Image and Criterion

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Tribe · #101 Post by **Tribe** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:48 am

You know that its Image's relationship with Criterion that is driving this, at least in part. As Image's President Martin Greenwald says here:
"Image has become a gemstone in the independent DVD world, with a growing business opportunity that has tremendous growth potential. Our success-including the recent strengthening of our balance sheet with a $15 million equity raise, the launch of Egami Media and its increasing portfolio of digital rights, our acquisition of Home Vision Entertainment and its valuable library, and the extension of our relationship with The Criterion Collection-have caused the investment and entertainment communities to take notice. Lions Gate could not help but acknowledge the breadth and depth of our library of filmed entertainment, as well as the growing audio component of our business. It is gratifying to be recognized for the Company's current accomplishments and future opportunities."

Although I'm not sure whether or not any deal that may result would also end up with Lions Gate assuming the distribution duties for Criterion.

Oh, and Lions Gate currently owns a stake of 18.98% in Image Entertainment.

Tribe

analoguezombie · #102 Post by **analoguezombie** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:24 pm

Tribe wrote:our acquisition of Home Vision Entertainment and its valuable library, and the extension of our relationship with The Criterion Collection-

That would explain why the HVe site has no releases listed for November. Image bought out HVe solely to have exclusive distribution rights to Criterion and thus drive its own worth up. It sounds like Image has probably ahd this gameplan from the beginning and is just looking for a way to cash out to the highest bidder. Their Criterion links are driving up their asking price, expecially since now Criterion is being written about in Entertainment Weekly and every industry hack is talking about then in interviews.

I forsee bad things coming of all this. I mean it's good that Criterion are getting more well-known and their efforts supported by larger companies with more distribution avenues, but with that comes more pressure to meet a wider audience and thus water down your product. The $40 price point reflects the cost of producing their amazing extras but that price is not viable if you are trying to push the product at Wal-mart etc... So the extras would definitely take a hit. Not to mention the inclusion in the collection of 'questionable' classics.

I don't mean to be the voice of doom but has anyone hear heard of Kindercore Records? They were a small niche label based out of Athens GA with an amazing back catalog and some up and coming bands. The label was utterly destroyed recently in a similar situation. Basically people trying to get their hands on recordings that they could then turn around and sell off, looting the company. Kindercore, like Criterion, built itself very slowly, and earned a great reputation by investing in its niche. WHich is precisely why it became so attractive to slimy business interests.

Anyway, HVe is already a casualty of the war for Criterion. Does anyone know who OWNS Criterion? Is it totally private, i.e. just the Beckers?

FilmFanSea · #103 Post by **FilmFanSea** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:35 pm

Criterion is indeed privately held, so the acquisition of Image would have zero effect on its day-to-day operations (though it could certainly impact what's left of the HVe label).

It may be that the sale of Image could void the current distribution agreement (depending on how that contract is worded), which could leave Criterion scrambling for a new distributor.

dx23 · #104 Post by **dx23** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:36 pm

Oh great...

Lions Gate offers to buy Image Entertainment

Oh shit!

Lion's Gate, famous for their removal of extras from their disc and crappy full screen releases. On the other hand this gives the possibility for Amores Perros Criterion Edition. =P~

#105 Post by **kinjitsu** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:37 pm

Martin W. Greenwald, CEO and president of Image Entertainment, said that the company was not for sale and that its value is "far greater than what is being offered," however, its board has appointed a special committee to evaluate the proposal.

analoguezombie · #106 Post by **analoguezombie** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:48 pm

FilmFanSea wrote:Criterion is indeed privately held, so the acquisition of Image would have zero effect on its day-to-day operations (though it could certainly impact what's left of the HVe label).

that's reassuring. We all know how much the Beckers are totally dedicated to their enterprise. Still, I weep for HVe. Their price points had just come down $5 making them a bit more compettitive witht heir Criterion big brother. They're production quality was also on the increase. It was a nice little niche production house dedication some overlooked gems. While they may not have had the resources of Criterion, their work served the films they released very well.

