Warner pacts for Paramount/DreamWorks distribution in China
November, 13 2007
Eastern Promises DVD and HD DVD
Universal has placed its $17 million-grossing crime thriller Eastern Promises for a post-Christmas r...
More
DISC DISH
November, 12 2007
Resident Evil: Extinction DVD, Blu-ray, PSP
Sony will start 2008 with the first Blu-ray title to feature picture-in-picture. Resident Evil: Exti...
More
THE DOWN LOW
November, 12 2007
This close to throwing out the TV
Another product to make sense of the heaps of rich video content streamed online, the video indexing...
More
DISC DISH
November, 10 2007
No Reservations DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray
Missed this in theaters, but it looked really cute. Catherine Zeta-Jones has a bubbly personality an...
More
The cast and crew of Amazing Grace attended Fox’s Nov. 8 screening of their film in Los Angeles.
At Paramount’s Nov. 4 screening for A Mighty Heart, the film’s star, Angelina Jolie, participated in a Q&A; with film critic Peter Hammond. The event was held on the studio’s lot.
Warner celebrated its DVD premiere A Dennis the Menace Christmas with the cast and crew Nov. 5 at the studio’s lot.
» VIEW ALL GALLERIES
» VIEW FEATURED GALLERY
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 11/7/2007
NOV. 7 | Warner Home Video has struck further studio alliances in its efforts to combat piracy in China, agreeing to distribute Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation DVDs in the country.
CAV Warner Home Entertainment, a joint entertainment distribution venture formed in February 2005 between Warner’s DVD unit and China Audio Video, will steer select Paramount and DreamWorks titles to about 20,000 Chinese retailers across 50 cities. The venture value prices the DVDs—which normally are priced at the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars per unit—in order to encourage the Chinese to purchase films legally.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment has been distributing its titles in China through CAV Warner since September 2005.
This latest studio pact for Warner, unveiled Wednesday in Beijing, kicked off on Nov. 1 with the launch of Paramount’s Transformers in China, which has already become a top-selling title in the country, according to Warner. Transformers bowed in the U.S. on Oct. 16.
CAV Warner will next street in China DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third on Nov. 28, following its Nov. 13 U.S. bow.
“The addition of two major Hollywood studios’ product in China—Paramount and DreamWorks Animation—further strengthens our efforts in building a legitimate video business in China,” said Mark Horak, executive VP and general manager of worldwide operations and new packaged media for Warner. “By providing a wide selection of high quality, competitively priced DVDs, we will be offering a more attractive alternative to lower quality, pirated product.”
In a statement, a Paramount Home Entertainment International executive said, “Warner has demonstrated that securing key retail outlets in China is necessary to supplant pirated content with legitimate product to fight piracy in the market. Our relationship with Warner Bros. allows us the best opportunity to reach the most consumers with two of the year’s most highly anticipated releases of Transformers and Shrek the Third.”