Licensing Deal Announcement: The Nacelle Company

Alliance Entertainment’s Mill Creek Entertainment Announces Licensing Deal with The Nacelle Company!

Minneapolis, MN – October 18, 2022 – Mill Creek Entertainment, a division of Alliance Entertainment Holding Corporation, today announced it has signed a licensing deal with production company and distributor The Nacelle Company, LLC.

The Nacelle Company offers an impressive catalog of feature and documentary films. Through this partnership, Mill Creek Entertainment will distribute their content into the physical marketplace.

Mill Creek Entertainment will utilize content from nearly 1,000 hours of stand-up comedy specials via The Nacelle Company’s Comedy Dynamics Division, combining the biggest comedian acts, like Jim Gaffigan, Tom Segura, Tiffany Haddish, and Ali Wong, to create exclusive sets for retailers across the country.

Mill Creek Entertainment will also bring The Nacelle Company’s most popular series and documentaries to retail for the first time ever, such as Icons Unearthed: Star Wars, and The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek.

“Partnering with The Nacelle Company establishes Mill Creek as a leader in premium comedy content on physical media, adding some of the best comedy entertainment on the market to our library,” said Jeff Hayne, SVP of Acquisitions for Mill Creek Entertainment. “We are equally excited to bring ground-breaking documentaries and popular series that have never been available as physical media to shelves nationwide.”

“There’s no better feeling than holding one of your favorite films in your hand, and as we work towards that goal, there’s no better partner than Mill Creek Entertainment,” said Founder and CEO of the Nacelle Company, Brian Volk-Weiss.

About The Nacelle Company

Founded by Brian Volk Weiss, The Nacelle Company develops, produces, and distributes feature and documentary films as well as TV shows – both scripted and unscripted. Nacelle’s vast array of partnerships include Netflix, Amazon, Disney +, HBO, Discovery, BET+, A&E Networks, Hulu, Viacom, and many more. The Nacelle Company has produced the hit Netflix docu-series, Down To Earth with Zac Efron, The Movies That Made Us, and The Toys That Made Us, as well as Behind The Attraction for Disney +, Sony’s Mad About You reboot, Netflix’s How To Fix A Drug Scandal, CW’s Discontinued, Netflix’s Kevin Hart’s Guide To Black History, All The Way Black for BET+, and Grant for The History Channel.

About Mill Creek Entertainment

Mill Creek Entertainment is the home entertainment industry’s leading independent studio for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital distribution. With direct sales pipelines to all primary retail and online partners, Mill Creek Entertainment licenses, produces, markets, and distributes a dynamic array of film and television content to the entire North American retail marketplace, both in-store and online. Mill Creek Entertainment’s expansive library includes Oscar®-winning theatrical feature films, Emmy®-winning classic and current TV series, original documentary productions and pop-culture favorites that enlighten, educate, and entertain. Mill Creek Entertainment is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information, please visit www.millcreekent.com.

About Alliance Entertainment

Alliance Entertainment is a premier distributor of music, movies, and consumer electronics. We offer 485,000 unique in stock SKU’s, including over 57,300 exclusive compact discs, vinyl LP records, DVDs, Blu-rays, and video games. Complementing our vast media catalog, we also stock a full array of related accessories, toys and collectibles. With more than thirty-five years of distribution experience, Alliance Entertainment serves customers of every size, providing a robust suite of services to resellers and retailers worldwide. Our efficient processing and essential seller tools noticeably reduce the costs associated with administrating multiple vendor relationships, while helping omni-channel retailers expand their product selection and fulfillment goals. For more information visit www.aent.com.

On June 23, 2022, Alliance Entertainment announced that it will become publicly listed through a merger transaction with Adara Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: ADRA, ADRA.U, ADRA.WS) (“Adara”), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, at which point the combined company’s common stock is expected to trade on the NYSE American under the ticker symbol “AENT”.

About Adara Acquisition Corp.

Adara raised $115 million in February 2021 and its securities are listed on the NYSE American under the ticker symbols “NYSE: ADRA, ADRA.U, ADRA.WS”. Adara is a blank check company organized for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization, or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. Adara is led by its CEO, Thomas Finke (former Chairman and CEO of Barings LLC) and its director, W. Tom Donaldson (founder of Blystone & Donaldson). In addition to Messrs. Finke and Donaldson, Adara’s Board of Directors also include Frank Quintero, Dylan Glenn and Beatriz Acevedo-Greiff.

