ContentFilm And Image Entertainment Sign Worldwide Co-Production Deal For Theatrical Feature Films And Home Video Distribution

Agreement Will Lead To Shared Properties And A Substantial Increase In ContentFilm's Production Output

5-Oct-04

Image Entertainment, Inc. and ContentFilm today announced an agreement to jointly produce, finance, and distribute a series of feature films, with the copyright being shared between the companies. The films will be intended for theatrical release, with the revenues primarily driven by worldwide DVD distribution. The jointly-owned films will be sourced and produced by ContentFilm, distributed in the North American video market by Image under a newly-created ContentFilm home video label, and distributed to theatrical, broadcast and international home video markets by ContentFilm and ContentFilm International. With an initial target of three to four films a year, the deal with Image is expected to lead to a substantial increase in ContentFilm's production output. The first film will be announced shortly. In addition to new productions, ContentFilm will look for acquisitions of completed films for video distribution by Image. ""Our deal with Image represents an extension of a part of the business that has been core to ContentFilm from the beginning, and we are pleased to have found a partner to expand our efforts,"" said John Schmidt, co-CEO, ContentFilm. ""Our goal is to bring together clever scripts, original direction, recognizable casts and sensible budgets to create films with worldwide video appeal and theatrical potential."" ""This agreement will build both our library and Image's, as we find new and talented young directors, and hopefully unearth some franchise opportunities,"" said Edward Pressman, co-CEO, ContentFilm. ""Image is ready to pursue this amazing opportunity with us, and we are delighted to be in business with their world class organization to create a long-term body of work."" Martin W. Greenwald, Image's CEO and President, commented, ""This opportunity to partner with ContentFilm and Ed Pressman represents an expansion of our corporate strategy. The agreement reiterates our commitment to content creation with shared copyright and multiple revenue streams. Coupled with other initiatives we've recently announced, Image is well-positioned to be a force in the world of high concept but lower budget, genre-specific theatrical features. Over the years, we have produced programming in the music, comedy, urban, lifestyle and narrative feature film categories, and we continue to search for new opportunities to add to our large exclusive library. This agreement further supports and expands upon our well-established reputation of bringing quality and compelling entertainment to audiences around the world."" ""Ed Pressman has a long-standing track record in the development, creation, and acquisition of commercially successful and critically acclaimed feature films,"" said Barry Gordon, Sr. Vice President, Acquisitions, Image Entertainment. ""The ContentFilm label will become one of the cornerstones of our programming strategy to have equity positions in compelling feature films that can be exploited in multiple distribution channels including theatrical, broadcast, VOD, digital/wireless, and packaged media.""