Winking Studios Regulatory News (WKS)

20 Jul 2005 07:00

Civilian Content PLC20 July 2005 CIVILIAN CONTENT PLC LAUNCHES UK FILM DISTRIBUTION COMPANY 20 July 2005 • Civilian launches a new UK film distribution company, The Works UK Distribution Ltd • Staffed by a highly successful and experienced 5-strong team • Wholly-owned subsidiary of Civilian, complementing the two existing businesses • New development offers substantial growth potential and will lead to material expansion in catalogue assets Civilian Content Plc ("Civilian"), the film production, finance, andinternational sales group announces today that it is launching a UK filmdistribution company. The new division, which commences operations this morning,will be headed by seasoned distribution executive Mick Southworth. The company,trading as "The Works UK Distribution Ltd", will comprise a specialist team offive personnel, operating from Civilian's offices in central London. It intendsto distribute some eight to ten films in its first year of operation. Thecompany's first release will be the just-completed live action remake of thechildren's classic, Heidi, which will open in cinemas across the UK on August19th. The move into UK distribution, involving the direct consumer marketing of filmsto the British public (in cinemas, on video/DVD, and on television) marks themost significant new corporate development by Civilian since the acquisition andre-branding of the international sales company, The Works, three years ago. Thelaunch of the new company complements Civilian's existing activity, by addingthe direct marketing of films in the UK to its existing film manufacture andinternational film sales operations. In its year end statement for 2004, Civilian indicated that it was activelypursuing a move into UK distribution. The UK market for film is buoyant, withcinema admissions close to their highest level in thirty years, and the DVD/video market showing continuing exceptional growth. The UK DVD/video sectoralone generated £3.13 billion in 2004, a 9% increase on the previous year. Theoverwhelming majority of DVD/video sales are accounted for by feature films(85%). As well as complementing Civilian's existing activities, the move into UKdistribution provides the opportunity for material expansion, compared withexisting activities (particularly in production) where there are significantconstraints on volume. The launch of the new company steers the group towards adiversification of its trade and risk, and by virtue of direct marketing to theconsumer, provides the opportunity to shorten the lead-time between capitalexpenditure on rights and trading revenues. Since The Works UK Distribution Ltdwill typically be securing film rights for long licence periods of up to 25years, the new development will lead to material growth in catalogue assets.Today's announcement takes the head count at Civilian from 18 to 23 personnel. Chris Auty, managing director of Civilian commented: "Today's announcement marks a major strategic development for the company. I amparticularly pleased that we have been able to launch into distribution withoutthe capital costs implied by the acquisition of an existing company or the longlead time required to build a team from scratch. The Works UK Distribution Ltdwill be releasing its first film only four weeks after launch, and is activelynegotiating further titles for release in the busy autumn season. The seniorCivilian management have extensive hands-on experience of UK distribution, andtoday's announcement marks a further deployment of the company's existingexpertise." Crispin Barker, chairman of Civilian, commented: "This announcement demonstrates our focus on further integration and expansionof the company's existing activities with a clear focus on shareholder value. Ibelieve it may also stimulate related activity at our existing internationalsales operation by capturing rights which might not otherwise have beenavailable to us. It should be noted that our significant shareholder, FandangoSRL, is already active in Italian territorial distribution. Once the new companyhas secured its position in the market, it is our intention in the medium termto consider launching distribution operations in other territories where themarket fundamentals show an opportunity for significant growth." For further information: Civilian Content Plc 020 7612 0030Chris Auty, Managing DirectorNorman Humphrey, Finance Director Citigate Dewe Rogerson 020 7638 9571Seb HoyleGeorge Cazenove Notes to Editors: 1. Civilian's existing activity focuses on the capture of rights throughproduction and their exploitation internationally by sale to individualterritorial distributors abroad. The creation of The Works UK Distribution Ltdmarks Civilian's entry into territorial distribution in its home territory. UKdistribution means the marketing of films to the consumer as they are launchedin cinemas, followed by their subsequent sale to the consumer on DVD/video somefour months later, followed by their subsequent presentation to the consumer byway of free TV, pay TV, and video on demand services. 2. The team at The Works UK Distribution Ltd comprises Mick Southworth(Managing Director), Laurence Gornall (Head of Marketing), Dave Shear (Head ofSales), and Lucy Fleet (Head of Press) and an assistant. 3. The company's first release, Heidi, has been extensively trailered incinemas across the UK since the spring of this year. This film was financed byCivilian's joint venture partner, Surefire. 4. Civilian will now have three operating subsidiaries: The WorksInternational Sales (managed by Joy Wong), The Film Consortium (production,managed by Neil Peplow), and The Works UK Distribution Ltd (managed by MickSouthworth). All three units are located in Civilian's offices and all threeunits report to group MD, Chris Auty and group FD, Norman Humphrey. 5. ContentFilm plc. Mick Southworth will continue to be employed on anon-exclusive basis by ContentFilm Plc until December 2005 during which time hewill continue to supervise ContentFilm's existing titles due for theatricalrelease. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange