Overture chief to oversee Anchor Bay
Liberty switches unit to films from TV division
By Danny King -- Video Business, 5/6/2008
MAY 6 | Overture Films CEO Chris McGurk will oversee home entertainment affiliate Anchor Bay Entertainment after parent Liberty Media switched Anchor Bay to its filming operations from TV.
Overture’s promotional and marketing efforts will be combined with those of Anchor Bay, which will distribute Overture’s theatrical releases on DVD. Both companies are units of Liberty subsidiary Starz LLC.
“As Anchor Bay gets more deeply involved with distributing motion pictures in home entertainment—both its own and those produced by Overture—it made sense to have it become part of the motion picture studio rather than remain in the TV division,” Starz CEO Robert Clasen said in a statement today.
Liberty made the switch a week before Anchor Bay begins its exclusive DVD agreement with Overture by releasing the Diane Keaton-starring Mad Money. Anchor Bay, known more for its TV DVD and smaller horror film releases, announced in February that it would embark on a multi-million-dollar marketing campaign for the film’s DVD release, including print, TV and Internet advertising.
Mad Money will be the first of as many as 12 Overture films Anchor Bay will release annually on DVD, Anchor Bay president Bill Clark said in February. Future Overture titles include Last Chance Harvey, starring Dustin Hoffman, and Henry Poole Is Here, with Luke Wilson and George Lopez.
Overture is headed by former MGM vice chairman McGurk and former United Artists president Danny Rosett.
Starz’s third-quarter 2007 sales, at $282 million, accounted for 13% of Liberty Media’s revenue and 20% of its operating cash flow, according to SEC filings. Liberty Media will announce first-quarter earnings later this week.
