Animation company BKN International AG today announced a major new home entertainment contract between its recently opened office in Barcelona, BKN New Media SL (BKN SL), and independent DVD distributor Enciclop’dia Catalana, S.A.U. (ECSA). The independent Spanish company will handle local distribution of BKN’s library of classic films and TV series, including A Christmas Carol, Robin Hood, Jungle Book, Legend of the Dragon and Zorro: Generation Z.
Manuel Sanglas Muchart, managing director of ECSA, comments, ‘BKN has created a wonderful catalog of classic animated films and TV series that children in Spain will enjoy. We expect to sell hundreds of thousands of videos in Spain in the next few years.’
This is the first contract for BKN SL, which formed in February. The five-year deal is valued at approximately $1.8 million, with BKN’s share at approximately $1 million. The company intends to sign many more distributors internationally, including North America, at MIPTV in Cannes next week. In January, BKN Home Entertainment Ltd. was formed to handle distribution in the U.K., where the company plans to launch its catalog to customers in May.
BKN’s slate of animated feature films to be distributed between September 2006 and December 2007 include Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Kong II – Return to the Jungle, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Prince and the Pauper, The Three Musketeers, Gulliver’s Travels, Alice in Wonderland and The Nutcracker. TV series include Kong’The Animated Series and Dork Hunters from Outer Space. The full BKN ‘Classic Collection’ catalogue can be found at www.bknhomeentertainment.com.
