Encore wins pay TV rights to Dogma

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: Just received this press release. Enjoy... : > Encore Media Group Gets Exclusive Pay TV Rights to 'DOGMA' : > : > Director Kevin Smith's Controversial Movie About Religious Faith Premieres : > On 'The New Encore' in Fall 2000 : > : >Encore Chairman Sie Screens and Deals Directly for Film - Says Serious Message : > Cloaked in Gen-X Vernacular Deserves to Be Seen : > : > ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Encore Media Group (EMG) has : >acquired the exclusive pay TV rights to the controversial new film "Dogma", : >which opens nation wide November 12. "Dogma" will have its world pay TV : >premiere on "The New Encore" in the fall of 2000, with subsequent plays on : >other EMG channels. : > EMG Founder, Chairman and CEO John J. Sie personally screened the film and : >negotiated the pay TV rights, including subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), : >as part of a competitive bidding process. Sie aggressively pursued the film : >because he believes its message of religious faith cloaked in the culture of : >Generation X outweighs its controversial content. : > "The New Encore is about great movies, influential movies and first-run : >movies. 'Dogma' is all three," said Sie. "That's why we've decided to : >showcase this groundbreaking and unique work on The New Encore, our first-run : >service reaching 13.5 million homes." STARZ!, STARZ! Cinema and other Encore : >Thematic Multiplex channels will play "Dogma" after it premieres on The New : >Encore. EMG has 13 pay TV networks with over 52 million pay units. : > "Audiences in their late teens and 20's are bombarded by a world of : >secular images and ideas," said Sie. "'Dogma's blend of comic book humor, : >street language and theology may draw them into asking serious questions about : >religious faith and the existence of God. And for older audiences with open : >minds and a sense of humor, it's an entertaining film that might awaken or : >reinforce feelings of faith." : > The popular press is giving "Dogma" positive reviews. Entertainment : >Weekly gives it an A- rating, calling "Dogma" an "obsessive meditation on : >faith in our time...a wild and intricate theological debate, a Sunday school : >catechism session turned into a snap-crackle-and-pop thrill sermon for the : >mind." The New York Times calls it "mercilessly funny" and a "devout, : >enlightened parable." Time calls it "the most devout movie in a modern : >setting since Robert Bresson's 'Diary of a Country Priest' (1951)." : > The film's satirical view of the Catholic Church has proven offensive to : >some lay Catholic groups such as the Catholic League for Religious and Civil : >Rights, which has condemned the film sight unseen. According to media : >reports, the Catholic Church has not taken an official stand, but the United : >States Catholic Conference has given "Dogma" its worst rating of "O" for : >"morally offensive." : > But "Dogma" has also received positive and mixed re views from other : >Catholic quarters. The Rev. Carmen D'Amico, pastor at Pittsburgh's St. : >Benedict the Moor Roman Catholic Church, told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette : >"There is faith in this film...It made me really think of God's graciousness, : >mercy and compassion for humanity. I think we should always see things before : >we comment on them." : > "Artistic works written for youthful mass audiences may offend some : >adults," added Sie. "But Shakespeare wrote in the language of the masses and : >his plays went on to be come classics. As a contemporary work tackling the : >weighty subject of religious faith, 'Dogma' deserves to be seen." : > "Dogma" is a comic fantasia by writer/director/actor Kevin Smith : >("Clerks," "Chasing Amy," "Mallrats") where the latest battle in the eternal : >war between good and evil comes to New Jersey in the late 20th Century. : >Angels, Demons, Apostles and Prophets walk among the cynics and innocents of : >America and duke it out for the fate of humankind. It features an all-star : >cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, : >Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo, and the film debut : >of Grammy Award-winning artist Alanis Morissette, as God. : > In "Dogma", two renegade fallen Angels (Affleck and Damon) discover a : >loophole in the divine covenant that will allow them to escape their eternal : >banishment to Wisconsin. But if they succeed, it will undo all of creation. : >(www.dogma-movie.com) : > Miramax produced "Dogma", but when controversy developed, Miramax : >Co-Chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein personally bought the film from Miramax. : >Lions Gate Films, which has an output deal with Home Box Office (HBO), is : >distributing "Dogma" theatrically in North America. Encore Media Group : >negotiated directly with the Weinsteins for the pay TV rights. : > STARZ! is a division of Encore Media Group LLC (EMG), the largest provider : >of cable and satellite-delivered premium movie networks in the United States, : >currently counting more than 52 million pay units through its ownership of 13 : >domestic channels including STARZ! and its Thematic Multiplex channels STARZ! : >Theater, BET Movies/STARZ!, STARZ! Cinema, and STARZ! Family; the New Encore : >and its Thematic Multiplex channels Mystery, Action, Love Stories, Westerns, : >True Stories and WAM!; and MOVIEplex. For more information on EMG and its : >Video Store at Home web site, log on to the Internet at : >http://www.encoremedia.com. Encore is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty : >Media Group (NYSE: LMGa and LMGb). : >

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