ARC Entertainment has acquired all North American rights to director Kriv Stenders’ feel-good family tale Red Dog and will release across all platforms simultaneously, probably in August or September.
It is the distributor’s close relationship with Walmart that thrills producer Nelson Woss about the deal; in fact it was the retail giant that introduced him to ARC.
“It is the new paradigm and ARC will be releasing the film on DVD, theatrically and on VOD all at once," Woss told IF Magazine. “Walmart is one of the biggest retailers of DVDs in the US and in the month it releases there will be exclusive in-store promotions in all the major cities … connections are being made now with animal charities, vets and dog shows.”
ARC positions itself as a company that monetizes content using a range of revenue streams and business models. ARC chief executive Trevor Drinkwater is a former Nestle and Warner Bros executive.
Rich Goldberg — he bills the film as “a universal story that speaks o those who have experienced the loyalty of a great friend” — and Peter Jarowey of ARC, and also representatives of ICM Partners, which has Stenders on its books, negotiated the deal.
“It is a great result for the film,” said Woss.
It has been 10 months since the family drama was released in Australia and went on to do astounding business for Roadshow, earning $21.327 million to become the ninth biggest hit of last year in Australia and the eighth biggest local film of all time. It is apparently selling very well on DVD in Australia.
Red Dog premiered at the 2011 Berlin Film festival and won best film at both the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards and the Inside Film (IF) Awards.