revealed no numbers of affected employees, a press release stated that Movie Gallery was “committed to treating all affected employees fairly and providing the necessary assistance to make this transition as smooth as possible.” Great American Group, an outside professional services firm, has been retained to help sell off inventory at the closing stores. Customers with accounts at the closing stores may be able to have their accounts transferred to another Hollywood Video or Movie Gallery store, where possible. The Dothan, Ala.-based Movie Gallery had its credit AMAZON’S UNIT FOR BURN-ON-DEMAND GETS BBC TITLES By Billy Gil BBC Motion Gallery, the video footage licensing division of BBC worldwide, has made more than 20 of its titles available on Amazon.com via CreateSpace, which manufactures and ships DVDs as they are ordered. Selections available for the first time to the general public include Animal Capers, a series of comedic animal shorts; and Living Colour, which explores colors as they are found in nature. Other titles include Blue Skies, Bodyscapes, First Steps, Flower Power, Great British Eccentrics, Natural Remedies, Ultramarine, Weird Science and Zodiac. “BBC Motion Gallery has an amazing selection of unique short-form programming, and we’re pleased to help them make it available to a broader audience on Amazon.com,” said Dana LoPiccoloGiles, co-founder and managing director of CreateSpace. “With CreateSpace DVD on Demand, customers can find, buy and collect an even greater selection of BBC Motion Gallery titles and receive their purchase, on DVD, in just a few days.” CreateSpace, which changed its name from CustomFlix Labs in August, is a division of Amazon, acquired in 2005. R E TA I L I VCI RECALLS ‘DEAD THINGS’ DVD VCI Entertainment has issued an immediate recall on the DVD Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things: 35th Anniversary Exhumed Edition, which hit shelves Sept. 18. According to VCI president Robert A. Blair, the wrong DVD master was sent to the replicator, resulting in a final product that is cut by several minutes and has unfinished video corrections. To replace defective discs, call 800/331-4077, e-mail vci@vcient.com, or fax a request to 918/254-6117. Further details will be available at vcient.com. – John Latchem Several Hollywood Video locations are closing as a result of Movie Gallery’s financial troubles. rating dropped to junk “D” status earlier in September after failing to meet a deadline to pay off interest for a second-lien term loan. The company’s forbearance agreement extension with its lenders expires at the end of the month. P E O P LE Geneon and ADV Films: No Deal Distribution deal scuttled despite reported layoffs in Geneon’s sales division By Chris Tribbey S U P P L I E R Geneon Entertainment and ADV Films have called off a deal that would have had ADV Films distributing, selling and marketing Geneon’s titles in the United States. Calls to a Geneon spokesman were not immediately returned. However, the Anime News Network Web site I SONY PICTURES MAKES TWO PROMOTIONS, ONE HIRE Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has promoted Claire Mullaly to executive director, worldwide publicity. The division also has promoted Staci Griesbach to director, worldwide publicity. Mullaly will manage worldwide Mullaly strategy for home video, with a strong focus on Blu-ray Disc initiatives and corporate communications. Griesbach will manage public relations Griesbach strategy for new home video releases in the United States and Canada, with an emphasis on on family, faithbased and acquisition product. Allen Additionally, SPHE has added Jason Allen as manager, worldwide publicity, reporting to Mullaly. He previously served at Shout! Factory and Bender Helper Impact. —Billy Gil I MONTEREY PROMOTES PEACE WITH ‘10 QUESTIONS’ Monterey Media Inc. has organized a weekend celebrating peace to tie in with its award-winning film 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama. From Oct. 10 to 21, more than 100 groups across the United States and Canada will hold events “in a celebration of understanding, unity, tolerance, peace and oneness.” Among the groups organizing the events: Amnesty International’s National Weekend of Faith in Action, the United Nation’s International Day of Peace & Culture of Peace Initiative, Friends of Tibet, The Foundation for Universal Responsibility, The Association for Global New Thought, The Global Mala Project, Bay Area Friends of Tibet, Bioneers, New Conscious Review and Kids First. Hundreds of churches, service groups, Buddhist and Tibetan organizations, and others will ask local mayors to issue proclamations of peace, invite speakers to screenings of the DVD, and organize fundraising projects from nonprofit groups. Monterey is making both the DVD and a DVD interview with filmmaker Rick Ray available for fundraising efforts. – Chris Tribbey reported that a majority of Geneon’s sales division had been laid off in anticipation of the deal. “Geneon is an important player in the anime business and has a catalog we really admire,” said ADV Films spokesman Chris Oarr. “It’s unfortunate we were unable to come to terms with them. We wish them the best.” ANN also reported Dentsu Inc., the Japanese parent company of Geneon, was set to close Geneon’s American in-house production by the end of 2007. The distribution and sales deal, announced Aug. 29, was set to take effect Oct. 1. PRICING TRENDS FOR NEW THEATRICAL RELEASES ON DVD BY BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE: 2004 - 2007* The studios have learned to squeeze every nickel out of those films that score well at the box office. There is a direct correlation between how well a film performs at the local multiplex and its price on DVD, especially when a film tops the $100 million box office mark. Since 2004, the retail price for films in this elite group has climbed $2.50 on average, from $29.56 in 2004 to $30.06 this year, primarily driven by double-disc special editions. For movies below $100 million, the ability to push the price up tends to hit a wall at the $30 level. — Ralph Tribbey New Theatrical Releases On DVD By Box Office Performance $100 Million or greater $25 Million - $100 Million $10 Million - $25 Million $1 Million - $10 Million Under $1 Million Average Suggested Retail Price 2004 2005 2006 2007 $29.56 $29.01 $28.11 $27.34 $26.04 $30.14 $29.25 $28.93 $26.52 $25.55 $31.45 $30.05 $29.46 $27.35 $25.56 $32.06 $29.83 $29.53 $28.08 $25.79 * 2007 results include titles announced for release through Dec. 31, 2007 Price averages based upon supplier suggested retail price and not the price consumers actually pay at retail I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Sept. 14, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through Dec. 31, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,721+255 77,595+186 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY As of Week Ended Sept. 14, 2007 Released I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR HD DVD Scheduled As of Week Ended Sept. 14, 2007 Released 282 Scheduled 59 Home Media Magazine September 30–October 6, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com http://vcient.com

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

Home Media Magazine - September 30 - October 6, 2007

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