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LIONSGATE'S CHARITY BASH RAISES CASH…
BVA NOMINATIONS UNVEILED…
UNIVERSAL LEADS WITH EIGHT NODS
HMV SAGA ENTERING FINAL STAGE?
MONMENTUM GOES FOR OLDER VIEWERS
STUDIOCANAL GOES CARAVANNING
YEAR OF THE PARTRIDGE
LOVEFILM INKS BBC KIDS DEAL
NETWORK UNVEILS BRITISH FILM IMPRINT
WWE GETS BUSY
UNIVERSAL'S SPRING CLEANING
NEW DAWN FOR KOCH…
…AND ITUNES EXCLUSIVE
FACT RAIDS TARGET PRINTERS
LIONSGATE AGAIN: COMPANY UPS PRODUCTION SPEND
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
EVENT OF THE WEEK
AT THE MOVIES
SITE OF THE WEEK
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It Was A Good Week For… The four beneficiaries of Lionsgate's charity night…
It Was A Bad Week For… Anyone who presented but wasn't nominated for BVA awards. Commiserations…
With Blockbuster and HMV’s fate still in the lap of the gods, and still no word from Revolver, it’s great to be able to report on our industry doing something positive. So, we’re starting this week’s newsletter with just that: some good news. Not content with just having enjoyed its biggest year ever in terms of theatrical and home entertainment revenues, Lionsgate organised a cracking charity bash held last night at London’s legendary 100 Club. The live music night raised more than £17,000 for a quartet of good causes, Macmillan Cancer Support, Shelter, Pancreatic Cancer Action and Nordoff Robbins. It mixed both a quiz and karaoke, the former done with a live band made up predominantly of Lionsgate staffers. With different studios and suppliers turning up, retail support, different agencies and a full complement from both Lionsgate and its sales company Elevation, it had a decidedly old school feel to it, it was the kind of event the industry used to do so well but has faded from sight during these tougher times.
Highlights from the Lionsgate charity event included Icon and former HMV staffer Ian Dawson and former retail colleague Colin Dunlop performing their duelling guitars, Sainsbury’s Andy Chatburn singing live, Lionsgate’s Nicola Pearcey on keyboards and the vocals of the company’s own singing sensation Kaz Mills. Oh, and, er, Nick Gibbs McNeil singing Pulp’s Disco 2000, which was, to be fair, nowhere nearly as bad as you might have expected it to be. Lionsgate’s Nicola Pearcey, chief organiser of the event said, “I am so incredibly proud and grateful to the band and everyone at Lionsgate for their hard work and camaraderie around the organisation of this event. What materialised from a small to gig to a sell out audience of over 300 we have our sponsors and raffle prize donators to thank for helping raise so much money. The band members deserve an individual shout out in return for the weekends and evenings we all spent together practicing, so thank you to Lionsgater’s Richard Ashley-Cowan, Matt Smith, Melissa Frost, Kaz Mills, Sol Tricot, Andy Trickett and our guest drummer Kim Buttress.” Congratulations to all involved for putting in their time and efforts, not just in raising the cash but also making it such a good event.  And congratulations too to Lionsgate, which cemented its growing reputation as a big league player with a quartet of nominations for the forthcoming BVA awards, as unveiled this week. The company picked up four nominations for the coveted gongs, including TV (for Mad Men) and three different categories (for Troll Hunter, Keith Lemon The Film and The Hunger Games). Universal leads the shortlist, with a total of eight nominations, straddling special interest, music, film, children’s, catalogue and creative initiative categories. Warner has five, Fox four, and Sony (SPHE), eOne, Studiocanal, Momentum and BBC Worldwide all have two apiece, while Fremantle also has one. A few further points worth noting: it’s good to see the blockbuster section (marketing for films with more than £10 million box office) dominated by the independent sector (or mini-majors, as they’re sometimes referred to), with nods for both eOne (The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1) and Lionsgate (the aforementioned The Hunger Games), joining Warner (The Dark Knight Rises) on the grown-ups’ table. It’s also good to see Momentum Pictures, a name that is likely to disappear from the industry after its recent acquisition be eOne, marking its farewell with two nominations, for film marketing for Troll Hunter and The Raid, both campaigns which we’ve detailed here extensively on The Raygun. In one of the more interesting categories, the Creative Initiative, Arrow has been nominated for its Nordic Noir brand, SPHE for its partnership with DFS for Arthur Christmas and Universal for its augmented reality work. Supplier/agency of the year nods are for Premier, Creo and Eulogy.
