Weinstein Co. looks at simultaneous digital, theatrical releases with new venture

The Weinstein Co., which already owns 25 percent of video-on-demand player Starz Media, Tuesday announced it was launching a new film label that would bring new films and other specialty entertainment to audiences" simultaneously on-demand, online and in theaters.

The company said Tom Quinn and Jason Janego, former execs at Mark Cuban's Magnolia Pictures, have joined forces with its Co-Chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein to create the label, and will serve as co-presidents of the venture, tasked with develop content and distribution strategies that move beyond the on-demand model, with a goal of establishing the new label as a marquee destination.

Quinn and Janego will oversee acquisitions, productions and distribution of label content. Both will report to Harvey and Bob Weinstein and COO David Glasser in New York.

Quinn and Janego have pushed the potential of digital platforms and were in the vanguard of developing new strategies for alternative distribution while at Magnolia.

"Our experience in digital distribution has been eye-opening and inspiring; we see it as a new frontier for studios and for independent filmmakers of every stripe," said Quinn and Janego,

The new label makes the company the first studio to premiere select titles across multiple platforms via immediate-access digital and traditional media and will bring Weinstein's films to larger audiences than ever before.

The Weinstein Co. said it plans to release its first title in the first half of 2012, and it was already on the ground at this week's Toronto Film Festival to begin scouting titles for the fledgling label.

For more:
- see this release
- see this Reuters article

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