More Articles By Laurence Lerman

• Movies Unlimited celebrates 30 years
  JAN. 18 | Philadelphia-based Movies Unlimited is marking three decades in business with the publication of its 30th anniversary catalog. The 2008 Movies Unlimited DVD Catalog , an 800-page volume, sells for $9.95 on the retailer’s Web site ( www.moviesunlimited.com ). More
  
• A&E to distribute Major League Soccer DVDs
  NOV. 20 | A&E Home Video and the Major League Soccer have signed a multi-year, multi-title agreement wherein A&E will distribute MLS titles to the retail marketplace. More
  
• Packaging mix-up plagues Eyes Wide Shut
  OCT. 26 | The packaging for Warner Home Video’s Oct. 23 two-disc special edition re-issue of Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut boasts that both the R-rated and unrated international versions of the film are contained in the two-disc set, but only the unrated version is actually offered. The incongruity has prompted a good deal of discussion and posts on cinema-themed online message boards by fans of the late director and his final film. More
  
• The man from Starz
  OCT. 15 | Eric Wilkinson has been in the home entertainment business in brand managing and sales positions since 1989. He’s currently director of sales for Starz Home Entertainment, where he’s likely to keep a particularly close eye on the company’s fourth-quarter release The Man From Earth , which he co-produced. More
  
• 300 : The art of war
  JULY 26 | COMIC-CON:  We tracked down 300 director Zack Snyder a few weeks back as he was scouting locations for the upcoming Watchmen and got him on the phone to speak about the DVD of 300 , which Warner is issuing on Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD/Combo and standard formats on July 31. We also managed to sneak in a few questions about the much buzzed-about screen adaptation of Watchmen , Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ famed 1986 graphic novel. More
  
• Harryhausen returns—in color
  JULY 26 | COMIC-CON: On the occasion of the release of a 50th Anniversary DVD Edition of the 1957 sci-fi flick 20 Million Miles to Earth , VB spoke to special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, the movie magician behind the rendering of the film’s remarkable stop-motion monster, the Ymir, who crashes down on Earth from Venus and wreaks some serious havoc in The Eternal City, Rome. More
  
• Craven has Eyes for a franchise
  JULY 26 | COMIC-CON: VB spoke with legendary horror filmmaker Wes Craven about his latest chiller, The Hills Have Eyes 2 , which was released on DVD last week. Craven penned the screenplay for Hills 2 with his son, Jonathan Craven, making the film’s production a family affair of sorts, albeit a far less ruthless one than the clans in the Hills franchise are forced to endure. More
  
• Teenage Mutant Highlander Eastman
  JULY 26 | COMIC-CON: Al ong with an immortal Scotsman and a quartet of anthropomorphic reptiles, comic book artist and producer Kevin Eastman is standing tall this summer as two projects with which he is intimately involved— Highlander: The Search for Vengeance and TMNT (otherwise known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles )—are making their DVD debuts. More
  
• Shout! Factory expands family programs
  JULY 16 | Los Angeles-based Shout! Factory is expanding its library of children’s and family animated content with two new deals. More
  
• Warner celebrates Jazz Singer with 80th anniversary edition
  JULY 9 | On Oct. 16, Warner Home Video will debut the DVD of the studio’s 1927 landmark movie The Jazz Singer , which was the first feature-length film to have synchronized dialog and musical sequences. More
  
• Team Baby names Lee Corso spokesman
  JUNE 28 | Houston-based children’s sports production company Team Baby Entertainment signed ESPN’s popular College GameDay show star Lee Corso as spokesman for the company’s NCAA-themed DVDs. More
  
• Mill Creek launches indie line
  Minneapolis-based supplier Mill Creek Entertainment will premiere a new brand called Reel Indies, which will showcase independent feature films and documentaries. More
  
• TCM partners with Movies Unlimited catalog
  Philadelphia-based retailer/direct-response company Movies Unlimited and cable channel Turner Classic Movies have teamed to form a co-branded DVD consumer catalog. More
  
• Vivid to release on both high-def formats
  Vivid Entertainment will release the first adult title on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 28. Debbie Does Dallas … Again will be priced at $39.95 on both formats. More
  
• UrbanWorks takes stage with Talbert
  UrbanWorks Entertainment, a division of First Look Home Entertainment, has partnered with playwright David E. Talbert for multi-platform distribution of eight filmed versions of Talbert’s stage plays on DVD and TV over the next two years. More
  
• Criterion shines light on obscure titles
  The Criterion Collection will launch “Eclipse,” a new line of DVD titles featuring lost, forgotten and “overshadowed” (hence the moniker) films by the world’s foremost directors. More
  
• Phoenix flies with Internet marketing
  Fledgling indie Phoenix Entertainment Group is taking wing by focusing on a handful of proven urban product categories—martial arts flicks, Latin genre entries and hip-hop-themed titles—and giving them a thoroughly modern viral marketing campaign and digital sales push. More
  
• Remembering Robert Altman
  Right at the top, I’ll admit I was never a huge fan of director Robert Altman , who died last week at the age of 81. But with the arrival of video, my acceptance and respect for Altman was recalibrated and quickly jump-started. More
  
• Wallpaper high-def-style
  DVD International, a division of DVD Acquisition and Development Group, is taking its wallpaper-style DVDs to high-definition. More
  
• Two towers in four configurations
  Following its multi-platform release of Mission: Impossible III , Paramount Home Entertainment will issue Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center on all three DVD platforms—standard, HD DVD and Blu-ray—on Dec. 12 (prebook Oct. 31). More