Genius Products released 6 HD movies during 2006 and has ‘aggress...
Genius Products released 6 HD movies during 2006 and has “aggressive plans in the back half of 2007 to exploit high- def in both” the Blu-ray and HD DVD “formats as the installed base continues to expand,” Chmn. Stephen…
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Bannon told analysts in a conference call Fri. The company also released more than 200 DVD titles during 2006 and expects to release about 300 this year, he said. It “processed more than 1.5 million orders” during 2006 and expects to ship more than 70 million DVD units this year, Bannon also said. Despite the disappointing showing of the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez-directed double feature Grindhouse at the box office, Genius is upbeat about how the title will fare when it’s released on DVD, the company said, noting the filmmakers have loyal fan bases. One factor that could have hurt the title’s theatrical performance is its approximate 3- hour running time which, when combined with the time it takes for some consumers to drive to a theater, could increase a theatergoer’s time commitment to nearly 5 hours at one time - - an issue that won’t affect the movie’s performance on home entertainment formats, Genius said. The company has exclusive rights to distribute that movie on DVD and other optical disc formats as part of the pact it signed with The Weinstein Co. (TWC) in which TWC received a controlling stake in Genius last year. Genius signed 15 “major content deals” during 2006 and an additional 5 this year, said Bannon. The company’s catalog grew from only 750 at the end of 2005 to more than 3,500 titles at the end of 2006, he told analysts. Genius also decided to separate its legacy business from its branded business “to focus more time and energy on our branded business including TWC,” said CEO Trevor Drinkwater. The company is “transitioning” to the new business model during the first half of this year, he said, adding “we believe this will allow us to manage the now-expansive Genius Branded Business with our current sales and marketing team and will expand our ability to effectively service other independent content providers.” The comments came as Genius reported preliminary pro forma revenue of more than $380 million for fiscal 2006 and said it still expects to report fiscal 2007 revenue of $700-$800 million. Genius expects to file a 10-K with the SEC this week, it said, adding its 2006 audit is arriving late due to its “unprecedented growth,” the closing of the TWC transaction in July, the 15 new brand partnerships that closed in 2006 and non-cash restatements. It also recently changed its audit firm to Ernst & Young.