Inside Urban Hollywood with Tanya Kersey  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 8/18/2008 8:01 PM UTC

  Acquisitions & Distribution Executive Melvin Butters on "Inside Urban Hollywood"
  

  Melvin Butters, Vice President of Acquisitions for Barnholtz Entertainment will appear on "Inside Urban Hollywood" with host Tanya Kersey on Monday, August 4, 2008, at 8pm PST/11pm EST, to discuss film acquisitions and distribution for the independent filmmaker.
  
  As Vice President of Acquisitions and a five year executive of the company, Melvin has overseen the acquisitions of over one hundred films and has been instrumental in the development, and production of 11 films. Having started with Barnholtz Entertainment when the company was only releasing through Artisan Entertainment in 2003, Melvin has helped grow the acquisition division to now fulfill the output deal obligations with Lionsgate, Magnolia Pictures, The Weinstein Company, Starz Media, MTI, and Echo Bridge. Some notable titles that Melvin's been involved with include: "Red Neck Comedy Round UP" (I. & II) , "Laffs from the Hood" (I & II), "Ed Gein," "The Mangler Reborn," "Paranoid" (with Jessica Alba), "Jack Brown Genius" (Peter Jackson film, & upcoming Lionsgate release), "Simon Says," "Dead Man's Bounty," "The Legend of Butch and Sundance," "Corrupted Minds," "Dinner with an Assassin," "Latino Kings of Comedy," "Alice Through the Looking Glass" (with Kate Beckinsale), "Ball and Chain" (with Kal Penn) and a long list of others. Besides acquisitions and production, Melvin has also been involved in the marketing, sales, and business affairs roles at B.E.I.
  
  Prior to starting Barnholtz Entertainment, Barry Barnholtz was the co-founder and second largest stockholder of Trimark Pictures. Around 1996 he decided to sell his shares and start his own production/distribution company, which became Barnholtz Entertainment. Since then Barnholtz Entertainment has forged output deals with Lionsgate (Which acquired Trimark in 2000), Magnolia Pictures, The Weinstein Company, Starz Media, First Look Studios, Echo Bridge, Image Entertainment, MTI, Maple (Lionsgate Canada), and Momentum (For distribution in the UK and Spain). Their output deals allow them to get their inventories into the largest retail outlets across the country such as Walmart, Blockbuster, Best Buy, Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, Sam's Club, and a host of others. They have a library of around 170 films with around 60 of which that contain theatrically recognized talent such as Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bullock, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Alba, Sharon Stone, Denzel Washington, Drew Barrymore, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Pierce Brosnan, Jeff Foxworthy, and a long list of others. They are also currently the largest provider of content to Lionsgate as they have over 100 films in various stages of distribution.
  
  The company also provides finishing funds if a film is close to completion of post as they have strong relationships with various post facilities. Some recent examples of this are "Murder-Set Pieces," "Grad Night" (with Coolio, was an 2006 release through Image), "Ball & Chain" (2006 Lionsgate release with Kal Penn from Harold and Kumar go to White Castle), and ,"The Scheme" (2003 Lionsgate release with Jimmy Fallon).
  
  Callers are welcome to join the conversation during the show by calling (646) 200-3290. The live, Internet talk-radio show will stream from the host page at http://blogtalkradio.com/InsideUrbanHollywood.
  
  
  • Tags:
  • "Inside Urban Hollyw
  • " Tanya Kersey
  • Melvin Butters
  • Barnholtz Entertainm
  • independent film
  • Permalink