Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2009 - (Page 6) NEWS BRIEFS I BEST BUY SPONSORS TEEN FILMMAKER COMPETITION Best Buy and nonprofit group Film Independent have announced the @15 Short Film Contest, asking aspiring filmmakers ages 13-18 to submit films at www.at15.com/film. Fifteen finalists will be picked by a panel of judges, with the winner receiving a Best Buy gift card worth $1,500. Each of the other finalists will receive a $150 Best – Billy Gil Buy gift card. www.homemediamagazine.com Borshell Out at Image, CFO Framer Named President “Jeff has the unequivocal respect and support of Image’s By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLIER Image Entertainment March 16 said it named board, senior management and employees,” Greenwald CFO Jeff Framer to the position of president, effective said. The rollercoaster merger negotiations, slated to immediately, following the departure of David Borclose March 20, have been conducted directly beshell, who had been with the Chatsworth, Calif.tween the board and Nyx, a subsidiary of Q-Black LLC based distributor for 24 years. in San Francisco, a situation and outcome with which The distributor said Bill Bromiley would continue some believe Borshell might not have agreed. to serve as chief acquisitions officer, overseeing “Obviously, that was one source of conflict,” Image’s successful foray into cast-driven feature Framer said. films, marketing and sales. Rick Eiberg, who served Greenwald, who spearheaded the previous merger as EVP, operations and CTO since April 2008, has Jeff Framer attempt with BTP Holdings, resigned his CEO posibeen promoted to COO. Image, which is in the midst of protracted merger nego- tion under pressure when that protracted deal fell through, tiations with Nyx Acquisitions, said 15-year veteran Framer resulting in litigation and $1.9 million in related costs. Framer said Borshell’s departure was not directly related would continue as CFO until a replacement was found. Former Image CEO Martin Greenwald, who is chairman to the Nyx merger but rather a series of issues. “Had there not been the merger, I don’t know if this would of the board, said Framer had demonstrated fiscal responsibility and prowess under difficult economic circumstances have been any different of an outcome,” he said. Framer called his promotion “bittersweet.” and had a solid track record of leadership and achievement. 30 YEARS OF NEWS MARCH I 2006 HD DVD Delayed Maybe we should have seen the writing on the wall. There were problems with HD DVD from the beginning (as there were with Blu-ray), causing delays for both formats. In March, HD DVD proponent Warner Home Video, the only studio with firm release dates for HD DVD, delayed its first product line, including titles Million Dollar Baby, The Phantom of the Opera and The Last Samurai. “Everything we do is new,” Warner’s Steve Nickerson said at the time. “We want to make sure the product that goes out is flawless.” Shortly thereafter, Toshiba announced HD DVD player delays. Analysts predicted neither format would have a significant – Billy Gil impact until 2007. I BAKER & TAYLOR WILL CONSOLIDATE Entertainment distributor Baker & Taylor is consolidating its centers in Woodland, Calif., and Indianapolis into one center in Indianapolis. The Northern California center was dedicated to Baker & Taylor Marketing Services (BTMS), which served wholesale club book customers; the Indianapolis center will now serve those customers. “Baker & Taylor and BTMS are fully committed to the wholesale club book channel and will continue to provide superior products and services to our customers,” said Tom Morgan, CEO of Baker & Taylor. “This move is simply the result of greater efficiencies we have realized throughout our supply chain, and it will create even more cost savings and logistical improvements that will make our business stronger.” – Billy Gil SXSW Film Festival Attendees Say the Disc Still Spins Profit By Stephanie Prange USTIN, Texas — Filmmakers at the South by Southwest Film Festival this month may have been looking to the Internet as a way to bypass traditional distribution, but panelists were quick to dispel any notion of its profitability. “We make a tremendous amount more money on DVD sales,” said filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) on the “Future of the DVD and Digital Distribution” panel. He said filmmakers need a “reality check” about Internet distribution, which he said may not take off for five more years. He noted Web profit is illusory. I ‘TWILIGHT’ PRE-ORDERS A WAL-MART DVD RECORD Anticipation surrounding the release of cult vampire film Twilight on DVD and Blu-ray Disc received another boost March 18 when Wal-Mart said the Summit Home Entertainment title was the most pre-ordered DVD in its history. Widely expected to be the year’s biggest DVD release based on the title’s $190 million box office take as well as its dedicated following, Twilight dethroned pre-orders from