Casablanca Media Acquires Entertainment Property Rights TORONTO, Ontario, October 24, 2001 – To capitalize on the exploding demand for entertainment content by dozens of new cable and digital broadcast channels across North America and in overseas markets, Toronto entertainment business veteran Ed Glinert has formed a new company, called Casablanca Media Acquisitions Inc. Casablanca Media is currently in the process of acquiring a large number of back catalogs of music, television and video copyright materials that have enormous potential for generating new revenues. "This is a unique opportunity to take advantage of the on-going trend to convergence in the media by locating and developing content for new markets that didn’t exist even six months ago," says Glinert, president of Casablanca Media. "We’re acquiring and marketing catalog product that has been buried in the vaults and under-used for years." These catalogs consist of copyrights to songs by such performers as the popular children’s entertainer Fred Penner, as well as the original master tapes, and rights to large quantities of television shows and video properties. At the same time, Glinert sees the possibilities of cross-promotion through the convergence of media. "For example, a new generation of kids will be able to see the Penner television shows on a variety of new children’s TV channels and potential Internet sites across Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. This, in turn, will create demand for the reissue of Penner’s CDs and his videos on DVDs." Casablanca already controls the copyrights to more than 50,000 songs and hundreds of hours of video and television. "These catalogs have generated a modest stream of royalty revenues over the years," says Glinert, "but Casablanca will have the advantage of in-house legal, accounting, and marketing expertise that can significantly increase the royalty stream by offering this new generation of specialty broadcasters a package of products that will be able to meet their needs cost-effectively." Casablanca Media Acquisitions Inc. is a privately held company, with offices based in Toronto. The company operates a number of subsidiaries, including Casablanca Media Publishing Inc. and Casablanca Kids Inc. The company also controls 50 percent of Solid Gold Records Inc., which includes major Canadian rock performers from the 1970s and 1980s, including Chilliwack, Toronto, The Headpins, and The Good Brothers. Its president, Ed Glinert, has more than 35 years of experience in the entertainment business, as an agent, concert promoter, and, for the last 25 years, as one of the principal entertainment business lawyers in Canada. |
