ADV FILMS
AND GENEON
ANNOUNCE
STRATEGIC
ALLIANCE
Partnership
Yields
Strongest
Catalog in
Anime
Category
HOUSTON,
August 29,
2007 — Today
ADV Films
and Geneon
Entertainment
(USA)
announced a
new
distribution
agreement.
From October
1st on, ADV
Films will
be Geneon
Entertainment
USA’s sole
distributor.
ADV Films
will handle
all sales
and
distribution
duties for
the combined
catalogue as
well as
certain
marketing
functions.
Geneon
Entertainment
(USA) is a
subsidiary
of
Tokyo-based
advertising
giant Dentsu,
Inc. Geneon
is a pioneer
of anime in
America,
having
helped to
launch
Pokemon,
Appleseed,
and Akira on
home video.
More recent
hits include
some of the
best-selling
franchises
in anime
today,
including
Hellsing,
Ergo Proxy,
and the new
hit series
Black
Lagoon.
“This is a
great
alliance.”
said Geneon
President
and CEO Eiji
Orii. “The
efficiencies
we’ll
achieve
ultimately
will mean
more anime
for the fans
to enjoy.”
ADV
co-founder
and
President
John Ledford
concurred.
“This
alliance
makes both
companies
stronger.
Anime as an
entertainment
category is
in
competition
with every
other form
of
entertainment,
and our
partnership
with Geneon
gives us the
scale to
help widen
the anime
market in
North
America.”
Ledford
continued,
“As we look
ahead to an
increasingly
digital
future,
scale
matters. In
bringing
anime to new
media
platforms,
ADV Films
and Geneon
can only
benefit from
the added
clout this
alliance
brings.”
For
consumers
and
retailers,
this
transition
should be
seamless.
Geneon’s
publishing
plans will
continue
unabated, as
ADV Films
works with
distribution
partners to
make the
transition a
smooth one.
About ADV
Films:
In the 15
years since
its
inception,
ADV Films
has become
the #1
producer-distributor
of Japanese
animation
(“anime”)
outside of
Japan and
has the
largest
English-language
anime
library in
the world.
With
best-selling
titles such
as Neon
Genesis
Evangelion,
RahXephon,
Robotech,
Full Metal
Panic, Hello
Kitty and
Azumanga
Daioh, ADV
Films’
extensive
catalog is
fueling the
popularity
of anime
around the
globe.
Always on
the
forefront,
ADV is
introducing
North
America to
bold new
anime
franchises
such as the
new Guyver,
Le Chevalier
D’Eon,
Gantz, and
Elfen Lied.
ADV Films’
library also
includes
popular
live-action
science
fiction
programs
such as The
Jim Henson
Company's
Farscape,
the
nationally
syndicated
Gene
Roddenberry’s
Andromeda
and the
Saturn
Award-nominated
Mutant X. In
2005 ADV
Films was
voted “Best
Anime
Company” in
the SPJA
awards,
presented at
Anime Expo,
North
America’s
largest
anime
convention.
The readers
of Anime
News Network
designated
ADV Films
“Overall
Favorite
Anime
Company” in
both 2004
and 2005.
Parent
company A.D.
Vision, Inc.
encompasses
a variety of
complementary
media
divisions,
spanning
publishing,
television,
licensing
and
merchandising
and
continues to
expand into
new areas.
Its Anime
Network™ is
“America's
#1 Anime
Channel,”
reaching
more than 40
million
households.
Anime
Network is
the nation’s
top
video-on-demand
(VOD)
offering as
well as a
24/7 linear
cable
channel and
is the first
television
network
dedicated to
bringing
anime and
anime-related
programming
to consumers
nationwide.
The company
has two
publishing
arms:
Newtype USA,
North
America’s
top-selling
anime and
manga
monthly
magazine,
and ADV
Manga™,
dedicated to
publishing
graphic
novels.
Headquartered
in Houston,
the company
has offices
in Europe
and Japan.
For more
information,
visit
www.advfilms.com.
About Geneon
Entertainment
(USA):
A leading
supplier of
Japanese
animation in
North
America.
Geneon
Entertainment
(USA) Inc. (www.Geneon-Ent.com)
is a
full-service
producer and
distributor
of
entertainment
content
including
film, music,
animation
and
television
shows on DVD
and CD.
Continually
introducing
new and
classic
anime and
live-action
programming,
as well as
anime CD
soundtracks,
the company
also serves
as a
creative
partner to
many of
Japan's top
anime
production
companies.
Additionally,
Geneon
Entertainment
distributes
critically
acclaimed
musical
performances
on DVD and
CD from
renowned
artists.
Headquartered
in Long
Beach,
California,
Geneon
Entertainment’s
parent
company is
Tokyo-based
advertising
giant Dentsu,
Inc.
Dentsu Inc.,
founded in
1901, is the
largest
advertising
agency brand
and the
fifth
largest
marketing
and
communications
organization
in the
world. Based
in Tokyo,
Dentsu
offers
national,
multinational
and global
clients the
most
comprehensive
range of
advertising
and
marketing
services
through its
unique
"Total
Communications
Services"
approach.
Dentsu has
pioneered
and set
global
standards
for
integrated
communications,
which in
latter years
have been
adopted by a
number of
major
international
networks.
The group
has more
than 6,000
clients and
14,447
full-time
employees in
both Japan
and in its
offices
overseas.
Consolidated
revenues for
fiscal term
03/04 were
recorded at
$2,679,705
billion.
Dentsu is
publicly
quoted on
the Tokyo
Stock
Exchange
(Code 4324).