Home Media Magazine - April 27 - May 3, 2008 - (Page 10) NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com Summit Aims High By Thomas K. Arnold year after Summit Entertainment officially opened its doors as Hollywood’s newest studio, the home entertainment division is up and running with its first DVD release, P2, a thriller that was in theaters last fall. Steve Nickerson, the former highdef guru at Warner Home Video, heads Summit Home Entertainment as president. Initial plans call for his division to release 10 to 12 titles on DVD and, in some cases, Blu-ray Disc, a year — virtually all of them from the parent studio’s theatrical slate, at least at the start. “We’re a studio with a business plan that calls for us to develop, produce and self-distribute films, so our first priority in the home entertainment space is to maximize the 10 to 12 releases from the studio,” Nickerson said. “As far as supplementing that, we will look for properties that we can sell and market and distribute on DVD, but they will have to be complementary to what our first priority is. “We have to be successful with our theatrical product first, so in the first 12 to 18 months our focus is really on getting positioned to do that.” Summit released P2 two weeks ago and found itself with a solid seller; CEA: $1,400 A YEAR SPENT ON ELECTRONICS By Erik Gruenwedel A «WE’RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE EXPERIENCE ALL OF US HAVE HAD AT THE MAJOR STUDIOS TO BUILD SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW.» STEVE NICKERSON, PRESIDENT, SUMMIT HOME ENTERTAINMENT the film debuted on the weekly Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart at No. 11. It was one of only two releases from a non-major studio to make it into the top 20. Next up on Summit’s DVD plate is Penelope, a family oriented fairy tale, starring Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci, that has grossed about $10 million so far in theaters. Penelope will arrive on DVD July 15. After that comes Never Back Down, a drama about an underground fight club, starring Sean Faris and Amber Heard, that was released theatrically in March as Summit’s first self-produced film. So far, Never Back Down has grossed nearly $24 million at the box office. A firm release date has not yet been set because the film is still in theaters, but Nickerson said it will likely arrive on DVD in late July or early August. Never Back Down also will be Summit’s first Blu-ray Disc release. Unlike other studio presidents, Nickerson isn’t promising to release all upcoming theatrical titles simultaneously on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc. “We think Never Back Down, both the film itself and who it appeals to demographically, is right in that sweet spot for Blu-ray Disc,” Nickerson said. “After that, as the business develops, we will obviously release more films on both formats, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a given that everything theatrical will be day and date. “There are still challenges for an independent studio to bring Blu-ray to market in an economical fashion, and until that market grows to the point where we have the same access to resources and pricing that the major studios have, I can’t make the declaration that everything we do will come to Blu-ray. Some things, demographically, just don’t make sense, from a financial standpoint.” Like a fellow Warner Home Video alumnus who went on to lead his own home entertainment operation, Genius Products’ Trevor Drinkwater, Nickerson has named to his inner circle a cadre of studio veterans. Bobby Gerber, EVP and GM, also worked at Warner, as did T.J. Moffett, Summit Home Entertainment’s SVP of home entertainment marketing. Jennifer Dunlap, VP of home entertainment marketing creative services, worked at Warner and Walt Disney Studios, while Sandy Friedman, EVP of operations, was head of operations at DreamWorks Home Entertainment. Vivian Mayer, SVP of worldwide publicity for Summit Home Entertainment as well as its theatrical parent, was SVP of publicity at Universal Studios Home Entertainment for many years. Universal’s home entertainment unit will handle Summit’s backroom “pick, pack and ship” functions. “It’s an exciting opportunity to have a hand in building a studio during the 21st century that is geared toward where the business will be in the 21st century,” Nickerson said. “We’re taking advantage of all the experience all of us have had at the major studios to build something entirely new.” purred by sales of HDTVs, mobile phones, MP3 players, laptop computers and digital cameras, the average household spent an average of $1,405 in the past 12 months on consumer electronics, according to a new report. That’s up $120 from a similar report last year. The study, released by the Consumer Electronics Association, said the average U.S. household owns 24 electronics products, down from 25 a year ago due to increased preference for multi-functional devices. Households with three or more people reported owning 32 devices compared to 17 for smaller households. Men tend to own more devices (25) than women (21) and will spend on average $1,000 on CE products this year compared to women, who will spend about $600. Consumers 45 years old and younger, those with children in the home and those with higher incomes tend to spend more on CE products than the average adult, according to the report. Chris Ely, senior analyst of market research at CEA, said HDTV has the ability to reach 50% market penetration and equal digital TV by the end of the year. “Many consumers are deciding to upgrade their televisions,” Ely said. S MERCHANDISING Hunting for High-Def Best Buy Cloverfield Paramount SRP $29.99 Target $16.99 $22.99 w/Rob’s Party Mix music CD Wal-Mart $15.97 Circuit City $14.99 Amazon.com $15.99 $15.99 w/T.J. Miller’s Video Diary bonus disc Charlie Wilson’s War Universal SRP $29.99 $16.99 $16.99 $15.97 $19.96 w/Erin Brockovich $15.99 $16.99 The Savages Fox SRP $27.98 $16.99 $19.99 $19.96 $19.99 $16.99 One Missed Call Warner SRP $28.98, $35.99 BD $19.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $16.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $15.97 $29.96 Blu-ray $15.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $19.99 $24.95 Blu-ray By John Latchem ith the format war behind us, and HD DVD a thing of the past, the big question for retailers is how to integrate a growing Blu-ray inventory into existing DVD stockpiles. The early strategy has been isolating high-def into its own section, which is rapidly growing. Best Buy and Target within the last few weeks removed HD DVDs to double Blu-ray sections. And Circuit City devoted a whole page in its weekly circular to a sale of Blu-ray discs. Interestingly, Blu-ray new releases are thrown on shelves next to their DVD counterparts. As Blu-ray carves out more of a market share compared to DVD, this strategy will no doubt become more widespread. Even Barnes and Noble is getting into the high-def game, last week offering a buy-twoget-one-free special on Blu-ray movies. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, is still playing catch-up in the high-def field. A store in Long Beach, Calif., offered only one small section for high-def discs and still had HD DVDs. W 10 Home Media Magazine April 27–May 3, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com
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