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Tag: Kevin Tsujihara

  • Warner Bros & China’s CMC ink joint venture to make films

    Warner Bros & China’s CMC ink joint venture to make films

    MUMBAI: In anticipation of Chinese President Xi’s state visit to the United States, China Media Capital (CMC) and Warner Bros. Entertainment have inked a joint venture to deepen the cultural exchange between the two countries.

     

    They joint venture company called Flagship Entertainment Group Limited will develop and produce a slate of Chinese-language films, including global tentpoles, for distribution around the world, including China.

     

    Flagship Entertainment will be owned 51 per cent by CMC – with Hong Kong broadcaster TVB holding 10 per cent of the CMC-led consortium – and 49 per cent by Warner Bros.

     

    The new entity will combine the expertise of Hollywood’s largest studio with China’s preeminent investment and operational platform dedicated to media and entertainment. Flagship Entertainment’s goal is to capitalize on the rapidly growing market for premium content globally, particularly in China, and the increasing demand for high-quality Chinese-language movies around the world.

     

    Warner Bros chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara said, “We look forward to working with CMC in this exciting new venture, as we gain additional insight into the Chinese film industry. Warner Bros. has a proud legacy of making great movies, and we’re excited to share that expertise with our colleagues in China. The country’s incredibly rich history and culture provide a huge trove of great stories, and we want to help tell those stories for new generations of filmgoers, in China and around the world.”

     

    CMC founding chairman Ruigang Li added, “CMC has been actively investing and operating throughout the ecosystem around the explosive content market in China and around the world. With the proliferation of platforms available to consumers, premium content is more valuable than ever. This partnership with Hollywood’s most iconic studio will bring Warner Bros.’ deep experience in creative storytelling and unparalleled expertise in producing global titles to China’s film industry. It will also further CMC’s commitment to building a premier platform for making films that resonate with both Chinese and worldwide audiences, helping to enhance the cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world.”

     

    The new company will be headquartered in Hong Kong, with offices in Beijing and Los Angeles. 

     

    Flagship plans to develop, invest in, acquire and produce films for distribution throughout China and around the world, utilizing Warner Bros.’ global film distribution network. The first titles bearing the new imprint could be released as early as 2016. 

     

    This creative collaboration between US and China filmmaking partners also allows for the exchange of technical expertise and the development of young Chinese talent for years to come, combining Warner Bros.’ technical and creative knowledge base with CMC and TVB’s access to local talent and market expertise.

     

    Local language film production is the cornerstone of China’s booming entertainment business. As Chinese cinemagoers continue to embrace both domestic and international movies, theatre owners are adding thousands of new screens each year, and total box office is on track to surpass $10 billion annually in the next four years.

  • Dan Fellman steps down from Warner Bros; Kroll named president worldwide distribution

    Dan Fellman steps down from Warner Bros; Kroll named president worldwide distribution

    MUMBAI: Hollywood’s theatrical distribution legend Dan Fellman is all set to leave Warner Bros. Pictures at year’s end. As Warner Bros. Pictures enjoys its unprecedented 15th consecutive billion-dollar-plus year at the US box office, Fellman, who serves as president, domestic distribution, will hang his boots at the studio at the end of the year, capping a 37-year career with Warner Bros.

     

    In the light of this development, Warner Bros has consolidated the studio’s domestic and international film distribution into a global function, wherein Sue Kroll has been promoted to Warner Bros. Pictures president, worldwide marketing and distribution. Kroll will report to Warner Bros chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara.

     

    Additionally, Veronika Kwan Vandenberg has been promoted to Warner Bros. Pictures president, worldwide distribution.

     

    Speaking on Fellman, Tsujihara said, “While Dan’s role was to run domestic distribution for Warner Bros., he really helped shape and lead the entire theatrical distribution business. It goes without saying he’s been an invaluable asset to the company, and he’s also been incredibly important and helpful to me personally. A couple of years ago, I asked him to stay on to help me – and Warner Bros. – through the executive transition. He graciously agreed, and now we’re at a place where we both feel the time is right to make this change. We will miss him tremendously.”

     

    Under Fellman’s leadership of domestic distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures has become the only studio to gross more than $1 billion domestically for 15 consecutive years (including 2015) as well as to have more than 70 movies earn more than $100 million domestically.

     

    He was instrumental in the industry’s conversion to digital cinema and the development of the satellite delivery system DCDC. In 2003, he pioneered the theatrical release of feature films in the IMAX format. The division recently handled the strategic rollout of Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, with a domestic gross of $350 million, the highest of 2014.

