Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - (Page 10) PRODUCT GUIDE COMEDY Edited by Kyra Kudick www.homemediamagazine.com Hit Ventriloquist Terry Fator Coming to Blu-ray By Erik Gruenwedel entriloquist Terry Fator believes he can bottle the past 24 months of his storied life in a disc. After winning $1 million in 2007 on “America’s Got Talent,” Fator landed a gig at the Las Vegas Hilton, which led to a bidding war among major casinos and a reported $100 million, five-year contract (with an option for five more) headlining at The Mirage. The 90-minute opening VIP performance March 16 at the Terry Fator Theater — which included interacting with nine character puppets (Winston the Impersonating Turtle and cowboy Walter T. Airdale are his favorites) and singing in separate voices — was the talk of Vegas. “Just like that, Terry Fator is a new standard on the Strip,” wrote Doug Elfman in Las Vegas Review-Journal. “This is very important for Las Vegas.” It’s also vital to Image Entertainment, which in September is slated to release Fator’s show for the first time on Blu-ray and DVD. The untitled discs, exclusively produced by Image, will include 60 minutes of a show and requisite bonus material, including audio commentaries and featurettes highlighting Fator’s history and how he prepares for a performance. “It’s going to be the most spectacular comedy DVD ever released,” Fator said matter-of-factly. “It will be exactly what people would see if they came to The Mirage.” Bill Bromiley, chief acquisitions officer at Image, earlier this year characterized the Fator Blu-ray/DVD as a major coup for the Chatsworth, Calif.-based distributor. Image has built a successful franchise around comedy DVD, including original “Blue Collar” comedians V Ron White, Jeff Foxworthy and Larry The Cable Guy. It apparently also wants to dominate ventriloquism, taking into account Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special DVD shipped 750,000 units, according to Image. Fator said he is a “huge” fan of Dunham and considered the ventriloquist an inspiration when entering the comedy business. He also finds it amusing that the top ventriloquist acts in the United States all originate from the Dallas area (“Must be the water,” he said). So, does Fator feel a competitive urge to usurp a childhood idol? “Totally,” he said. “It’s like anything, if I was playing racquetball I would want to beat him. I would love to outsell Jeff as a friendly competitor.” The ventriloquist said he owns “thousands” of DVDs (he also collects laserdiscs), to the point that he could open a video store. A fan of sitcoms and comedies with an occasional classic movie such as Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock and Frank Capra’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Fator said a recent favorite is “South Park.” “I’ve got all of the seasons and have been trying to catch up and watch every episode,” he said. Fator is such a fan of Blu-ray he had BD players installed throughout his Vegas home. “I have a Blu-ray player in the guest room, my bedroom, family room and living room,” he said. He said watching the recent re-release of Disney’s Pinocchio on Blu-ray impressed upon him the marvels of technology. “I’m watching a movie on TV that is in better resolution than what the people saw in the theaters when it originally showed,” Fator said. “They could not have fathomed how good this movie could have looked in the future.” Then again, watching Fator sing like Michael Jackson without moving his lips is equally impressive. BRIEFS I SHOUT! FACTORY SLATES ‘DESIGNING WOMEN,’ ‘DANA CARVEY’ DVDS Shout! Factory is expanding its comedy slate in May with DVDs for The Dana Carvey Show and Designing Women: The Complete First Season. The Dana Carvey Show streets May 12 (prebook April 14) as a two-DVD set at $24.99. The sketchcomedy show, starring the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, debuted in 1996 and ran for seven episodes on ABC. The DVD set includes an unaired eighth episode. The cast included Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert and Robert Smigel, and the show introduced some of the concepts later utilized on the SNL “Saturday TV Funhouse” sketches, such as “The Ambiguously Gay Duo.” Designing Women: The Complete First Season streets May 26 (prebook April 28) at $44.99. The four-DVD set includes all 21 episodes from the 1986-87 season. The show starred Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts and Jean Smart as four Southern women running an interiordecorating firm in Georgia. DVD extras include “Designing Women: A Reunion,” featuring the original cast and series creator Linda BloodworthThomason; and a booklet with an introduction by the creator. Codeblack Has Lowdown on Stand-Up By Kyra Kudick eople love to laugh. That doesn’t seem like an industry secret, and Jeff Clanagan, CEO of Codeblack Entertainment, knows that because he chuckled as he said it. “It isn’t a scientific explanation,” he said. “It is just the best laymen terms to describe the appeal [of stand-up comedy]. People love to laugh, and a good stand-up DVD is a good value purchase in these economic times.” And Clanagan would know — Codeblack has been producing and distributing stand-up comedy for the past 10 years. “Stand-up is the most consistent performing category in the DVD space,” he said. But he cautioned newcomers to the category, “You need to have the right comedians with the right marketing campaign.” He added that there is a direct correlation between touring and sales. If the comedian performs on tour throughout the year, sales of his product are better. Visibility is essential for the titles to perform well. Clanagan cited comedian Steve Harvey as a good example. Harvey P I ‘CHARLES IN CHARGE: SEASON 4’ DVD OFFERED VIA CREATESPACE Virgil Films & Entertainment will release Charles in Charge: Season Four on DVD exclusively through Amazon.com’s CreateSpace disc-on-demand service. The six-DVD set will be available at $29.95 starting March 24 and includes 26 episodes that aired in 1988 and 1989. The show starred Scott Baio as a college student who takes a job as a live-in nanny. The cast included Willie Aames, Nicole Eggert, James T. Callahan, Josie Davis, Sandra Kerns, Alexander Polisky and Ellen Travolta. The series ran for five seasons. Season one was released to retail by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, while the second and third seasons were released to retail by previous incarnations of Virgil Films & Entertainment. – John Latchem has a morning talk show, tours throughout the year and his relationship book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man is currently the No. 1 New York Times bestseller. He recently appeared on “Oprah” to promote his book, and sales of his DVDs spiked. “A new audience is getting exposed to his comedy,” Clanagan said. “The DVDs are drafting off the success of the book.” And that’s to the tune of 1,000 units a week — on a title that is more than 2 years old, he added. Upcoming titles from Codeblack (distributed by Vivendi Entertainment) include Shaq and Cedric Present All Star Comedy Jam and the Sundance Film Festival selection Why We Laugh. All Star Comedy Jam (DVD $19.98) is due Aug. 4 (prebook July 2) and features performances by Cedric the Entertainer, Tommy Davidson, Kevin Hart, De Ray Davis and Aries Spears. Why We Laugh (DVD $19.98) is due Dec. 29 (prebook Nov. 27). The full-length documentary follows the history and cultural influence of black comedy in America. It includes rare footage and interviews with comedians Bill Cosby, Chris Rock and Keenen Ivory Wayans, among others. 10 BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN hom032309_010.pgs Home Media Magazine March 23–29, 2009 03.18.2009 20:00 mnickell http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 Contents News Comedy Reviews Research Top 20 Sellers Top 20 Rentals Just Announced Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Comedy (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Comedy (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Comedy (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Comedy (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Comedy (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Comedy (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Comedy (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Reviews (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Reviews (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Reviews (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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