Matt Brown
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
More Articles:
Most Viewed:
Spielberg abandons 'Harvey'(1817 views)'Blind Side' gains B.O. yardage over 'New Moon'(1806 views)Nine(1723 views)Taylor Lautner to star in 'Max Steel'(931 views)Johnny Depp eyes Pancho Villa role(833 views)Bennett Miller to direct 'Moneyball'(678 views) |
LEADERSHIP: Pulled back from London to Culver City last year to oversee Sony's entire international homevid effort, Brown is spearheading not only the adoption of Sony tentpoles like "Spider-Man 3" abroad but also Blu-ray.
"We've been very aggressive with the launch of Blu-ray," he says. "And we've not only experienced success in obvious European countries but also Far Eastern countries like Singapore."
Overall, Australia has been one of Sony's biggest growth areas -- especially with catalog titles. Brown says he is also thrilled with business in India, where Sony is the only U.S. studio with operations.
Russia also has been a bright spot, with business up 400% in the past two years.
"We reduced the release window, and we've established a pricing model that seems to work there," Brown says.
China's piracy problems remain rampant, but Sony has embarked on a "buy legitimate" campaign to try to tap into business there.
"The middle class in a lot of these countries wants the real deal," Brown says. "We tell them buy legitimate -- you'll get all the bells and whistles, and you won't have to look at somebody's head in the way of a camcorder."
POV: "I'm about to get on a plane to London and I've got to fly to Japan next," says Brown, when asked how he's settling into his Culver City digs. "I definitely believe that, wherever you run it from, you've got to be in front of your customers and your team."
