SAUSALITO, CA, Aug 18, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Public Media Works, Inc. (PUBM 1.50, -0.20, -11.77%) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, EntertainmentXpress, Inc., announce an agreement with Modular Conversions, LLC to place up to 7,000 DVD movie and game kiosks in new convenience stores as major oil company-sponsored gas station conversions are completed over the next three years across the U.S. The initial phase includes full funding for the installation of up to 1,500 EntertainmentXpress kiosks to be placed in prime West Coast targeted locations. Modular Conversions, a construction management services firm working with major oil companies, is a specialist in a modular approach to bay conversions for high-traffic filling stations (www.modularconversions.com).

Modular Conversions created the turnkey concept for the “C-store” conversions with exterior construction and a modular interior store design that includes all components, fixtures and accoutrements including the EntertainmentXpress DVD kiosk as a part of the proposed turnkey package.

These programs provide a pre-approval for financing for filling station operators who sign on. Financing for the conversions, over and above what may be subsidized by the oil companies, has been arranged by Modular Conversions through private lenders and a mutual fund, according to the construction company’s COO, Jack Neal.

“We have launched a multi-billion dollar project to convert bays to convenience stores for owners of major oil company brand filling stations across the US who subscribe to the program. It is a very exciting project that will bring huge brand value for oil companies and a significant increased revenue opportunity for the independent station operators. And as part of our overall funding arrangements for this venture, we are planning to allocate up to $154 million to fully finance as many as 7,000 kiosks placed and operated by EntertainmentXpress,” according to Jack Neal.

EntertainmentXpress, a division of Public Media Works, provides a convenient way for consumers to buy or rent movies, games and other entertainment media through kiosks located in quick-serve food locations, grocery stores and other high-traffic, public venues. The company’s business plan also includes an out-of-home advertising model with onboard 3D screens (no glasses required) in kiosks that provide its retail partners an opportunity to share in ad revenue as well as in DVD rental and sales revenue.

“Choosing the right business partners in this venture is critical,” continued Jack Neal. “And after taking a hard look at the others out there, we selected EntertainmentXpress to be our exclusive DVD movie and games kiosk provider. There’s no doubt that EntertainmentXpress stands out among the others with the most contemporary approach, including movies and video game rentals, digital download capabilities, plus a built-in 3D flat screen for in-store advertising that allows our station owners to share in both the DVD and advertising revenues. This kiosk should represent the most profitable square footage in their stores,” stated Jack Neal.

“There is no question that executing on this opportunity puts us on the map as a significant new player in the highly profitable and fast-growing entertainment kiosk industry. And it is most gratifying that we were able to be creative enough to beat the odds of a tough economy with a partnership that includes financing as part of the package. To me it’s a great story of how businesses can work together to create alternatives to work around the scarcity of traditional financing,” states Bill Zabit, President of Public Media Works.

About Public Media Works Public Media Works, Inc. was founded as a forward-thinking entertainment company, created and operated by entertainment professionals, with the objective to discover, create, develop and distribute entertainment content to world audiences. The EntertainmentXpress subsidiary of Public Media Works is rolling out a network of conveniently located self-service kiosks which deliver demographically relevant digital media content to consumers. The company’s core business model focuses on the high-volume rental and sale of DVD movies, video games and other media through kiosks located in quick-serve restaurants, grocery stores and other high-traffic, public venues. Features intended to differentiate EntertainmentXpress in the marketplace are expected to include a broader variety of digital product offerings over time, retail partner branded kiosks, a fully integrated solution for in-store advertising, and kiosks designed to be converted into media filling stations to a variety of digital storage devices.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, particularly as related to the business plans of Public Media Works and its wholly owned subsidiary EntertainmentXpress, expectations of partnerships and strategic relationships, deployment of DVD and video game rental kiosks and 3D LCD screens, the ability of EntertainmentXpress to enter into agreements with retail partners, to gain market share, the ability to sell all 7,000 kiosks under its agreement with Modular Conversions, the size of the market, and the ability of EntertainmentXpress to compete effectively in the marketplace, and the future opportunities of the company, are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the company’s expectations and estimates. Public Media Works and EntertainmentXpress are trademarks of Public Media Works, Inc.

Public Media Works Corp Offices

2330 Marinship Way, Suite 300
Sausalito, CA 94965
Company Contact: 415.729.8000

www.publicmediaworks.com

The initial phase includes full funding for the installation of up to 1,500 EntertainmentXpress kiosks to be placed in prime West Coast targeted locations. Modular Conversions, a construction management services firm working with major oil companies, is a specialist in a modular approach to bay conversions for high-traffic gas stations

Modular Conversions created the turnkey concept for the c-store conversions with exterior construction and a modular interior store design that includes all components, fixtures and accoutrements including the EntertainmentXpress DVD kiosk as a part of the proposed turnkey package.

