Back to press releasesNewark, N.J., November 11, 2003 – IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT, IDT. C), a multinational carrier, telephone and technology company, today announced the creation of IDT Entertainment Inc., a new business subsidiary which will incorporate Digital Production Solutions (DPS), IDT’s existing animation company, DPS/Film Roman and the joint venture and equity interest with Vanguard Animation. Upon completion of its purchase, Mainframe Entertainment will also become part of IDT Entertainment. The new company will focus initially on animation and manage the expansion into other entertainment areas.
Morris Berger has been named CEO of the new company. Mr. Berger served as Executive Vice President of IDT Media. Yehuda Wurtzel becomes President of Production and CTO of IDT Entertainment. Steve Brown, CFO of IDT Corp., assumes the added roles of Chairman and President of IDT Entertainment.
“The establishment of IDT Entertainment sets the stage for our expanding presence in the entertainment industry,” said Jim Courter IDT’s CEO. “Since last year, we’ve made strategic acquisitions of major production companies with world class animation programming and forged relationships with some of Hollywood’s top players. Presently, we’re in production on feature films, television programs and direct to DVD projects. Clearly, IDT Entertainment’s star is rising.”
Headquartered in Newark, N.J., IDT Entertainment currently maintains animation production hubs in New Jersey, Hollywood, Vancouver and Israel. In addition, the company has contractual agreements with numerous animation shops around the globe.
“The new company will be structured for efficiency and growth,” said Morris Berger, CEO of IDT Entertainment. “Within IDT Entertainment we will establish new divisions for project development, merchandising and distribution. The goal is increased entertainment production with more intellectual properties and expanded libraries in order to gain greater financial control over our many projects.”
Recently, DPS announced an agreement with BAF Berlin Animation Film to provide complete production services on “Happily N’Ever After,” a full-length 3-D animated film featuring the voice talents of Signourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. George Carlin, Wallace Shawn, Andy Dick and Patrick Warburton.
In March 2003 DPS acquired rights to Starpoint Academy and Char, both Gene Roddenberry creations. Starpoint Academy is presently in production. In May 2003, DPS acquired a controlling interest in Film Roman, the animation company well known for its production work on The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and other popular broadcast television programs. In July 2003, DPS entered into a partnership agreement with Vanguard Animation to co-produce and co-own Vanguard properties. Vanguard has a deal in place with Disney to complete 4 CG features. The first film, Valiant is presently in production. Recently, Mainframe Entertainment signed a binding letter of intent towards its acquisition by IDT Entertainment.
IDT Corporation, through its IDT Telecom, Inc. subsidiary, is a facilities-based, multinational carrier that provides a broad range of telecommunications services to its retail and wholesale customers worldwide. IDT Telecom, by means of its own national telecommunications backbone and fiber optic network infrastructure, provides its customers with integrated and competitively priced international and domestic long distance telephony and prepaid calling cards. IDT and Liberty Media Corporation own 95% and 5% of IDT Telecom, respectively. Liberty Media Corporation also owns a 5.6% stake in IDT Media. IDT Media, Inc. is the IDT subsidiary principally responsible for the Company’s initiatives in media, new video technologies and print media. Winstar Holdings, LLC is the IDT subsidiary through which we provide broadband and telephony services to commercial and governmental customers through a fixed-wireless and fiber infrastructure. In December 2002, we announced that the services offered by Winstar would begin to be offered under the name “IDT Solutions.” Net2Phone, Inc., a subsidiary of IDT Corporation, is a leading provider of high-quality global retail Voice over IP services, either directly or via a partner.
IDT Corporation common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols IDT and IDT.C.
In this press release, all statements that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those in which we use 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 our 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 our 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. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: potential declines in prices for our products and services; our ability to maintain and grow our retail telecommunications services, particularly our prepaid calling card business; availability of termination capacity; financial stability of our customers; our ability to maintain carrier agreements with foreign carriers; effectiveness of our marketing and distribution efforts; increased competition, particularly from regional bell operating companies; our ability to manage our growth; competitiveness of our Winstar subsidiary; impact of government regulation; our ability to obtain telecommunications products or services required for our products and services; and general economic conditions, particularly in the telecommunications markets. We are under no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
