Northbank Entertainment has completed principal photography on one of the creepiest horror films to come out of the U.K. since the Hammer Films Era. The "Midnight Horror Show" combines the terror of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" with the offbeat elements and characters of "Rocky Horror" to create an all new, thriller classic. Hannover House will be handling the release of this film in the USA and Canada, with 4K Entertainment handling distribution for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Checkout this link to Facebook to see a first look at some production stills of principal cast members, perfect for a Halloween announcement.
https://www.facebook.com/hannoverhouse/posts/669277259779604
Thursday, October 31, 2013
HHSE high-end Theatricals for 2014 - 2015 to 20th Century Fox
As mentioned in some prior filings and blogs, Hannover House has been very pleased with the strong sales results delivered by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on the HHSE title "Twelve," which continues to sell briskly each quarter. Accordingly, it was not a difficult decision to select Fox as the HHSE distribution partner for our higher-end releases in 2014 and 2015. The Hannover House direct distribution label will continue to sell directly to retailers and wholesalers, but the major theatrical titles will be handled for home video through Fox under this new structure. This is a "Best of Both Worlds" scenario for HHSE - and mimics the transitional distribution structure utilized by Lionsgate a few years back as they began their rapid ascension in the industry. As HHSE begins to announce each of the new, higher-end titles, we will be moving forward with the knowledge that the home video industry leader will be our distribution partner. Exciting times, more to follow! (New FOX photo to post to the HH Facebook page).
Monday, October 28, 2013
Court rules in favor of Hannover's motion to limit NBCal to actual amounts due...
Some shareholders have asked for an update on the litigation
matter between Hannover House and the National Bank of California. As of Friday, the court finally made a ruling
that was exactly what the attorneys for Hannover House had been seeking (and was not what NB Cal had been seeking).
As a point of background, Hannover borrowed "Prints & Ads" funds from NB Cal for the release of the film "All's Faire In Love." The original draw down against the $500,000 credit line had been reduced down to about $320,000 during the first year, and an "oral" agreement had been made between Hannover House and the bank officers to extend the note for another year. The rationale' behind the extension of the note was that the subscription V.O.D. payments from Netflix were substantial (about $225,000 gross), and that ongoing home video sales and a pending sale to Basic Cable TV would fully retire the balance.
In support of the agreement to extend the note, NB Cal sent documents to Hannover House, which were promptly signed and returned to the bank. However, unbeknownst to Hannover House (and as testified, to the Bank as well), one of the documents referred to in the amended note was not sent to Hannover House. The first quarterly installment was due at the end of January, 2013. During the final months of 2012, the bank officer at NB Cal left and was replaced. In early January, rather than contact Hannover House to determine the status of the "missing document," the bank's attorneys preemptively filed a lawsuit for breach of the original note. During discovery, it became clear that it was the bank's negligence in not sending the missing document to Hannover House to fully complete the amendment agreement. When this document was finally provided (June, 2013), Hannover House promptly signed and returned it, along with an agreement to immediately "catch up" on payments that Hannover had withheld as a result of the lawsuit being filed. The bank did not accept these terms, and pressed forward in hope of also winning the right to collect additional penalties and attorney's fees. Rather than accept this obligation (about $100,000), Hannover instructed counsel to file an opposition to some aspects of the bank's filing for judgment, but not disputing the actual balance due. The point that Hannover wanted to make was that the bank should have NEVER filed the lawsuit... that all of the documents provided to Hannover House were promptly signed... and that quarterly payments stopped only after the bank filed the lawsuit. The court had to review a tremendous amount of evidence and pleadings. but ultimately agreed with the conclusions of Hannover's position.
In her opinion released last Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Margaret M. Morrow writes "... it is therefore now undisputed that defendant signed the note, delivered it to NBC, and that the amendment has taken effect" (page 9, line 6). As a result, the attempts by NBCal's attorneys to enforce interest penalties (and to add-in their own legal fees) was denied, and the amount determined as owed was precisely the amount that Hannover House acknowledged and was performing on prior to the filing of the lawsuit. As oft stated in our filings to the court (and our disclosure documents on the OTC Markets site), Hannover never denied the validity of the loan balance; the Company only disputed the due date of the loan and the bank's subsequent attempts to charge penalties and legal fees.
In her Conclusion, Judge Morrow writes: "... For the reasons stated, the court grants in part and denies in part NBC's motion for partial summary judgment" (Page 15, line 2).
The amount due on this item is the amount that Hannover has listed in our payables and disclosures, namely $331,466, plus $25,574 in interest. The Company expects this debt to be fully covered by the balance remaining on the Netflix SVOD contract, plus the Basic Cable TV sale and current home video (budget bin) revenues. Hannover was very pleased with the quality of the legal work and pleadings from our L.A. Counselors, Mark Hankin and Nima Darouian.