     

    Eastwood opined, “I’ve known and worked with Dan for years, from Unforgiven to American Sniper and everything in between. He’s been a great partner on my films and helped us find the right audiences for our greatest success. Dan’s a fantastic film executive and a close friend, and I look forward to working with him on my projects in the future.”

     

    Speaking on Kroll and Kwan Vandenberg’s appointments, Tsujihara said, “Entertainment is a global business, and combining domestic and international film distribution is the logical evolution of our operations. Sue and Veronika are great executives with global perspectives and expertise that will serve this new structure well. Veronika has headed up our international distribution for the last 15 years and we know she’ll bring the same thoughtful, strategic management to our domestic film operations. And, Sue is widely known and respected for her acumen and success in marketing and distribution in the global film marketplace. Dan has been a formidable force in the distribution world, and there’s no one better to continue his great work on our behalf than Veronika and Sue.”

     

    “Veronika and I have been partners for years, and I look forward to this next chapter in our professional relationship. I’d also like to acknowledge the legacy of excellence and achievement that Dan and his team have established. There’s a high bar set for us, and I’m confident that working together as a global team, we’ll continue this success,” said Kroll.

     

    “I am very fortunate to have worked closely with my colleague and dear friend Dan Fellman throughout these years. Our domestic film team is the best in the business, and I’m excited to be working with Jeff Goldstein (EVP and general sales manager) and the entire domestic distribution group. Bringing all of our talented executives’ distribution expertise together into a worldwide organization will help us to maximize every opportunity for success,” said Kwan Vandenberg.

     

    Kroll most recently served as Warner Bros. Pictures president, worldwide marketing and international distribution, a role she’d held since 2013. On the other hand, Kwan Vandenberg most recently served as Warner Bros. Pictures president, international distribution, a post to which she was promoted in November 2000. 

  • Warner Bros. to buy stake in SCi

    Warner Bros. to buy stake in SCi

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. will make an investment in SCi Entertainment Group plc, the parent company of publishing label Eidos Interactive Ltd, representing 10.3 percent of the company’s enlarged share capital.

    Additionally, Warner Bros. and SCi have entered into an agreement for licensing and distribution of games based on select Warner Bros. Entertainment properties, asserts an official release.

    A part of the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) has granted the licenses to SCi for the comic book version of Batman, the Looney Tunes, select titles from the Hanna-Barbera catalog and television properties The OC, Monster Allergy, Loonatics Unleashed and Legion of Super Heroes.

    In addition, Eidos and Warner Bros. have entered into a primary distribution agreement under which Warner Bros. will provide warehousing, logistics, merchandising and media buying services in the United States to Eidos. Eidos will continue to run, through its US publishing office, all other aspects of its US operations including manufacturing, sales, marketing and PR, adds the release.

    Warner Bros. President Kevin Tsujihara said, “Investing in SCi further solidifies our commitment to the rapidly growing interactive and gaming space. This deal is consistent with our core strategy of delivering high quality entertainment based on some of the world’s best-loved brands for all formats and channels. We look forward to working with SCi to build games the fans of these brands will truly enjoy.”

    SCi chief executive Jane Cavanagh said, “These agreements represent a further step in SCi’s development as one of the world’s leading publishers of interactive entertainment. The licensed properties extend and strengthen our product portfolio through globally recognised titles such as Batman, Looney Tunes including brands such as Bugs Bunny and the classic Hanna-Barbera catalogue including brands such as Tom and Jerry.

    “The additional investment provides us with the firepower to accelerate growth initiatives such as increasing our development capacity and our new media and online strategies,” she added.

    Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has licensed the rights for selected intellectual properties to SCi. SCi’s publishing label Eidos will develop videogames based on the properties. The licenses are:

    – Batman. The license enables Eidos to create games based the on comic book version of the DC Comics’ renowned super hero.

    – Looney Tunes. Eidos will create games using the library of Looney Tunes characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales and more, for handheld platforms.

    – Hanna-Barbera catalog. Eidos will develop up to twelve games based on a number of individual characters in the classic Hanna-Barbera catalogue including Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound.

    – The OC. The license is for the interactive rights to the long running global TV series The OC, based around the lives of teenagers in Orange County, California.

