Anchor Bay pitches high-profile releases
Indie to release some titles theatrically
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 2/8/2008
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FEB. 8 | Anchor Bay Entertainment is getting theatrical about its release slate.
Overture Films’ Danny Rosett (l.) and Chris McGurk (3rd from l.) and Anchor Bay’s Bill Clark (r.) gathered with retailers (l. to r.) Steve Paniccia, Trans World; Alyssa Grundmeyer, Amazon; and Lisa Nishimura-Seese, Netflix, at the retail summit.
The indie last month held its first-ever retail summit, hosting executives from Amazon, Blockbuster, Netflix, Trans World Entertainment and other major accounts in Santa Monica, Calif., for presentations of its newly high-profile schedule, including box-office fare from sister division Overture Films, such as current Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah comedy Mad Money.
Due to the resources of parent Starz, Anchor Bay also will be able to release some of its own films theatrically prior to DVD. The Grand, starring Woody Harrelson, is one such project, bowing in limited release from Anchor Bay on March 21. A DVD will follow later in the year.
Going forward, many DVDs distributed by Anchor Bay will be co-branded. Films from Overture, for instance, will carry that label in addition to the familiar Anchor Bay ship image. Another label is being planned for original Starz network content, including the new Crash TV series based on the Oscar-winning film.
“The name is being maintained for a variety of reasons,” Anchor Bay president Bill Clark said. “For retailers and consumers, the name means something to them. In the horror genre, it means something. But we are a bit broader with the slate we’ve been building, so we also view ourselves as multi-platform. We can provide filmmakers a one-stop solution for everything [theatrical and DVD], through ourselves or through our sister companies.”
From Overture, Anchor Bay has been granted at least six theatricals to later street on DVD, including Sleepwalking with Charlize Theron, Righteous Kill starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, Last Chance Harvey featuring Dustin Hoffman and Traitor with Don Cheadle.
On top of The Grand, Anchor Bay will be theatrically unspooling Walled In starring Mischa Barton, Sex and Death 101 with Winona Ryder and The Education of Charlie Banks featuring Jesse Eisenberg.
“You’ll see releases from Overture, Starz or Anchor Bay—there’ll be stronger casts, stronger stories, where it’s just at a different level than what we’ve done in the past,” said Clark.
In other 2008 slate news, Anchor Bay will license its first MTV Networks programming, including VH1 reality series Rock of Love With Bret Michaels, for distribution later in the year.