NATO PRESIDENT INVEIGHS AGAINST NARROW WINDOW

The president of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) has expressed alarm over a new study indicating that the window between the time a movie is released to theaters and the time it is released on DVD shrank by an average of 10 days in 2006. "The pace of the shrinkage is of concern to us," John Fithian told today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times. "Ten days in one year is a lot." The study found that blockbuster movies took longer to arrive in the video stores than those that had short theatrical funs. Sony Film's distribution chief Jeff Blake told the Times that the studio, which previously was the quickest to release DVDs of its movies, altered its policy last year. "You absolutely want to protect that theatrical window for any movie that's still in theaters," Blake said.

12/03/2007