To learn more, please visit: https://www.adaraspac.com

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding estimates and forecasts of financial and performance metrics, projections of market opportunity, expectations and timing related to Alliance Entertainment’s business, customer growth and other business milestones, potential benefits of the proposed business combination (the “Proposed Transactions”), and expectations related to the timing of the Proposed Transactions.

These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Adara’s and Alliance Entertainment’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by an investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction, or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of Alliance Entertainment and Adara.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political, and legal conditions; the inability of the parties to successfully or timely consummate the Proposed Transactions, including the risk that any regulatory approvals are not obtained, are delayed or are subject to unanticipated conditions that could adversely affect the combined company or the expected benefits of the Proposed Transactions or that the approval of the stockholders of Adara or Alliance Entertainment is not obtained; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the Proposed Transactions; risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information with respect to Alliance Entertainment; risks related to the music, video, gaming, and entertainment industry, including changes in entertainment delivery formats; global economic conditions; the effects of competition on Alliance Entertainment’s future business; risks related to fulfilment network; risks related to expansion and the strain on Alliance Entertainment’s management, operational, financial, and other resources; risks related to operating results and growth rate; the business could be harmed the amount of redemption requests made by Adara’s public stockholders; and those factors discussed in Adara’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 under the heading “Risk Factors,” and the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 23, 2022 and other documents of Adara filed, or to be filed, with the SEC.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such other jurisdiction.

For investor inquiries, please contact:

MZ Group

Chris Tyson/Larry Holub

(949) 491-8235

AENT@mzgroup.us

November 21st: World Television Day

Sure, we’re obsessed with movies. Who isn’t?! At Distribution Solutions, we put so much more than movies on shelves and into your homes. In honor of World Television Day, we’d like to tell you about our other passion: the complete series release of some of the most treasured television shows of all time!

Did you know Mill Creek Entertainment, a division of Distribution Solutions, is the home entertainment industry’s leading independent studio for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital distribution AND also offers the lion’s share of our complete TV series?

“Mill Creek has had a focus on creating collectible products for a very long time – and our philosophy is that nothing is more collectible than people’s favorite TV shows! We work closely with several major studios to maximize the opportunity to get their content in front of consumers in retail stores,” states Jeff Hayne, Senior VP of Acquisitions and Production for Mill Creek Entertainment. “Mill Creek over indexes in the TV category – with a nearly 30% market share as it pertains to TV on DVD and Blu-ray across all studios.”

Mill Creek’s acquisition strategy makes sure that we have a steady pipeline of high-quality television programming available in stores and online, for those customers who want to own a piece of television history to revisit time and again.

When people ask “what’ve you been watching lately?” the answer is usually something totally new and binge-worthy, but at Distribution Solutions, we know that the best of TV reaches far beyond “what’s new” and into the nostalgic fan favorites… and we are here to keep serving up what viewers want!

Check out this selection of best-selling complete TV series we have available at retail stores and online for our fellow fans of television!

That 70’s Show (Blu-ray)

King Of Queens

Miami Vice (Blu-ray)

Community (Blu-ray)

Ultraman (Blu-ray)

3rd Rock from the Sun

Quantum Leap (Blu-ray)

Good Times

About Mill Creek Entertainment

Mill Creek Entertainment, a division of Alliance Entertainment, is the home entertainment industry’s leading independent studio for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital distribution. With direct sales pipelines to all primary retail and online partners, Mill Creek Entertainment licenses, produces, markets, and distributes a dynamic array of film and television content to over 30,000 retail stores and thousands of websites reaching millions of customers across North America. Mill Creek Entertainment’s expansive library includes Oscar®-winning theatrical feature films, Emmy®-winning classic and current TV series, original documentary productions and pop-culture favorites that enlighten, educate, and entertain. Mill Creek Entertainment is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mill Creek Entertainment is distributed by Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment. For more information, please visit www.millcreekent.com

About Distribution Solutions

Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, is the largest aggregator and downstream distributor of independent film labels in North America. We are a premier partner for home entertainment sales and distribution, with capabilities including Physical Distribution, Digital Sales/Delivery, and SVOD/Linear Licensing for over 60 content providers, including Mill Creek Entertainment, RLJ Entertainment, and Cinedigm.
Distribution Solutions offers comprehensive in-house Post-Production Services, Consumer Marketing, Design Services, and Turnkey Operations Management—everything it takes to set our partners up for success.

