Smithsonian Networks Signs Exclusive U.S. DVD Distribution Deal

LOS ANGELES, June 11: Infinity
Entertainment Group has inked an exclusive deal with Smithsonian Networks, a
joint venture between Showtime Networks and the Smithsonian Institution, to
distribute its programming on DVD in the U.S.

The agreement kicks off
with the release of two titles: Stories From the Vaults: Season One and America’s Greatest Monuments: Washington D.C. The preorder date is August 19 and the street date
is September 23 for both titles. Both DVDs will retail for $24.98 each.

Hosted by Tom Cavanagh (Eli Stone, Ed), the original series Stories From the Vaults: Season One takes viewers on an insider’s tour of the private rooms and high-tech
vaults of the Smithsonian, revealing some of the artifacts that visitors rarely
get to see. The series recently received a Gold World Medal from the New York
Festival, as well as a Parent’s Choice Gold Award for Excellence.

In America’s Greatest
Monuments: Washington D.C, viewers will receive a behind-the-scenes look at
the capital’s greatest shrines, from the war memorials to the monuments
honoring America’s founding fathers.

Other Smithsonian Networks
programs that will be available through Infinity include the original
documentary Remembering Vietnam: The Wall at 25, Day of the Kamikaze, a docu-drama recreating the Japanese suicide
attacks against the Allied Fleet in 1945 and Nature Tech, a three-episode series that examines the new
field of bio-mimetics.

“We are delighted that
Infinity is going to represent us in the DVD marketplace,” said Tom Hayden, the
general manager of Smithsonian Networks. “Part of our mission as ‘America’s
Storyteller’ is getting our programming on multiple platforms and we are
thrilled to be adding home entertainment to our repertoire of cable, satellite
and telephone company partners.”

—By Irene Lew