Home Media Magazine - December 2-8, 2007 - (Page 10) NEWS PEOPLE I NAVARRE CORP. TAPS BURKE FOR POSITION OF COO Navarre Corp., a Minneapolis-based home entertainment and multimedia software distributor, named Brian Burke COO. He will report to CEO Cary L. Deacon. Burke will oversee publishing, licensing and distribution operations as well as sales and marketing activities. He previously served as president of Navarre Corp.’s distribution business. – Billy Gil www.homemediamagazine.com A Piggybacking Pickle New Line sues Koch over a documentary release designed to capitalize on the theatrical release of ‘The Golden Compass’ tional effort attendant to the upcoming release of [The By Chris Tribbey LEGAL The Da Vinci Code, The Passion of the Christ, Batman Golden Compass], and in complete disregard of [New Line’s] Begins: all were box office hits on which DVD suppliers exclusive rights to the underlying materials, [Koch has] piggybacked. No matter how obscure or loosely connected produced and are marketing and distributing the infringing a property is, if it can be tied to a major theatrical release, video,” the lawsuit reads. New Line is claiming damages in independents have, and probably will, capitalize. excess of $10 million. The company had sought to stop Koch For New Line Cinema, however, one DVD company has from distributing the film; however, after a hearing Nov. 19, gone too far this time. no ruling had been handed down. The New York-based studio filed suit against Koch EnDavid Imhoff, EVP of worldwide licensing and mertertainment LP Nov. 15 chandising for New Line, in U.S. District Court wrote in a letter included in New York, claiming with the lawsuit: “I was copyright infringement, profoundly disturbed to unfair competition and see the ‘sell sheet’ and false advertising regardcover art for the Koch ing Koch Vision’s Nov. Entertainment DVD …. 20 release Beyond The It is immediately apparGolden Compass: The ent that the sell sheet Magic of Philip Pullman. and cover art are careNew Line releases The fully calculated to imitate Golden Compass film in the look of our authotheaters Dec. 7. rized merchandise so as Requests for comment to confuse the public.” to both New Line and New Line’s lawsuit alleges that Koch’s materials for its Golden He goes on to point out Koch were not returned Compass release are similar to the materials for the movie. similarities between the in time for publication. font styles, the inclusion New Line says it has spent tens of millions of dollars on of both polar bears and a golden compass, color schemes, the marketing and promotion for The Golden Compass. And and other similarities between the two products’ marketing with stars such as Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliot, materials. Eva Green and Ian McKellen, New Line says it has invested “It is difficult to imagine packaging that could be more more in the production of this film than any other in its deliberately misleading,” Imhoff wrote. 40-year history, including any of “The Lord of the Rings” New Line also claims Koch’s DVD violates the studio’s films. So when the studio saw the marketing materials for exclusive rights to “create any film or television works” based Koch’s DVD, including the cover and similar font usage to on the English novels by Pullman. However, Koch describes the theatrical film’s materials, it felt compelled to take the Beyond The Golden Compass: The Magic of Philip Pullman as issue to court, according to the lawsuit. a discussion of Pullman’s books, not the New Line film, and “In a cynical and transparent effort to unfairly compete as more similar to a documentary than a movie. with and capitalize on the massive publicity and promoSee NEW LINE, Page 32 Video Rentals Loom Large in Rental Market By Billy Gil new report from Research and Markets says the video rental industry accounts for half of the consumer product rental industry’s revenue. The study found that 51% of rental industry revenue comes from stores that rent video discs and tapes. The consumer product rental industry includes around 15,000 companies, with combined annual revenue of $22 billion, according to the report. The study counted companies that rent personal and household goods for short periods of time. Major companies counted include Blockbuster Inc., Movie Gallery, Aaron Rents and Rent-A-Centre. Other findings showed the largest 50 companies account for about 60% of industry revenue, average revenue per worker for a typical company is less than $100,000, and most video rental companies are small, although nearly half are franchises of large retail chains. The full report can be found at