KOCH Gets Into Anime
KOCH Entertainment Distribution, a growing music and video distributor in Port Washington, New York, signed an exclusive distribution deal with AnimEigo, a leading Anime label that specializes in releasing the finest Japanese Animation and Samurai films in the North American market. KOCH will distribute AnimEigo's entire catalog, which includes well-known classic titles such as MACROSS (the series that became the core of ROBOTECH), BUBBLEGUM CRISIS, URUSEI YATSURA, KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD, OH MY GODDESS! and YOU'RE UNDER ARREST.
AnimEigo's Samurai Cinema label includes the classic LONE WOLF & CUB film series, several Zatoichi films and many films by the legendary Toshiro Mifune. Established in 1989, AnimEigo has been serving anime fans with quality translations, subtitling and dubbing of Japanese favorites.
"In our early days, only the hard-core fans even knew what anime was, so we concentrated on serving their needs," said Robert Woodhead, AnimEigo ceo. "But now that anime is becoming a mainstream genre, we need a partner who can help us more broadly distribute our catalog."
KOCH Entertainment Distribution president, Michael Rosenberg added, "KOCH is very excited to be working with AnimEigo as we continue to expand our home video business."
KOCH's (www.kochent.com) operations encompass record and video labels, music publishing, as well as distribution companies in the U.S. and Canada. Its record labels had the largest number of Billboard charting albums among independents in 2002/2003.