D'Works joins Melee in niche DVD prod'n
Plans include Gretzky retrospective, TLC project
Company plans to specialize in allowing musical artists to use the DVD format to add a visual dimension to their work, as well as providing an outlet to nontraditional filmmakers and special-interest projects in the sports, lifestyle and instructional veins.
The first of Melee's releases, to be put out through DreamWorks distrib partner Universal Music & Video Distribution, will chronicle a basketball tournament held annually in Harlem's Rucker Park, featuring a number of NBA stars and music from Fat Joe, Xzbit and Clipse, among others.
Other projects on the docket include a DVD on the group TLC described as part concert, part memorial to deceased group member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, as well as a career retrospective for hockey great Wayne Gretzky.
By the company's second year, Turner also expects to be signing recording artists who will produce their own DVD projects through Melee.
Exec said he plans to carve out a niche in the DVD market similar to the one that independent record labels occupy, where the cost structure is low enough that Melee can turn a profit by selling far fewer units of each release.
"The non-theatrical segment of the DVD market is kind of open right now," Turner told Daily Variety. "There's a lot of revenue in that space that record labels and big film studios aren't really looking for at the moment."
Turner started Priority in 1985 and eventually became a major force in the hip-hop world, releasing seminal albums from such acts as N.W.A., Ice-T and Snoop Dogg. Exec sold the label in 1998 to British major EMI for $160 million.