Image will never invest the type of care and money into something like 'The Yakuza Papers' box set.

ellipsis7 · #107 Post by **ellipsis7** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:07 pm

The distributor of the CC gets a nice cut of the cover price, and also gets to flog their other product on the back of the CC prestige... All without investing work or effort into creating the product... No wonder others are chasing this deal... Let's hope in the process they take care not to damage the goose that lays the golden eggs!

Cinesimilitude · #108 Post by **Cinesimilitude** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:26 am

This is actually a good thing, since Criterion is privately owned, the only things changing are going to be one, maybe two logos on the back of the covers, and the CC benefits a lot by getting access to loads of titles from Image and possibly Lions Gate if that other deal goes through.

lets just hope that Image doesn't make the CC rework the back of their covers to be just like image releases, which are extremely cluttered with company info and everything.

Toshiro De Niro · #109 Post by **Toshiro De Niro** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:40 pm

Does Image really own those many great films that they released? If they do, then why are they out of print? Red Desert,Crimes and Misdemeanors,Dekalog,Meaning of Life,John Hughes movies and many others... It seems like every single Image title goes out of print within 5,6 years.

dx23 · #110 Post by **dx23** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 4:03 pm

Does Image really own those many great films that they released? If they do, then why are they out of print? Red Desert,Crimes and Misdemeanors,Dekalog,Meaning of Life,John Hughes movies and many others... It seems like every single Image title goes out of print within 5,6 years.

No, they don't own those films, like Criterion doesn't own any of the films they release. Image and Criterion are on the business of acquiring the licenses to release those films on DVD. Most of the titles you mentioned are owned by Universal and were licensed to Image for certain period of time at the beginning of the DVD era. Since then, many of those films have been re-released by Universal.

oldsheperd · #111 Post by **oldsheperd** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 4:13 pm

Criteriondvd.com emailed me saying that due to the transition that the new distibutor is having delay problems. Let's hope this is only temporary.

flambeur · #112 Post by **flambeur** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 2:24 pm

Hot off the press:

Image Entertainment tells Lions Gate Entertainment takeover offer not enough

VANCOUVER (CP) - A takeover offer from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. isn't enough, Image Entertainment Inc. said Thursday, adding the U.S. company has given Lions Gate until the end of the month the firm to make a revised offer.

"After determining the original offer from Lions Gate was below what we would find acceptable for Image's stockholders, the special committee has been focusing its efforts on assisting Lions Gate to secure the additional documentation and information needed to prepare a revised proposal," said Ira Epstein, chairman of the special committee.

"We are working diligently to facilitate this process and are now awaiting Lions Gate's response."

Lions Gate CEO John Feltheimer proposed a stock swap of 0.38 to 0.42 of a Lions Gate share for each Image share in a letter to Image CEO Martin Greenwald on Aug. 30. At the time the offer represented a 36 per cent premium on Image shares which closed at $2.82 US on Aug. 29.

In trading Thursday, Image shares (Nasdaq:DISK - news) were up 10 cents at $4.05 US in trading on the Nasdaq market, while Lions Gate shares (TSX:LGF - news) unchanged at $10.23 Cdn.

Image Entertainment buys rights to movies and distributes them on DVDs to retailers like Best Buy and Tower Records. The company, which employs about 200 workers, also sells broadcast rights to cable networks and produces live-music programming.

Lions Gate, best known for its horror and art-house films and distributing Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, established itself as a major independent film producer with its acquisition of Artisan Entertainment in 2003.

In documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, Lions Gate said it has bought about four million shares, or about 19 per cent, of Image Entertainment's outstanding shares.

Lions Gate said the shares were acquired with the objective of buying the entire company and that Lions Gate "believes that the acquisition of the company would be consistent with its desire to broaden and deepen its library of filmed entertainment, as well as add an important musical component to its business."

Toshiro De Niro · #113 Post by **Toshiro De Niro** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 7:44 pm

In documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, Lions Gate said it has bought about four million shares, or about 19 per cent, of Image Entertainment's outstanding shares.

i'm not very familiar with how this works, but does this mean that Image is a 80million dollar company? ($4 x 4million =19%)

Dr. Mabuse · #114 Post by **Dr. Mabuse** » Fri May 26, 2006 4:16 pm

Lionsgate Entertainment is continuing its bid for Image Entertainment.

