Home Media Magazine - November 11-17, 2007 - (Page 20) Edited by Angelique Flores www.homemediamagazine.com Merchandising Watch By Angelique Flores big question always comes up when it comes to Latino DVD product: In which section should retailers place it? Latino, foreign, international, arthouse, Spanish? A Wal-Mart in Santa Ana, Calif., has a dedicated “Español” section that takes up about a quarter of the store’s DVD shelf space. It has a mix of both Spanishlanguage films and TV programs and mainstream Hollywood hits subtitled or dubbed in Spanish. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment had a good showing of catalog titles with a Latino twist (the “Zorro” films), mainstream films (Casino Royale, Rocky Balboa) with Spanish subtitles and newer Latino films (Yellow). Most of the Sony titles had a yellow sticker that said “Incluye Español,” referring to the inclusion of a Spanish audio track. Meanwhile, Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s titles had a red sticker that read, “Con opción de audio en Español,” indicating the titles’ Spanish audio. Universal’s Rápido y Furioso: Reto Tokio (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) was the only mainstream title that had packaging in Spanish. The only exclusive at Wal-Mart was Xenon Pictures’ two-pack of El Chavo del 8 Vol. 5 ($9.96). New Line Home Entertainment’s COM I NG Pan’s Labyrinth appeared in both the Español section and the main DVD section. However, the single-disc ($13.72) was in the Español section and the main section had the twodisc version ($27.23). The studio’s El Cantante ($17.35) was the only Latino title on the new release wall. The Español section also had a mini-kidvid section, mostly taken up by DVDs from Universal or GT Media. Paramount Home Entertainment’s “Dora the Explorer” titles, however, appeared in the main kidvid section, as they were at a Target store in Santa Ana, a city with a sizable Latino population. Target, which labels its Latino DVD section “Sabor Latino,” had some of the same titles as Wal-Mart, with prices only pennies apart. However, Target had Xenon’s America Campeon for $12.99, while Wal-Mart had it for $9.84. Target had Amor Real for $14.99, compared to $13.72 at WalMart. And season two of the popular “Rebelde” was $14.99 at Target and $13.88 at Wal-Mart. A good portion of the Sabor Latino section was taken up by Xenon’s popular telenovelas. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Cars ($19.99) had Spanish packaging, as did Universal’s Identidad Descondida (The Bourne Supremacy, $9.99). Both films had Spanish audio tracks. Price cuts appeared on Sony’s Volver from $19.99 to $13.78, and Xenon’s Rubí from $19.99 to $14.99. At Target, Pan’s Labyrinth was found only in the mainstream best seller section. Meanwhile, a Ritmo Latino in Santa Ana had its DVD walls and bins largely filled with Spanish DVDs. There was a small English section, a music section and a good chunk dedicated to adult films in both English and Spanish. On the floor, a block covered in wrapping paper held stacks of bargain titles from East West Entertainment. These multidisc boxed sets ranged from $5.98 to $9.98 and carried classic Mexican films featuring such legendary stars as Pedro Infante and Cantinflas. Warner Home Video had a “Cine Latino” standee with catalog Latino films (Mambo Kings, Before Night Falls), subtitled or dubbed Hollywood films (Batman Begins, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) and new Latino films (Babel and the “Mejorando Tu Vida” health series). Unicine’s Fray Martin ($12.98) played on small flat-screen TV in the middle of the DVD shelves. Also pulled out from the rest of the (unalphabetized or ordered) DVD shelves were Unicine’s La Virgen de Coromoto ($12.98), Lionsgate’s Amar Te Duele ($10.98) and Chile Films’ Corazon de Mellon ($12.98). The only DVD that could be found at all three stores was Unicine’s Al Otro Lado — $13.84 at Wal-Mart, $17.98 at Ritmo Latino and $12.99 at Target, where it was sold out. Castillo de la Pureza, a drama from Arturo Ripstein based on a true story of a man who keeps his family imprisoned in their house for 18 years; En Busco de Un Muro, a drama about Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco starring Ignacio Lopez Tarso; and Los de Abajo, a classic Mexican war film, starring Eric del Castillo. All DVDs are $9.99 each. UP I DESERT MOUNTAIN MEDIA Dec. 18 releases El I ECHO BRIDGE HOME ENTERTAINMENT Dec. 4 releases Antonia (DVD $26.99), a drama starring a who’s who of contemporary Brazilian music artists. I FIRST RUN FEATURES Nov. 20 bows