Blockbuster hires WB veteran for digital media
Calman fills new position to boost sales in new market segment
By Danny King -- Video Business, 7/16/2008
JULY 16 | Blockbuster has hired former Warner Bros. executive Jeffrey Calman to strengthen its ties to entertainment-content producers in an attempt to boost digital-media sales.
Calman
The company created the position of VP of studio relations and new media for Calman, who worked for the Time Warner unit for more than two decades, Blockbuster said in a statement today. He will be based in Los Angeles, not at Blockbuster’s Dallas headquarters.
Calman joins the largest U.S. movie-rental chain as it tries to boost sales by developing concept stores that are more entertainment oriented and put a greater emphasis on digital sales and the fast-growing videogames market. The company’s partnering with NCR Corp. to develop kiosks that will allow in-store digital downloads and plans to relaunch its Movielink download service.
The entertainment-industry veteran was brought in for his “extensive background in all aspects of the acquisition and distribution of entertainment content, his understanding of new media technology, his studio-side experience and his business acumen,” said Joyce Woodward, Blockbuster senior VP of film, in the statement.
Earlier this month, Blockbuster withdrew a bid worth as much as $1.32 billion for struggling electronics giant Circuit City in favor of adding electronics products to its inventory of DVD content. Blockbuster in April went public with a two-month-old offer to buy Circuit City for at least $6 a share, laying out a vision of an $18 billion retailer of entertainment content and the devices it plays on.
Last week, Blockbuster said it hired restaurant industry veteran Rebecca “Becky” Johnson as its new chief marketing officer.
