MUMBAI: HP has tied up with 30 content providers that will license their libraries — including more than 4,000 movie, television, documentary and other titles — for production and distribution via HP Video Merchant Services. These include Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts and Ronnie Screwvala’s UTV Communications.
Launched earlier this year, the services are designed for retailers and enable them to offer DVDs — manufactured on demand or pre-packaged — as well as digital downloads of a wide variety of video content.
The other companies that HP has joined hands with are Arts Alliance America, First Look Studios, Gaiam Americas Inc., Nelvana Enterprises and Venevision International Films LLC, Anthem Pictures, Azteca International Corporation, Bennett Media Worldwide, Cinequest Inc., Film Chest Inc., Inspired Studios, Janson Media, Lightworks Program Distribution, Media Blasters, Monarch Films Inc., MVD Entertainment Group, Opper Sports Inc., Santa Fe Productions, Seedsman Group Inc., Smooth Motion Pictures Inc., Starlight Home Entertainment, Tai Seng Entertainment, TLA Releasing, V.I.E.W. Video, Vanguard Cinema, Wink Inc. Productions, Wolfe Video LLC and World Events Products, Ltd.
Through the agreements, HP will now be able to offer premium sports, health, lifestyle, music, theatrical, animation, television and special interest content. The expansion marks the company’s first steps toward building one of the largest catalogs of licensed commercial video available.
HP vice president and general manager, digital entertainment services Willem de Zoete stated, “These agreements mark significant progress for the entertainment industry, allowing content providers to further monetize their assets. It’s equally exciting for HP’s retail partners and their customers as they now have access to a broader array of DVD content manufactured on demand.”
HP Video Merchant Services provide efficient aggregation, merchandising and fulfillment of commercial video content, enabling retailers to address the growing consumer demand for greater selection of titles, improved online shopping experiences and multiple media formats. The services also enable the wider distribution of specialty and niche content.
HP’s manufactured-on-demand DVD service is used to produce a DVD of any movie, TV show or other video content regardless of niche or obscurity in much smaller run quantities than would be economically viable for traditional DVD replication. Content currently being targeted for release includes: classic and older TV shows never before released on DVD; foreign movies; specialty genres such as religion, education, lifestyle, health, food and sports; specialty cable TV programming; independent movies; and recently broadcast TV shows and sporting events that have high relevancy in specific geographic markets or with specific consumer segments.
The service is a component of HP Video Merchant Services, which enable retailers to fulfill the increasing consumer demand for broader video title catalogs, immediate availability, and varying media formats, including digital downloads, traditional packaged DVDs for popular titles and DVDs produced on demand for special interest and catalog titles.
