During these trying and uncertain times, we hope to be able to spread a little bit of love and movie magic by showcasing some of our incredible partners. As well as working with some incredible cinemas, we are also proud to represent Home Entertainment, TV/VOD and Ancillary Sales for a growing number of classic films on behalf of our studio partners, and independent producers.
We love to celebrate the great work that our Home Entertainment partners are doing, so we spoke to our friends at Eureka Entertainment, a leading independent distributor of classic silent/early films in the UK.
Tell us a little more about Eureka! and your work. When did you start, and why?
Ron Benson started Eureka Entertainment in 1989. He originally started a mail order company called Bensonsworld selling videos and DVDs, but as time went on, larger companies started to appear like Play.com and Amazon, so he thought what would be the next progression? That was when he decided to start acquiring films for his own label and that became Eureka Entertainment. Ron always had a passion for films, having a rental shop back in the day. He loved going to cinema, and was very proud of the label Masters of Cinema.
We’d love to hear more about the different parts of your work such as Eureka! Classics ad Montage Picture, and how they work together.
We have 3 brands & there are subtle differences between them, but they are all designed to appeal & delight fans of Cinema across a wide variety of genres.
The Masters Of Cinema Series salutes true cinephile collectors with key touchstone moments in Cinematic history such as Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Murnau’s Nosferatu, Kobayashi’s Kwaidan, Kubrick’s Paths Of Glory, Loach’s Kes, Zinnemann’s High Noon (amongst many others) being given the attention to detail they truly deserve with pristine & considered picture restoration. Each Master Of Cinema release contains copious disc extras (on many occasions these include previously unseen debut material), a collectors booklet (again often containing previously unseen material or brand new essays). The cover artwork is always a key consideration & often uses the films original poster art (or elements of it) to create something which is not only authentic, but also beautiful. As a final added touch each Masters Of Cinema release is also numbered, which adds to their collectability.
Eureka Classics enables us to cast the net wider & bring gems to the home entertainment marketplace which (whilst they wouldn’t necessarily fit into the Masters Of Cinema range) are by no means less deserving of love & attention. The Eureka Classics range encompasses titles such as Tom Holland’s Fright Night, Ron Howard’s Cocoon, Romero’s Monkey Shines. Eureka Classics is also the vehicle for our hugely successful Martial Arts releases with lavish Limited-Edition titles such as Jackie Chan’s Project A, Ricky Lau’s Mr Vampire & Sammo Hung’s Lucky Stars all selling out in double quick time.
Montage Pictures is an imprint which focuses on World Cinema from new & upcoming Directors from around the world. Ground-breaking & thought-provoking releases from this range include Greek Director Argyris Papadimitropoulos’ Suntan, Estonian Director Rainer Sarnet's November & Czech Republic Director Václav Marhoul’s multi award winning The Painted Bird.
Paths of Glory (1958)
What do you consider when you’re selecting films for release?
It has to be a film which excites us & we feel needs to be seen, either for the first time or a long-lost gem which deserves an audience again. We spend a lot of time researching around the films we bring to market, are there any previously unseen materials available? Alternative artwork? New writings or essays? Audio Commentaries? Interviews? Alternative soundtracks? We love securing elements like this & our aim is always to make our release of a given film the definitive edition that any film fan will want to own. We pride ourselves on the quality of every single release we put out.
How has the COVID crisis affected your activity and planning?
To be honest we have remained extremely busy & I think many have found an invigorated love & appreciation for home entertainment during these times.
Classic Cinema has always been important; a favourite film is escapism & can evoke a certain time or memory in someone’s life & I think things like that really resonate with people, especially now.
From a planning perspective it has been very much business as usual & we have not been holding back at all; consistently delivering a vibrant schedule of releases across a wide variety of genres.
High Noon (1952)
What is your personal favourite film that you have released?
That’s a really tough one to call as there are so many from our catalogue to choose from, but it would probably be Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat from 1944.
We have always been a great fan of Hitchcock & the steadily rising tension he manages to create amongst the limited group of characters huddled in a lifeboat (set adrift from a torpedoed merchant ship in World War II) is simply superb.
Lifeboat (1944)
What are your hopes for 2021 and beyond?
To be happy, healthy & continue doing what we do best here at Eureka Entertainment & keep bringing exceptional Cinematic gems to the home entertainment marketplace.
Rest assured for the remainder of 2021 we are certainly going to deliver on that intention. Naturally we know what we have coming up in the months ahead & we can’t wait to tell everyone about it. Stay tuned for the announcements…
