Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS
Lionsgate and Exclusive Media Group's NewMarket Films Enter into Home Entertainment Distribution Agreement Encompassing DVD, Blu-Ray. Digital Delivery, Television, and VOD
By Staff
posted May 12, 2010, 20:22
Lionsgate Obtains United States Distribution Rights For All Upcoming Newmarket Theatrical Titles As Well As Library Of 250 Titles
Lionsgate Obtains United States Distribution Rights For All Upcoming Newmarket
Theatrical Titles As Well As Library Of 250 Titles
Deal Marks Major Next Step For Newmarket After Exclusive Media Group Purchase
(Santa Monica, CA) LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), a leading next generation studio,
and Exclusive Media Group's (Exclusive) Newmarket Films, the highly regarded
Los Angeles based film production and distribution company, have announced that
they have entered into a home entertainment distribution deal including DVD,
Blu-ray, digital delivery, TV and Video On Demand (VOD). Under the terms of
the arrangement, Lionsgate will become the exclusive Home Entertainment distributor
for all Newmarket Films theatrical releases in the United States in addition
to a large majority of Newmarket's extensive library of high profile releases
including Christopher Nolan's groundbreaking psychological thriller, Memento.
The first Home Entertainment release under the deal will be the recently released
Jon Amiel's Creation, about the life of Charles Darwin, starring Paul Bettany
and Jennifer Connelly, which will be released on DVD, VOD and available for
digital download on June 29th . The deal also includes the upcoming Newmarket
theatrical releases Alejandro Amenabar's Agora (May 28) , starring Rachel Weisz
and Sundance favorite Hesher (Fall), starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Natalie
Portman. The announcement was made by Steve Beeks, President and Co-Chief Operating
Officer of Lionsgate, and Chris Ball, Co-Chairman of Exclusive and President
of Newmarket Films.
"We are thrilled to be in business with Chris and his extraordinary team
at Newmarket. I have known Chris for many years and have long admired how he
has grown Newmarket into one of the top producers and distributors of independent
film in the world," said Beeks. "We are proud to have them as our
partner and look forward to the opportunity to represent their films and release
them on multiple formats."
"Newmarket has had a great working relationship with Lionsgate and Steve
Beeks for many years. This deal is the perfect partnership for our company as
we continue to grow and expand our theatrical distribution business," notes
Ball.
The deal between Newmarket and Lionsgate gives the former a strong output deal
for its recent and upcoming acquisitions and builds on Lionsgate's tremendous
success distributing some of the most prominent product in the marketplace.
Newmarket Films, founded in 1994 by Chris Ball and William Tyrer, was recently
purchased by Exclusive Media Group where Ball is now Co-Chairman as well as
President of Newmarket. The company is actively looking for new films and aims
to theatrically release 6-8 director-driven titles per year. Lionsgate is the
industry leader in box office-to-home entertainment revenue conversion rate,
over-converting industry packaged norm by 20% and VOD norm by 18%. Recent theatrical
titles Precious and Brothers exceeded industry averages both on DVD and VOD,
and were Lionsgate's #1 and #2 best VOD debuts to date.
The deal was negotiated by Ball, Rene Cogan (Exclusive's CFO US Operations)
and Gary Hirsh on behalf of Newmarket and by Wendy Jaffe, Executive Vice President,
Business & Legal Affairs, Acquisitions & Co-Productions, on behalf of
Lionsgate.
Resources:
http://www.lionsgate.com
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