Global distributor/producer BKN has entered the home entertainment and new media distribution business by forming BKN Home Ent. Ltd. in the U.K. and BKN Home Ent. Inc. in the U.S. to take greater control of the distribution of the companys content in all emerging forms and venues.
Matthew Graham-Clare has bee named md of the U.K. operation with Mark Saxe serving as production director.
With decade of experience in the home entertainment business, Graham-Clare joins BKN from Universal Pictures, where he was sector manager of the DVD division. Prior to joining Universal, he was sales director at Maximum Ent. distributing the Disney owned Jetix TV channel's brands for home entertainment.
Saxe joins BKN after 25 years of service at the BBC where he moved up the ranks to production director of BBC Video at BBC Worldwide.
BKN will be producing, in traditional or CGI animation, the following films for distribution:
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES (72 minutes)KONG II - RETURN TO THE JUNGLE (80 minutes)A CHRISTMAS CAROL (48 minutes)ROBIN HOOD (48 minutes)JUNGLE BOOK (48 minutes)JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (48 minutes)THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (48 minutes)THE THREE MUSKETEERS (48 minutes)GULLIVERS TRAVELS (48 minutes)ALICE IN WONDERLAND (48 minutes)THE NUTCRACKER (48 minutes)
BKN Home Ent. will also handle the DVD release of new TV series, such as Legend of the Dragon, Kong - The Animated Series and Dork Hunters from Outer Space, as well as the full BKN catalog.
"Our business model is to take more control over our products and content in all forms and venues, said Allen Bohbot, BKN Group ceo. We will be producing these projects, creating the packaging, dubbing in major languages such as English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian and controlling the quality and quantity of the replication worldwide. In the U.K. and Ireland, we will distribute under our own label and, in all other markets worldwide, we will secure distribution deals that essentially rent the distribution with BKN collecting the gross receipts.
This is a very exciting opportunity to provide customers with well recognized, high quality products, mostly in state-of-the-art CGI that have never been produced before, and with celebrity voice overs and original songs and music, added Graham-Clare. The BKN infrastructure in Europe, North America and Asia is a big advantage in getting these products distributed worldwide on DVD and all other forms of video at full value.
The Frankfurt and London listed BKN Intl (www.bknkids.com) is a global animation company engaged in the distribution and marketing of animated childrens television programs and the marketing of related consumer products (licensing and merchandising) in all forms. The company is currently listed on the Deutsche Bourse and AIM and it operates all over the world. BKN has successfully negotiated distribution deals in more than 80 countries and territories in the childrens programming market.
