eOne Partners with Wild Bunch

PARIS/LONDON/TORONTO: Entertainment One (eOne) and Wild Bunch have entered into a multi-year distribution partnership for France, effective June 1.

The first home-video titles to be released under the new partnership are season one of Call Me Fitz, starring Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills, 90210), set for June, and season two of The Walking Dead, which is set for a July release.

Under the agreement, Wild Bunch will handle home video and digital rights for eOne in France through its direct distribution arm Wild Side. Wild Side will also handle TV sales for eOne’s feature film titles, with eOne Television International continuing to handle the television content in the region.

“Over the past few years, we’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Wild Bunch across our territories worldwide and we couldn’t ask for a more trusted partner,” said Patrice Theroux, the president of filmed entertainment at Entertainment One. “As eOne continues to grow in Europe and across the globe, we remain committed to maximizing rights ownership and looking for new opportunities to exploit our content on a multi-territory and multi-platform basis. We’re confident that Wild Bunch can also offer eOne the resources for theatrical distribution and other exciting opportunities in France through the coming years.”

”Patrice and his team have been friends and partners for years,” said Vincent Grimond, the chairman and CEO of Wild Bunch. “This agreement is a natural outcome of both a close relationship and a shared vision of the evolution of distribution activities in this digital age.”

“We sincerely appreciate the Aventi team’s successful efforts in launching and maintaining eOne in France since our 2010 launch into the French home entertainment market. We’re grateful for all their hard work and commitment,” said Jon Bourdillon, the eOne U.K. director of home entertainment. Some of the catalogue titles Aventi currently distributes will continue to be handled by them through home video promotions until the end of the year.”