Echo Bridge Scores Alliance Atlantis Catalogue

NEEDHAM/LOS ANGELES, April
4: Echo Bridge Entertainment has inked a deal to acquire Alliance Atlantis
International Distribution from Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, adding some
7,500 titles to its distribution catalogue.

Through the share purchase
agreement, Echo Bridge Entertainment will distribute the rights to first-run
and catalogue programming from Alliance Atlantis International Distribution
worldwide, excluding Canada. The deal is expected to close within the next
three weeks. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The new deal follows Echo
Bridge Entertainment’s November 2007 corporate credit agreement with JPMorgan
Securities, facilitating the company’s acquisition of new content and the
expansion of its worldwide sales infrastructure. The Alliance Atlantis deal
adds 5,500 hours to the company’s existing 3,500-title slate, bringing the
catalogue up to more than 11,000 titles covering feature films, television
movies and series, children’s series and lifestyle and factual programming,

Michael Rosenblatt, the
chairman, president and CEO of Echo Bridge Entertainment, noted: “This
agreement marks a significant step in our aggressive campaign to further expand
the company’s distribution infrastructure and library of assets. By adding this
impressive roster of programming to our existing stable of product, we will
greatly diversify our catalogue and position the company as a leading worldwide
content provider.”

In the international
market, program sales will be spearheaded by Daniel March, the executive VP of
Echo Bridge Entertainment, who will begin offering the programming to
broadcasters at MIPTV next week. “It’s an extremely exciting opportunity for us
at the perfect time,” states March. “We are delighted to offer such a rich and
diverse slate of programming to our clients. We intend to be a major program
supplier to broadcasters and look forward to the opportunities this transaction
will facilitate.”

In the U.S. home
entertainment market, the new titles will be distributed by Echo Bridge Home
Entertainment under the direction of Nate Hart and Mike Newcomb, the
co-presidents of the division. Kevin Tannehill, the head of domestic
television, will oversee all U.S. television, VOD and digital sales.

The slate includes Da
Vinci’s Inquest, Due South, Total Recall 2070, Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, prime-time movies like Hitler: Rise of Evil and Nuremberg, the teen series Degrassi: The Next Generation and Instant Star; lifestyle shows like Crash Test Mommy and Design Inc.; the factual series Turning Points of History; and kids fare like Lunar Jim and Dragon Booster.

In related news, Echo
Bridge has today acquired from S & S Productions the worldwide distribution
rights (excluding Canada) to the new prime-time television series Jeff Ltd. Echo Bridge will offer 26 half-hours of the
critically-acclaimed comedy starring Gemini Award-winning actor Jeff Seymour (Show
Me Yours, The Eleventh Hour) as a nickle and dime advertising and promotions
executive who chases get-rich schemes and women of all types with reckless
abandon. It aired in Canada on CTV and The Comedy Network.

—By Mansha Daswani