Zoo Digital Regulatory News (ZOO)

18 Oct 2005 07:31

Zoo Digital Group PLC18 October 2005 18 October 2005 ZOO DIGITAL GROUP PLC ("ZOO" or "the Group") ZOO OUTLINES US STRATEGY Further to a separate statement made today, ZOOtech Ltd ("ZOOtech"), the DVDtechnology division of ZOO Digital Group plc, has announced its future strategyand outlined market opportunities in North America. Management Focus on US Market Given the market size of DVD production and the large relative size ofindividual deals for its technology, ZOO is looking to further develop its USbusiness and will focus greater resources and management time in driving salesin this area. In particular Board members Robert Deri (CFO) and Dr Stuart Green(CTO) will be working more closely on the opportunities that the US presents. Asa result of this greater focus at a Board level, Cees Zwaard, CEO of ZOOtechwill be leaving the business. Specific activity will include deepening existingrelationships with the major organisations and working closely with customersregarding process improvement, reduction of client in-house production budgetsand software solutions to meet client's requirements for next generation HD-DVDand Blu-Ray. As part of this activity two members of the technical staff arerelocating to the US on long-term secondments in order to work closely oncurrent developments and future opportunities. Hollywood Studio Market Menu Regionalisation is only one of a number of applications for the DVD-EXTRASTUDIO technology. In addition to ZOO seeking further menu regionalisationopportunities in Hollywood, the Group is developing other DVD-EXTRA STUDIO basedproducts in conjunction with major entertainment corporates and Hollywoodstudios. Significantly, the technology has proved to be compatible withproduction systems and compliant with the DVD industry's extremely highstandards. It is anticipated that both the number of studios using thetechnology, and the number of applications for the technology, will growconsiderably. Ian Stewart, Chief Executive of ZOO Digital Group plc commented: "Our technology is being increasingly used by a number of organisations, hasbeen rigorously tested and is completely proven. Its potential, both in terms ofthe number of customers and applications, is huge and we are now focusing onmaximising the opportunities Hollywood and the US present and building on thevery important relationships we have worked so hard to establish." - ends - Enquiries: Rob Deri CFO, ZOO Digital Group plc0114 241 3700 James Chandler/Helen ThomasWeber Shandwick Square Mile020 7067 0747 John Llewellyn-LloydNoble & Company Limited020 7763 2200 Notes to Editors: About ZOO Digital Group PLCZOO is divided into two separate divisions; ZOOtech Ltd ("ZOOtech") and ZOODigital Publishing Ltd ("ZDP"). ZOOtech Ltd ("ZOOtech")ZOOtech focuses on R&D and licensing of DVD-EXTRA, the Group's highly originaldevelopment software capable of creating complex interactive content forstandard DVD players. The strategy for ZOOtech is simple; to create the industrystandard tool for the production of interactive DVD content and drive revenuesthrough licensing worldwide in a combination of up front fees and royalties. About Menu RegionalisationThe 'DVD-EXTRA STUDIO Regionalisation Utility' automates the creation of allregionalised DVD's. The technology maximizes customers' time by using theoriginal menu as the template to automatically create different language orregionalised versions. The regionalisation process is therefore standardisedremoving error prone manual processes and improving productivity. Moreimportantly, each customer can leverage the assets created for one project bystoring translations and then use these translations for subsequent projects. Translation costs are reduced as dictionaries are standardised and formatting ofmenus becomes flexible based on the rules created for each regional version. Thecost reductions and labour savings are directly proportionate to the number oflanguages used on a project i.e. the cost savings rise as more languages areused. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange