Expansion of Home Entertainment Product Availability For U.S. Latinos.

A visit to your favorite video store will never be the same as the unique needs of Latino consumers are finally being met! In the wake of the growing U.S. Latino population, Studio Latino is prepared to stock major U.S. video rental and retail outlets with Spanish-language and bilingual home entertainment titles that are supported with Latino friendly erchandising.

Studio Latino was established early in 2003 by Ventura Distribution, a marketing and distribution leader that offers a complete range of sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution services to independent studios and producers. Studio Latino stands as the leading source of Spanish-language and US Latino programming and showcases a complete range of genres that compose the overall category including Latino Kids, Contemporary Mexican Cinema, Golden Age Mexican Cinema, Films from Spain and Latin America, Latino Cult Titles, Musica Latina, Off-television product, Pop Culture, Reality videos.

“The supply side of the Spanish language market has been fragmented and difficult to access. Ventura’s leadership in gathering product and providing a turn-key sales program has made entry into this market easy. Our initial Latin market tests have had great results and we look forward to rapidly expanding our program,” commented Dusty Bowling, Director of Regional Marketing/Merchandising at Best Buy.

Parent company Ventura Distribution, will formally announce Studio Latino’s core management team and its studio partners: Cozumel Films, Desert Mountain Media, Excalibur Media Group, Rise Above Entertainment, Venevision International, and StudioWorks at the 2003 Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) conference at the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday, July 30 at 8:30 a.m. during its sponsored Latin Fiesta breakfast. Studio Latino/Ventura non-exclusively distributes Spanish Language product from Slingshot, UrbanVision, Vangard, and Xenon.

“Studio Latino’s mission is to lead our customers and labels through the wide array of market development issues and distribution challenges that face this emerging category,” said Chris Lynch, Sr. Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning. “Our team will present a comprehensive range of product mixes developed for the Latino market; turn-key marketing and advertising programs designed to drive “Latino” awareness; and a comprehensive support structure for video “Buyers” to ease their learning curve,” added Daniel Malaguilla, Vice President of Studio Latino.

As Vice President of Studio Latino, Malaguilla oversees all sales, marketing and operations. He is an industry veteran with over a decade of experience focusing on the US Latino market. Daniel previously served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Desert Mountain Media, an independent home entertainment and multimedia company specializing in Spanish-language award-winning and classic movies. He also held the position of General Manager of the Spanish Division of
Houston-based East Texas Distributing (ETD), a home video distributor for the U.S. general market and Spanish Language licensee of several major and more than twenty independent studios.

Mauricio Buendia, also a seasoned video distribution executive and Latin markets expert, serves as Spanish Market Specialist for Studio Latino and brings the team a vast knowledge of the domestic Spanish, Mexican, Spanish, and Latin American markets. Buendia will develop new customer relationships and identify library/label acquisitions from
Spanish speaking territories. Before joining Studio Latino, Buendia held the position of Director of Domestic Spanish Music and Video Markets and Latin America for The Handleman Company, founded Latin Vision, a distributor of American produced films in Latin America, and founded Vestron Video Español, one of the industry’s first Spanish video divisions to acquire original Spanish language films in the U.S.