It’s also worth noting the retail category nominations for the BVA Awards, which will, of course, take place on May 2 2013 at the usual venue (the Old Billingsgate, you should know how to get there by now). Asda, HMV and Sainsbury’s are nominated for the retail store group; Amazon and The Hut for online retailer; blinkbox Blockbuster, LoveFilm and Sky Movies for the rental service of the year; blinkbox, iTunes and Filmflex/Virgin for online digital service. Congratulations to all the nominees and good luck on the night. Tickets, as ever, available from Aurelia@bva.org.uk. You can see the shortlist in full here.
 And now more on some of those other nominees. As noted above, both Blockbuster and HMV are nominated in their respective retail categories and the next seven days should prove to be crucial for the retailers, both currently in administration (both, ironically, with Deloitte). The HMV deal is delicately poised, and although the much vaunted date of March 25 is a bit of a misnomer – it’s when the second quarter rent bill is due for retailers – mainly due to the fact that many HMV stores are on monthly rents and the stores will be open beyond that date no matter what, a deal is still likely to happen close to Easter, either on or before. Hilco is now said to be the only company left in the bidding process, with today’s Independent stating that it is looking to buy the brand and 130 of the stores in a deal that will be worth more than £50 million. Hilco has been meeting suppliers and discussing likely terms if and when HMV comes out of administration. Any deal will hinge on this, and it could all still unravel, but it looks as if Hilco could be moving in the right direction… Details about Blockbuster’s future are far sketchier, but our thoughts are with both retailers, fingers crossed for all the staff involved.
And mention of Momentum brings us on to more of the company’s Q2 offering. Talks are still ongoing for what the merged eOne and Momentum operation will look like following the former’s acquisition of the latter, but, as we’ve noted here and elsewhere, the company is still going strong with its Q2 releases. All of which brings us on to Quartet, a delightful homegrown comedy that, while being set in the UK, marks the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman. It took more than £8 million at the box office and is now being readied for a May 6 home entertainment release, in premium packaging and with a commentary from Hoffman himself. Commenting on the release strategy, Momentum’s Kristin Ryan said: “While our targeting will be focused on the 55+ market, the awareness and appeal of the cast and director broadens it out much further. Our marketing campaign consists of heavyweight TV, kicking off with a key spot in the terrestrial broadcast premiere of The King's Speech on Channel 4 mid-April and throughout release across ITV, Channel 4, the Sky group and key digital channels. Our press advertising will include national broadsheets over the bank holiday weekend and throughout release week as well as key ads in Saga, Royal Opera House and the National Trust magazines. With its strong music connection we'll be building on the Classic FM association with a two week radio ad and online campaign. Additionally, we'll be advertising with the Royal Flower Show group through the month of May which is perfect fit for our audience as well as other key 'silver surfer' sites around release. The cast as well as key behind the scenes talent are fully committed to supporting our release and we have additional confirmed activity with Jazz FM, BBC Music mag, Age Concern, Decca Records and the Verona tourist board plus much much more. Our list of promotional partners is a reflection of both the broad appeal and the sheer Britishness with which bands want to be associated; activity is so far confirmed with English Heritage, James Whites drinks, COOK stores, TIMEX Originals Classics and the National Opera.”
