MUMBAI: Empire Home Entertainment, the distribution division of Empire Film Group, has finalized an agreement to acquire the USA distribution rights for both the Elite Entertainment and the Focusfilm libraries, collectively representing more than 60 feature film and DVD multi-pack items. Empire will commence marketing and distribution of both libraries in April, and predicts strong retailer support.
The library acquisition venture was negotiated between Elite Entertainment and Focusfilm president Vini Bancalari and Empire Home Entertainment CEO Eric Parkinson.
“These two libraries are a significant acquisition for Empire and our growing position as a leading, independent studio,” said Parkinson. “There are numerous commercially strong and proven titles in these two libraries that will deliver significant revenues for us in the coming years. We are pursuing several other large film libraries as part of our mandate to quickly build Empire’s stature in the industry.”
“We are building Empire Film Group by combining the commercial appeal of our major, theatrical productions with the strong revenue base to be realized from these multi title film libraries,” said parent company Empire Film Group’s CEO Dean Hamilton Bornstein. “With these new titles from Elite and Focusfilm added to our existing properties from Empire and Hannover House, we now own or control over 170 titles, making Empire the fastest growing independent studio in years.”
Some of the titles from Elite and Focusfilm include the acclaimed Christopher Walken sci-fi thriller, Communion, The Howling 3 and Boggy Creek II: The Legend Continues, which is the sequel to The Legend of Boggy Creek that sold nearly 2 million videos in the US market.
New release titles that will debut on DVD under the Empire venture include the sci-fi thriller Devil Girl, the television series boxed set Dark Dreamers and The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Rock ‘N Roll Musical. Other library items include best-selling genre multi-packs such as Masterworks of German Cinema 3-pack that includes Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Golem and other value-priced, multi-DVD pack configurations that have become one of the top-selling DVD formats for mass merchants. Empire will pursue placement of most items with its key accounts, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target and numerous other DVD retail chains and internet sellers.
