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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024

The Asylum Inks Deal for Distribution

After working together on one-off distribution deals, Burbank-based production house The Asylum and Starz/Anchor Bay Entertainment UK signed a one-year partnership agreement covering 10 films. “Anchor Bay UK has a much better understanding of their audience than we do,” said Paul Bales, Asylum’s chief operating officer. “We look forward to doing the films they have requested.” The Asylum has carved out a niche in the entertainment industry with low-cost genre films, some of which are knockoffs of Hollywood blockbusters. Its films are distributed on cable, video-on-demand and DVD. Under the agreement, The Asylum will develop the films and bear the total cost of production. Budgets for feature films are modest — in the $250,000 to $700,000 range. Movies made for U.S. cable channels are more expensive and reach upward to $2 million. Starz/Anchor Bay UK will choose the films to be distributed in the United Kingdom, starting with “Alien Origin,” an action film shot in Belize about a military team uncovering evidence that humans came from aliens. The deal covers video-on-demand and digital distribution. Wide-spread theatrical distribution in the United Kingdom proves elusive for The Asylum with a few exceptions. Video-on-demand companies will pay a premium to show films originally screened in theater, Bales said. The deal with Starz/ Anchor Bay UK is similar to partnerships The Asylum has with companies in other parts of the world. By securing distribution in one of the major European markets, the studio has raised its profile, Bales said, noting the deal may be a catalyst for other distribution deals. “This arrangement is something we would love to do in more than one territory,” Bales said. — Mark R. Madler

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