These programs provide a pre-approval for financing for station operators who sign on. Financing for the conversions, over and above what may be subsidized by the oil companies, has been arranged by Modular Conversions through private lenders and a mutual fund, according to the construction company’s COO, Jack Neal.

“We have launched a multi-billion dollar project to convert bays to convenience stores for owners of major oil company-brand filling stations across the U.S. who subscribe to the program. It is a very exciting project that will bring huge brand value for oil companies and a significant increased revenue opportunity for the independent station operators. And as part of our overall funding arrangements for this venture, we are planning to allocate up to $154 million to fully finance as many as 7,000 kiosks placed and operated by EntertainmentXpress,” said Neal.

EntertainmentXpress, a division of Public Media Works, provides a convenient way for consumers to buy or rent movies, games and other entertainment media through kiosks located in quick-serve food locations, grocery stores and other high-traffic, public venues. The company’s business plan also includes an out-of-home advertising model with onboard 3D screens (no glasses required) in kiosks that provide its retail partners an opportunity to share in ad revenue as well as in DVD rental and sales revenue.

“Choosing the right business partners in this venture is critical,” added Neal. “And after taking a hard look at the others out there, we selected EntertainmentXpress to be our exclusive DVD movie and games kiosk provider. There’s no doubt that EntertainmentXpress stands out among the others with the most contemporary approach, including movies and video game rentals, digital download capabilities, plus a built-in 3D flat screen for in-store advertising that allows our station owners to share in both the DVD and advertising revenues. This kiosk should represent the most profitable square footage in their stores.”

Public Media Works was founded and is operated by entertainment professionals with the objective to discover, create, develop and distribute entertainment content. Its EntertainmentXpress subsidiary is rolling out a network of conveniently located self-service kiosks that deliver demographically relevant digital media content to consumers. The company’s core business model focuses on the high-volume rental and sale of DVD movies, video games and other media through kiosks located in quick-serve restaurants, grocery stores and other high-traffic, public venues. Features intended to differentiate EntertainmentXpress in the marketplace are expected to include a broader variety of digital product offerings over time, retail partner branded kiosks, a fully integrated solution for in-store advertising and kiosks designed to be converted into media filling stations to a variety of digital storage devices.

Source | CSP Daily News

As a former commercial banker with 14 years experience, Brent Hall believes he can spot a good investment. That’s why he recently purchased three self-service DVD-rental kiosks and installed them inside grocery stores in the Chattanooga, Tenn., area.

During the coming year, Hall and his partners at Paradigm Media Resource Group plan to deploy about 40 movie rental machines with “Roxi” logos in the southeastern United States. They’re aiming for grocery and convenience stores in underserved urban and suburban areas, along with locations in rural small towns.

Hall and Paradigm have their work cut out for them. Coinstar Inc. has nearly 27,000 of its redbox DVD-rental kiosks in operation, while NCR Corp. and its partner Blockbuster are now running more than 6,500 such devices. Despite this, several firms have decided to take on these two giants by competing on convenience for both consumers and merchants, adding some high-tech touches, and applying the nimbleness that comes from being small and local.

For starters, Hall thinks there are plenty of profitable places to run the Roxi machines.

“Some of the markets we’re looking at aren’t typically considered big enough by the major players, but they’re high-traffic locations that offer convenience for customers,” Hall said. “Some of the places that want to host our machines say they didn’t want to be on an extensive waiting list for a big company like redbox. That’s an advantage for us: We can put our kiosks in place very quickly so that host clients can start earning profits from the rentals.”

To deploy the rental machines, Hall’s company is partnering with iMOZI, a kiosk designer and technology provider that has worked with dozens of new operators to launch enterprise-scale DVD kiosk networks in the United States, Canada and other countries.

“Working with an original equipment manufacturer like iMOZI allows independent operators to fully customize and improve on the functionalities of their DVD kiosks,” said Soheil Samimi begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting, president of iMOZI, which has offices in Chicago and Toronto.

Other independent kiosk providers such as DVD Now of Vancouver, B.C., ELO Media’s DVMatic, Global Axcess Corp., and Kiosk Concepts are helping budding movie moguls reach for stardom.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Global, which owns, operates or manages more than 4,500 ATMs and kiosks in 43 states, is installing about 325 DVD kiosks this summer in a major grocery chain, according to its second quarter financial statement.

Although Global reported that its DVD program lost $418,000 in the first half of the year, the company predicts positive growth in the segment.

“DVD kiosks are expected to generate higher revenue and gross profit when compared to our ATM business, and we remain excited about the potential for us with DVDs,” George McQuain, CEO of Global, said in the report.