  • Warner Bros. associates with BitTorrent to distribute movies, TV shows

    Warner Bros. associates with BitTorrent to distribute movies, TV shows

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. will distribute its films and television shows over the internet using peer-to-peer technology developed by BitTorrent. The studio will also sell permanent copies of films and TV shows online that can be burned to a backup DVD, although the copy will only play on the computer used to download the film and not on standard DVD players.

    The company is planning to kick off the new initiative within six months and the service could be priced as low as $1. According to BitTorrent, movies will be sold for about the price of buying a DVD.

    “If we can convert 5, 10, 15 per cent of the peer-to-peer users that have been obtaining our product from illegitimate sources to becoming legitimate buyers of our product, that has the potential of a huge impact on our industry and our economics,” Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara has been quoted in media reports as saying.

    BitTorrent uses a technique called “file swarming” to distribute large files. Rather than download a single large file from one central computer, BitTorrent assembles files from separate bits of data downloaded from other computer users across the Internet.

  • Warner Bros promotes Jim Noonan as SVP

    Warner Bros promotes Jim Noonan as SVP

    MUMBAI: Communications and new media executive Jim has been promoted to the newly created corporate position of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Worldwide Strategic Promotions & Communications senior vice president.

    It was announced by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara. Noonan will report to Tsujihara.

    Noonan spent the majority of his career as a high-profile communications executive before transitioning to the new media space in 2001 to head Warner Bros. Online and Wireless as senior vice president & general manager of those divisions.

    In his new post, he will be charged with creating strategic cross-platform, cross-divisional promotions for product distributed via the WBHEG’s businesses (including Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment). In addition, Noonan will work with Warner Bros. Entertainment’s Corporate Communications team in overseeing WBHEG’s internal and external consumer and business communications, states an official release.

    Said Tsujihara, “We are fortunate to have someone in this role with Jim’s unique credentials across both the communications and new media spaces. The mandate of our group is to maximize the opportunities for cross promotion across multiple platforms and distribution windows, as well as across our own business units. And, as a new business unit, it’s crucial that we effectively and strategically communicate our messages to the press, our clients, consumers, retailers and adjacent industries. We’ll look to Jim to lead our efforts in both of these important areas.”

    During his five years at the helm of Warner Bros. Online, Noonan initiated Warner Bros.’ wireless efforts and oversaw the establishment of contractual relationships with major wireless carriers around the world, giving Warner Bros. access to more than 80 percent of mobile users worldwide.

    Noonan joined Warner Bros. Online in 2001 from Warner Music Group, where he had served for a year as senior vice president, Strategic Promotions, with a focus on developing WMG’s cross-divisional promotions and strategic alliances.

    Prior to joining WMG, Noonan served for seven years as vice president, corporate affairs for HBO, where he was responsible for overseeing all corporate affairs activities with print and electronic media, public policy issues and corporate relationships with HBO’s various public constituencies.

  • Simon Kenny is Warner Bros. Digital Distribution president

    Simon Kenny is Warner Bros. Digital Distribution president

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Warner has announced that Simon Kenny has been named president of the newly formed Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

    He will manage the worldwide electronic distribution streams of the Studio’s product over existing, new and emerging digital platforms, including pay-per-view, electronic sell-through, video-on-demand, subscription-video-on-demand, wireless and more. He will also oversee the studio’s worldwide digital strategy, partnerships in digital services and emerging new clients and business activities in the digital space.

    As announced at its formation in October 2005, the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group is comprised of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (which incorporates Warner Bros. Online and Wireless), Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (including Warner Bros. Games), Warner Bros. Technical Operations and Warner Bros. Anti-Piracy Operations.

    Kenny currently serves as Warner Bros. International Television Distribution executive VP, Europe. He will assume his new role full-time following the L.A. screenings at the end of May.

    Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara says, “Our priority is the consumer, and our focus is on ensuring that our product is available to them on as many platforms with as much flexibility, functionality and portability as they desire. As digital distribution is no longer just a theory, but a reality, we are charged with managing and leading the retail and consumer transition from a purely packaged distribution scheme to one that supports both packaged and digital distribution, and both standard and high defination formats, while not cannibalising any one segment of the business, but rather maximizing the opportunities afforded by all.

    “Simon’s experience in existing, emerging and next-generation distribution scenarios makes him the perfect choice to head up our digital distribution initiative, and we’re pleased to have him as an integral member of our team.”

    Kenny says, “I am excited about leading the group that will strategise on and implement the methods of digital distribution for all the new and emerging platforms and to be working with Kevin to create new revenue opportunities on behalf of Warner Bros., a true leader in entertainment”.