 Out much sooner, and from another nominee, is the release on Monday March 25 of Sightseers, one of our favourite films of the past 12 months. As we’ve noted recently on our website in our regular Week In Video column, it works supremely well as a home entertainment release, with a raft of fantastic extras. Studiocanal’s Kelly Morris said: “Sightseers is this year’s must see, pitch black comedy. It has certainly been one of my favourite films of the year and I’m pretty sure caravanning holidays will be on the increase this summer following the release, though hopefully the same won’t be said for murder rates. We had some super bonus content so produced an exclusive two-disc DVD SKU for Sainsbury’s which we advertised with some Underground four-sheets. Our TV campaign starts this evening, we’re running a snappy 10 second spot across key channels to hit comedy and horror film fans, this is complimented with some online and press advertising and fantastic online and offline PR campaigns, which have been handled by Organic and EM Foundation respectively. The film is also up for 4 awards as this Sunday’s Empire Awards, so good luck.” You can see the TV spot here.
Talking of Studiocanal, the company has the rights to what we reckon will be our best film of this year, the excellent Alan Partridge film. And it certainly looks as if 2013 will see a huge surge in interest of the collected works of North Norfolk’s finest presenter and personality. BBC Worldwide this week released its second DVD from the great man in less than six months, Partrimilgrimage: The Specials, and is set for further activity throughout the year. BBC Worldwide’s Alex Stubbs said: “We're really excited about 2013, which is looks like it's going to be the year of the Partridge. The trailer for the upcoming film has just been released and if it's anything to go by, the film is set to be as good as every Alan Partridge fan has hoped for. We're expecting a great year ahead and we'll be looking to refreshing our classic Partridge back catalogue as well as bringing some new and exciting SKUs to the market.”
 One likely candidate for BVA awards next year could be Network’s ambitious plans for The British Film collection, which aims to do the same for homegrown films as it did for classic British television. It is aiming to become an umbrella brand for vintage British films, it will launch with titles from its recently inked Studiocanal deal. All the titles will carry The British Film logo and Network is pledging new transfers in the correct aspect ratio, the opportunity to use “Instant Play” to get stuck straight into the film, slimline packaging and “attractive price points”. It is all being supported by a series of The British Film ambassadors, experts in different genres, from Ealing to horror and saucier output. They will be doing PR work to support the releases, which kick off on April 8 with The Ealing Studios Rarities Collection Volume 1 and The House In Nightmare Park, a comedy horror starring Frankie Howerd. Social media will play an important part of the marketing, with Facebook and Twitter (#TheBritishFilm) launching on Monday March 25. Network’s Tim Beddows said: “No UK company has the breadth and depth of thought-provoking British films like Network. There is a distinct lack of appreciation and knowledge for many of the nation’s cinematic treasures and we are now going to pro-actively address this as part of a five-year plan to put classic UK cinema back into the public’s consciousness.”
The wrestling world, or rather the WWE, is gearing itself up for the busiest part of its calendar year and Fremantle, the new home of WWE on DVD in the UK and Europe, is keeping itself equally busy. Its carrying on with its ongoing series of releases – TLC: Tables Ladders Chairs 2012 is out on Monday March 25, The Best Of Raw And Smackdown 2012 out on April 8 and Royal Rumble 2013 on April 15 – as well as preparing itself for Wrestlemania. The event, the highlight of the WWE’s year, with all the storylines and bouts leading up to it, takes place in New York on April 7, ahead of Fremantle’s release in the summer. And the WWE is also heading to the UK for a multi-date tour later in April, with Fremantle planning plenty of activity around the British dates. Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, Monday March 25 sees Fremantle launching the WWE iTunes store, with 12 titles on offer. Fremantle’s Ken Law said: “Most labels gear up for a Q4, with WWE our Q4 is Q2. We have January’s huge pay-per-view the Royal Rumble, when The Rock returned, out on 15th April and this is bookended by the big one, WrestleMania 29 on 10th June not to mention the WrestleMania live event itself in NYC on 7th April which creates a huge increase in awareness for the whole brand and then the Superstars and Divas land in the UK for 8 arena dates at the end of April and we have the full roster of WWE talent on hand for promotion. Combined with the iTunes store launch on Monday, it’s a very exciting and lucrative time for WWE.”
