- Network DVD
-
Network Distributing 
Industry Entertainment, TV, film, music, DVD Genre DVD publishing + film distributor + Blu Ray distributor Headquarters London Area served UK Employees 20 Website http://www.networkdvd.net
http://www.networkreleasing.comNetwork DVD (limited company name Network Distributing) is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV programmes. But it is also developing a reputation for releasing edgy world cinema through its film arm Network Releasing which picks up all UK rights covering cinema exhibition, DVD rental and retail plus TV rights.
Founded in 1997, Network Distributing (formerly Network/Network DVD) started as a video sell through label specialising in archive TV programmes. Its first releases were Charley Says, Robin of Sherwood and Catweazle. It has gone on to become one of the most successful independent DVD distributors in the UK with a library of 3,000 unique film and TV properties. The company has also moved into releasing new feature films at cinemas and won two HEW Awards in 2008 for Best TV DVD release for The Prisoner 40th Anniversary Special Edition and Best Comedy DVD for The Goodies at LWT. The latter award was shared with The Mighty Boosh Series 3.
The company has built up a strong reputation for releasing special features laden DVDs which can be seen in the likes of The Goodies at LWT, The Saint and On the buses . In 2004 Network signed an output deal with Granada Ventures, giving the company the rights to release all non core ITV brands on DVD in the UK (incorporating the Granada, Carlton, ITC Entertainment, Central, HTV and Anglia libraries). At the same time Network sourced its sales function to Fremantle Media. In return Network acquired the DVD rights to the Fremantle library (including the Thames library). This means that the majority of the ITV shows such as Coronation Street, The Bill, The Persuaders! and The Saint are released via Network DVD rather than ITV's commercial division. The American-made series Baywatch is also part of the Fremantle library and Network DVD holds UK DVD rights to the series.
Despite Network’s strong TV catalogue the company also has an extensive film library which includes properties from Alliance Atlantis, Rank, Raymond Rohauer and ITC Entertainment catalogues. Notable films include Sign o’ the Times, Oliver Stone's Talk Radio, Black Narcissus, The Last Seduction and This Sporting Life.
In 2007 the company moved into new releases following the successful re-release of The Ipcress File at UK cinemas nationwide in 2006 and the company acquired Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon starring Juliette Binoche, which it released at cinemas and on DVD in 2007. In 2008 it acquired four new films from the Cannes Film Festival: Afterschool, Rumba, Soi Cowboy and Tony Manero, which are all due for UK release in 2009. It established its world cinema website networkreleasing.com in 2009 and all its new film titles are now released under the Network Releasing banner. In July 2010 it released Lymelife, a coming-of-age feature exec produced by Martin Scorsese and starring Alec Baldwin, Rory and Kieran Culkin, Cynthia Nixon and Emma Roberts. It has also announced plans to release Asian slasher movie Dream Home in November 2010, a gory black comedy about the horrors of Hong Kong's property market told through the eyes of a female serial killer.
Network's release schedule and catalogue availability was seriously affected by the Sony warehouse fire in Enfield, North London during the August 2011 English riots.
External links
Categories:- DVD companies
- Companies established in 1997
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
