Wednesday, May 18, 2016 Day 8 - Cannes Film Festival - So MUCH to Say, So Little Time!
Greetings HHSE Friends, Followers and Shareholders - what happens with you have 6,000 journalists and 11,500 registered attendees and 100,000 tourists converge onto a small area of about 2-square mile area in southern France? Well, quite a bit, actually. But for several frustrating days, what was most annoying for HHSE / Medallion was the total crunch of internet bandwith - data and WiFi access. Like 20-pounds of potatoes trying to cram into a 5-pound sack, only the priority fiber-optic owners seemed to get good access, and those on the Palais Des Festivals WiFi Network have been challenged to get even emails to open.
Daily updates have been logistically impossible. But we are going to present a brief overview now...
* HHSE / Medallion screened FOUR films in Palais Market Screenings. Good response!
* HHSE / Medallion titles were advertised DAILY in the Official Cannes Show Daily (full page ads!);
* HHSE / Medallion conducted over 150 meetings thus far, with buyers / licensors from Germany, Spain, France, Italy, U.K., Australia / New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Phillipines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, China and Japan. Our heads are spinning and we have stacks of notes, agreements and quite a bit of follow-up for post-market closings.
This weekend, meetings will occur in the U.K. with the financing parties behind Silver Line Films - the company with whom HHSE has contracted for the full-financing of "AJA"and"MOTHER GOOSE" (each at $3.5-mm USD and each FULLY FUNDED!). "AJA"commences principal photography in July (in Savannah) so there's already a crew on staff and working now for this production."MOTHER GOOSE"starts Sept. 12, but the only staff currently working are the production design team (character design, make-up, prosthetics, wardrobe) and the primary producers. "AJA"is an Oscar-caliber film (that's our goal) and "MOTHER GOOSE" is a freakishly commercial film (also our goal). So the two films represent the two primary creative / financial goals that HHSE / Medallion will be seeking as we emerge from the limitations of direct-to-video level films, and take these important, initial steps to become a Major Independent (ala Lionsgate / Summit).
HHSE Managers will be back to the corporate offices next Thursday after the conclusion of Cannes meetings and London / U.K. finance meetings.
Much More Later - including the Promo Reel fromKRAFTROC!
NEWS: Hannover Launches Medallion at Active Cannes Market
Hannover Launches Medallion International at Active Cannes Market
May 22, 2016
Cannes, France -
Independent film distributor Hannover House, Inc. (OTC: HHSE) reports heavy traffic to its Cannes Film Festival / Marche du Film exhibition booth, with sales activities on many of the 32 titles being showcased, including distribution ventures for the U.K., France, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Additional sales negotiations are continuing post-market for anticipated sales into Germany, South Africa, South Korea, China and Poland which the company hopes to finalize in the next few weeks. The Cannes Film Festival Marche Du Film is widely regarded as the most important international film licensing market of the year. In respect of the number of program suppliers being represented, Hannover House elected to brand its international sales activities at Cannes under its Medallion Releasing, Inc. sales venture as Medallion International.
"The market was extremely lively at most times, with meetings often overlapping or being forced to reschedule, said Eric Parkinson, C.E.O. “Most of what we were presenting at the market were new releases that required a lengthier presentation for buyers. But the response was strong, and we expect to exceed our target goals as the licenses for the higher-budgeted new productions close in the post-market weeks."
Principal new productions for Hannover House / Medallion include: the dramatic thriller "AJA" (commences principal photography July 18, Savannah, GA); the live-action family fantasy adventure "MOTHER GOOSE: JOURNEY TO UTOPIA" (commences principal photography Sept. 12, Atlanta, GA); and the supernatural-thriller "DELIRIUM" (commences principal photography Oct. 3, Greensboro, NC). Buyers were also shown a promo reel from the first week of principal photography for the science-fiction musical feature, “KRAFTROC”, now filming. Financing for "AJA" and "MOTHER GOOSE" is being provided by Silver Line Films, Inc. Financing for "DELIRIUM" and "KRAFTROC" is being provided by Atlantic Studios, Inc., a recently formed entity for the specific purpose of producing feature films in partnership with Hannover House as distributor. While Hannover House has no equity ownership in Atlantic Studios, Inc., the company is the beneficiary of the distribution rights to these, and prospectively other, feature films to be produced under this venture.
"Hannover House / Medallion also had four films as Official Cannes Market Screenings: "THE ALGERIAN", "THE DOLL", "VALLEY INN" and "THE HOMELESS BILLIONAIRE." Hannover House released "THE ALGERIAN” to theatres in the USA market last summer, and the title will debut on DVD and BluRay in July. "THE DOLL" is a new production from director Susannah O’Brien, whose first feature, "ENCOUNTER" was also represented by Hannover House for all media. "VALLEY INN" is a family feature starring Joey Lauren Adams and Mary Steenbergen. Hannover House / Medallion are representing this film for International, Video-On-Demand and Television sales. "THE HOMELESS BILLIONAIRE" is a romantic-comedy that Hannover House will launch to theatres beginning June 17 at the Regal E-Walk (New York City) before expanding nationwide on Labor Day Weekend.
"Our hands-on experience with these titles as the USA Distributor has carried a lot of weight with the international buyers," Parkinson continued. "Unlike most of the exhibitors at Cannes, Hannover House is a full-service distributor in our own territory, so we understand the needs of the licensors and can help them with marketing materials and strategies from our own experiences with these titles," he concluded.
"We have surprised and shocked a lot of industry members here at Cannes," said Parkinson. "Although we have attended the market for many years as buyers for U.S. rights – and two years ago, we shared a seller’s booth with Odyssey Pictures – this was our first true presence as a seller. It's unprecedented for a first time exhibitor to have four major productions, four films in screenings and 32 total titles on offer. We literally had some major territory buyers come by our booth and ask 'who are you guys and how do you have so many good titles?' It was a great way to start a new relationship."
3). STOCK MANIPULATOR’S SUIT –The Company has engaged George B. Morton, Esq., to pursue an action against five known members of an organized stock “bashing” gang that have collectively damaged the Company’s share price by more than $10-million in market capitalization value over the past three years. Due to the size of the damages in this case, the jurisdiction will be the US Federal Court, western district of Arkansas. This civil action has still not been filed as of the date of this filing, due to a strategic determination regarding the ideal timing for the filing of this action, and the impact of this move and subsequent public announcement relative to other corporate governance achievements. A related action to pursue charges for the criminality of the actions taken by these manipulators is also being prepared for this same court venue.
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FILING: First Quarter HHSE 10-Q; 25th Consecutive Profitable Quarter: