Newark, NJ September 13, 2004 – Anchor Bay Entertainment, IDT Entertainment’s home video subsidiary, and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) announced today that they have entered into a long-term distribution agreement. According to the terms of the agreement, TCFHE will handle all manufacturing and distribution services for Anchor Bay’s entire library of DVD and VHS offerings. IDT Entertainment is a subsidiary of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT, IDT.C), an international telecom, entertainment and technology company.
“We reviewed a number of strategic distribution partners but only Fox offered the quality and range of service that matched our development plans,” said Ted Green, CEO of Anchor Bay Entertainment. “With this agreement, not only does Anchor Bay gain state-of-the-art distribution management systems and additional retail presence, but we also retain control of our sales and marketing.”
As part of the agreement, TCFHE will provide Anchor Bay with duplication services, wholesale and direct-to-retail distribution of video products, retail merchandising, state-of-the-art vendor managed inventory systems and customer services, as well as other services.
“Anchor Bay is a perfect fit for us. They have built an excellent reputation and offer compelling products,” stated Mike Dunn, President of TCFHE. “We’ll use the expertise of our world-class supply chain to aid them in expanding their presence at retail and ultimately, deliver a broader consumer audience for their titles.”
A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is the marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming on VHS and DVD as well as video acquisitions and original productions for the U.S. and Canada markets. Each year the Company introduces hundreds of new and newly repackaged products, which it services to more than 70,000 retail outlets – from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce – throughout North America. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.
Anchor Bay Entertainment is an established leader in the field of home entertainment. In addition to the ever-popular Thomas & Friends collection, the company offers an expansive selection of award-winning, notable theatrical films including “Time Bandits” and “Halloween,” classic television programming such as “Three’s Company” and “Highlander,” the impressive Manga anime line and chart-topping fitness titles including the “Crunch” and “For Dummies” series. Anchor Bay Entertainment is aggressively developing a wide range of original programs and concepts in addition to licensing existing brands and films.
IDT Entertainment, a division of IDT Corporation, is a vertically integrated entertainment concern that develops, produces and distributes proprietary and licensed entertainment content, with a particular focus on high-quality animation. IDT Entertainment consists primarily of the following wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries: Anchor Bay Entertainment, Digital Production Solutions (DPS), DPS Film Roman, Mainframe Entertainment, DKP Effects and Manga Entertainment.
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Important Note: In this press release, all statements that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those with the words “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate, “target” and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent IDT’s current judgment of what may happen in the future, actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these statements due to numerous important factors, including, but not limited to, those described in IDT’s most recent report on SEC Form 10-K (under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings IDT may make with the SEC.