Almost Brothers (DVD $24.95), from its Global Lens Collection. The film takes a look at the class struggle in Brazil over four decades. I GENIUS PRODUCTS Dec. 4 releases Drama/Mex (DVD $24.95), from executive producers Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. I IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT Dec. 11 bows the drama Whisky, Romeo, Zulu (DVD $24.99). I KOCH LORBER Dec. 4 bows Live-in Maid (DVD $26.98), starring Norma Aleandro, Argentina’s first lady of stage and screen. I LAGUNA PRODUCTIONS this week releases Un Día Sin Sexo (DVD $24.95). Dec. 4 come the gritty dramas Vatos and Barrio Wars (DVDs $9.99 each). Streeting Dec. 11 (prebook Nov. 13) are Las Guapas del Jaripeo: Bocanegra and Las Guapas del Jaripeo: Xaltocan (DVDs $9.99 each), two sports titles of rodeo hosted by female rodeo stars. Both DVDs include interviews with the riders and a commentary after each performance. Dec. 18 (prebook Nov. 20) arrives Sangre de Valientes, starring Armando Infante and Karla Barahona. I LIONSGATE Dec. 18 (prebook Nov. 21) has more DVDs from the “Caminantes … Si Hay Camino” Mexican documentary TV series for $12.98 each. Grandes Actrices Vol.1 highlights the lives of legendary Mexican actresses Evita Muñoz “Chachita” and Carmerlita González. Grandes Comediantes Vol. 3 features Antonio Espino Mora “Clavillazo” and Gaspar Henaine “Capulina.” Continued on Page 22 I JAMAN, TERRA TEAM UP International and indie film download site Jaman.com has partnered with Latino portal Web Terra.com. Jaman will become a featured provider of Spanish-language and Latino-themed movies for Terra.com visitors. Jaman will feature Terra shorts, a collection of four short films, specially commissioned for the Web and created by prominent writers, directors and actors from the Latino film community. The shorts include the works of director-writer Guillermo Arriaga and actress Alicia Braga. Besides reaching out to a young Latino audience, the sites will offer opportunities for Latino artists to showcase their work as well as give a chance to advertisers to reach this popular demographic. National Telecommunications and Information Administration, will provide a toll-free number with a Spanish-language option for questions. Celebrating Boricua Cinema I UNIVISION EDUCATES CONSUMERS ON DIGITAL TV Univision Communications has launched a campaign to educate the U.S. Hispanic population about the 2009 digital TV transition, according to Marketing Y Medios. The multiplatform campaign includes 30second public service announcements that will air on Univision and TeleFutura, local TV, radio stations and the Univision.com. The spots will feature top Univision talent. Phase two of the campaign will teach consumers how to receive more information as well as coupons for the conversion device. The media giant also is airing special programs to cover the issue on its newscasts. Univision, which is working with the Federal Communications Commission and the I TELEMUNDO ON YAHOO.COM Telemundo is offering full-length episodes of all its prime-time series and telenovelas on the Yahoo Telemundo portal, according to Media Week. The streamable episodes, along with extra footage, are available the morning after the show’s TV airing. In a separate move, Yahoo Telemundo has debuted Mujer de Hoy, a Spanish-language site dedicated to Latinas, according to Ad Week. The site features original programming and online-produced content for women, through a content partnership with iVillage (also owned by NBC Universal), the publication said. Among the features are increased streaming from Telemundo shows, such as “Cada Día” and “Al Rojo Vivo.” – Angelique Flores I SÍ TV CREATES WEB SITES Media company SíTV has launched two community-based Web sites, entertainment.sitv.com and trends.sitv.com. The company boasts that the sites are the first content-based digital platforms that deliver indie content targeted at young, Englishspeaking Latinos ages 18 to 34. Content ranges from music, film, gaming, cars, and extensive video offerings from SíTV shows. The Film Corp. of Puerto Rico hosted a party at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., during AFM in celebration of the launch of Cinema Puerto Rico. (L-R): Writer-director Gio Santini, actress Tatyana Ali and director Franc. Reyes. Photo by: Lisa Villasenor Home Media Magazine November 11–17, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Jaman.com http://Terra.com http://YAHOO.COM http://Terra.com http://Univision.com http://entertainment.sitv.com http://trends.sitv.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.