 To the ever-wonderful Soho Hotel for a packed screening of the forthcoming Harmony Korine film Spring Breakers, already one of this year's most talked about films. It stars James Franco as a bad boy rapper and some of Hollywood's hottest starlets, including Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, and follows a group of girls going wild during the notorious American college holiday. It's another local acquisition for Universal, part of its ongoing move into upping its slate by buying films with a keen eye on their home entertainment potential. As well as this excellent outing, it has also this week announced that it has picked up the eagerly awaited Spike Island, a film following a group of lads making their way to the legendary Stone Roses gig. Both will be released at theatrical by independent Vertigo, with Universal handling the subsequent home entertainment rights.
Good to see Koch Media continuing its assault on the film business, and it’s been dreaming up some inventive activity to back its theatrical titles. Take, for example, Red Dawn, a big acquisition for the company (as reported here previously) and released at cinemas last weekend. As a publicity stunt, Koch had a crack team of soldiers, complete with a tank, invading Washington, much like the Koreans due to America in the film. The novelty being that, for the purposes of the PR stunt, Koch had them head to Washington in Tyne and Wear rather than the US capital. As well as that, the company also produced a ubiquitous Harlem Shake video, which you can see here: The company’s Paul Nicholls said: ““Outside of traditional marketing we always like to create a more inventive and stand out piece. We were looking to create a stunt that would capture the media's attention and build consumers' excitement ahead of the film's release. Our invasion of Washington, Tyne and Wear, alongside the Harlem Shake video was designed to appeal strongly to our core, teenage demographic - as well as proving very topical.”
And while we’re on Koch, interesting to see the company experimenting with new release strategies and ways of bringing its title to the market. One such title is The Expatriate, a thriller starring Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko. It was released this week as an exclusive via iTunes, and will arrive at cinemas 11 days after its iTunes bow, on March 29, before finally making its way to DVD and Blu-ray on April 1.  Some good news from the ongoing anti-piracy fight and the Met Police working with FACT and trading standards officers arrested five men after raids on three separate addresses across Lambeth, with another later arrested in Lewisham, all in parts of south east London. The raids targeted the printing of counterfeit sleeves and FACT’s director general Kieron Sharp said: “Working in close partnership with Southwark Trading Standards and the Met Police, we are continuing to identify the organised crime groups (OCGs) responsible for the manufacture, distribution and sale of counterfeit films and TV series. Crucially, we are also locating businesses in London who are working with OCGs to print packaging, supply materials and equipment and provide storage facilities.”
Back to Lionsgate, and a few weeks ago we reported on its increased funding for homegrown British productions, all made with a keen eye on the home entertainment sector. Currently nearing completion are two films likely to see the light of day this year, namely I Am Soldier and the next in the Green Street Hooligans franchise, Underground. We’ve interviewed both Ronnie Thompson, the writer turned director behind some of their UK productions, as well as Lionsgate’s own Nicola Pearcey about the company’s ambitions and plans for this sector. Keep an eye out for the interview appearing on our website in the next few days, but in the meantime, it’s also worth noting that as well as a slate that includes this kind of product, the company is further upping its commitment to British films, with the announcement that it is the main financier of the forthcoming A Little Chaos, which will be directed by Alan Rickman, who will also appear alongside Kate Winslet in the film. Lionsgate UK ceo Zygi Kamasa said: “A Little Chaos is the perfect project to continue our increasing investment in British films following the success of titles such as Salmon Fishing In the Yemen this last year. We are delighted to be working with the best of British actors and directors like Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman as we move forward in doubling our investment in British films in 2014 and releasing a fantastic slate of quality British titles for 2013."
