New Medium Enterprises, developer of the HD VMD hi-def format, signed a lucrative content deal with film distributor Scanbox Entertainment at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The partnership ensures that Scanbox will be the prime mover of HD VMD films across the Scandinavian territory supplying blockbuster Hollywood titles such as Saw 2, Lucky Number Slevin and Lord of War.

Jon Einar Sivertsen, MD of Norway and Corporate Senior Marketing Manager, comments, “The quality of HD VMD is excellent whilst other advantages of this format ensure we remain innovative within the market place. We are excited about the attention our films will attract through HD VMD.”

Retailers are expected to sell NME bundle boxes consisting of a HD VMD player plus five inclusive blockbuster films at a considerably lower price than Blu-ray or HD DVD discs.

Throughout the last 25 years, Scanbox has achieved leading status and is now the prominent Nordic entertainment corporation. Founded in 1980 during the infancy of the video industry, Scanbox is today the oldest video film distributor in Scandinavia.

Scanbox subsequently also acquired video companies in all three Scandinavian countries and Finland thereby enabling distribution operations for the theatrical, video and TV markets throughout Scandinavia.

Executive Vice-President of New Medium Enterprises, Alexander Bolker-Hagerty says, “Officially announcing the VMD pioneer for Scandinavia, Scanbox has been one of our successful highlights of the Cannes Film Festival event. Scanbox’s involvement with VMD strengthens the European need for affordable High Definition content now rather than in the future.

Story filed 27.05.07