Tribe · #115 Post by **Tribe** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:53 pm

Lionsgate wins ruling on Image Entertainment board fight

In a ruling that favors a takeover bid by independent movie studio Lionsgate Entertainment Co., a Delaware judge has ruled that all six seats on the board of DVD distributor Image Entertainment Inc. will be up for grabs at the company's annual meeting this year.

Vancouver, B.C.-based Lionsgate owns 18.94 percent of Image and has said it might want to run a slate of candidates for Image's board.

Earlier this year, Lionsgate said in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that it has lost confidence in the Image board's "ability and desire to maximize stockholder value."

Image changed its corporate bylaws to provide for "staggered" elections of directors, so that only a few of the seats on its board would be up for election at the 2006 annual meeting.

However, Chancellor William B. Chandler III of Delaware's Court of Chancery found Monday that the change to staggered board elections won't take effect this year. This was in part because Image, which is based in Chatsworth, Calif., couldn't prove what its shareholders understood from the corporate documents.

In October, Image Entertainment rebuffed an offer from Lionsgate to buy it, saying the $4-a-share price was inadequate.

Shares of Image Entertainment slipped 1 cent to $3.63 in early trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Shares of Lionsgate fell 9 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $9.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Dr. Mabuse · #116 Post by **Dr. Mabuse** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:19 am

[quote]Image loss widens in fiscal Q1 Revenue rose 20%, helped by Criterion's Dazed and Confused
By Susanne Ault 8/11/2006
AUG. 11 | Image Entertainment reported a widened net loss of $2.3 million for its fiscal first-quarter 2007, ended June 30.

The indie supplier, the subject of persistent acquisition efforts by Lionsgate, posted a $1.7 million loss for the same three-month period the prior year. Helped by top-performing DVDs Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n Roll and Criterion's Dazed and Confused, Image revenue rose 20% to reach $22.3 million. Image CEO Marty Greenwald cited legal expenses relating to ongoing Lionsgate issues as cutting into the company's financial results this quarter. Total general and administrative costs jumped 15% to $3.8 million.

A decrease in profit margins, from 23.5% down to 18.6%, also contributed to the supplier's first-quarter red ink.

Fueled by Dazed and Confused, Criterion titles made up a significant 31.2% of Image revenue. Image's distribution arrangement with Criterion generates lower margins than many of its other content deals.

"The culprit was the decline in profit margins,"

#117 Post by **Jeff** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 2:59 pm

[quote="Dr. Mabuse"]However, Greenwald said to expect a notable Image announcement Monday morning.

"It does not involve a sale of the company,â€

The Fanciful Norwegian · #118 Post by **The Fanciful Norwegian** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:23 pm

Other important things Image has done in the past 25 years:

1) The transition to DVD
2) Opening for business

So is it more important than 1 but less important than 2? Or vice-versa, perhaps?

toiletduck! · #119 Post by **toiletduck!** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:31 pm

One word: Plastics.

-Toilet Dcuk

Cinesimilitude · #120 Post by **Cinesimilitude** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 4:15 pm

It certainly wouldn't be an HD announcement, not with the company losing money. I doubt it will have any effect on criterion, whatever it is.

mikeohhh · #121 Post by **mikeohhh** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:53 pm

Digital downloads store, I betcha.

Cinesimilitude · #122 Post by **Cinesimilitude** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:38 pm

Image already has something like that through google video, where you can rent their films for 99 cents a day, or buy them for 14.99, and thats mostly profit, since bandwidth is so inexpenisve these days. they could just be centralizing it to their site.

Antoine Doinel · #123 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:27 am

Maybe they'll unmask Jon Mulvaney!!!!!!!!

richast2 · #124 Post by **richast2** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:30 am

it's just going to be a website featuring pictures of their busty interns sporting IMAGE t-shirts.

Napoleon · #125 Post by **Napoleon** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:39 am

They've bought a new coffee machine for the office!