Partnership Announcement: Glass House Distribution

ALLIANCE ENTERTAINMENT / DISTRIBUTION SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCE MEDIA PARTNERSHIP WITH GLASS HOUSE DISTRIBUTION

Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, is pleased to announce a digital and physical media partnership with Glass House Distribution.

Distribution Solutions will handle digital and physical sales, distribution, and marketing of Glass House Distribution sell-through releases in the US and Canada.

“What Glass House Distribution brings to the table with their extensive catalog of feature films and television has us thrilled to partner in business with them,” states Distribution Solutions President, Ben Means. “They are a company founded by filmmakers, so their depth of knowledge into representing quality film and TV is unparalleled.”

Glass House Distribution has a wide-ranging collection of films and television including comedies Me, Myself, and Di, About Hope, and Canadian Strain, dramas Skipping Stones, Shuttlecock, and Gutterbug, and horrors La Patasola, If She Screams, and Infrared Dreams, in addition to thriller, science fiction, family, and documentary genres.

“We’re very excited to work with Distribution Solutions and to be able to allow films to reach more platforms and a bigger audience,” says President and Co-Founder Tom Malloy.

The first Glass House Distribution release distributed by Distribution Solutions hits the marketplace on January 7, 2021.

About Glass House Distribution

Based in New York and Los Angeles and founded by Tom Malloy and Bryan Glass in 2015, Glass House Distribution is an international sales & distribution company focused on feature films, television, & series.

The simple guiding motto of “Full Transparency,” (hence the Glass House), as well as a high bar for quality movies of all genres has catapulted Glass House into a major player in the world of film and TV sales, attending markets at Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, MipCom and AFM in Los Angeles.

In addition to Skipping Stones, current and upcoming Glass House Distribution releases include thriller The Security of Fear starring Jean-Marc Barr, Brad Dourif, William Baldwin, Laura Cayouette and John Robinson, Brit comedy Me Myself & Di starring Lucy Pinder, James Lance, Wim Snape, Will Mellor and Katy Clayton, and horror La Patisola inspired by a Columbian legend and starring Luciana Faulhaber, Patrick Walker and Naja Bradley. Glass House’s original series “Dropping the Soap” won an Emmy for Star Jane Lynch for Best Actress in a web series or comedy.

Glass House Distribution is a member of IFTA, the International Film and Television Alliance.

Find out more at www.glasshousedistribution.com.

Pluto TV Deal with Alliance / Distribution Solutions

Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Pluto TV to begin content distribution through their industry-leading free streaming television service across the US.

“We are excited to partner with Pluto TV,” stated Ben Means, President of Distribution Solutions. “Through this partnership, premium independent content from our label partners will be available to their impressive audience of 52 million monthly active users.”

Over 450 hours of content from Distribution Solutions’ label partners will be available for streaming on Pluto TV, curated to plug into the Pluto TV channels that viewers turn to for their favorite entertainment genres.

Notable titles coming to Pluto TV include family favorites (The Cat in the Hat, Benji), cult classics (Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), the Andy Sidaris films and Gumby), true crime (Becoming Evil docuseries), and recent indie horror hits (Hostile, Open 24 Hours).

“We are thrilled to welcome Alliance Entertainment and its expansive collection of top-quality content to the world of Pluto TV,” said Will Gurman, VP Global Content Partnerships for Pluto TV. “With this partnership, we look forward to bringing our viewers an even wider array of genres and programming to lean back and enjoy, ranging from reality to history, kids content, and more — all for free.”

Content from Distribution Solutions will begin appearing on Pluto TV channels starting Fall 2021. Pluto TV is available anywhere you can stream content – mobile, desktop, smart TVs, and more.

About Pluto TV

Pluto TV, a Viacom CBS Company, is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live and original channels and thousands of on-demand movies in partnership with major TV networks, movie studios, publishers, and digital media companies. Pluto TV has a global audience of nearly 52 million monthly active users and an international footprint that spans three continents and 25 countries throughout the US, Europe and Latin America.

Pluto TV is available on all mobile, web and connected TV streaming devices where millions tune in each month to watch premium news, TV shows, movies, sports, lifestyle, and trending digital series. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Pluto TV has offices across the United States, Europe and Latin America.

For more information, visit www.pluto.tv.

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.

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.

Media Inquiries: Allie Mosley

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

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.

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

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

Easy as S-B-T

Not so long ago, retailers across our delightful nation started to discuss new trading terms for their home entertainment departments.

Quickly the “talk” turned to adoption across the marketplace. While whispers of “Scan Based Trading” were just beginning to buzz in the corridors and conference rooms of other distributors and studios, our team was already leading the charge to transition our labels into this new world as seamlessly as possible.

Distribution Solutions manages two dedicated fixtures in 329 Menards stores

But let’s back up. Not everyone even knows what we’re talking about. To appreciate this pivot fully, here’s the backstory: the home entertainment industry existed for decades under a model where the process was pretty much as follows:

(1) distributors pitched retail buyers,
(2) orders were placed by retailers for all those awesome DVD titles,
(3) goods were shipped to retail stores and warehouses by distributors, who then
(4) collected monies after an agreed-upon interval of time.

Most of these DVD/Blu-ray goods were expected/projected to go home with happy customers, with a certain unfortunate percentage destined to return to distribution warehouses eventually. In this model, a retailer’s resources were tied up in inventory, awaiting a sale.

The Scan Based Trading model represents a different approach entirely. With SBT, suppliers maintain the ownership of the inventory within the retailers’ stores or warehouses until the item is scanned at the point of sale. This reduces financial risk on behalf of the retailer, while literally, nothing looks different to the consumer in the store.

But what’s the impact on the supplier? We asked Pat McDonough, our SVP of Sales and here are his thoughts on the topic:

“The benefit of the SBT model is that it gives Distribution Solutions control of the space, which guarantees product placement for our label partners. It also allows us to make sure that the right product is in the right stores for the best sell-through.”
Pat McDonough, SVP Sales

As far as scope, Distribution Solutions currently trades on SBT terms with Target, Best Buy, FYE, Fred Meyer, and Bi-Mart. But that’s not all…

Distribution Solutions also manages SBT inventory within Dollar General (with permanent racks in 4,700 of their 17k stores!) and Menards (a value bin AND a dedicated 4’x6′ fixture).

Our team’s dedicated floor space and fixtures represent valuable opportunities for our team to curate re-sets that support the lifecycle planning of our partners’ content. Our relationships also allow us to think outside the box (and in-line sections) and place trays and other specialty POS displays to support key releases across these accounts.

To learn more about Scan Based Trading and Distribution Solutions, drop us a note at studios@ds.aent.com