Company Town : TBS Agrees to Movie, Video Distribution Pact With Sony

Two Turner Broadcasting System Inc. units agreed to a worldwide home movie and video distribution pact with two units of Sony Corp. of America.

Castle Rock Entertainment and Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution said they will distribute movies and other programming through Sony’s Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International and Columbia TriStar Home Video.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Castle Rock and Turner Pictures Worldwide will each oversee the marketing and release strategy for their respective pictures, the companies said.

The transaction will start with the release of Castle Rock’s “Little Big League,” “Beyond Rangoon” and “Dolores Claiborne.” Turner Pictures Worldwide’s offerings are likely to include “The Pagemaster,” the family film “Andre” and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon library, the companies said.

Castle Rock said distribution is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.

Columbia TriStar Film and TriStar Home Video are part of the Sony Pictures Entertainment unit of Sony Corp. of America. TBS acquired Castle Rock last year and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon library two years ago.

Under the agreement, Columbia TriStar will distribute programs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and all of Asia except Japan.

Home Video will distribute in those markets and in France, Britain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In June, Castle Rock announced a distribution venture with several European companies, including Britain’s Rank, France’s UGC, Germany’s Concorde and Spain’s Filmayer.