Although smaller companies don’t have agreements with major movie studios like Coinstar’s multiyear deal with Paramount Home Entertainment Inc., they can still offer newly-released DVDs by purchasing them from third-party vendors.

With investors of all sizes entering the market, experts predict the DVD kiosk rental market will continue to grow this year. Rentals at DVD movie kiosks are on track to make up nearly 30 percent of the U.S. video rental market in 2010, according to a recent report from the NPD Group, a global provider of consumer and retail market research information.

There is clearly a large market, with redbox generating revenues of $344 million in the first half of 2010, and NCR adding 100 to 200 kiosks a week, most under the BLOCKBUSTER Express name, with a goal of 10,000 in operation by year end.

Paradigm’s Hall doesn’t seem intimidated by competition from the big dogs.

“We realize the industry is dominated by two players right now, but many consumers will agree that competition is healthy,” he said. “We offer a great product at a great price with reliable customer service. Plus, we’re counting on people who prefer to shop local and buy from smaller companies and local owners instead of major corporations.”

For more information see: www.selfserviceworld.com

With customers clamoring for inexpensive entertainment, revenue is soaring for $1-a-day movie rental kiosks, prompting increased demand for DVD vending machines in supermarkets, restaurants and high-traffic locations such as university campuses. Experts predict the DVD industry’s phenomenal growth will continue this year.

Movie kiosks are on track to make up nearly 30 percent of the U.S. video rental market in 2010, according to a recent report issued by the NPD Group, a global provider of consumer and retail market research information.

“Consumers are obviously responding positively to the perceived value of $1-per day rentals, and they appreciate the convenience offered by video rental kiosks,” Russ Crupnick, vice president of industry
analysis for NPD, said in a press release announcing the report.

Download the full whitepaper here:

http://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/whitepapers/2528/Tapping-into-the-DVD-Rental-Market

iMOZI DVD Kiosk – New Customer Sign-Up

iMOZI Automated & Digital DVD Kiosk – Software Overview

The most advanced DVD kiosk on the market!

$1 new release DVD rentals, anyone? Yes, it’s possible with Redbox and similar services

iMOZI Movie Download Kiosk

By : Billy Gil | Posted: 26 Jun 2008
bgil@questex.com

Exhibitors are touting the burgeoning movie kiosk industry at the 2008 Home Media Expo, with the number of kiosk exhibitors roughly doubling since the 2007 show, according to show organizers.

Polar Frog Digital, which calls itself a “digital rack jobber,” provides an on-demand platform and in-store DVD burning for rental and sellthrough, complete with copy protection, as well as digital downloading. Polar Frog currently has 12 free-standing kiosks at such outlets as military bases and a Long’s Drugs in Walnut Creek, Calif., but the company also is seeking to offer its digital platform to partners.

Polar Frog boasts more than 10,000 video titles from independent studios in its library. Titles are searchable on Polar Frog’s interface, with additional information such as actors in the film and other films featuring those actors.

“The holdup [in upping the number of kiosks with Polar Frog technology] is the studios providing the right content,” said Todd Rosenbaum, CEO of Polar Frog. “The content has to match the price of admission.”

Rosenbaum added the company hopes to provide special interest content to such non-traditional retailers as home construction, sporting goods, beauty supply, fast food and airports.

“We’re not trying to replace physical goods,” Rosenbaum said. “We’re a channel provider.”

Meanwhile Polar Frog has licensed its technology to iMozi, which unveiled its new digital and physical rental/sellthrough kiosk at the show. This is the first kiosk for the company to offer both physical and digital content, including video content and video games. The kiosks can offer in-store burning or physical product in its original packaging. Additionally, titles can be reserved at iMozi kiosks online. Through extensions described as similar to building blocks, the iMozi kiosk also can offer such content as music downloads, CD burning, ringtones, wallpapers and photo printing.

“The key in the business is to [not just depend on] new release,” said Jay Dadrass, product development manager for iMozi. “It’s a new release business, but with DVD on demand, you don’t have to worry about that.”

The iMozi kiosks also feature digital signage promoting content offered in the kiosk.

Eric Zetlin of MOD Systems, which will have a speaker at the Digital Retail Business Models panel today at 1:30 p.m., said his company, like other kiosk players, is looking for more video content for its digital media distribution software (it currently features mostly music on demand). Zetlin said MOD has “tier two” content, with catalog and special interest video, and is looking to also move into game delivery.

MOD Systems is a software company, but the company also developed and distributes “PODs,” which include touchscreens, USB ports for digital distribution, headphone jacks, a magnetic card reader, a bar code scanner and Ethernet support.