While there are certainly "performing obligations" still active as a result of prior litigations, Hannover House is pleased to hear from our corporate counsel that there are no other "open cases" awaiting adjudication before the courts. The long struggle to overcome the debts from "Twelve" (and that title's impact to our cash flow), has made it past the court-litigation stages and is now a part of our performing debt obligations. Removing the distraction and cost of defendant litigation is a major step forward, and marks the closing of a journey we do not wish to ever travel on again.
As a point of background, Hannover borrowed "Prints & Ads" funds from NB Cal for the release of the film "All's Faire In Love." The original draw down against the $500,000 credit line had been reduced down to about $320,000 during the first year, and an "oral" agreement had been made between Hannover House and the bank officers to extend the note for another year. The rationale' behind the extension of the note was that the subscription V.O.D. payments from Netflix were substantial (about $225,000 gross), and that ongoing home video sales and a pending sale to Basic Cable TV would fully retire the balance.
In support of the agreement to extend the note, NB Cal sent documents to Hannover House, which were promptly signed and returned to the bank. However, unbeknownst to Hannover House (and as testified, to the Bank as well), one of the documents referred to in the amended note was not sent to Hannover House. The first quarterly installment was due at the end of January, 2013. During the final months of 2012, the bank officer at NB Cal left and was replaced. In early January, rather than contact Hannover House to determine the status of the "missing document," the bank's attorneys preemptively filed a lawsuit for breach of the original note. During discovery, it became clear that it was the bank's negligence in not sending the missing document to Hannover House to fully complete the amendment agreement. When this document was finally provided (June, 2013), Hannover House promptly signed and returned it, along with an agreement to immediately "catch up" on payments that Hannover had withheld as a result of the lawsuit being filed. The bank did not accept these terms, and pressed forward in hope of also winning the right to collect additional penalties and attorney's fees. Rather than accept this obligation (about $100,000), Hannover instructed counsel to file an opposition to some aspects of the bank's filing for judgment, but not disputing the actual balance due. The point that Hannover wanted to make was that the bank should have NEVER filed the lawsuit... that all of the documents provided to Hannover House were promptly signed... and that quarterly payments stopped only after the bank filed the lawsuit. The court had to review a tremendous amount of evidence and pleadings. but ultimately agreed with the conclusions of Hannover's position.
In her opinion released last Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Margaret M. Morrow writes "... it is therefore now undisputed that defendant signed the note, delivered it to NBC, and that the amendment has taken effect" (page 9, line 6). As a result, the attempts by NBCal's attorneys to enforce interest penalties (and to add-in their own legal fees) was denied, and the amount determined as owed was precisely the amount that Hannover House acknowledged and was performing on prior to the filing of the lawsuit. As oft stated in our filings to the court (and our disclosure documents on the OTC Markets site), Hannover never denied the validity of the loan balance; the Company only disputed the due date of the loan and the bank's subsequent attempts to charge penalties and legal fees.
In her Conclusion, Judge Morrow writes: "... For the reasons stated, the court grants in part and denies in part NBC's motion for partial summary judgment" (Page 15, line 2).
The amount due on this item is the amount that Hannover has listed in our payables and disclosures, namely $331,466, plus $25,574 in interest. The Company expects this debt to be fully covered by the balance remaining on the Netflix SVOD contract, plus the Basic Cable TV sale and current home video (budget bin) revenues. Hannover was very pleased with the quality of the legal work and pleadings from our L.A. Counselors, Mark Hankin and Nima Darouian.
While there are certainly "performing obligations" still active as a result of prior litigations, Hannover House is pleased to hear from our corporate counsel that there are no other "open cases" awaiting adjudication before the courts. The long struggle to overcome the debts from "Twelve" (and that title's impact to our cash flow), has made it past the court-litigation stages and is now a part of our performing debt obligations. Removing the distraction and cost of defendant litigation is a major step forward, and marks the closing of a journey we do not wish to ever travel on again.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Title Update & Shareholder Requests
Greetings HHSE Friends & Shareholders - As promised, today's blog covers the status of some of the new acquisitions, as well as current and pending productions that will fuel revenues and growth for HHSE in 2014. Additionally, there are other corporate / housekeeping and governance items that have been posted on the OTC Markets Disclosure filings from yesterday's Board of Director's Meeting.
