By : Thomas K. Arnold | Posted: 21 Oct 2009
tarnold@questex.com

Paramount Home Entertainment has extended its agreement with Technicolor to replicate its DVDs and Blu-ray Discs and provide other services, laying to rest rumors that the division would turn over backroom functions to another studio.

As part of the extended multiyear agreement, which covers multiple territories, Technicolor will continue to replicate all Paramount product, as it has done since 2002. Technicolor also will provide a wide range of core services, including mastering, packaging, distribution and returns processing, as well as freight management services in North America.

“We have a big business in DVD and Blu-ray Disc over here, and a great slate of titles, so we are clearly committed to the category,” said Dennis Maguire, Paramount’s new worldwide home entertainment president. “We recognize there are pressures in the business and there is a need to do things differently, and Technicolor is committed to being our partner and working with us to pursue and create new areas of efficiency in our supply chain that should bring down costs for all of us.”

Frederic Rose, chairman and CEO of Thomson, Technicolor’s parent, said the contract extension “is a clear sign of Technicolor’s strength and market-leading position in the industry.”

“This agreement also serves to further confirm our expanded partnership with Paramount, which was strengthened earlier this year with our announcement to create a state-of-the art post-production facility on Paramount's Hollywood lot,” he added.

Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, called Technicolor “a strategically important service partner to Paramount.”

“As we navigate the changing home entertainment environment, this new deal is a forward-looking redesign of how we work together, allowing Paramount Home Entertainment and Technicolor to globally maximize efficiencies while still providing our customers with the highest quality product and services,” Grey said.

 

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