BY LEAH HOCHBAUMROSNER With the demise of AllianceAtlantis, the splintering of PeaceArch (see related story in World, page 6), the disappearance of Chum TV and the “relocation” of Cookie Jar, the international TV industry was on the verge of bidding farewell to Canada as the birthplace of large content providers, leaving CCI as the lone mid-size entertainment company to carry the torch. Just as the international film and TV industry was about to go into mourning, a bright light of an entertainment company emerged from North America projecting a large E1 in cubic characters on the skyline. And this vision is not too farfetched, since this newly minted Toronto-based production and distribution company has a cubic E1 logo etched onto a sky blue background. Now, for E1 Entertainment, as the company is officially named, the 2009 edition of MIP-TV will be more than just a marketplace for buying and selling programming. It’ll be the launch pad for the new, improved and consolidated E1, which will be at the international market for the first time under its brand new moniker. The company, which changed its name from Entertainment One to E1 in January after completing a series of acquisitions, is hoping to use the Cannes convention to show the world that E1 is truly a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry both in Canada and internationally. “We changed the name to leverage all of the international brands that we have,” said Peter Emerson, president of E1 Television International, the International Sales and Distribution division of the entertainment group, who is based out of the company’s Toronto headquarters. In recent years, the company has spent much of its time and capital acquiring other firms. Some notable pick-ups include: U.K.-based TV distribution outfit Contender Entertainment Group in June 2007; Canadian film distribution and entertainment rights owner Seville Entertainment in August 2007; and RCV Entertainment BV, an independent film distributor operating in the Netherlands and Belgium in January 2008. Later that year, in July, E1 also acquired Canadian TV production houses Barna-Alper and Blueprint Entertainment, along with Oasis — a Canadian film, international sales and distribution firm that Emerson founded in 1991 — and Maximum, another Canuck film and TV distribution company. “I spent more time at last year’s MIPCOM explaining all the interconnections and making people aware of the size of the global enterprise than I would’ve liked,” said Emerson. “So [changing the name] was an obvious no-brainer thing to do.” Entertainment One was launched in 1973 in Ontario, Canada by Don and Vito Ierullo as Records on Wheels Limited (ROW). At first, ROW focused on retail sales of recorded music. In the 1980s and 1990s, distribution became the company’s primary concern, and the product expanded to include video, as well as music. In 2003, the company expanded its product range even more V I D E O • A G E MA R C H/ AP R I L 2 0 0 9 28 C o m p a n y P r o f i l e E1 Entert.: A Mini-Major Emerging from Canada with the inclusion of video console games. Later that year, ROW changed its name to Entertainment One Income Fund and quickly established itself as one of the largest distributors of home entertainment products to the nondirect segment (meaning the segment not served directly by major studios) of the Canadian market. In June 2005, Entertainment One purchased Koch Entertainment, which represented a big step into independent music and video distribution in the U.S. through Koch’s distribution unit. In March of 2007, the Entertainment One Income Fund was acquired by Entertainment One Ltd, which has been a public company since 2003. And since then, the company has made a series of acquisitions in Canada and the U.K. (including the aforementioned Blueprint and BarnaAlper pick-ups). “Our vision is to build the global brand and make ourselves the number one independent content provider in the world,” said Emerson. “We’re not a studio, but it’s a studio model,” he noted, comparing E1 to mini-majors like Lionsgate or U.K.-based FremantleMedia. And the company would have kept right on acquiring more and more firms if not for this pesky worldwide financial meltdown. “There’s not a whole lot of mergers and acquisitions going on right now,” noted Emerson wryly. “But we’re almost fortunate that there’s a bit of a lull right now as it’s kind of nice to be able to integrate the companies we now have,” he said. “The bigger you get, the harder it is to leverage every asset. It’s best to be able to quantify what you’ve got.” Yet, needless to say, he noted that once the credit crunch is a thing of the past, he’s confident that E1 will continue down its acquisitive path. In the meantime, he and his colleagues are concentrating on building strategic alliances with partners around the globe, and have been focusing on expanding into such territories as Scandinavia, Germany, France and Spain. Under the new E1 name, the company integrated all of its operations into four main units: E1 Television, E1 Films, E1 Music and E1 Distribution. Children’s producer and distributor Rubber Duck and Blueprint Kids E1 Entertainment Made Easy The group is headed by Darren Throop (CEO) and Patrice Theroux (president of Filmed Entertainment) and made of four major units, under which operate a myriad of companies: E1 Television Formerly Barna-Alper, Blueprint and Oasis CEO: John Morayniss President: Laszlo Barna *E1 Television International: Peter Emerson, president *E1 Kids (formerly Rubber Duck and Blueprint Kids): Laura Clunie, Frank Saperstein, presidents E1 Films Formerly Seville Pictures, Maximum Films *E1 Entertainment Canada: David Reckziegel, Bryan Gliserman, co-presidents *E1 Entertainment U.K. (formerly Contender): Richard Bridgwood, managing director *E1 Entertainment Benelux (formerly RCV Entertainment): Jan Kouwenhoven, JokeWartenbergh, co-managing directors *E1 Films International (formerly Seville International, Maximum International): Charlotte Mickie, president *E1 Entertainment U.S. (formerly KochVision): Michael Koch and Michael Rosenberg, co-presidents E1 Music CEO, Michael Koch *E1 Records (formerly Koch Records): Bob Frank, president *E1 Music Publishing (formerly Koch Music Publishing): Bob Frank, president *E1 Music Canada (formerly Koch Canada): Dominique Zgarka, president E1 Distribution *E1 Entertainment Distribution Canada:Terry Stevens, president *E1 Entertainment Distribution U.S. (formerly Koch Distribution): Michael Koch, Michael Rosenberg, co-presidents (Continued on Page 30) Peter Emerson, president, E1 Television International
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