ARTS ALLIANCE MEDIA ANNOUNCES
DOWNLOAD TO OWN DISTRIBUTION DEAL
WITH 2 entertain
LONDON, 10 November, 2006 – Arts Alliance Media (AAM), Europe’s leading provider of digital film distribution services, has signed a deal for download-to-own distribution services for content from 2 entertain Ltd, the UK’s largest independent video publisher/distributor. Content, including such hits as Little Britain Live, Jeremy Clarkson: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and Aardman Darkside will be made available through AAMs distribution partner, LOVEFiLM (www.lovefilm.com) from Monday November 13th 2006 – the same date as the DVD version of Little Britain Live will be available to purchase from retail stores. Vizumi provides a movie download service to AOL (www.filmdownloads.aol.co.uk), where the content will also be available from launch.
The deal was announced today by Mark Livingstone, President of Arts Alliance Media, and David Root, Sales & Marketing Director, 2 entertain Ltd. Mark Livingstone commented “We are delighted to make 2 entertain content available to consumers to Download-to-Own, adding to AAM’s reputation as the UK’s leading VOD content aggregator.”
David Root said “This deal is a really exciting opportunity for us and will enable customers to access our content where and when it suits them, especially with titles such as Little Britain Live which are sure to be amongst the most popular releases coming up to Christmas.”
LOVEFiLM will roll out the titles on an ongoing basis, starting from November 13th, and will be making them available for purchase via download to all of their 450,000 UK customers, and over 2.2 million AOL customers through the exclusive LOVEFiLM/AOL partnership.
As a content aggregator and technology supplier, Arts Alliance Media has previously signed digital content distribution agreements with Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Universal, Momentum, Tartan and Fremantle, among others.
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For further information please contact
Kate Pidgeon, Arts Alliance Media:
kate@artsalliancemedia.com / +44 207 751 7512
Kate Pidgeon: Arts Alliance Media 0207 751 7512
kate@artsalliancemedia.com
Louise Snell: 2 entertain Ltd 020 7612 3145
louise.snell@2entertain.co.uk
About 2 entertain
In 2 entertain Video, we have the UK's largest independent video publisher/distributor, a dynamic player in the UK market championing British programmes and talent both at home and internationally. The video division has a key licensing agreement with BBC Worldwide. It also has many existing relationships with key major talent and content providers in the entertainment industry. These products are sold under the brand of the licensor, together with the 2 entertain logo.
We come with an enviable catalogue of award-winning programmes and some of the biggest-selling DVD releases of the last year, with titles such as Catherine Tate, Little Britain and The Office - and that's just in comedy.
2 entertain Video is renowned for its portfolio of programmes spanning every genre of the home entertainment video market, many of which we are a market leader. We are also leading the market in developing the newest DVD sector, Interactive DVD.
Equally, catalogue management forms an essential part of 2 entertain's commitment to lifecycle marketing of classic titles and deep catalogue, to extend the life of the release. Our role is to promote, design and market all those famous television programmes under the Classic TV brand and bring an extensive range of new and re-released programmes to the consumer.
About Arts Alliance Media
- Arts Alliance Media (AAM), based in London, is Europe's leading provider of digital film distribution services, dedicated to building a European digital network to deliver film to the cinema, to the home and between industry players.
- For Video-on-Demand and Download-to-Own, AAM provides ISPs, media companies and e-tailers with turn key solutions for acquiring rights and securely distributing digital video content over the internet to their audiences.
- AAM owned LOVEFiLM, Europe's largest online DVD rental company, until the LOVEFiLM/Video Island merger in April 2006. AAM remains the largest single shareholder of LOVEFiLM International, the merged company, and provides the technology and content for digital distribution.
- For digital cinema, AAM provides end-to-end digital cinema solutions encompassing equipment selection, financing and integration, operator training, installation and support, and content management and delivery.
- In February 2005, Arts Alliance Digital Cinema won the UK Film Council contract to install and operate 240 digital screens, the world’s first 2k digital cinema network. To date, since October 2005, 124 screens have been installed and 67 titles have been played on AAM’s UK network. In April 2006, AAM expanded its digital cinema network into Europe, beginning with a 10-screen trial rollout in Norway.
For more information, visit: www.artsalliancemedia.com.
About LOVEFiLM International Ltd
- LOVEFiLM International Ltd is Europe's leading online DVD rental subscription service with over 450,000 members and operates in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany.
- LOVEFiLM carries more than 62,000 unique titles including games, as well as a fast-growing Video-on-Demand (VoD) service.
- LOVEFiLM UK customers have generated over 27 million film ratings and over 370,000 reviews.
- LOVEFiLM offers a range of online DVD rental options in each market. In the UK these include £9.99 a month, allowing members to have one DVD out at a time, £12.99 for two at a time and £14.99 gives the option for three DVDs at a time. These packages include unlimited DVD rental each month, free postage and no late fees.
- The LOVEFiLM weekly newsletter reaches over 300,000 subscribers.
- LOVEFiLM has won the prestigious British Video Association's award for the UK's Best Rental Service in both 2005 and 2006.
- The group currently works with major partners in the UK including AOL, Tesco, EasyGroup, CD Wow, Guardian Newspapers, WHSmith, Odeon and Vue Cinemas, some of whom offer a fully white-labelled service.
- LOVEFiLM launched the first UK mass market movie download service to its UK subscriber base in December 2005. Customers can download-to-rent (VoD) or download-to-own from a choice of over 1,700 titles. Short films and full-length feature films are available from major Hollywood studios including Universal, Warner Bros., Sony, Momentum, Icon, Celluloid Dreams and Contender.
- LOVEFiLM also operates a VoD service to AOL UK customers (www.filmdownloads.aol.co.uk).