Home Media Magazine - November 11-17, 2007 - (Page 12) NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com Genius Ups Warner to Distribute Paramount and Credit Facility DreamWorks Animation DVDs in China By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLIER Genius Products LLC, the DVD distribution company majority owned by The Weinstein Co., closed a $50 million amended and restated credit facility. The three-year, senior-secured revolving credit facility, with Société Générale Corp. & Investment Banking and Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, could total $100 million based upon expected incremental commitments, according to a regulatory filing. Santa Monica, Calif.-based Genius said it will use the funds for working capital, content acquisition, production, distribution and marketing costs. The funding, which is based in part on Genius — not Weinstein Co. — accounts receivables, updates a current, three-year, $30 million revolving line of credit with Société Générale. The company has more than $22 million available on the revolving facility and about $13 million in free cash, according to regulatory filings. “The facility will provide the financial capacity for us to fully execute the second phase of our business expansion,” said Stephen Bannon, chairman of Genius. Expansion includes DVD co-productions with branded partners such as ESPN, World Wrestling Entertainment, Discovery Kids and Dimension Films, among others, Bannon said. Genius reports third-quarter results Nov. 14. By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLIER Seeking an upper hand on rampant sales of counterfeit movie DVDs in China, Warner Home Video will begin distributing content from Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation in the communist country. Warner, in partnership with China Audio Video (CAV), is one of the few major Hollywood studios to have established a competitively priced DVD distribution channel in China. Last year, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment opened a representative office in Beijing and has an exclusive agreement with the country’s largest video distributor, Zoke Culture Group. CAV Warner Home Entertainment, the studio’s joint venture, Nov. 1 released Paramount’s Transformers in more than 50 cities and 20,000 retail outlets. DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek the Third is slated for release Nov. 28. The DVDs are released in Mandarin. “Warner has demonstrated that securing key retail outlets in China is necessary to supplant pirated content with legitimate product to fight piracy,” said Dennis Maguire, president of Paramount Home Entertainment International. With more than 100 million DVD players in Chinese households, sales of DVD and VCD discs topped $1 billion in 2005, according to the China Economic Review. Reports suggest upwards Transformers of 90% of all entertainment DVDs sold in China are pirated. The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that studios lose about $1.2 billion annually in the Asia-Pacific region due to pirated DVDs and illegally recorded theatrical releases. Image ‘Stuck’ on Theatrical Release By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLIER Image Entertainment’s strategy to generate additional revenue through theatrical distribution took another step with the planned spring 2008 release of thriller Stuck, starring Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea. Written and directed by Stuart Gordon, Stuck is the story of Brandi Broski (Suvari), who hits a homeless man (Rea) with her car, impaling him on the windshield. Instead of seeking help, Broski drives home and hides the car in her garage with the still-alive man stuck in the windshield. What ensues is a bloody battle of wits between Suvari and Rea. Chatsworth, Calif.-based Image co-produced the film. ThinkFilm will distribute Stuck theatrically in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with Image handling North American home video and electronic sellthrough. Martin Greenwald, president and CEO of Image, said the deal underscores Image’s aim to generate incremental revenue across multiple distribution channels. “Our combined efforts will build upon and strengthen our developing business model,” Greenwald said. In other news, Image extended to Nov. 15 the closing date of its acquisition by BTP Acquisition Co. LLC. The two companies agreed to delay closure of the $132 million deal from Nov. 6 to allow Image to file second-quarter (ended Sept. 30) financial results. Image lost $2.6 million on revenue of $20.9 million in the first quarter. NAVARRE Q2 LOSS UP AS BCI STRUGGLES By Erik Gruenwedel BCI contributed to Navarre Corp. posting a second-quarter loss. The company lost $400,000 during the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to income of $1.6 million during the same period last year. Minneapolis-based Navarre properties include publishing subsidiaries Funimation, Encore and BCI. Navarre said it realized a $6 million comparableyear decline in distribution revenue following a strategic decision to exit an unprofitable major studio DVD contract with an unnamed retail partner. Cary Deacon, CEO of Navarre, said the company will continue to focus efforts to reposition BCI into the Latino and budget categories. SUPPLIER MERCHANDISING A Look at the ‘Rat’ Race Best Buy Ratatouille Disney SRP $29.99, $34.99 BD Target $15.99 w/bonus disc $29.99 Blu-ray Wal-Mart $19.96 w/Food Network DVD $24.96 Blu-ray Circuit City $14.99 w/apron & chef’s hat $29.99 Blu-ray Amazon.com $14.99 $23.95 Blu-ray $14.99; $29.99 BD w/Enchanted movie ticket $9.99 figurine set ($5 off) Universal SRP $29.98, $39.98 HD I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry $16.99 $29.99 HD DVD $15.99 $29.99 HD DVD $19.96 w/T-shirt $29.96 HD DVD $15.99 $29.99 HD DVD $16.99 $27.95 HD DVD Seinfeld: Season 9 Sony Pictures SRP $49.95 $29.99 w/bonus disc $16.99 earlier seasons $29.99 $29.87 w/bonus disc $29.99 w/comic book $29.99 A Dennis the Menace Christmas Warner; SRP $19.97 $14.99 $15.99 $13.72 $15.99 $14.99 download By John Latchem he release week of Nov. 6 featured several big titles for retailers to promote, most notable among them Ratatouille, the latest Disney/Pixar offering. The buzz surrounding Ratatouille also trickled down to other Disney films. Best Buy set up a huge Disney display, offering Disney catalog titles for $6.99 each or five for $30. The display offered gift boxes for holiday shopping. Circuit City offered a $5 discount with the purchase of Ratatouille or the new Pixar Short Films Collection Vol. 1, plus an earlier Pixar title. The chain also had a two-for-$22 deal with the purchase of I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and an earlier Adam Sandler comedy. Target, on the other hand, stepped up its promotion of Blu-ray titles, offering a $10 gift card with purchase of the Blu-ray versions of both Cars and Ratatouille. Also on the Blu-ray front, a Wal-Mart in Long Beach, Calif., had standalone Blu-ray players for sale. T 12 Home Media Magazine November 11–17, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com
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