Home Media Magazine - October 14-20, 2007 - (Page 16) NEWS BRIEFS I ‘EVERYTHING’S COOL’ WITH NEW ALL-GREEN LABEL City Lights Pictures and Green Owl Productions have formed City Lights Pictures/Green Owl, billed as the first allgreen visual entertainment label. Distribution is through Warner Music Group’s WEA Corp. The joint venture’s first release will be the Sundance Film Festival documentary Everything’s Cool: A Toxic Comedy About Global Warming due Dec. 11 (prebook Nov. 13) at $24.98. The film has a limited theatrical run Nov. 9, and Sundance Channel will broadcast the program in January. The DVD will come in environmentally friendly packaging created from 100% recycled paper, and includes deleted scenes, DVD-ROM links, a photo gallery and commentary from directors Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand. – John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com Genius Seeks Nasdaq Listing, Investors Supplier touts relationships with top retailers By Erik Gruenwedel He said Genius is on track to generate $750 million to S U P P L I E R Genius Products Inc. is proposing a re- $800 million in gross revenue this fiscal year, including verse stock split aimed at making the DVD supplier $200 million from non-Weinstein titles, which Bannon eligible for listing on the Nasdaq Global Market. said generate higher margins. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based distributor’s board is The executive said Genius earns a 5% fee for the 20 to considering reverse stock split ratios from 1-and-5 and 1- 25 feature films and 60 to 90 direct-to-video (TWC) tiand-8, according to a regulatory filing. tles it distributes. The minimum stock price required In fiscal 2006 Genius generated to list shares on Nasdaq is $5 per $387 million in revenue, of which 83% share. Genius stock closed Oct. 9 up originated from TWC and the remain11 cents to $2.75 per share. «CONSOLIDATION AT RETAIL der primarily from DVD sales of ES“We believe that current and prospecHAS REALLY ADDED TO OUR PN and World Wrestling Entertaintive investors will view an investment ment content, according to Bannon. STRENGTH. WE ARE IN THE in our common stock more favorably This year Genius intends to increase BUSINESS OF HELPING TO if our shares are listed on Nasdaq … from 17% to 25% the percentage of PROGRAM RETAIL.» than if our common stock trades on non-Weinstein titles in the overall STEPHEN BANNON, the OTC Bulletin Board,” Genius CEO revenue mix. CHAIRMAN Trevor Drinkwater stated in the filing. Indeed, Genius said it inked a producAs of Aug. 31, Genius, which is 70% owned by The We- tion and distribution deal with veteran producer Quincy instein Co. (TWC), had more than 67 million shares of Jones’ QD3 Entertainment for a series of urban DVDs. outstanding common stock. Last week, Genius reported it had borrowed $6 million Addressing an investor conference last week in New (with rights for an additional $2 million) from its corpoYork, Stephen Bannon, chairman of Genius, said the rate parent to pay TWC as part of a distribution agreement. distributor was the fastest growing company in the enCFO John Mueller told investors Genius had about $5 tertainment industry. million in cash on its balance sheet, had just closed a He reiterated Genius’ aim to become a dominant sup- $70 million credit facility and had more than $100 milplier of independent film, sports, faith, family and lion in accounts receivables. lifestyle DVDs to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target and BlockBannon said Genius will continue to focus on specialty buster. fare and leave the blockbuster titles to the major studios. “Consolidation at retail has really added to our “Retailers don’t make money on the big titles, such as strength,” Bannon said. “We are in the business of help- ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Spider-Man,’” he said. “They have to ing to program retail. We come up with programmatic make money in the specialty traffic and that is where we solutions for retail.” come in.” Genius Inks Deal With Quincy Jones By Thomas K. Arnold P R O D U C T Genius Products LLC, the home entertainment distribution company owned by The Weinstein Co. and Genius Products Inc., has partnered with Quincy Jones III and QD3 Entertainment, a leading supplier of urban content, to produce and acquire original home entertainment titles and feature films. The multiyear output deal, with QD3 affiliate Digerati Holdings LLC, will yield at least two original titles a year. QD3 Entertainment also will work jointly with Genius to acquire completed or nearly finished urban titles for sole distribution under the QD3 Entertainment brand. Since its inception in 2002, QD3 Entertainment has amassed a library of more than 2,000 hours of film. One of the company’s most successful urban direct-to-DVD titles is Thug Angel, the biopic on late rapper Tupac Shakur. In addition to its own broadband channel at www.qd3.com, the company has a number of strategic partnerships with such key players as Comcast, Joost, Nickelodeon and BET. Quincy said QD3 is “committed to producing provocative, entertaining and