Top Taglines of 2021

To communicate a film’s unique story that differentiates it from the rest is no small feat; How do you represent a film in a statement (or less) which doesn’t dive too far into the premise, and hooks a viewer it was meant for? Enter the wonderful world of taglines!

We find ourselves keen on quick, witty, and often pun-worthy comedic remarks that lure us into the story behind the cover.

Taglines have become an essential component to the success and marketability of a film of any kind, regardless of its genre and target demographic. Whether the intent is to give you heebie-jeebies, tickle the back of your thrill-seeking brain, or comfort you on a Friday night because you weren’t invited to that party (you didn’t want to go anyway, right?), we can all agree that sometimes our first impression is what made us press play.

Here’s a look at some of our favorite taglines developed in-house by the DS team here at Alliance Entertainment in 2021.

12 Hour Shift | Magnolia | “Pull Your Shift Together”

Death Ranch | 4Digital | “The Family That Slays Together Stays Together”

Pasture | Mill Creek | “Fear is a Prison of the Mind”

Alfred | ITN | “Your Mind is his Playground”

The Nest | ITN | “Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite”

Funhouse | Magnolia | “Break the Internet – or It Will Break You”

Tooth Fairy: The Last Extraction | ITN | “Get Ready to Open Wide”

About Distribution Solutions

Distribution Solutions offers comprehensive in-house Post-Production Services, Consumer Marketing, Design Services, and Turnkey Operations Management—everything it takes to set our partners up for success.

For more information, visit www.ds.aent.com.

Partnership Announcement: Powerhouse Films

Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, is pleased to announce a physical media partnership with Powerhouse Films’ UK-based label Indicator.

Distribution Solutions will handle sales, distribution of all Powerhouse Films sell-through releases in the US and Canada.

“We are very excited to be in business with Powerhouse Films,” states Distribution Solutions President, Ben Means. “Partnering internationally with a film label like Indicator, which has such a driven passion for physical media, helps expand the quality and coverage of classic films we distribute to the US and Canada.”

*January 2022 will see the first batch of releases in the North American market.*

Powerhouse Films has an extensive collection of classic films that includes limited-edition box sets and single-title releases, as well as standard-edition reissues of limited-edition titles that have gone out of print, such as John Carpenter’s Christine, Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon, and Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing our unique blend of cult and classic cinema to audiences in the US and Canada in partnership with the fantastic team at Distribution Solutions,” says Powerhouse Films’ co-founder, Sam Dunn. “We’ve been working hard unearthing and restoring a raft of incredible titles in order to put together a schedule that will surprise and delight even the most adventurous viewer.”

Celebrated filmmaker Guillermo del Toro added his praise for the label, stating “Indicator lovingly curates and enshrines obscure, precious gems for the obsessive collector and the genre connoisseur.”

The first physical Powerhouse Films releases distributed by Distribution Solutions will be available for purchase in January 2022.

To sign up for the Powerhouse Films newsletter click here.

About Powerhouse Films

Powerhouse Films was founded in the summer of 2016 by UK film and video industry veterans with a passion for film and physical media. Its Indicator Blu-ray label publishes a critically acclaimed collection of cult, classic, and criminally overlooked films, each mastered from the finest available materials and expertly encoded for optimum results.

Indicator editions contain lovingly curated extra features, including newly produced audio commentaries and on-camera interviews, rare short films, and previously unseen archival materials. First-run Limited Editions contain reversible sleeves and exclusive booklets with newly commissioned essays, contemporary interviews, articles and reviews, and film credits.

Vertical Entertainment Partnership Announcement

Alliance / Distribution Solutions announces physical media partnership with Vertical Entertainment.

Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, is pleased to announce a physical media partnership with domestic distributor Vertical Entertainment.

Distribution Solutions will handle trade marketing, procurement, warehousing, inventory management, VMI systems, and management, returns processing, credit, and collections, reporting of Vertical physical sell-through releases in the US and Canada, and will work hand-in-hand with Vertical Partner Mitch Budin.

“Partnering with Vertical Entertainment is very exciting for us,” stated Distribution Solutions President, Ben Means. “They bring an impressive catalog of over 300 films that we look forward to putting on shelves to maximize the success of their physical releases.”

Notable films from Vertical include Out of Death (starring Bruce Willis), Joe Bell (starring Mark Wahlberg), Four Good Days (starring Glenn Close and Mila Kunis), Capone (starring Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, and Matt Dillon), and Ava (starring Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell).