Videomatic, a European company now making inroads in the United States, also displayed its automatic video and game dispensers at the show. On hand at the show is Jose A. Salinas, owner/operator of a Videomatic-branded store in Laredo, Texas — one of four Videomatic stores in the United States, as of the end of June.

Videomatic machines are akin to an ATM, capable of holding more than 2,000 discs, including movies (all genres, including adult) and games. Discs are rented or bought by becoming a member of the store in question, then swiping the membership card at the machine; Salinas’ Laredo store, for example, has 14 screens, capable of renting more than 10,000 discs, with a small display and membership area in the back of the store, according to Salinas.

“The video business is a little bit stale to retailers and to customers,” Salinas said. “What we’ve been doing is taking it to the next level. We’re still video stores, but we’re automated.”

Salinas said he was able to build his Videomatic store from scratch, using only 2,000 square feet and two additional employees, versus the other, traditional video store he owns, which takes up 5,000 square feet and has eight employees.

“Every major cost category, you cut,” Salinas said.

The new store registers members in the back, where parents can set parental controls and ratings are enforced on kiosks via the registered memberships. However, an added bonus is that renters wishing to grab adult titles, for example, don’t have to deal with clerks directly. Salinas said that has resulted in an increase in female renters of adult content.

But one of the best features that kiosks such as the Videomatic ones offer, according to multiple Videomatic purveyors, is that in essence, kiosks can offer 24-hour service. Salinas’s shop, for example, opens at 12 p.m. and closes at 10 p.m., but the kiosks are available at all times — only the back of the store closes.

“Why wait until 10 a.m. for Blockbuster to open up across the street?” Salinas said.

For more information see: www.homemediamagazine.com

New release DVD movies can now be rented at United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos United locations for only $1 a day!

Easy and inexpensive, the concept could not be simpler: DVD vending kiosks are now located at the front of each store, allowing United Supermarkets guests to conveniently rent the latest movies for $1 a day while making their normal shopping trips to the store.

This latest method to get a DVD via a kiosk is becoming one of the hottest ways to rent movies across the nation with thousands of such kiosks now in use. Locally, United Supermarkets is happy to offer this innovative service to deliver superior value to its store guests and is the first retailer to introduce the concept. “This makes a perfect complement to our stores and a fit for our customers who are looking for a complete one-stop destination to pick up all their needs!” says Tandy Arrant, Category Manager for the chain.

The rental process is simple: the movie kiosk has a user-friendly touch screen that allows customers to view and select movies quickly. A swipe of a valid credit or debit card is required for payment. Consumers can decide how long they want to keep the movie, as the charge is simply $1 per day. The DVDs are dispensed from and returned to the kiosks. Electronic receipts are delivered by email to customers who provide email addresses. And, movies can be browsed and reserved online.

Each kiosk holds up to 1,000 DVDs, with about 200 or so different titles. New releases are available every Tuesday just like traditional movie rental stores. The difference, of course, is that shoppers do not have to make a separate trip, plus the cost is a fraction of a traditional video store’s cost.

iMOZI is the DVD kiosk technology company that handles the deployment and management of the rental operations for United Texas. According to Soheil Samimi, President of iMOZI, “We are very excited with the initial reaction of the customers. Within the next months, we will continue our work to improve services, as well as expand the program to all United Texas stores across Western Texas. We intend to be active at the local level and help deliver cheaper and more convenient entertainment to everyone!”

DVD Movie Kiosks are now installed at all Lubbock United Supermarkets stores, with a chain-wide deployment underway throughout Texas.

United Supermarkets now makes renting movies easier, and more affordable than ever! So, why pay more? Gather the family and friends, grab your snacks, and enjoy a good movie in the comfort of your own home for just $1 a night!

About iMOZI:

iMOZI is a leader in providing automated and digital media self-service solutions. With an end-to-end offering that merges traditionally packaged media with digitally delivered content, iMOZI offers “best of best” kiosks to enable automated DVD rental and sales, as well as DVD-on-Demand, video games, music downloads, digital photo print and mobile content. As innovators, our experienced management team continues to develop the concept with the integration of future technologies that leverage new delivery methods and revenue channels. As a technology development and distribution company, iMOZI’s automated DVD kiosks are currently distributed in USA, Canada and Australia.

For more information see www.imozi.com

iMOZI Contact Information:
1.877.774.6694

About UNITED SUPERMARKETS, LLC:

United Supermarkets, LLC, is a Texas-based, family-owned grocery chain with stores in 27 markets across north and west Texas. A self-distributing company with its headquarters and distribution center in Lubbock, United currently operates 47 stores under three distinct formats: United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos United. Now in its 92nd year of operation, the company has been named one of the “Best Companies to Work for in Texas” the past three years.

For more information see: www.unitedtexas.com