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24 CREATORS TO KEYNOTE FIRST-EVER TV DVD CONFERENCE
Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane Joins Panel on Series Phenomenon
SEPTEMBER 6, 2003-Three of the hottest creative names in television will be prominently featured at the first-ever TV DVD Conference, scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Wyndham Bel Age in West Los Angeles.
Bob Cochran and Joel Surnow, creators of the hit Fox Television drama "24," will keynote the conference, which is being produced by Video Store Magazine in cooperation with the Digital Entertainment Group (formerly the DVD Entertainment Group).
Seth McFarlane, creator of "The Family Guy," will appear on a panel discussion on the "complete series" phenomenon that is fueling sales of boxed DVD sets of such popular shows as "The Sopranos," "Friends" and "The Simpsons."
"TV on DVD is exploding, as DVD collectors discover they can now buy and keep an entire season of their favorite TV show in a single inch of shelf space-as opposed to three or four feet in the old days of the clunky videocassette," says Thomas K. Arnold, director of special projects for Video Store Magazine and executive producer of TV DVD Conference.
The TV DVD market is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the DVD market, accounting for about 10 percent of all DVD sales last year (about $870 million), up from about 6 percent ($300 million) in 2001. This year, Video Store Magazine market research estimates consumers will spend more than $1 billion on DVDs of TV shows.
Panel discussions at the conference will examine marketing strategies for current TV series, how to find, license and release vintage TV shows on DVD, and the booming market for short-form children's television.
Also on the agenda is a special research presentation on the TV DVD market from Judith McCourt, Video Store Magazine's market research director.
Video Store Magazine publisher Don Rosenberg says he expects upwards of 300 studio and TV executives to attend the event. "The response is overwhelming," he says.
The event is open to the trade only. Advance registrations are $195 for Digital Entertainment Group members and $245 for nonmembers. Special press registrations are available to credentialed media by contacting Thomas K. Arnold at tkarnold@aol.com.
For more information and to register, visit the Web site
www.tvdvdconference.com.
Studio sponsors include Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, DreamWorks Home Entertainment, HBO Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video and Warner Home Video and Anchor Bay Entertainment.
