Press Release from Shorts International
NEW YORK, US, April 2nd 2010 -Today "The Oscar Nominated Shorts Films of 2010" crossed the $1 Million mark at the Box Office. Released annually by Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures, the program was created 5 years ago to give audiences a chance to see all 10 Animated and Live Action Oscar Nominated Shorts in theaters nationally prior to the Academy Awards.
"The short film has gone from the occasional feature film accessory, to the main theatrical event," said Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive of Shorts International. "Audiences for the Oscar nominated shorts jumped by 52% in the short space of a year and more than 1000% in 5 years...and this is just the beginning. For the first time ever these films are also currently available on cable systems through Movies On Demand."
"It's an incredible achievement on so many levels," said Tom Quinn, SVP of Magnolia. "On average, less than 50 specialized films a year cross the $1M mark, so to see our little program blossom into a big contender is a testament to the quality of these films. It's even more astounding considering that the marketing budget for the program has been the exact same year in and year out."
"I'm thrilled that so many people have discovered these fantastic short films, and seeing them with an audience on the big screen surpasses any other viewing experience," said Bill Kroyer, Governor and Chair of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Short Film and Feature Animation Branch
The program is entering its seventh weekend in selected cinemas across the US. To find a theater near you, visit www.shortshd.com/theoscarshorts [1].
It is also available through iN DEMAND to US cable audiences via Movies On Demand (MOD). This year's program includes all the nominees as well as the Academy Award winners for best Live Action short, "New Tenants", and best Animated short, "Logorama".
ABOUT SHORTS INTERNATIONAL
Shorts International is the world's leading short movie entertainment company with the largest movie catalogue devoted to short movies. ShortsHD(TM)is the first high definition channel dedicated to short movies and is available on AT&T U-verse (Channel 1789). Shorts International also operates ShortsTV(TM)UK, a pay TV channel available in the United Kingdom on BSkyB (Channel 342), ShortsTV(TM)France available in France, Belgium, Luxembourg on Numericable (Channels 134 and 52). ShortsTV is also available on TTNET in Turkey. Shorts(TM)is the short movie on-demand service available on iTunes movie stores in the US, UK, Canada and Germany. Further information can be found at www.shortshd.com [2] and www.shortstv.com [3]. The company is headquartered in London, England with additional offices in Paris, New York and Los Angeles led by Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive. Shorts International is owned by Shorts Entertainment Holdings and Liberty Global Ventures.
ABOUT MAGNOLIA PICTURES
Magnolia Pictures (www.magpictures.com [4]) is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically-integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also includes the Landmark Theatres chain, the production company 2929 Productions, and the high definition cable network HDNet. Magnolia's recent releases include such critically acclaimed films as the Oscar nominated documentary Food, Inc, Oscar winner Man on Wire, James Gray's Two Lovers, Stephen Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Expereince, Bong Joon-Ho's Mother, and Conor McPherson's The Eclipse. Upcoming releases include Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love, Bob Pulcini and Shari Berman's The Extra Man, Oscar-winner Alex Gibney's Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Neil Jordan's Ondine, Dagur Kari's The Good Heart, the hard hitting nuclear weapons documentary Countdown to Zero, and many more.
Links:
[1] http://www.shortshd.com/theoscarshorts
[2] http://www.shortshd.com
[3] http://www.shortstv.com
[4] http://www.magpictures.com