Englewood, Colo. -- Encore Media Group last week closed
output deals with two studios -- Samuel Goldwyn Films LLC and Destination Films -- the
latter of which is a new company formed by former Orion Pictures and DreamWorks SKG
executives.
Encore will get exclusive pay TV rights to all of the
first-run theatricals released by Samuel Goldwyn Films, a newly formed production and
distribution arm of The Samuel Goldwyn Co.
The film unit's current and scheduled releases include
Desert Blue, directed by Morgan Freeman and starring Christina Ricci; Tinseltown,
starring Ron Perlman and Joe Pantoliano; and The Red Dwarf, featuring Anita Ekberg.
Encore will also license the pay TV rights to
Destination's upcoming theatrical releases, which include Drowning Mona, a
whodunit with Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Neve Campbell and Jamie Lee Curtis; Bats,
a thriller in the tradition of The Birds; The Wedding Planner, a romantic
comedy; and Thomas and the Magic Railroad, based on the children's TV series
of the same name.
Destination was founded in October by veteran producer and
former Orion Pictures co-head Steve Stabler and former DreamWorks finance executive Brent
Baum.
The studio plans to produce, acquire and handle domestic
distribution for eight to 12 major theatrical releases in its first year, expanding to 12
to 15 annually after that.
"Today's film marketplace is highly dynamic, and
Destination is well positioned and nimble enough to take advantage of the many
changes," Encore senior vice president of programming Robert Leighton said, in a
prepared statement.
"One certainty is that as we launch more channels, our
film appetite will continue to grow," he added.
