Rationalizing Genius
Now that Genius Products and the Weinstein Company are well on their way to forging a joint home video distribution company, what would that mean for Genius' efforts to distribute product theatrically through the Wellspring brand acquired in March 2005 when they completed their purchase of American Vantage Media Corporation. Succinctly stated by Variety:
"Wellspring -- which specializes largely in foreign-language pics and has a track record with long-running arthouse films -- was acquired by Genius last year, and the company's role in Genius' plans fell into question when the Weinstein Co. entered the fold."Genius purchased Wellspring with a focus on its film and TV library with more than 750 titles, an 800-title short film library, and now has confirmed that choice by announcing that all titles remaining in the Wellspring pipeline will be distributed theatrically by TWC and Genius will handle home video distribution. And this rationalization will save Genius a hefty $1 million a year in overhead.