Video Hall of Fame honors McGee, Sanders, DEG
Annual event benefits Variety—The Children's Charity
By Danny King -- Video Business, 12/9/2008
DEC. 9 | BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—HBO Home Entertainment president Henry McGee, Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders and DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group were honored for their contributions to the home entertainment industry last night by being inducted into the Video Business Video Hall of Fame.
Video Hall of Fame inductees Ron Sanders (2nd. from l.), Henry McGee (3rd. from l.) and DEG's Amy Jo Smith (2nd. from r.) stand with their respective introducers, (l. to r.) Malcolm McDowell, Lorraine Bracco and Variety publisher Neil Stiles.
Photo by Lionel Cassini
The 28th Video Hall of Fame gala event was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel here, benefiting Variety—The Children's Charity (no relation to VB sister publication Variety).
Called "the Barack Obama of HBO" by comedian and master of ceremonies Byron Allen, McGee, who was introduced by The Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco, was honored for his nearly three-decade career with the Time Warner premium cable channel division, where he has headed home entertainment operations since 1995.
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2008 Video Hall of Fame inductee profiles |
In his speech, McGee was quick to deflect praise to other executives at HBO while encouraging charitable giving during the holiday season. He asked attendees to "remember the neediest and generously support our not-for-profit organizations, who are trying to do so much with so little."
"I have to say there's no finer gentleman in our industry," fellow inductee Sanders said about McGee. "He's truly one of classiest, most erudite individuals I've ever met."
In Sanders' introduction speech, British actor Malcolm McDowell—"they couldn't find a U.S. citizen to speak on his behalf," McDowell noted—chided Sanders for his Alabama upbringing, dietary habits and prior career in toothpaste marketing. Sanders was celebrated in a video reel that spliced clips of such films as The Departed and 300 with congratulatory messages from Clint Eastwood, Joel Silver and Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson.
Sanders, who joined Warner in 1991, leads a home entertainment division whose inventory includes about 5,500 DVD titles and whose 20% share of the U.S. market through the third quarter makes it the largest U.S. home entertainment producer, according to data compiled by Video Business and Rentrak.
DEG executive director Amy Jo Smith accepted the trade group's induction.
"DVD has been the single most successful [consumer electronics] product launch in history," said Smith. "It has been my great joy to have had a front row seat for these past 12 years, and I’m touched that the industry has graced us with this recognition."
Introducing Smith, Variety Group president and publisher Neil Stiles said, "For the past decade, the association has listened to its members and developed many programs and initiatives to meet their changing needs." Stiles went on to praise "the purpose and effectiveness of this unique organization."
Founded in 1997, the DEG, whose members include all of the major film studios as well as companies such as Microsoft, Blockbuster and Netflix, played a key role in the promotion of the DVD format and is now doing the same for Blu-ray Disc. It also serves as a forum for member companies exploring emerging digital technologies.
With Video Hall of Fame taking place the night before the year's biggest theatrical movie, The Dark Knight, hit store shelves on DVD and Blu-ray, Sanders, whose WHV distributes the movie, ended the evening by saying, "I'm going to close with a really important imperative for our industry and for all of you: buy Dark Knight tomorrow. … Send a message to the world that home entertainment is doing OK."
Started in 1981, the Video Business Video Hall of Fame this year contributed all dinner proceeds to Variety—The Children's Charity of Southern California. Since its inception, the Video Hall of Fame has raised more than $3 million for Variety—The Children's Charity. Despite a spending pullback affecting much of the industry, last night's event attracted almost 400 attendees, about the same as last year, signaling continued strength in the home entertainment industry.
