August 27, 2007

MANGA ENTERTAINMENT’S ANIME CLASSICS COMING TO HEAVY.COM

Press Release from "The Morris + King Company"

MANGA ENTERTAINMENT’S ANIME CLASSICS ‘GHOST IN THE SHELL,’
‘NINJA SCROLL’ AND ‘ASTRO BOY’ COMING TO HEAVY.COM


Starz Media’s Anime Division to Deliver Streams of TV Episodes and Feature Films on Heavy

New York, NY – August 27, 2007: Heavy.com, one of the web’s leading online brands and the leader for 18-34 year old guys, today announced that numerous properties from Starz Media’s Manga Entertainment, a major producer and distributor of anime, will be streamed full-screen on HeavyTV—the first time many of these classics will be streamed online. This partnership begins two years of Manga anime content on Heavy, which includes film and television classics Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll and Astro Boy, among others (see list below).

“We’ve seen a lot of success with our original anime series, Kung Fu Jimmy Chow, and decided we needed to give Heavy’s audience the foundational anime classics courtesy of Manga Entertainment,” said Jason Marks, VP of Programming for Heavy. “Manga Entertainment’s library is unparalleled in both quality and depth, and we at Heavy are ecstatic to have been chosen as the online home for the Heavy generation of anime fans.”

Every week, one full 25-minute television series episode and one television series mashup will stream in segments at URL. Monthly, one full feature-length film and one film mashup will stream at URL. Mashups consist of Manga Entertainment content presented by Heavy’s most hilarious and talented personalities.

“We’re very excited about this new way to showcase our Manga Entertainment properties in a form and format targeted specifically to today’s online audience. In Heavy we have found both the ideal partner and perfect audience to do so,” said Marc DeBevoise, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for Starz Media.

Come back to Heavy throughout the year to enjoy the following Manga Entertainment titles online for the first time in their entirety:

Television

Astro Boy — Anime classic from Osamu Tezuka, “the god of manga,”about a scientist who creates a powerful robot boy in an attempt to replace his deceased son.

Ghost in the Shell — Stand Alone Complex (Season 1): Masamune Shirow’s groundbreaking cyberpunk thriller involving high tech sci-fi, political intrigue, and terrorist hackers.

Street Fighter II V — Watch as the ultimate contest of body and mind is decided in the streets in this fan-favorite series based upon the popular video game.

Virus — This 1997 TV series is set in Neo-Hong Kong, 2097, when Earth is attacked with a virus that turns bio-machines into metamorphic monsters.

Feature Films [CHANNEL LINK]:

Blood: The Last Vampire — Saya, a brooding and mysterious girl, battles Teropterids—evil beasts which pose as humans and live only to drink human blood.

Castle of Cagliostro — Famed thief Lupin III and his partner Jigen set out to steal the treasures of Castle of Cagliostro, Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film.

Dead Leaves — Pandy and Retro, two unlikely renegades, are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous Dead Leaves lunar prison.

Ghost in the Shell — One of the most influential anime films of all time is set in 2029 where an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs for undercover work to capture computer hackers.

Ninja Scroll — A ninja-for-hire is forced to fight an old nemesis who is bent on overthrowing the Japanese government.

Macross Plus Vol. 1 — Isamu and Guld must beat the odds in order to destroy cybernetic singer Sharon Apple’s computer, which contains a hypnotic hold on the city's citizenry.

Macross II: The Movie — Together with ace Valkyrie pilot Silvie Gena, Hibike and Ishtar must find a way to save Earth from total destruction at the hands of the Marduk leader, Ingues.

Read or Die — Yomiko Readman is “Agent Paper,” a secret underground operative for the British Library who is called to duty when a book that could spell the end of the world is stolen.

Street Fighter Alpha — Ryu, the current Street Fighter champion, must overcome the power of the “Dark Hadou,” which consumed Akuma, the brother of his sensei, Gouken.

Street Fighter Alpha Generations — In a quest to become a true martial arts master, Ryu sets out to hone his street fighting skills and to deliver himself from the haunting legacy of the Dark Hadou.

Street Fighter II: The Movie — Led by the evil M. Bison, Shadowlaw—an underground organization bent on world domination through drug smuggling, illegal weapons distribution and terrorism—hopes to increase their power by recruiting the world’s greatest street fighters.

About Heavy.com
Heavy is one of the web’s leading consumer media companies and the leader for 18-34 year old males, which is a key demographic for marketers and advertisers. Heavy combines its own unique programming with those of its users to create an environment where you can control and even participate in your own media experience. Heavy empowers its audience to share, editorialize, and create their own content as well as provide its own library of programming. Heavy’s programming staples include “Superficial Friends,” “Kung Fu Jimmy Chow,” "The Massive Mating Game," "Heavy News," "Behind the Music that Sucks," "Heavy’s Angels," "Contagious," "Blisster" and "Tourettes Cowboy.” Portions of Heavy's library of animation and live-action shorts are available on Verizon V-Cast, Verizon Fios, Comcast VOD, Tivo, Sony PSP, Apple iPod and Joost. Advertisers on the broadband network include Coors, Nissan, Panasonic, Diesel, Axe, Sony and Nike.

About Starz Media
Starz Media, LLC is a programming production and distribution company operating worldwide. It includes the Film Roman, Anchor Bay Entertainment, and Manga Entertainment brands. Its units create animated and live-action programming -- including theatrical films -- and programming created under contract for other media companies. It distributes that programming, and programming acquired from outside producers, through home video retailers, theaters, broadcasters, ad supported and premium television channels, and Internet and wireless video distributors in the US and internationally. Starz Media is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp. that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group, www.starz.com.

About Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is an entertainment company specializing in the production, marketing and distribution of Japanese animation for theatrical, television, Internet, DVD and home video release worldwide. The Manga film library is marketed and distributed in the U.S. through Starz Home Entertainment and Anchor Bay. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in London and Tokyo. Manga is a division of Starz Media LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Group. www.manga.com

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