Infinity Entertainment Group & Smithsonian Networks(TM) Sign Distribution Deal

Infinity Entertainment Group & Smithsonian Networks(TM) Sign Distribution Deal

First Titles on New DVD Label Slated for Sept. 23rd are Stories From the Vaults: Season One, Hosted by Tom Cavanagh, And America's Greatest Monuments: Washington D.C.

LOS ANGELES, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinity Entertainment Group and Smithsonian Networks have signed an exclusive United States DVD distribution agreement, it was announced today by Rick Buehler, vice-president, sales & acquisitions for Infinity, and Tom Hayden, general manager of Smithsonian Networks.

Smithsonian Networks programming celebrates the American experience with branded original content drawn largely from the assets of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum and research complex. Smithsonian Channel(TM) features original documentaries, short-subject explorations and innovative and groundbreaking programs highlighting America's historical, cultural and scientific heritage. Smithsonian Channel brings the American experience home and is currently available exclusively in high definition to customers of DirecTV, Charter Communications, DISH Networks, Verizon and RCN.

The first two titles to be released on the new label will be the Smithsonian Channel(TM) award-winning original series Stories From the Vaults: Season One and America's Greatest Monuments: Washington D.C.

Ever wondered what's hiding behind the scenes of America's most renowned museum complex? Find out in Stories From the Vaults: Season One, as host Tom Cavanagh (Eli Stone, Ed) takes viewers on an insider's tour of the private rooms and high-tech vaults of the Smithsonian, revealing some of the amazing artifacts that visitors rarely get to see! In recognition of its creativity, the Stories From the Vaults: Season One series recently received a Gold World Medal from the New York Festival, as well as a Parent's Choice Gold Award for Excellence.

In America's Greatest Monuments: Washington D.C., appreciate our capital's greatest shrines on a whole new level. From the war memorials to the monuments honoring America's founding fathers to Arlington's eternal flame, learn not only the mechanics of these precious structures (The Washington Monument is a dizzying 555 feet high!) but the often overlooked stories of how these monuments came to be the emotional epicenter of the city and perhaps our nation. To walk among these lasting memorials is to live history and to feel what it is to be an American.

Pre-order is Aug. 19 and street date is Sept. 23 for both titles. SRP is $24.98 each.

Other award-winning Smithsonian Networks programs that will be available through Infinity include the original documentary, Remembering Vietnam: The Wall at 25, which was also awarded a Gold World Medal. Another Gold World Medal was awarded to Day of the Kamikaze, a fascinating docudrama recreating the Japanese suicide attacks against the Allied Fleet in 1945. Another series, Nature Tech, a three-episode series that examines the new field of bio-mimetics, was awarded Best Limited Series by the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.

The network also has received recognition on a different level with five 2008 Parents' Choice Awards for excellence in its family- and child-friendly programming. The annual awards, established in 1978 by the Parents' Choice Foundation -- the nation's oldest nonprofit guide to quality children's media and toys -- are bestowed at different levels. Smithsonian Channel won two Gold Awards, one Silver Honor, one Recommended and one Approved rating for its shows Nature Tech, Critter Quest, America's Treasures and Loose at the Zoo: Golden Lion Tamarins, as well as Stories From the Vaults: Season One.

"Infinity Entertainment Group is extremely pleased to partner with Smithsonian Networks to release this innovative, entertaining and informative programming on DVD," commented Buehler. "The audience for this line is particularly broad, from kids and families to adults with a wide range of interests to librarians, teachers and other educators."

"We are delighted that Infinity is going to represent us in the DVD marketplace," said Hayden. "Part of our mission as 'America's Storyteller' is getting our programming on multiple platforms and we are thrilled to be adding home entertainment to our repertoire of cable, satellite and telephone company partners."

Smithsonian Networks (SN) is a joint venture between Showtime Networks Inc. and the Smithsonian Institution. It was formed to create new channels to showcase scientific, cultural and historical programming based largely upon the assets of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. Smithsonian Channel features original documentaries, short-subject explorations and innovative and groundbreaking programs highlighting America's historical, cultural and scientific heritage. Visit Smithsonian Networks on the Internet at www.smithsonianchannel.com.

Infinity Entertainment Group, headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., is a multi-service home entertainment retail distributor specializing in independent films, television programming, special-interest, documentaries, anime and music. Clients include Smithsonian Networks, MOJO HD, Falcon Picture Group, Bandai Entertainment, Roxbury Entertainment, SJ2 Entertainment and Retromedia. Hit titles include the iconic Route 66 television series, now available on DVD for the first time, and Spike Jones: The Legend. The company was launched in 2006 and is a division of Infinity Resources, Inc., a privately-held, multi-channel marketing and service enterprise with general offices based in suburban Chicago, Ill.

    Contacts:    Vicki Greenleaf    Infinity Entertainment Group    Greenleaf & Associates - 323-660-5800    vicki@greenleafandassociates.com     Stuart Zakim    Smithsonian Networks - 212-708-1590    stuart.zakim@showtime.net  

Source: Infinity Entertainment Group and Smithsonian Networks

CONTACT: Vicki Greenleaf of Greenleaf & Associates, +1-323-660-5800,
vicki@greenleafandassociates.com, for Infinity Entertainment Group; or Stuart
Zakim, Smithsonian Networks, +1-212-708-1590, stuart.zakim@showtime.net

Web site: http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment