Cinedigm Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM) and Brand Inc. Entertainment announced they have entered into a multi-year, multi-picture, first look deal for original, cast-driven films across a wide spectrum of genres including family, kids, faith, action, western, urban and holiday. The deal provides for a minimum of 12 films over three years. Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to the films, including theatrical, digital, video-on-demand, and physical home entertainment. In addition to providing Cinedigm with a pipeline of high quality, marketable films with well-known stars for its digital and physical retail platform partners, the films will also be available to Cinedigm's growing slate of "OTT" digital networks, including CONtv, targeted to the Comic Con audience, and Dove Movie Channel, targeted to the faith and family audience.
Brand Inc. Entertainment, formed in 2013 by Christopher Barish and Jim Valdez, develops and produces high quality, cast-driven films across multiple genres. The first three films produced by Brand Inc. Entertainment are family films, "Zoey to the Max" (Amy Smart, Grant Bowler), "Little Loopers" (Rob Morrow, Natalie Imbruglia) and "Ghost Squad" (Kevin Nealon). All three will be released in 2015.
Prior to co-founding Brand Inc. Entertainment, Valdez produced numerous films including "Leave" (Bryan Cranston, Ron Livingston) and "Hanna's Gold" (Luke Perry).
Barish is a developer and owner of a number of high profile branded restaurants and nightlife venues in Las Vegas and throughout North America.
"We are thrilled to be a part of the Cinedigm family and to have in them a like-minded partner with a proven record of success. These are the first of a number of media projects for us and we look forward to many collaborations over the next several years," said Barish.
"I am excited to work with Chris and Jim, who have already shown great creative instincts and access to high profile casts," commented Bill Sondheim, President of Cinedigm Entertainment Group. "Their broad industry relationships ensure a strong and consistent flow of new projects in genres that perform well with our retail and VOD partners, as well as with our emerging OTT channels."
About Cinedigm
Cinedigm is a leading independent content distributor in the United States, with direct relationships with over 60,000 physical retail storefronts and digital platforms, including Wal-Mart, Target, iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon, as well as the national Video on Demand platform on cable television. The company's library of over 52,000 films and TV episodes encompasses award-winning documentaries from Docurama Films®, next-gen Indies from Flatiron Film Company®, acclaimed independent films and festival picks through partnerships with the Sundance Institute and Tribeca Films and a wide range of content from brand name suppliers, including National Geographic, Discovery, Scholastic, NFL, Shout Factory, Hallmark, Jim Henson and more.
Additionally, given Cinedigm's infrastructure, technology, content and distribution expertise, the company has rapidly become a leader in the quickly evolving over-the-top digital network business. Cinedigm's first channel, DOCURAMA, launched in May 2014, and is currently available on millions of consumer devices including ioS, Roku, Xbox and Samsung, with additional platforms currently being rolled out. Earlier this year, Cinedigm also announced plans for CONtv, a Comic Con branded channel, in partnership with WIZARD WORLD, for launch in Q1 2015. The Company also announced its third OTT channel via a partnership with The Dove Foundation. DOVE MOVIE CHANNEL will be a digital streaming subscription service targeted to families and kids seeking high quality and family friendly content approved by Dove.
Cinedigm™ and Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp™ are trademarks of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp www.cinedigm.com.