Here's a quick recap on key items that Shareholder emails have addressed:
PRODUCTIONS:
a). WILD OATS - Road-trip Comedy with Shirley MacLaine (and an ever changing list of leads and supporting cast). Per the terms of the agreement with the producers, Hannover House will retain its rights to the film (i.e., North American home video / VOD), until such time (if ever) that the producers exercise their rights to buy out Hannover House. We're happy either way - and will be credited on the film, either way.
b). SHUCK & JIVE - A private investor group has agreed to finance this feature, with Hannover House serving as distributor, worldwide, in all media. Production is planned for June, 2014 with principal photography in Wichita, Memphis and N.W. Arkansas. Principal talent has not yet been signed.
c). MOTHER GOOSE - Pre-production continues to progress on this film; co-production (and financing) partnership agreements prohibit us from unilaterally disclosing more at this time. A formal press update is planned for Sundance in January.
d). THE MOTHMAN CHRONICLES - This creature-feature / thriller is currently in a hold-mode pending a work-out with private investors and the international distribution rights.
e). THE LEGEND OF BELLE STARR - Still in scripting stages; discussion underway regarding "how much dramatic license" can be taken to divert from historic record and surmised truths to tell a more compelling story with this movie?
f). SHADOW VISION - Pre-production will ramp up in January for a shoot in March; second unit sequences have already been shot and transferred to 4k file formats.
AUDIT & CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:
Company is in the process of hiring a new, full-time Controller / Bookkeeper to finish the reconciliation reports required by Hogan Taylor for the audit project. Previously candidates did not meet management's expectations or deadlines... and a recent attempt to utilize an outside accounting agency proved frustrating at best (they have been rarely available to come in and perform the required work); accordingly, the only way to get this finished is to cough-up the bucks for a qualified accountant, on staff, full-time, who understands the audit reporting format requirements. It is crucial to finish the accounting report items required by Hogan Taylor, in order that the audit be completed, and utilized for the Company's Form 10 Registration Filing with the S.E.C. The filing of the Form 10 will automatically elevate the stock to "OTCQB" status, and is expected to provide shareholder comfort and confidence with the Company's results.
CORPORATE FINANCING:
The Company is reviewing two financing proposals - each of which would provide an immediate, multi-million dollar cash infusion (without a negative impact to the A/S Equity Structure), and both of which would facilitate access to acquire and release high-profile "studio-level" films. There has been a lot of work over the past six weeks to bring these deals to the table - including a new distribution venture with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to accommodate the home media distribution portion of the structure; however, until a deal is done, there can be no assurance that one of these transactions will ultimately close and fund. Accordingly, the Company is pleased to continue on our proven course and business model of acquiring and distributing low-cost, direct-to-video releases and mid-level theatrical titles. With a broadening of Hannover's target "genre" releases (expanding from Sci-Fi / Horror to include Family, Drama, Comedy, Urban and Spanish titles), the Company is well positioned for substantial revenue growth in 2014 - even without one of these extraordinary "brass-ring" type of transformative ventures. There's a HUGE hole in the U.S. film distribution marketplace... the "major-independent" position that was previously occupied by LIONSGATE before they merged with SUMMIT to become (essentially) one of the new, Major Studios. The market contains about six "indies" in the lower-revenue spectrum... and six "Major Studios" in the stratosphere of mega-revenues... with no company occupying the $300-million to $500-million per year "Major Independent" spot. With continued hard work, the right product, and a little luck, Hannover House will strive to reach this position.
... more to come...
Mackenzie Foy, star of "PLASTIC JESUS" and the upcoming Christopher Nolan epic, "INTERSTELLAR."
Here's a quick recap on key items that Shareholder emails have addressed:
PRODUCTIONS:
a). WILD OATS - Road-trip Comedy with Shirley MacLaine (and an ever changing list of leads and supporting cast). Per the terms of the agreement with the producers, Hannover House will retain its rights to the film (i.e., North American home video / VOD), until such time (if ever) that the producers exercise their rights to buy out Hannover House. We're happy either way - and will be credited on the film, either way.
b). SHUCK & JIVE - A private investor group has agreed to finance this feature, with Hannover House serving as distributor, worldwide, in all media. Production is planned for June, 2014 with principal photography in Wichita, Memphis and N.W. Arkansas. Principal talent has not yet been signed.
c). MOTHER GOOSE - Pre-production continues to progress on this film; co-production (and financing) partnership agreements prohibit us from unilaterally disclosing more at this time. A formal press update is planned for Sundance in January.
d). THE MOTHMAN CHRONICLES - This creature-feature / thriller is currently in a hold-mode pending a work-out with private investors and the international distribution rights.
e). THE LEGEND OF BELLE STARR - Still in scripting stages; discussion underway regarding "how much dramatic license" can be taken to divert from historic record and surmised truths to tell a more compelling story with this movie?
f). SHADOW VISION - Pre-production will ramp up in January for a shoot in March; second unit sequences have already been shot and transferred to 4k file formats.
