Posted by Vincent at bg-tc-ppp757.monmouth.com on December 28, 2001 at 15:00:56:
In Reply to: Synapse Films posted by Michael_Lucid on December 28, 2001 at 13:15:44:
Don May, president of Synapse Films, started out as co-founder and president of Elite Entertainment in the mid-1990s. They were pretty much the first laserdisc distributor that did special editons of horror and cult films, and thus started a trend that's carried on today to its greatest extreme via Anchor Bay. I don't think it's too far of a stretch to say that if there had never been an Elite Entertainment, there would be no Anchor Bay.
Don left Elite over disputes with his co-founder Vini Bancalari and started Synapse in 1998, and he's been growing steadily ever since. He's also branched beyond horror films to also do important classics (TRIUMPH OF THE WILL) and indie films (A BETTER PLACE, coming soon is THE DELI). Don is truly a great guy who loves film and puts his all into his releases, and then some. Sometimes he's been hampered by less-than-pristine elements and unco-operative licensors (VAMPIROS LESBOS), but he always goes the extra 26 miles to make sure his releases are the absolute best that they possible can be. He let me nurture A BETTER PLACE to completion and let me do pretty much anything I wanted to with the release. It was a real joy to have such a large part in the creation of the DVD, and I think I'm in fact the first director who's ever been credited as the co-producer of a DVD of their work. Don's just that kind of guy and Synapse is just that kind of company- he not only wants to satisfy the consumer, but the filmmakers whose films he's putting out on DVD as well.
Vincent
: .....are putting out A BETTER PLACE. Do they just distrbute films, or produce them too? They have a good site, but I really couldnt tell, besides the fact they focus mainly on horror films.