SKD enters urban market
INDIE FILM GUIDE: Up and Above first title released on SKD Urban
By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 8/25/2008
SKD will release such foreign film titles as The Patriots on Sept. 2.
AUG. 25 | INDIE FILM GUIDE: European film specialist SKD USA is getting into the urban genre with the launch of its first DVD on the new SKD Urban label.
Up and Above (street Sept. 2, order now; DVD $14.98) is a collection of short films of hip-hop stars, including RZA, GZA, Ghostface Killah and Sticky Fingaz, as they go about their daily lives. It also chronicles the stories of action sports athletes from the X Games.
SKD is distributed by Koch Entertainment.
Alex Cohen, president of SKD, says he is working with Koch and through its established sales efforts to get the title into the marketplace. “Koch is very familiar with the urban market,” he says. For further marketing, some of the artists featured on the DVD are on tour or have other ongoing promotional efforts. “Most of the job will be done by them,” Cohen says.
Cohen, who hails from France, has been distributing foreign films here on DVD for the last four years. He sees the urban market as a good fit because it’s another “niche” that needs to be filled. “It’s not The Lord of the Rings, but the fans are here,” he says.
SKD also is releasing a group of 12 foreign films on DVD on Sept. 2. Cohen says he chose them for their quality and lack of availability in the U.S. The titles are The Jaguar, The Patriots, Franck Spadone, La Parola Amore Esiste, Raul Barboza: The Legend, White Odyssey, Toreros, Towards Evening, In the Name of Hezbollah, Tolerance, Cubanissimo and Zelimo, all priced from $9.98 to $24.98.
