criterionforum.org

Bought by Lorber:

http://www.screendaily.com/news/corpora ... 58.article" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So does this mean Koch Lorber is now Kino Lorber, or are they separate entities? Or has Koch Lorber now ceased to exist?

That's very interesting, i knew at some point we would see mergers. Imagine if Facets buy Image!

Sad in some ways, hopeful in others.
Dennis

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/ ... -to-merge/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

New York Times
DECEMBER 9, 2009, 11:58 AM
Indie Banners Kino and Lorber HT Digital to Merge

By DAVE ITZKOFF
Two well-known names in the world of independent and international film releasing have joined forces, forming a single company that its principals said would make them “the biggest of the little guys.”

On Wednesday, Kino International, which has helped introduce American audiences to foreign filmmakers like Wong Kar-Wai and Michael Haneke, and Lorber HT Digital, which has recently handled such art-house releases as Alexander Sokurov’s movie “The Sun,” said that they had merged into a single company.

The new company, called Kino-Lorber Inc., will be run jointly by the Kino founder Donald Krim and Richard Lorber, the Lorber HT Digital chief executive.

“Much to the chagrin of our sales agents, we won’t be bidding against each other anymore,” Mr. Lorber said in a telephone interview.

The merger was completed yesterday after Mr. Lorber’s holding company Hidden Treasures Inc. acquired Kino International.

Mr. Krim, who has known Mr. Lorber since the two were freshmen at Columbia University, said the merger was “not an economic necessity,” but acknowledged that there was strength in numbers. “DVD sales have been eroding,” he said in a telephone interview, “and that’s affecting everyone from 20th Century Fox down to the little guy, one-man shops. You begin to have to change your business model.”

Under the newly created company, which will manage a list of about 600 titles, the Kino and Lorber banners will still handle their own theatrical and home video releases. Kino, for example, will still handle the coming American release of “Ajami,” Israel’s entry in the best foreign language category at the 2010 Academy Awards, and a restored and extended print of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”; Lorber will handle films like “Dogtooth,” by the Greek director Giorgos Lanthimos, and the Italian documentary “Videocracy,” about Silvio Berlusconi.

In the meantime, Mr. Krim said, no layoffs would result from the merger. “We had a nice Champagne toast yesterday,” he said, “and everybody was happy, because everybody will be holding their job.”
_________________
Dennis Doros
Milestone F&V

Matt wrote:So does this mean Koch Lorber is now Kino Lorber, or are they separate entities? Or has Koch Lorber now ceased to exist?

Richard Lorber left Koch some time ago. Perhaps when Koch became E1.

Wow...that is big news. It will be interesting to see how long until they merge both operations under a single banner...whatever that might be. It's awfully expensive to operate two companies, side by side, doing essentially the same thing. Look what happened to Home Vision after Image acquired that operation. If the two operations do merge their operations eventually, I would think the Kino brand would previal and everything would be issued under that name.

I'm not familiar with Koch-Lorber...what is their reputation in terms of titles and quality of releases?

Tribe wrote:I'm not familiar with Koch-Lorber...what is their reputation in terms of titles and quality of releases?

Better than Fox Lorber (which David is confusing with Koch Lorber) ever was (not that that was difficult to accomplish), but still inconsistent.

Actually, looking through my lists I do have a couple K-L releases: La Dolce Vita, Umbrellas of Cherbourgh (which I thought were decent releases). Looking through the K-L DVD catalog, their releases (mostly European art-house fare) seem to be a nice fit with Kino's collection of silent classics and international art house stuff. All the more reason to assume the two lines will be combined eventually once Kino and K-L have gone through their pipelines of releases.

Dave Itzkoff wrote:In the meantime, Mr. Krim said, ... "everybody was happy, because everybody will be holding their job.”

That's a nice part.

Jonathan S wrote:

Early Films of Norma and Constance Talmadge

This is just what I was somewhat familiar with. I didn't notice anything regarding any new silent releases.

The Talmadge films must be silents and I hadn't heard about those. Thanks for the info.

The Talmadge films are all silents: Kiki, Within the Law, Her Sister From Paris and Her Night of Romance - two films for each sister. According to the post on Nitrateville on which I found this information the release date is tentatively March or April 2010 and the prints used are from the LOC out of the Rohauer Collection.

