'And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself,' with lead thesp Antonio Banderas, is among HBO's DVD pics.
LONDON -- HBO is capitalizing on the growing profile of its brand in the U.K. by releasing its telepics direct to DVD, before they are sold to local broadcasters.
Movies such as "Hysterical Blindness," "Live From Baghdad," "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself" and "Normal" will go out under the HBO Video label.
HBO Video launched last year in the U.K. to handle series including "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos," established hits on British TV.
It will be a much bigger challenge for HBO to shift DVDs of movies that come with no theatrical or TV exposure in Blighty.
Bigscreen ambition
In the past couple of years, HBO Films has started offering its telepics to foreign theatrical distribs, striking U.K. deals with Momentum for "My House in Umbria," and with Optimum for "American Splendor" and "Elephant."
But when no theatrical sale is forthcoming, HBO has enough faith in its product to take it out directly on DVD, before handing it over to Warner Intl. TV for broadcast sales.
The company is hoping the HBO brand, combined with big-name talent, will be enough to differentiate its telepics from conventional straight-to-vid fare.
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