www. researchandmarkets.com/reports/ c75457. I WARNER PROMOTES ROBINOV TO PRESIDENT Jeff Robinov has been upped to president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, effective January 2008. The recently formed company combines Warner’s motion picture production, marketing and distributing operations, as well as Warner Independent Pictures, into a single entity. He will continue to share oversight of the studio’s direct-tovideo Warner Premiere arm with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. Robinov previously held the title of president of production at Warner Bros. Pictures since 2002. He will continue to report to Alan F. Horn, president and COO, Warner Bros. – Billy Gil I CINEMANOW NAMES SVP OF MARKETING Digital film delivery company CinemaNow has named Ashley Woodworth SVP of marketing. She will report to Curt Mavis, CEO of CinemaNow. Woodworth will handle marketing initiatives across multiple platforms, such as integration with consumer electronic devices. She previously served as VP of product at Move Inc., a real estate search Web site. – Billy Gil BRIEFS I RHINO OPENS L.A. STORE FOR HOLIDAYS Rhino Entertainment has opened a “popup” retail store for a month in Los Angeles to celebrate the holidays. The store at 8032 W. 3rd St., within walking distance of The Grove shopping center, opened Dec. 1 and closes Dec. 31. It will be open seven days a week, from noon to 8 p.m. Opening weekend events included a chance to win $500 in Rhino products and a giveaway of a pair of Led Zeppelin tickets. – John Latchem I HIT ENTERTAINMENT GETS FORMER FOX EXECUTIVE HIT Entertainment has appointed Gary Krakower, the former VP of international licensing and merchandising for 20th Century Fox, as its new SVP of business development for North America. “We have a first-class team here at HIT Entertainment, and Gary’s appointment adds yet another dimension and strength,” said Peter Byrne, HIT’s EVP of worldwide consumer products. “Gary brings years of experience to the team.” – Chris Tribbey NEW THEATRICAL RELEASES IN THE DVD ERA BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE: 1997 - 2007* Since the launch of the DVD format in 1997, there have been 4,866 new theatrical releases (through the weekend of Nov. 23-25) in venues ranging from boutique arthouses to massive multiplexes. During this period, they generated $89.1 billion in ticket sales, but only 234 of these films (4.8% of the release pie) exceeded the $100 million mark at the box office. The next tier down — those films pulling in at least $25 million — totaled 748 films (15.4% of all releases). Together these two groups accounted for 86.8% of the domestic box office, making theatrical exhibition a heavily skewed “hits” business. — Ralph Tribbey I Over $100M 234 Films - 4.8% I Under $1 million 2,584 films - 53.1% I $25M to $100M 748 films - 15.4% I $10M to $25M 508 films - 10.4% I A&E SIGNS WITH MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER A&E Home Video has signed a multiyear agreement to distribute a series of Major League Soccer DVDs, including complete games. The first title is the Dec. 18 release of the MLS Cup 2007 DVD ($19.95), featuring the complete game of the Houston Dynamos championship victory over the New England Revolution, with play-byplay audio in English and Spanish. Future releases will range from titles showcasing MLS history to team-specific collections and MLS superstars. – John Latchem I MILL CREEK GETS DIRECTOR Mill Creek Entertainment, a Minneapolisbased publisher and distributor of physical and digital home video products, appointed David Lieberman director of manufacturing and global sourcing. Lieberman will oversee manufacturing and packaging DVDs for Mill Creek Entertainment. He comes from Breakthrough Distribution, a marketing firm he formed in 2006 and retains co-partnership of, dedicated to developing filmmakers. – Billy Gil I $1M to $10M 792 films - 16.3% * 2007 results are through Nov. 26, 2007 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Nov. 23, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through March 31, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,425+277 80,016+343 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY As of Week Ended Nov. 23 . . . . .Released I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR HD DVD Scheduled As of Week Ended Nov. 23 . . . . .Released 347 Scheduled 46 Home Media Magazine December 2–8, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c75457 http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c75457 http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c75457
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