ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION AND ARTS ALLIANCE MEDIA
ANNOUNCE VIDEO-ON-DEMAND (VOD)
DISTRIBUTION DEAL
LONDON, 31 August, 2006 – Icon Film Distribution and Arts Alliance Media (AAM), Europe’s leading provider of digital film distribution services, have signed a three-year agreement that will make Icon movies available for consumers in the UK to download-to-rent online through internet sites LOVEFiLM (www.lovefilm.com) and AOL (www.aol.co.uk), powered by LOVEFiLM. The Video-on-Demand deal was announced today by Alex Hamilton, President, Icon Film Distribution and Howard Kiedaisch, Chief Executive Officer, Arts Alliance Media.
LOVEFiLM, Europe’s leading online DVD rental service, will make Icon’s titles available to their 400,000 UK customers, and to over 2.2 million AOL UK customers through their exclusive partnership with AOL.
Under the agreement, Arts Alliance Media will have rights to digitally distribute many of Icon’s new and back catalogue titles, including Match Point, What Women Want, Rock School, Dogville, We Were Soldiers, Starter for Ten and The Notorious Bettie Page. Arts Alliance Media will be responsible for digitizing, encrypting and delivering the Icon movies directly to the customers of LOVEFiLM and AOL. Arts Alliance Media will protect the content against theft and piracy using its own unique content security and delivery platform.
Alex Hamilton, President, Icon Film Distribution adds “VoD opens up a brave new world in independent film distribution and we're very pleased to conclude this deal with Arts Alliance Media which will see Icon films available for VoD download on the LOVEFiLM website, which has very quickly established as a key player in the market.”
Howard Kiedaisch, Arts Alliance Media’s CEO said: “It is great to be to working with Icon and taking their titles into the world of internet VoD. It is an exciting time for our company and we intend to aggressively continue building our expanding library of content for digital distribution.”
LOVEFiLM’s CEO, Simon Calver said: “We’re thrilled to bring Icon on board to Europe’s largest online VoD service. Icon’s range of independent and Hollywood titles makes them a great partner for us and helps extend our leadership in Video-On-Demand.”
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:
Suzanne Noble: Icon Film Distribution 0208 492 6300
suzanne@iconfilmdistribution.co.uk
Gemma Richardson: Arts Alliance Media 0207 751 7466
gemma@artsalliancemedia.com
Kate Pidgeon: Arts Alliance Media 0207 751 7512
kate@artsalliancemedia.com
Simon Morris: LOVEFiLM International 020 8951 9850
simon.morris@lovefilm.com
Notes to Editors:
About Icon Film Distribution:
In 1999 Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey announced that they were establishing a new all-media distribution company in the UK.
Icon Film Distribution Ltd (IFDL) was formed in January of that year. The company started releasing films theatrically in Autumn 1999 with a slate that includes Icon Entertainment International’s diverse range of films, as well as acquired product from other sources.
In April 2005, Alex Hamilton was made President of IFDL and is responsible for all aspects of UK distribution.
IFDL’s forthcoming slate includes THE NIGHT LISTENER (Directed by Patrick Stettner, starring Robin Williams & Toni Collette) TRUST THE MAN (Directed by Bart Freundlich with an all star cast: Billy Crudup, David Duchovny, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Eva Mendes, Ellen Barkin) STARTER FOR TEN (Directed by Tom Vaughn starring James McAvoy - Chronicles of Narnia, Shameless - produced by Sam Mendes & Pippa Harris at Neal Street, Gary Goetzman & Tom Hanks at Playtone.) IT’S A BOY GIRL THING (Directed by Nick Hurran starring Kevin Zegers, Samaire Armstrong & Sharon Osbourne, produced by David Furnish & Steve Hamilton Shaw for Rocket Pictures. Elton John executive producer) ALPHA DOG (Directed by Nick Cassavetes starring Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin) and the highly anticipated APOCALYPTO directed by Mel Gibson.
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, 71 screens have been installed and 54 titles and 12,250 digital shows 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 and AOL:
- LOVEFiLM International Ltd is Europe’s leading web-based home entertainment subscription service.
- LOVEFiLM has introduced over 450,000 people to online DVD rental.
- LOVEFiLM carries more than 70,000 unique titles and 1.2 million DVDs and video games, as well as a fast-growing Video-on-Demand (VoD) service.
- LOVEFiLM offers a range of online DVD rental options. These include £9.99 a month, allowing members to have one DVD out at any one time; £12.99 for two at a time, £14.99 gives the option of three DVDs, whilst £19.99 allows you four DVDs at a time. These packages include unlimited DVD rentals each month, free postage and no late fees.
- Games are also available to rent. The packages come in any combination of DVD titles or games. For example, on the 3 disc package, you can rent 2 DVDs and 1 game, or 1 DVD and 2 games, or 3 games or 3 DVDs - It is entirely up to the customer.
- LOVEFiLM was awarded the prestigious British Video Association’s 2005 award for the UK’s Best Rental Service.
- Webuser independently awarded LOVEFiLM Best Service in the UK, “What LOVEFiLM does so ingeniously is make the process of renting DVDs so engaging that you can’t but help develop a greater interest in film.” (Webuser, March 2005)
- LOVEFiLM was the first player to expand into Europe with the acquisition of Swedish online DVD rental company Boxman (www.lovefilm.se) and also operates as LOVEFiLM in Denmark (www.lovefilm.dk).
- The group currently works with major partners including AOL, Tesco, Sainsbury's, EasyGroup, CD Wow, Guardian Newspapers, News International, 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. Users are able to view the service through Microsoft Windows Media Player version 10, which also provides the necessary digital rights management system, security and anti-piracy control. The service is further enabled through LOVEFiLM’s own unique technology platform, Hoffman.
- LOVEFiLM also provides a Video-On-Demand service to AOL UK customers (http://www.aol.co.uk/film/downloads/)
- LOVEFiLM announced the launch of a Download-to-Own service, provided by Arts Alliance Media, in a partnership with NBC Universal, for the release of King Kong on April 10th 2006.