And we'll end our news section with a reminder to head over to our website for news, features, regular contributions (our Week In Video, where we look at our recent viewing and wade through piles of check discs and screeners and our round up of press coverage for DVD releases)… We currently have a look at the UK's most influential blogs, as well as loads more to go up in the next few days. Head to www.theraygun.co.uk for more…
 QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The explosion of media-capable devices has had a striking impact on consumer behavior that poses interesting challenges for the entertainment industry and longstanding business models. More than half of consumers have their TVs connected to the Internet in some way, and that group watches TV content from online sources over 40 per cent of the time. This behavior impacts both the entertainment and advertising industries, and highlights the continued importance of using multiple platforms and devices to build brands and engage consumers.”
Deloitte Consulting’s Alma Derricks speaking about a report into consumer habits of US consumers, which showed tablet usage driving an increased interest in rental – 28 per cent said they’d be renting films online to watch on them, with only 12 per cent buying on disc or digital.
EVENT OF THE WEEK
We were lucky enough to attend the premiere of GI Joe Retaliation, the forthcoming actioner due from Paramount at cinemas, ahead of its home entertainment bow later this year. We took our junior correspondent, with our 10-year-old rating it as the best film he’s seen since Skyfall, earning a full five stars out of five. He was equally excited about seeing The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, on the red carpet…
AT THE MOVIES
Oz The Great And Powerful continues to be, er, great and powerful at UK cinemas, remaining in the number one slot with a total of £7.7 million now amassed at British cinemas. New entries include Welcome To The Punch at number three after taking £460,250 in its opening weekend (incidentally giving Momentum both the number two and three slots, as it’s just below the company’s Side Effects). Also just entered are The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (a touch over £300,000) and Red Dawn (more than £250,000).
News from one of our favourite British directors, Ben Wheatley, the man behind, among others, Sightseers (due out on Monday March 25, as noted above) and A Field In England, the film that will, as we reported a few weeks back, is now due from 4DVD. For this week has seen HBO announce that it is working on a project with Wheatley, who is developing a series for the television giant. Silk Road will be penned, directed and executive produced by the prodigious talent, whose CV also includes Down Terrace and Kill List. Not too many details have emerged about the series, beyond its title and genre (it’s a thriller), but given the pedigree of both Wheatley and HBO, keep an eye out for this one…
Reboot news of the week: another one to get the fanboys up in arms again, as Studiocanal is said to teaming up with producer Joel Silver and his production outfit for a new take on John Carpenter’s classic Escape From New York. It’s the second time that a reboot has been mooted, with New Line exploring it a few years ago, the likes of Tom Hardy, Jeremy Renner and Gerard Butler were all mentioned, although the rights have languished since the idea was quietly dropped. Now it looks like it could be Escape From Development Hell, with Silver and co aiming to give a new lease of life to the franchise, which originally starred Kurt Russell as the man sent into a Manhattan that had been turned into a prison complex to rescue the president, a la Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. Some observers have even discussed the possibility of a trilogy…
More big Steve Coogan news following all the recent Partridge shenanigans (as mentioned above), it’s interesting to note that the comic could be following Hugh Laurie’s route into more serious US television. David Shore, the creator of House, which became one of US TV’s biggest shows and turned Laurie into a major star, is developing a new legal drama for the ABC network. Doubt will star Coogan as a former cop turned lawyer, who as well as having a fuil casebook also comes weighted down with plenty of personal baggage…
SITE OF THE WEEK
After producing a booklet to go in its releases, Arrow's award-nominated Nordic Noir imprint has gone one step further, putting together a magazine. It will be inserted into releases, as well as distributed through Scandinavian-themed cafes and venues around the UK. It will be inserted from May, but you can see it here.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
For all the latest news and gossip, follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun…
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
The next big, self-financed production from Netflix…
Kid-friendly action from Universal…
And not so child-friendly from Universal, for grown ups only… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UMbwxbgv8U&feature=youtu.be&has_verified=1 Another CG children’s title…
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/epic/ More animated fare…
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/turbo/ A new Star Trek trailer, features much Benedict Cumberbatch…
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrekintodarkness/ |
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