News

Kino Lorber Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll has been named President, Kino Lorber Media Group, reporting to chairman-ceo Richard Lorber.

Carroll, the 30+-year veteran and former COO of AMC Networks left the company in 2021, and joined Kino Lorber a year ago as chief strategy officer helping oversee its expansion into digital, including the acquisition of MHz Choice SVOD and creating a joint venture that includes the Topic streaming service. Last fall, Kino launched a new SVOD service, Kino Film Collection, on Amazon Prime Video Channels.

Kino Lorber has been layering streaming and digital alongside its core theatrical and home entertainment releases. Two from 2023 were shortlisted for Academy Awards – Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters in both the Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature; and Nancy Buirski’s Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy in Best Documentary Feature. Recent theatrical acquisitions include Agnieszka Holland’s Venice award-winner Green Border,...

Executive joined as Chief Strategy Officer one year ago.

Kino Lorber Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll has been appointed to president of Kino Lorber Media Group.

Richard Lorber, who remains chairman and CEO and to whom Carroll will report, made the announcement on Thursday.

Reporting to Carroll will be COO Martha Benyam, who will oversee the MHz Choice and Topic SVoDs and the home entertainment group; chief revenue officer Lisa Schwartz, formerly president of IFC Films, who will oversee content sales and platform distribution as well as Kino Lorber’s film division, which includes the Kino Film Collection SVoD; and Judy Silverman,...

A new Kino Lorber-led joint venture will manage both Topic and international content rival MHz.

US distributor and streamer Kino Lorber has formed a joint venture with First Look Media that will encompass the companies respective North American streaming services MHz Choice and Topic.

Kino Lorber will be the majority owner of the as yet unnamed joint venture and have management oversight of both MHz, which it acquired late last year, and Topic (Topic Studios is not part of the joint venture). Both services offer American audiences access to international television series such as the MHz’s Detective Montalbano and Topic’s The Killing.

Kino Lorber and First Look Media have formed a joint venture to operate their respective streaming services, MHz Choice and Topic.

The new entity will be run by Kino Lorber, which will also take a majority stake. Programming, marketing and technology will be handled by MHz Networks founder Frederick Thomas. Topic Gm Ryan Chanatry and Jennifer Liang, who oversaw acquisitions for the streaming service, will consult through the transition period. Kino Lorber’s streaming services are overseen by Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll, the former longtime AMC Networks exec who joined the company earlier this year.

Programming for both Topic streaming and MHz Choice will be overseen by Lance Schwulst, SVP of Content Strategy for MHz Networks. Monica Bloom, VP of Marketing for Topic, will join the Jv as Chief Marketing Officer for both services.

Topic, which launched as an effort to showcase high-caliber international series and eventually focused in on the crime genre,...

The streamer specialises in international series.

US arthouse distributor Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, parent of streamer MHz Choice, a North American SVOD service that screens international television series.

With the acquisition, Kino Lorber Media Group will have more than 10,000 hours of international series and films under license, the company said.

MHz Networks CEO Frederick Thomas and senior vice president of content strategy Lance Schwulst will continue to lead MHz Networks within Kino Lorber Media Group.

MHz Networks was an early entrant into the boutique streaming market, launching MHz Choice in 2015. The service has screened series including Wallander, Detective Montalbano and Paris Police 1900.

Click here to read the full article.

New York-based arthouse distributor Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, the parent company of MHz Choice, an online streaming service dedicated to international television series.

Under the deal, announced Thursday, Kino Lorber will add its library of more than 5,000 titles to MHz Choice, which specializes in non-u.S. TV series, streaming such shows as Scandinavian crime dramas Wallander and Beck, or French period procedural Paris Police 1900. The entire staff of both MHz Networks and Kino Lorber will remain in place, with CEO Frederick Thomas and SVP of Content Strategy Lance Schwulst continuing to lead MHz Networks within Kino Lorber Media Group.

“MHz’s track record of curating best-in-class series from around the world has helped it build one of the most loyal subscriber audiences in streaming,” said Kino Lorber president and CEO Richard Lorber in a statement. “At a time when Hollywood...

Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, the owner and operator of subscription streaming outlet MHz Choice and a specialist in bringing international TV series to North American audiences.

After the transaction, Kino Lorber Media Group has more than 5,000 titles and 10,000 hours of programming, much of it prestige and arthouse fare. It is the biggest push yet into streaming for Kino Lorber, which was formed in 2009 after Lorber Ht Digital acquired and merged with Kino International, though it has has had a presence in streaming with transactional VOD purveyor Kino Now and virtual cinema hub Kino Marquee. The company has been a fixture of the festival circuit and Oscar season in recent years, releasing films like Martin Eden, Bacurau and Taxi.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Kino Lorber President & CEO Richard Lorber said the sensibilities and business strategy of MHz are a fit with his company. “MHz’s track...