“We are incredibly pleased to be collaborating with Distribution Solutions on our future projects,” said Mitch Budin, Partner at Vertical Entertainment. “Ben and the DS team have built a first-class organization and we look forward to working with them to further our footprint in the marketplace.”

The first physical Vertical releases distributed by Distribution Solutions will hit shelves on September 14, 2021.

About Vertical Entertainment

Vertical Entertainment is a global independent distributor that offers a unique combination of full-service marketing and sales services. Dedicated to providing highly effective and collaborative solutions, Vertical leverages unparalleled relationships to maximize revenue across all streams. The marketing and sales expertise from Vertical’s seasoned team gives content partners a wealth of experience minus the studio costs.

For more information, visit www.vert-ent.com

About Distribution Solutions

For more information, visit www.ds.aent.com.

About Alliance Entertainment

Alliance Entertainment is the largest wholesale distributor of physical home entertainment consisting of audio and video software in the United States, as well as newly added video games, selling to mass merchant retail, brick and mortar stores, internet retailers, independent store owners offering vendor-managed or 3PL services.

With more than thirty years of distribution experience, Alliance Entertainment serves customers of every size, providing a robust suite of services to resellers and retailers worldwide.

Alliance Entertainment is a One-Stop solution for all entertainment product needs. As a solutions-based operation, Alliance Entertainment drives sales for companies with unparalleled selection and cost-efficient processing. Alliance Entertainment is headquartered in Sunrise, FL, with offices located throughout the U.S.

Visit http://www.aent.com for additional information on Alliance Entertainment.

For more information, please reach out to Allie Mosley, Publicist.

Mail Order Catalog Day! (Yes, it’s a thing!)

Happy National Mail Order Catalog Day!

This unofficial holiday commemorates the day in 1872 when American entrepreneur Aaron Montgomery Ward sent out the first modern mail order catalog to customers in Chicago.

You might be surprised to know that even with the rise of eCommerce, catalog sales are alive and well, generating about $125 billion in annual revenue. 12 billion catalogs are mailed, and 90 million Americans purchase from catalogs annually.

For traditionalists and collectors who enjoy a more specialized browsing experience, catalogs are just the ticket. (After all, with thousands of movies of all genres available, finding favorite film genres online can be a bit overwhelming.) Catalogs provide an assortment of products carefully chosen by content experts, can highlight focused products, and make browsing and shopping a breeze.

Alliance Entertainment’s catalog retailer, Direct-To-U (DTU), boasts several brands (Critic’s Choice, Movies Unlimited, TCM, Collector’s Choice), each offering carefully curated products and promotions for their customers.

Catalog shoppers really connect with physical products like DVDs and Blu-ray, and the team at Distribution Solutions ensures that our label partners’ releases are included in the DTU catalogs that fit their audience.

Shipping more than 8.8 MILLION catalogs annually, DTU is an essential and fabulous partner!

Slow down and doing the analog way…sign-up for our mail order catalogs Critics’ Choice Video, Movies Unlimited, or TCM Shop for a curated selection of movies…and music fans can join the fun at Collectors’ Choice

Happy Browsing!

SEO: Alt Text DIY

We know we aren’t breaking new ground when we tell you that SEO stands for “search engine optimization.”

But did you know that, on average, there are over 40,000 Google searches per second (3.5 billion per day!) and a little extra intention — utilizing mindful metadata tools like Alt Text and Meta Descriptions — can allow you to use that expansive number of searches to your advantage.

While we increasingly rely on digital data, being inclusive with our content can immensely improve search engine performance, which ultimately leads to accuracy and outreach.

Alt Text = Alternative Text Attribute

Alt Text is an HTML attribute that gets attached to an image in order to provide a text alternative/description for user accessibility and is also crucial for image SEO. Alt text assists search engines to understand the context of an image.

An important thing to remember when building attributes is that alt text accompanies images in Google image search, which helps users understand the image and improves your chances of getting more visitors.

movie poster of road rage killer in hazmat suit holding poison

You could simply use “movie” for this image. However, to provide more beneficial content for both business and consumer, we should describe the image as if someone were unable to see it.

Your chosen text should be thorough, yet concise – typically 120 characters or less.

When building the html for alt text, Img Src = image source, and the information within the quotation marks is the title of the image. For our purposes, this is labeled the title of the movie.

