TMC Entertainment Announces Religious Merchandising and Licensing Division; Partners with Holy Land Tours and Rose Publishing; Opens Office in World Council of Churches
Television and film production company launches franchise directed at $65 billion religious market.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB via PR Web
Direct) June 30, 2005 -- In response to unprecedented consumer demand for
products and services in the multi-billion-dollar religious market, TMC
Entertainment, a global Los Angeles-based television and film production
company, has announced the formation of its religious merchandising and
licensing division.
In conjunction with the development of TMC's full
slate of religious-themed television programming currently in production and
preproduction, the new division will distribute and provide products and
services ancillary to the company's upcoming PBS primetime miniseries, "Walking
the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses" (Fall, 2005) and
"Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths" (Winter, 2006).
Underpinning this announcement are two major partnerships: one with
leading travel provider, Holy Land Tours; the other with Rose Publishing, a
specialty publisher of biblical materials.
Additionally, TMC has reached
an agreement with the World Council of Churches (representing more than 400
million Protestants throughout the world) whereby TMC will establish an office
in the WCC's Geneva headquarters to work with various organizations on their
travel tours, educational packages, etc. The office will be headed by Carl
Bjertnes, TMC's Director of International Religious Marketing.
The newly
created division will encompass worldwide TV sales, DVD and video distribution,
travel tours, educational packages for churches and religious schools, music CDs
and children's games, as well as Internet and mobile-phone products.
The
largest component of the new division will be the launch of its outstanding
tours of the Holy Land. For this initiative, TMC Entertainment has partnered
with Holy Land Tours based in Jerusalem, who will expand their religious tours
to include many of the breathtaking destinations visited in TMC's "Walking the
Bible." Among these will be Mt. Ararat (the reputed resting place of Noah's
Ark), the possible location of the Garden of Eden in Eastern Turkey along the
Euphrates River, and St. Catherine's monastery, located at the base of Mt. Sinai
where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. (St. Catherine's is one of
the oldest Christian institutions in existence today, where mass has been
conducted five times a day every day for over 1,500 years).
TMC has also
partnered with Rose Publishing, a publisher of exceptional biblical products, to
provide its new religious merchandising and licensing division with the items
required for TMC's worldwide marketing program.
The religious market is
booming. In 2004 alone, sales of merchandise totaled more than $65 billion, with
the release of "The Passion of the Christ" and "The Da Vinci Code," expanded
media coverage of religion and spirituality, heightened interest in religious
subjects and increased travel to the Holy Land.
The new division will be
spearheaded by TMC's Chairman and CEO, Emmy Award-winning producer Drew S. Levin
("Future Quest," "Cosmos: A Special Edition") under the direction of Paul
Siegel, EVP, Sales and Marketing ("Fame," "Family Feud," "Strawberry Shortcake"
and "Inspector Gadget"). Also part of the division are Raymond Bell, Director of
Educational and Retail Marketing (Peter Max, Inc.), and Richard Klinger,
Director of Religious Marketing (formerly President, King World Home Video;
Executive Coordinator, Hanna-Barbera’s "Greatest Adventures: Stories From the
Bible;" Executive Producer, "Jane Fonda Workout" series).
"TMC
Entertainment is proud to team with such respected organizations as the World
Council of Churches, Holy Land Tours and Rose Publishing to provide travel tours
and religious products for the public's spiritual enjoyment," said Drew S.
Levin, Chairman and CEO. "Additionally, as we launch this new division, TMC
remains focused on the production of its Bible Journey series, our
high-definition religious-themed programming in the vein of 'Walking the Bible,'
as well as religious dramatic films and primetime miniseries, to help satisfy
our viewers' demand for faith-based programming," added Levin.
"We have
seen the dominance that religious sales have had in the last few years," said
Paul Siegel, EVP, Sales and Marketing. "The public has demonstrated an
unquenchable thirst for meaningful religious goods and services, which we hope
to satisfy with the launch of this franchise."
"With the substantial
projected viewership for 'Walking the Bible' when it airs on PBS primetime, we
realized we could team with TMC Entertainment to reach a wide audience and
provide exciting and memorable travel tours of the Holy Land," said Shlomo
Zifshitz, President of Oranim Educational Initiatives, Ltd. (Holy Land Tours).
"We look forward to accommodating the extraordinary number of individuals who
will be inspired by TMC's programming to visit the locations mentioned in the
Bible."
For additional information on "Walking the Bible" or sponsorship
opportunities, please visit www.walkingthebibletv.com.
About TMC
Entertainment:
TMC Entertainment was founded in 2001 by Emmy Award-winning
producer Drew S. Levin and is currently in production and co-production on a
full spectrum of television projects, including scripted and unscripted comedy
and reality-based and documentary series. "Walking the Bible" and "Abraham," two
three-hour mini-series produced by TMC Entertainment, based on the best-selling
books of the same names by award-winning author Bruce Feiler, are scheduled to
air during primetime on the PBS Network. For additional information on TMC
Entertainment, please visit www.tmcent.tv.
About Holy Land Tours:
Oranim
Educational Initiatives, Ltd. (Holy Land Tours) is a leader in the field of
Christian educational travel and partners with organizations, schools,
communities and special-interest groups to design meaningful and unique
world-travel packages and programs. For more information on Holy Land Tours, go
to www.holyland4u.com.
About Rose Publishing:
Rose Publishing specializes in
easy-to-understand Bible reference charts, maps, timelines and comparison guides
on a variety of topics, including religions, denominations, faith and culture,
sex and dating, and church history. Rose Publishing is the only US publisher of
the family tree from Adam to Jesus, called the "Genealogy of Jesus" chart, and
the "'Then and Now' Bible Map Book" that has Bible maps with clear plastic
overlays of modern-day cities and countries. For more information on Rose
Publishing, see www.rose-publishing.com.
Press Contacts:
Liam
Collopy – Account Director - e-mail protected from spam bots / 310 300 0950 x
232
Shannon Hartigan – Account Executive - e-mail protected from spam bots /
310 300 0950 x 234
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb257293.htm