engaging projects. “I look forward to expanding the reach and quality of our programming with Genius as our partner.” The first title, already in production, is Who Shot Ya, a documentary that examines the violence in hip-hop through conversations with prominent rappers discussing their personal experiences being shot. The film also aims to shed light on the larger epidemic of gun violence and its disproportionate impact on young men of color. Genius, which is 70% owned by The Weinstein Co., also has linked with more than a dozen content partners in the last two years to help it bulk up in market share, from World Wrestling Entertainment and Asia Extreme to Classic Media, Discovery Kids and Animal Planet. “QD3 Entertainment has a proven track record of both creative excellence and commercial success,” said Trevor Drinkwater, CEO of Genius Products. “We welcome them into the Genius family and anticipate working together on important and entertaining titles beginning with Who Shot Ya.” I FREMANTLEMEDIA AND NELVANA SIGN U.K. DEAL FremantleMedia Enterprises has entered into a four-year partnership with distributor Nelvana Enterprises, granting FremantleMedia exclusive DVD distribution rights for Nelvana’s animated content in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The deal allows FremantleMedia to broaden its children’s entertainment brands in the United Kingdom. FreemantleMedia will begin releasing on DVD such Nelvana shows as “Babar,” “Grossology,” “Di-Gata Defenders,” “Jane and the Dragon,” “Franklin” and “Rolie Polie Olie.” – Billy Gil Sony Forms Stage 6 Production Company By Erik Gruenwedel S U P P L I E R Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group, a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment, has formed a new production company, Stage 6 Films, with the intent of producing 10 to 15 movies annually for DVD and theatrical release. Initial titles include Conspiracy and Felon, both starring Val Kilmer. Thomas Jane (The Punisher) gets his directorial debut in thriller Dark Country. Additional projects include horror-thriller The Stone House, The Lodger with Alfred Molina and sequels, Starship Troopers: Marauder with Casper Van Dien, and Art of War 2 with Wesley Snipes. Stage 6 will both acquire and produce the content, much of it earmarked as prequels and sequels to established movies. Sony spokesperson Fritz Friedman said the unit’s strategy will be similar to what the studio did with producing and releasing Daddy Day Camp — the sequel to 2003’s I BBC HOLDS DVD COVER CONTEST BBC Video is letting fans select the cover for the upcoming Torchwood: The Complete First Season DVD set. The seven-disc set hits shelves Jan. 22, 2008 (prebook Dec. 18) at $79.98. A spinoff of the long-running “Doctor Who,” “Torchwood” stars John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness, who heads a special British agency that uses alien technology to solve mysteries. The show recently debuted on BBC America and was the highest-rated drama in the channel’s history. From Oct. 15 to 26, fans can visit BBCAmerica.com/torchwooddvdvote to select their favorite cover from two choices. In addition, 20 voters will be randomly selected to receive a copy of the DVD set. – John Latchem Daddy Day Care. “They could have theatrical releases but the determination of distribution cannot be made until after the project is done,” Friedman said. “Eventually they will come out on DVD either as DVD premiers or after their theatrical releases.” Future sequels include Vacancy 2 and Center Stage 2. ANALYST: NETFLIX TO POST Q3 SUB GROWTH By Erik Gruenwedel R E TA I L Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix Inc. is expected to rebound with subscriber growth in the third quarter following its first ever sub decline last quarter, said a Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst. Michael Pachter, who last week estimated a 100,000 subscriber decline for Blockbuster Total Access in the third quarter, said he believes Netflix could possibly add the same number of subs to its base of about 6.7 million members. Blockbuster ended the second quarter with 3.6 million online subscribers. Pachter said Blockbuster Total Access’ meteoric rise from 1.5 million subs to 3.6 million in less than a year was due to an aggressive and expensive marketing campaign ($300 million) the Dallas-based DVD rental giant recently put the brakes on. The analyst said Blockbuster’s marketing retrenchment, initiated after it lost $35 million in the second quarter, would benefit its rival. Netflix, in turn, apparently upped its media marketing as evidenced by TV spots aired during the current Major League Baseball divisional playoffs. “I think online rental sub growth is slowing, but not negatively,” Pachter said. “Netflix will grow this quarter.” Citing a “quiet period,” a Netflix spokesperson declined comment on media purchases and Pachter’s projection. Netflix reports third-quarter results Oct. 22. Home Media Magazine October 14–20, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://BBCAmerica.com/torchwooddvdvote
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