Okay alt text: alt=”movie”>
Better alt text: alt=”cover art for horror movie”>
Best alt text: alt=”movie poster of road rage killer in hazmat suit holding poison”>

Put it all together and it looks like this: <img src=”/tailgate.jpeg” alt=”movie poster of road rage killer in hazmat suit holding poison” />

The great news is: Website platforms that allow you to add images (i.e.: Amazon, WordPress, HubSpot, etc.) have simple tools for you to add alt text to images without having to build html into your web code or prior to uploading your images.

The first step is becoming familiar with the tools and functions of your specific platform to utilize these built-in capabilities.

If you are planning to add metadata to an image before uploading, it can be implemented at the time you save an image to your drive; therefore, image metadata will consistently be carried to whichever platform you choose. (Baked in, as it were!)

This can be achieved by a couple of methods:

Adding ALT text to image metadata on your PC (no special software required – free!)
Adding ALT text to image metadata using Adobe Bridge (subscription required)

Stay tuned to our blog for more tips and tricks to implement alt text and metadata in industry-leading ways to digital platforms!

And, as always, if you want to talk it out, send us a line at studios@ds.aent.com.

A+ Merchandising

This week, we’re focusing on maximizing consumer appeal on Amazon. Sweet, ubiquitous Amazon. A powerhouse in the online retail space, a hub for just about everything under the sun, Amazon is a behemoth in the retail space…with a seemingly endless parade of products. So many products, in fact, that “being there” just isn’t enough.

When a product is competing with millions of other similar items, it’s important to leverage every possible advantage.

How do we begin to make our partners’ products stand out? For this topic, we turn to our internal experts, Andrea Franco, Senior Account Manager, and Vera Martynets, Marketing Manager. Both are dedicated to our Amazon business and have put in countless hours setting up titles, managing inventory, and merchandising to appeal to consumers.

DS: Thanks for participating in this roundtable discussion! We’d like to focus today on one particular aspect of merchandising on Amazon: the A+ Page. For starters, what is an A+ page ?

AF: A+ pages are Amazon product pages that go beyond the basic product details and offer online customers more information about a release. They can include additional images and product features that otherwise would not be seen.

VM: Right, they allow you to add more descriptors to a product.

DS: More descriptors are important because…?

VM: With each additional image you get to program more keywords, which helps with the searchability of the product. More pictures = better appearance in search results.

*As you can see, this page lets consumers see exactly what the deluxe set includes!*

DS: Okay, from a ‘consumer appeal’ and ‘searchability’ perspective, totally makes sense. Any other benefits?

VM: Adding a good-looking A+ page can result in higher conversion rates, increased traffic, and increased sales.

AF: And it’s really a better way to engage the Amazon customer. An opportunity to tell them everything you want them to know about your release, like special features, Dove Approval rating, extensive cast. It’s a way to boost your release in search rankings without paying for sponsored ads. It’s also an opportunity to optimize for mobile customers.

*A closer look at Audrey, a documentary about this extraordinary actress, style icon and humanitarian.*

DS: So this enhanced page can work on whole lotta levels, got it. What is the cost to our label partners?

VM: Zero, nada, zilch!

AF: That’s right: NOTHING! This benefit adds value without costing a thin dime.

DS: Well, that’s great…so what do you need from label partners in order to create these awesome pages?

VM: Attractive synopsis, great stills. Photos showcasing talent, production value, storyline intrigue – anything that makes the movie look fantastic! And press reviews, critics’ shout-outs, awards…

AF: We call this EMC (Enhanced Marketing Content). The more photos the better, so I’ll add “beauty shots” of gift sets and talent headshots to Vera’s list. Oh – and expanded synopsis, special feature details. Detailing content by disc on multi-feature or box set products.

DS: Laughing a bit that we don’t escape this discussion without at least one new acronym…but what’s the dream scenario for EMC?

AF: The dream? At least one banner, lots of stills, full synopsis, and feature call-outs. That being said, a little bit can go a long way in making a polished, searchable product page that stands out from the crowd.

*Clear photos featuring recognizable talent and a grabby banner to top them off!*

DS: So, if I were to summarize our chat, I’d say key takeaways about the value of an A+ page are:

Increases searchability (stand out from the competition)
Adds consumer appeal (better sales tool)
100% customizable, based on available assets, no reason not to!

Thanks, Andrea and Vera. This has been a great discussion about the Amazon A+ page service we provide to our .com label partners Thank you both so much!

Readers, if you would like to learn more about our A+ page support and features, please reach out to us at studios@ds .aent.com for more information!