By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

EXCLUSIVE MEDIA ACQUIRES STAKE IN MILLENNIUM ENTERTAINMENT

Posted Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 - Comments Off on EXCLUSIVE MEDIA ACQUIRES STAKE IN MILLENNIUM ENTERTAINMENT
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MILLENNIUM TO PROVIDE HOME ENTERTAINMENT

DISTRIBUTION FOR SELECTED EXCLUSIVE RELEASING TITLES

Los Angeles, CA (Sept 25, 2012) – Exclusive Media Co-Chairmen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East and Millennium Entertainment and Nu Image Founders Avi Lerner and Trevor Short today announced that Exclusive Media has acquired a minority stake in US distribution company Millennium Entertainment.

Under the terms of the deal, Exclusive Releasing, the newly launched US distribution company of Exclusive Media, will have access to Millennium’s home entertainment distribution systems to supplement Exclusive Releasing’s infrastructure.

Millennium Entertainment CEO Bill Lee and his team will continue to manage and grow the business, working closely with Exclusive Releasing’s management group on selected Exclusive Media titles going through Millennium.

The Exclusive Media/Millennium deal was negotiated by Exclusive Media’s COO Marc Schipper, and Nu Image/Millennium’s Trevor Short.  Exclusive Media was introduced to Millennium by Evolution Media Capital.

Avi Lerner and Trevor Short said: “We’ve known Nigel and Guy for many years. Exclusive Media has excellent taste and is making some great films so we’re excited by this arrangement and look forward to Exclusive Media bringing further impetus to the next stage of Millennium Entertainment’s growth. ”

Exclusive Media COO Marc Schipper added: “Acquiring a stake in Millennium is a key next step in building Exclusive Releasing.  As we have gotten to know them, we have been very impressed by the professionalism and dedication that Bill Lee and his team display in managing their company. This new deal ensures that Exclusive Releasing is well positioned to take advantage of the shifts from physical to digital and from sell-thru to rental in the home entertainment market. “

“We are beyond proud and excited to be in business with Nigel, Guy, Marc and everyone at Exclusive Media,” said Bill Lee CEO, Millennium Entertainment. “This agreement will allow us continue to grow our company and gives us access to tremendous, high quality films for our home entertainment pipeline. This coupled with our thriving theatrical business, means that Millennium Entertainment will continue to be a significant player in the marketplace. We look forward to a very fruitful relationship.”

ABOUT MILLENNIUM ENTERTAINMENT

Formed in 2010 and led by CEO Bill Lee, Millennium Entertainment is a leading independent supplier that acquires and distributes feature films. Up next the company will release The Paperboy, directed by the Oscar-nominated Lee Daniels (Precious) and starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, David Oyelowo, Macy Gray, John Cusack and Nicole Kidman. Most recently the company released Simon West’s Stolen starring Nicolas Cage, Malin Akerman and Josh Lucas; Jay Chandrasekhar’s The Babymakers, starring Olivia Munn, Paul Schneider, Aisha Tyler, Kevin Heffernan and Wood Harris; Red Lights, written and directed by Rodrigo Cortés, and featuring an all-star cast led by Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Toby Jones, Joely Richardson and Elizabeth Olsen; Richard Linklater’s Bernie, co-written by Skip Hollandsworth and Linklater, starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey. Other releases include Little Birds, starring Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker, with Leslie Mann and Kate Bosworth; A Little Bit Of Heaven starring Kate Hudson; Trespass starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman and Trust starring Clive Owen. The company recently acquired What Maisie Knew from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel and starring Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård and Steve Coogan as well as Josh Boone’s directorial debut Writers starring Lily Collins, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Kinnear and Kristen Bell at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

ABOUT NU IMAGE/MILLENNIUM FILMS

Nu Image/Millennium Films is one of the longest-running independent film companies in the history of Hollywood, with 20 years and more than 300 films to its credit.  The company now produces, finances and handles international sales for five to eight star-driven films per year, with budgets typically ranging from $20 million to $80 million.

It is best known for such films as The Expendables (a $273 million worldwide hit), Righteous Kill (reteaming Robert De Niro and Al Pacino) and Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

Nu Image/Millennium Films is run by co-founders Avi Lerner and Trevor Short, and a senior executive team that includes Mark Gill (president), Boaz Davidson (head of development and creative affairs), John Thompson (head of production), John Fremes (head of international sales) and Lonnie Ramati (head of business affairs).

Having just released The Expendables 2 to boxoffice success, the studio’s current slate includes Gabriele Muccino’s Playing the Field starring Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman and Dennis Quaid; The Big Wedding starring Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton, Topher Grace, Amanda Seyfried and Robin Williams; The Paperboy directed by Lee Daniels and starring Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Nicole Kidman, and Zac Efron; and The Iceman directed by Ariel Vromen and with a chilling lead performance from Michael Shannon.

Nu Image/Millennium Films also owns and operates full-service studios in Shreveport, Louisiana and Sofia, Bulgaria.  The independent studio was founded in 1992 under the name Nu Image, Inc.

ABOUT EXCLUSIVE MEDIA

Exclusive Media is a vertically integrated global filmed entertainment company, founded in May 2008 with the backing of the strategic investment group Cyrte Investments.  Exclusive Media develops, finances, produces, markets and distributes prestige and talent driven commercial and documentary feature films on a global basis.

Exclusive Media is run by a four member Executive Board with Nigel Sinclair as Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Guy East as Co-Chairman, Simon Oakes as Vice Chairman and President of Hammer and Marc Schipper as Chief Operating Officer.  Supporting the Executive Board in both the operational management and strategic expansion of the business is a strong team of highly skilled professionals who have a broad range of complementary experience.

Exclusive Media’s development and production activities operate through three specialist labels: UK based Hammer for genre titles, Spitfire Pictures for documentary features and the flagship label Exclusive Media for all other feature film production.

Exclusive Media’s international sales & distribution division maintains a strong marketing presence and represents the group’s in-house productions plus its growing library of over 550 titles, as well as actively acquiring third party feature films to further strengthen its international distribution slate.

For further information about the company, our slate of films, library and our experienced management team please visit www.exclusivemedia.com

 

 

 

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