AUDIT & CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:
Company is in the process of hiring a new, full-time Controller / Bookkeeper to finish the reconciliation reports required by Hogan Taylor for the audit project. Previously candidates did not meet management's expectations or deadlines... and a recent attempt to utilize an outside accounting agency proved frustrating at best (they have been rarely available to come in and perform the required work); accordingly, the only way to get this finished is to cough-up the bucks for a qualified accountant, on staff, full-time, who understands the audit reporting format requirements. It is crucial to finish the accounting report items required by Hogan Taylor, in order that the audit be completed, and utilized for the Company's Form 10 Registration Filing with the S.E.C. The filing of the Form 10 will automatically elevate the stock to "OTCQB" status, and is expected to provide shareholder comfort and confidence with the Company's results.
CORPORATE FINANCING:
The Company is reviewing two financing proposals - each of which would provide an immediate, multi-million dollar cash infusion (without a negative impact to the A/S Equity Structure), and both of which would facilitate access to acquire and release high-profile "studio-level" films. There has been a lot of work over the past six weeks to bring these deals to the table - including a new distribution venture with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to accommodate the home media distribution portion of the structure; however, until a deal is done, there can be no assurance that one of these transactions will ultimately close and fund. Accordingly, the Company is pleased to continue on our proven course and business model of acquiring and distributing low-cost, direct-to-video releases and mid-level theatrical titles. With a broadening of Hannover's target "genre" releases (expanding from Sci-Fi / Horror to include Family, Drama, Comedy, Urban and Spanish titles), the Company is well positioned for substantial revenue growth in 2014 - even without one of these extraordinary "brass-ring" type of transformative ventures. There's a HUGE hole in the U.S. film distribution marketplace... the "major-independent" position that was previously occupied by LIONSGATE before they merged with SUMMIT to become (essentially) one of the new, Major Studios. The market contains about six "indies" in the lower-revenue spectrum... and six "Major Studios" in the stratosphere of mega-revenues... with no company occupying the $300-million to $500-million per year "Major Independent" spot. With continued hard work, the right product, and a little luck, Hannover House will strive to reach this position.
... more to come...
Mackenzie Foy, star of "PLASTIC JESUS" and the upcoming Christopher Nolan epic, "INTERSTELLAR."
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Revised art for Redbox placement
In order to play up the "girlfriends - buddies" aspect of the movie more prominently, Hannover House has made changes to the key art for BLUES FOR WILLADEAN. Watch for this poignant and moving drama on DVD everywhere, January 21, 2014... a prime example of HHSE revenue growth through programming diversity...
Parade of New Release Products for HHSE...
The "core" business of DVD / Blu-Ray releases for Hannover House continues to grow... as we build on our successes with Sci-Fi / Horror films each month... and begin to rotate in new genres (that compete for different shelf space); these new genres will enable the company to grow our monthly revenues without cannibalizing our own schedule (which could occur if we tried, for instance, to release four horror titles in a given month, and thus force our key accounts to select "the best two" of the bunch).
New categories that will be more prominent for the company in 2014 are:
SPANISH LANGUAGE titles - URBAN APPEAL titles - DRAMA and COMEDY.
One interesting and emerging category in the marketplace is euphemistically referred to as "raunchy-comedy," fueled by the successes of titles such as "The Hangover", "Bachelorette" and the "National Lampoon" series. In this respect, Hannover House wishes to congratulate Keith Birkfeld, New Films International and the production team on the completion of "AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE" starring Mischa Barton... that's a home video hit in the making! Hannover House is working with New Films International on other titles they control... and we will be pursuing this new comedy as well.
Watch for a long and detailed blog for tomorrow, with lots of updates and issues as requested by shareholders!
New categories that will be more prominent for the company in 2014 are:
SPANISH LANGUAGE titles - URBAN APPEAL titles - DRAMA and COMEDY.
One interesting and emerging category in the marketplace is euphemistically referred to as "raunchy-comedy," fueled by the successes of titles such as "The Hangover", "Bachelorette" and the "National Lampoon" series. In this respect, Hannover House wishes to congratulate Keith Birkfeld, New Films International and the production team on the completion of "AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE" starring Mischa Barton... that's a home video hit in the making! Hannover House is working with New Films International on other titles they control... and we will be pursuing this new comedy as well.
Watch for a long and detailed blog for tomorrow, with lots of updates and issues as requested by shareholders!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Happy Holiday news from Hannover!
Pleased to have just received confirmation of two new December shipments into Walmart Stores: "AMITYVILLE ASYLUM" and "BLUES FOR WILLADEAN," both priced at $14.95 suggested retail, and in the new release section at only $9.96 each. These items will also contain a special offer from VUDU, in respect of the new agreement between Hannover House and this Walmart-owned streaming site. Great news for the holidays, and a great way to launch into a new year for HHSE! We will continue to build on this solid core business as we reach to fulfill the company's opportunity to become a dominant, major-independent supplier.
Amityville Asylum on sale date: Jan. 7, 2014; Blues for Willadean on sale date: Jan. 21, 2014
Amityville Asylum on sale date: Jan. 7, 2014; Blues for Willadean on sale date: Jan. 21, 2014
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