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RELATIVITY MEDIA REACHES A DEAL WITH STARZ TO TAKE OVER OVERTURE’S DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING UNITS

Posted Friday, July 23rd, 2010 - Comments Off on RELATIVITY MEDIA REACHES A DEAL WITH STARZ TO TAKE OVER OVERTURE’S DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING UNITS
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Peter Adee and Kyle Davies Move to RML to head up Theatrical Marketing and Distribution Arms
image005.jpgLOS ANGELES – JULY 23, 2010 – Relativity Media will take over the distribution and marketing operations and some assets of the Starz Overture Films subsidiary. Approximately 45 staff members, or two-thirds of Overture’s employees, will make the move to Relativity Media, including Peter Adee, formerly Overture Films’ President of Worldwide Marketing, Distribution and New Media, and Kyle Davies, Executive Vice President Theatrical Distribution. Overture Films will release its remaining titles – Jack Goes Boating, Stone and Let Me In – through a new distribution services agreement with Relativity.
“We are in a great position to bring the marketing and distribution savvy of Peter and Kyle, and their teams to our home at Relativity,” said Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Relativity Media, LLC. “As we’ve been expanding this area of our business finding a team with the experience and breadth and depth that Peter and Kyle’s have couldn’t have been a more perfect fit. They have released an incredibly broad slate of films over the past 15 years including some of the highest grossing films in their respective years. I really commend Starz for its smart leadership in helping us make this move.”
“With our increased focus on original content, it no longer makes strategic sense for Starz to make theatrical motion pictures,” said Chris Albrecht, President and CEO of Starz LLC, Overture Films’ parent company. “However we’re pleased to have found a great opportunity for the majority of the company’s employees, including the talented distribution and marketing teams.”


“We couldn’t be more excited to be moving forward with Relativity’s expansion through this acquisition” said Michael Joe, President of Relativity “This move, together with our recent Netflix deal, gives Relativity a business competitive with any major studio.”
“We are very excited to be joining Ryan Kavanaugh and Relativity, as what they’ve accomplished in the past few years has been nothing short of extraordinary,” said Peter Adee. “We’re also pleased to reach this agreement, which benefits everyone, and most especially will support these great films as they are set to reach audiences.”
The Overture arrangement does not affect any of Starz Media’s other operating assets, including Anchor Bay Entertainment, which specializes in home entertainment releases.
About Starz Media
Starz Media, LLC, is a programming production and distribution company operating worldwide. It includes the Film Roman, Anchor Bay Entertainment, and Manga Entertainment brands. Its units create animated and live-action programming and programming created under contract for other media companies. It distributes that programming, and programming acquired from outside producers, through home video retailers, broadcasters, ad supported and premium television channels, and Internet and wireless video distributors in the US and internationally. Starz Media (www.starzmedia.com) is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group.
About Relativity Media, LLC
Relativity Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company that focuses on creating, financing and distributing first class, studio-quality entertainment content and intellectual property across multiple platforms, as well as making strategic partnerships with, and opportunistic investments in, media and entertainment-related companies and assets. Relativity owns and operates Rogue, a company that specializes in the production and distribution of films from new and cutting edge filmmakers. Building upon its foundation of financing and producing films, Relativity has grown to include music, sports and television divisions and the next-generation social network iamrogue.com. Relativity also owns and operates RelativityREAL, Relativity’s television arm, which has become one of the leading suppliers of reality television with more than 20 shows in episodic or pilot. RelativityREAL is run by Tom Forman; his past successes include “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “Kid Nation.”
To date, Relativity has committed to, produced and/or financed more than 200 studio-quality motion pictures through 2014. Released films have accumulated more than $13.0 billion in worldwide box office revenue. Relativity’s recent films include Dear John, Brothers, The Wolfman, It’s Complicated, Zombieland, Couples Retreat, The Bounty Hunter and, most recently, Get Him to the Greek, Robin Hood and Grown Ups. Upcoming films for Relativity include The Fighter, Despicable Me, Charlie St. Cloud, Salt, Nanny McPhee 2, The Social Network as well as James Cameron’s Sanctum in 3D and Wes Craven’s My Soul To Take in 3D. Twenty-nine of the company’s films have opened at No. 1 at the box office. Relativity films have earned 43 Oscar® nominations, including nods for Nine, A Serious Man, Frost/Nixon, Atonement, American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma. Forty-eight of Relativity’s films have each generated more than $100 million in worldwide box-office receipts.
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