Weinstein Co. Takes Starz Stake

ENGLEWOOD: The Weinstein Company has taken a 25-percent stake in Starz Media, which includes Anchor Bay Entertainment, among other TV and home-entertainment assets.

In a separate deal, Anchor Bay signed a multi-year U.S. distribution agreement for new theatrical content from The Weinstein Co. and its Dimension Films label. This does not include TV rights but covers Blu-ray, DVD and EST/VOD/PPV digital distribution for up to 20 titles per year. Titles include The King’s Speech, Blue Valentine, Company Men and Sarah’s Key, as well as upcoming sequels in the Scream, Spy Kids and Scary Movie franchises, and new installments in the Hellraiser, Halloween and Children of the Corn film series.

"The distribution agreement leverages the scale of the strong Anchor Bay home entertainment business and the Starz Digital Media distribution platform. The Weinstein Company new release content is a quality addition to our distribution pipeline of new releases from Anchor Bay Films and Starz Originals," said Chris Albrecht, the president and CEO of Starz. "Harvey and Bob Weinstein are terrific business partners and we are very pleased to have them as part of Starz Media."

"We are thrilled to partner with Starz and appreciate the commitment of Liberty Media in bolstering Anchor Bay, allowing it to become a much bigger player in non-theatrical distribution," added Bob and Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company, in a joint statement. "We hope this strategic partnership is a first step in not only making Anchor Bay a home for our product, but in potentially housing other companies’ product as well, giving quality independent films the kind of care needed in today’s marketplace."

"This is an opportunity that excited us, especially given the strong management team and infrastructure at Starz," stated The Weinstein Company’s COO, David Glasser. "It’s a smart, forward-looking partnership that will benefit from the superb skills of Chris Albrecht and everyone at Starz and Anchor Bay."

"Anchor Bay Entertainment is thrilled to be adding the quality films from The Weinstein Company and its Dimension Films label to our first-class home entertainment and digital distribution businesses. Their track record within the home entertainment category is superb.  The TWC films will allow Anchor Bay to continue its expansion, offering consumers and our retail partners excellent independent films featuring leading Hollywood talent," commented Bill Clark, the president of Anchor Bay Entertainment.