I know I've spotted some K-L films on Netflix Instant Viewing (i.e. Chop Shop). I wonder if this move will make it more likely for the Kino catalogue to follow suit, or if the streaming rights are unrelated to K-L's.

P.S, just digging into the Kieslowski set. Very nice work there Kino.

Was Richard Lorber involved with both Fox Lorber and Koch Lorber?

Fox Lorber became Wellspring purchased by The Weinstein Company distributed by Genius Entertainment and now being purchased or distributed by Vivendi (I hope I got this right, but Koch Lorber was a separate company) 8-[

Ashirg wrote:Fox Lorber became Wellspring purchased by The Weinstein Company distributed by Genius Entertainment and now being purchased or distributed by Vivendi (I hope I got this right, but Koch Lorber was a separate company) 8-[

Richard Lorber has been in the business for many, many years. When he merged Fox Lorber with Wellspring which then sold to Genius, Richard started a label within Koch Entertainment, naturally called Koch Lorber. When Koch became E1 Entertainment, I don't know the story, but I suspect E1 wasn't paying as much attention to the niche titles (anything that's not in English, doesn't include lots of blood or nudity, doesn't... well, you get the point). I don't know who parted ways, but Richard has had his own label for the past year. It should be a good fit with Kino.

As for the Talmadge films, it's definitely something to look forward to, especially Her Sister from Paris which is one of my favorite silents.

Dennis
Milestone Film & Video

I am a media representative for Kino Lorber and just wanted to step in here to clear up these questions. Kino Lorber has no relationship whatsoever with Koch Lorber. The Koch Lorber label ended amicably (due to contractual terms and such) at the end of 2008 which is when they stopped actively acquiring films. However, the Koch Lorber library will continue to be actively marketed and widely distributed by E1 Entertainment. In short, Koch Lorber exists only as a library now and is not acquiring new titles.

Kino Lorber, Inc. is the new merged business that combines the businesses, resources and libraries of Lorber HT Digital and its specialty labels Lorber Films, Alive Mind and Knitting Factory Entertainment, and Don Krim's Kino International theatrical and home entertainment distribution operations. For those interested in knowing more, please check out the recent press that has run on the merger:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/positi ... ig_screen/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/ ... -to-merge/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (should run in the Friday paper)

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801 ... ino+lorber" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.indiewire.com/article/positi ... ig_screen/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 08cf7aa621" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.screendaily.com/news/corpora ... 58.article" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sincerely,

Julia Pacetti
President
JMP Verdant

Will Koch Lorber still be releasing titles out of their library?

From Classic Flix:

Kino has announced two double feature collections for release on March 16th.The first is The Norma Talmadge Collection featuring Kiki (1926) and Within the Law (1923). The second is The Constance Talmadge Collection featuring Her Night of Romance (1924) and Her Sister from Paris (1925).

....And a bold prediction:

no bonus features are expected.

Bret Wood, producer of Kino's Blu-ray of The General, discusses the transfer and restoration (and in some detail).

MichaelB wrote:Bret Wood, producer of Kino's Blu-ray of The General, discusses the transfer and restoration (and in some detail).

An interesting interview, though strictly speaking Bret Wood is incorrect in claiming the Davis score for The General had never been released on DVD. Not by Kino, but it is included in the UK Network set The Buster Keaton Chronicles, albeit tied to the old video transfer Photoplay made in the 1980s. (It looks no better than my off-air VHS, and the rest of the set is worse.)

From this interview:

(DVD and Blu-ray producer Bret) Wood informs.... the “elaborate restorations” of Battleship Potemkin and Metropolis.... will be released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber in 2010.

He also mentions a mastering of 'Our Hospitality' (I don't think that's news) and a BD of Tarkovsky's 'The Sacrifice', in conjunction w/ the Swedish Film Institute. It'd be nice to get another Tarkovsky with a worthy region-1 transfer.

onedimension wrote: It'd be nice to get another Tarkovsky with a worthy region-1 transfer.

"Nostalghia", for instance.

Are the intertitles on The White Hell of Pitz Palu horrible English ones and not the original German?

Read this, to find out why.

perkizitore wrote:Read this, to find out why.

Yeah but in the restoration I'm presuming they created German intertitles? Fixed subtitles and translated intertitles are my two pet hates, especially as I'm learning the language and I don't need subtitles or translations on silent films.