Vivendi to distribute startup Blowtorch Entertainment
By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 11/16/2007
NOV. 16 | Vivendi Visual Entertainment will distribute on DVD three to six films a year from startup Blowtorch Entertainment.
The first Blowtorch feature film, You Are Here, will debut in theaters in the spring. The film involves a group of twentysomething nightclub-going friends who wake up after a wild night to find their lives in chaos.
Blowtorch is launching with more than $50 million in funding to create a media company aimed at reaching young adults 18 to 24 through film, TV, DVD, mobile, digital and Internet entertainment.
The company will reach out to the youth market through online efforts, in theaters, at events and on mobile devices. Through its Web site, Blowtorch.com, the company will build an online community that includes content from the company’s feature films and short films made specifically for the site.
Blowtorch films will be released theatrically through agreements with theater owners, focusing on weekend evening showings in major markets and college towns.
“Blowtorch has the potential to set a new standard for engaging and connecting young adults around a single brand, and we’re looking forward to helping the company expand its presence across our network of distribution channels,” said Tom O’Malley, general manager of VVE, which is a division of Universal Music Group Distribution.
Added Kelly Rodriquez, CEO of Blowtorch: “We’re excited to partner with an innovator like Vivendi Visual Entertainment, whose broad, diverse distribution network is in sync with our young adult audience.”
