Illumitoon Ent. Ltd., a newly formed collaboration of business and creative professionals focused on delivering customized entertainment to the North American markets, announced that it will be utilizing Westlake Ent. Inc. for home video distribution on its new acquisitions, including BEET THE VANDEL BUSTER and AM DRIVER. The announcement comes on the heels of Westlake Ent.s announcement of the companys repositioning in the marketplace to release first-run features, including theatrical and new title acquisitions in other key core categories.
Westlake is a strong strategic partner for Illumitoon and we look forward to a strong launch together, said Barry Watson, president/ceo of Illumitoon. Westlake brings considerable home video experience including a high level of anime sales and marketing experience and shares our vision for the product. Tony Vandeveerdonk, vp of sales for the new Westlake and formerly with Pioneer (now Geneon) and FUNimation states, Illumitoon is bringing the anime category exciting new brands and content as well as a clear direction for repositioning the product in new and innovative ways. We feel the timing is perfect for Illumitoon's entrance into the anime marketplace. Were very excited to include them with our other premium content.
The new Illumitoon releases are initially planned to street as early as January 2007.
Illumitoons principals have more than 20 years combined experience in acquiring, producing and distributing anime, as well as creating original productions for the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. For more information, visit www.illumitoon.com.
Westlake Ent. Inc. is a fully integrated independent entertainment distribution company, focusing on the release of premium first run DVDs across several key product categories. The company also just announced it has several original film production projects in the works. Westlake owns the rights to a wide variety of visual content, including more than 500 feature films and hundreds of hours of television programming. The company was originally founded in 1992 and distributes content from such labels as Cineville Films, Red Bull USA, Illumitoon Ent., Rigel Films and Desert Mountain Media. For more information, visit www.westlakeent.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