previous top-selling Wal-Mart DVDs, including The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Spider-Man and releases from Garth Brooks, Keith Urban and Nickleback. Wal-Mart did not disclose the number of actual presale orders. Twilight streeted March 21, with numerous retailers hosting blood drives and midnight events. Wal-Mart offered its exclusive special-edition DVD version at 12:01 am. The retailer’s 24-hour stores nationwide hosted more than 2,400 midnight parties March 20 for the DVD release and showed an exclusive pretaped message from the Twilight cast, recorded on the set of sequel New Moon. – Erik Gruenwedel “The reason numbers aren’t released is because the numbers are pathetic,” he said. New Video president Steve Savage echoed the sentiment, saying the disc is still important to his company’s business. Originally, New Video came up with a vision of “DVD plus digital” but then inverted it, recognizing that “digital will drive it, and we’re going to make money on the DVD.” Savage said filmmakers shouldn’t abandon looking for a DVD deal. “It’s been said that there are no DVD deals out there, and that’s not true,” he said. Other panelists said the combina- tion of streaming and DVD sales could spur profit. Rick Allen, CEO of Snag Films, said the disc “buy now” option with streaming worked well, and that DVD conversion rates are higher on lesser-known films. Director Gary Hustwit (Objectified) noted that Blu-ray licensing was not much more expensive than DVD, and all the panelists seemed to agree that digital copies on discs would increase in the future. On another distribution panel, “The State of Distribution: What You Need to Know,” studios and other distributors noted that one size doesn’t fit all films. Keith Leopard of Blockbuster En- tertainment, which has struck deals with various cable companies, noted that the No. 1 rental dealer used to discard titles that had played on TV or video-on-demand, but that now Blockbuster looks at other distribution avenues as marketing. “VOD helps with the presence of a film,” he said. “We are really trying to work together [with VOD companies].” Michael Barker, president of Sony Pictures Classics, said filmmakers must pay attention to the bottom line and pay attention to the question of whether a film will make money for a distributor. “It has to do with price points,” he said. “The costs are still enormous. If we are going to have an ongoing film business, we must pay attention to price points. “Piracy is a disaster. [The movie business] is trying to stave off what happened to the music business.” Report: Rental Store Share to Decline By Erik Gruenwedel RESEARCH DVD-by-mail subscription services and standalone kiosks, according to a new report, are steadily supplanting a trip to the DVD rental store. In its 2009 video rental market report, Adams Media Research said brick-and-mortar DVD rental stores would generate about $4 billion in revenue by 2013, down about 27% from $5.5 billion in 2008. Considered a cost-effective alternative to sellthrough in the current economy, the overall rental market is projected to remain essentially unchanged at around $8 billion in an- 2008 Video Rental By Type 1% 2% 4% 10% 24% 59% nual revenue. “It is clear that the video rental industry is a strong beneficiary of the current economic crisis,” Stacey Widlitz, analyst with Pali Capital, said in a recent note. Traditional rentailers such as Blockbuster, Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video and Family Video, among others, would represent 48% of the market, compared to 68% last year, according to Adams. The lone bright spot is in-store subscriptions, which are expected to grow 51% to $271 million. Kiosks such as Redbox, The New Release and DVD Play, in addition to expected units from Blockbuster, would exponentially expand segment revenue to $1.2 billion from about $400 million. Widlitz said that with rental titles available for $1 at kiosks, consumers in today’s economy are less likely to purchase a DVD for $15 to $20. “The lower price and increasing convenience of rental are driving growth,” she said. Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix would spearhead DVD-by-mail growth 41% to $2.9 billion by 2013, spurred in large part to its value-added streaming service. “Streaming is in a long line of innovations — from the superstore I Traditional I Subscription I Kiosk I Satellite I Cable/Telco I Digital Rental Source: 2009 Adams Media Research replacing the mom & pops to revenue-sharing copy depth problems, subscription and kiosk — that are all new ways to do the business,” Adams said. “It all keeps consumers happy and coming back.” BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN hom032309_006.pgs Home Media Magazine March 23–29, 2009 03.18.2009 21:23 mnickell http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.at15.com/film
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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