Image Entertainment And Quincy D. Jones IIIís QD3 Entertainment Announce Multi-Year Urban/Hip-Hop Music Programming Agreement For World Wide Home Video And Broadcast

""Thug Angel: The Life and Times Of Tupac Shakur"" First Release Of 12 Programs

7-Nov-01

Image Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISK), a leading licensee and distributor of DVD programming in North America, today announced the signing of an exclusive multi-year distribution and license agreement with QD3 Entertainment, a company formed by Quincy D. Jones III for the production of urban and hip/hop music related programming. Thug Angel: The Life and Times of Tupac Shakur, the first title under the agreement, is tentatively set for a March 2002 release.With Thug Angel, QD3 Entertainment launches its series with one of Hip-Hopís most controversial artists, Tupac Shakur. The program peels back layer after layer of Tupac, going beyond the media hype and deeper than the ìthugî image. Including all new footage and interviews, Thug Angel uncovers the core of this prolific artist and cements his place firmly in the history books, not just as one of Hip-Hopís best (to this day arguably unrivaled), but also as an artist whose musical contribution crosses genres and cultures.Access and intimacy are the key words that will define the QD3 Entertainment line of Hip-Hop music related programming. With its extensive library of never-before-seen footage ranging from 1978 to 2001, covering every genre from ìOld Schoolî to ìGangster Rap,î QD3 Entertainment is taking a closer look at the evolution of Hip-Hop by examining the creative forces that have shaped the genre.Offering not only live performances from Hip-Hopís greatest artists, but also insightful and accurate documentation via interviews and behind the scenes coverage. Viewers will be able to see historical and controversial events as they happened. Fans of the genre have a ravenous appetite for programming with this collectibility factor and QDís work delivers the goods. The market for urban/hip-hop home video product is just coming into its own and based upon audio-only sales and early entrants to the home video marketplace, the potential for this brand of programming is enormous.Quincy D. Jones III, known in music circles as QD3, has worked with the best in the urban/hip-hop genre and beyond. With many Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums and singles to his name, artists for which QD has produced for include 2 Pac, Lil Mo, Ice Cube, T Boz (TLC), LL Cool J, Brandy, Mack 10, Westside Connection, Robyn, Prince, his father, the legendary Quincy Jones and others. For his work, QD was nominated for a ìProducer of the Yearî Source Award along side Dr. Dre and others. In the film and television composing arena, QD was awarded the ASCAP Composers Award for his work on Fresh Prince of Bel Air starring Will Smith, as well as receiving an Emmy nomination for composing the theme to Eddie Murphyís Fox show, The PJís, along with George Clinton. The first two releases from his own QD3 Soundlab imprintóTech N9neís Anghellic and Loucie Lou & Michie Oneís Seven Years of Plentyóhave just been released. QD is currently executive producing, writing and producing for rap artist Tru Lifeís upcoming Dreamworks release.Commenting on the agreement, QD stated, ìI have spent a lot of time with the people at Image. I see how they work and I respect their position in the DVD music arena. Having released and succeeded with many different types of music programming on home video, they were ready to attack the urban/hip-hop market. Working with Image, I can see that theyíre ready and I know that this exclusive partnership will take us all to the next level.îBarry Gordon, Imageís Vice President of Sales, nurtured the deal with QD3 Entertainment and added, ìThe urban/hip-hop space was really the last big market that, as a company known for its breadth of music programming, Image needed to crack. I am confident that the talent and reputation that QD brings to the table, coupled with our marketing and distribution, these programs will serve to satisfy an enormous consumer appetite.î Hip-Hop, a $3 billion industry born and nurtured in forgotten urban corners approximately 25 years ago, has long proven it is more than just a passing fad. It is a complex and constantly evolving art form that has spawned several sub-genres such as ìOld Schoolî (Run DMC, Grand Master Flash, Doug E Fresh), ìPolitical Rapî (Public Enemy, KRS1), ìConscious Rapî (Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Mos Def), and ìGangster Rapî (NWA, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur). Hip-Hop has now become as accepted a genre as Jazz, Rock, Folk and Country. Hip-Hop is also a dominant influence on todayís youth culture through music, fashion and all other forms of worldwide media and advertising. Itís a dialogue that began in the U.S. inner cities and today involves the entire world; giving voice to celebration, frustration, rage and solution. Broadcast sales of the QD3 programming will be handled by Aviva International, Imageís joint venture partner.Image Entertainment, Inc. is a leading aggregator of content for DVD with nearly 1,600Image-exclusive DVD titles in release. The Company also has exclusive videocassette, broadcast, streaming video and downloading rights for certain properties. The Company maintains its distribution facility in Las Vegas, Nevada and is one of the largest distributors of DVD programming in North America. Image has distribution agreements in Japan, China and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, and throughout most of Europe for select programming on DVD and videotape as well as for broadcast. Additionally, the Company owns and operates an e-commerce subsidiary, DVDPlanet.com. Visit Image Entertainment online at: www.image-entertainment.com.

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