Network DVD
Encyclopedia
Network DVD is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television
. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV
programmes. But it is also developing a reputation for releasing edgy world cinema through its film arm Network Releasing which picks up all UK rights covering cinema exhibition, DVD rental and retail plus TV rights.
Founded in 1997, Network Distributing (formerly Network/Network DVD) started as a video sell through label specialising in archive TV programmes. Its first releases were Charley Says
, Robin of Sherwood
and Catweazle
. It has gone on to become one of the most successful independent DVD distributors in the UK with a library of 3,000 unique film and TV properties. The company has also moved into releasing new feature films at cinemas and won two HEW Awards in 2008 for Best TV DVD release for The Prisoner 40th Anniversary Special Edition and Best Comedy DVD for The Goodies at LWT. The latter award was shared with The Mighty Boosh Series 3.
The company has built up a strong reputation for releasing special features laden DVDs which can be seen in the likes of The Goodies at LWT
, The Saint
and On the buses
. In 2004 Network signed an output deal with Granada Ventures, giving the company the rights to release all non core ITV brands on DVD in the UK (incorporating the Granada
, Carlton
, ITC Entertainment
, Central
, HTV
and Anglia libraries). At the same time Network sourced its sales function to Fremantle Media. In return Network acquired the DVD rights to the Fremantle library (including the Thames library). This means that the majority of the ITV shows such as Coronation Street
, The Bill
, The Persuaders!
and The Saint
are released via Network DVD rather than ITV's commercial division. The American-made series Baywatch
is also part of the Fremantle library and Network DVD holds UK DVD rights to the series.
Despite Network’s strong TV catalogue the company also has an extensive film library which includes properties from Alliance Atlantis
, Rank, Raymond Rohauer
and ITC Entertainment
catalogues. Notable films include Sign o’ the Times, Oliver Stone's Talk Radio
, Black Narcissus
, The Last Seduction
and This Sporting Life
.
In 2007 the company moved into new releases following the successful re-release of The Ipcress File
at UK cinemas nationwide in 2006 and the company acquired Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon starring Juliette Binoche
, which it released at cinemas and on DVD in 2007. In 2008 it acquired four new films from the Cannes Film Festival: Afterschool, Rumba, Soi Cowboy and Tony Manero, which are all due for UK release in 2009. It established its world cinema website networkreleasing.com in 2009 and all its new film titles are now released under the Network Releasing banner. In July 2010 it released Lymelife, a coming-of-age feature exec produced by Martin Scorsese and starring Alec Baldwin, Rory and Kieran Culkin, Cynthia Nixon and Emma Roberts. It has also announced plans to release Asian slasher movie Dream Home
in November 2010, a gory black comedy about the horrors of Hong Kong's property market told through the eyes of a female serial killer.
Network's release schedule and catalogue availability was seriously affected by the Sony warehouse fire in Enfield, North London during the August 2011 English riots
.
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
programmes. But it is also developing a reputation for releasing edgy world cinema through its film arm Network Releasing which picks up all UK rights covering cinema exhibition, DVD rental and retail plus TV rights.
Founded in 1997, Network Distributing (formerly Network/Network DVD) started as a video sell through label specialising in archive TV programmes. Its first releases were Charley Says
Charley Says
Charley Says was a series of very short cut-out animated cartoon Public Information Films for children, shown in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s for London's Central Office of Information.-Overview:...
, Robin of Sherwood
Robin of Sherwood
Robin of Sherwood , was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel...
and Catweazle
Catweazle
Catweazle was a British television series, created and written by Richard Carpenter which was produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence for London Weekend Television under the LWI banner, and screened in the UK on ITV in 1970 and 1971...
. It has gone on to become one of the most successful independent DVD distributors in the UK with a library of 3,000 unique film and TV properties. The company has also moved into releasing new feature films at cinemas and won two HEW Awards in 2008 for Best TV DVD release for The Prisoner 40th Anniversary Special Edition and Best Comedy DVD for The Goodies at LWT. The latter award was shared with The Mighty Boosh Series 3.
The company has built up a strong reputation for releasing special features laden DVDs which can be seen in the likes of The Goodies at LWT
The Goodies
The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
, The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
and On the buses
On The Buses
On the Buses was a British situation comedy created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney which was broadcast in the UK from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the Corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential...
. In 2004 Network signed an output deal with Granada Ventures, giving the company the rights to release all non core ITV brands on DVD in the UK (incorporating the Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, Carlton
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
, ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
, Central
Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
, HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
and Anglia libraries). At the same time Network sourced its sales function to Fremantle Media. In return Network acquired the DVD rights to the Fremantle library (including the Thames library). This means that the majority of the ITV shows such as Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, The Persuaders!
The Persuaders!
The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
and The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
are released via Network DVD rather than ITV's commercial division. The American-made series Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
is also part of the Fremantle library and Network DVD holds UK DVD rights to the series.
Despite Network’s strong TV catalogue the company also has an extensive film library which includes properties from Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Toronto-based media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Shannon and Sydney.Alliance Atlantis was acquired by Canwest...
, Rank, Raymond Rohauer
Raymond Rohauer
Raymond Rohauer was an American film collector and distributor.Rohauer moved to California in 1942 and was educated at Los Angeles City College. Rohauer made a five-reel 16mm experimental film Whirlpool which was not successful. He subsequently became active in film exhibition at the Coronet...
and ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
catalogues. Notable films include Sign o’ the Times, Oliver Stone's Talk Radio
Talk Radio (film)
Talk Radio is a 1988 American drama film, starring Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene and Leslie Hope. Directed by Oliver Stone, the film was based on the play by Eric Bogosian and Tad Savinar. Portions of the film and play were based on the assassination of radio host Alan Berg in 1984...
, Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus is a 1947 film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden...
, The Last Seduction
The Last Seduction
The Last Seduction is a neo-noir 1994 film directed by John Dahl.The movie features Linda Fiorentino as the femme fatale, Peter Berg as a small town man whose one night affair turns into more than he wanted, and Bill Pullman as Fiorentino's husband who is chasing her and running from loan sharks at...
and This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
.
In 2007 the company moved into new releases following the successful re-release of The Ipcress File
The Ipcress File (film)
The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
at UK cinemas nationwide in 2006 and the company acquired Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon starring Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
, which it released at cinemas and on DVD in 2007. In 2008 it acquired four new films from the Cannes Film Festival: Afterschool, Rumba, Soi Cowboy and Tony Manero, which are all due for UK release in 2009. It established its world cinema website networkreleasing.com in 2009 and all its new film titles are now released under the Network Releasing banner. In July 2010 it released Lymelife, a coming-of-age feature exec produced by Martin Scorsese and starring Alec Baldwin, Rory and Kieran Culkin, Cynthia Nixon and Emma Roberts. It has also announced plans to release Asian slasher movie Dream Home
Dream Home
Dream Home is a 2010 Hong Kong slasher film directed and co-written by Pang Ho-cheung. The film is the story of Cheng Lai-sheung who saves up money to buy her dream home...
in November 2010, a gory black comedy about the horrors of Hong Kong's property market told through the eyes of a female serial killer.
Network's release schedule and catalogue availability was seriously affected by the Sony warehouse fire in Enfield, North London during the August 2011 English riots
2011 England riots
Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson....
.