ENGLISH

Olympusat: Heavily investing in restoration of films

October 14, 2014

Maribel Ramos-Weiner


Olympusat has been working hard for the past four years in the restoration of movies from Mexico’s golden age of film. To this end, the company has forged several joint ventures with film producers and owners. Two of the most significant deals include one with Movie Mex -of which Álex Agrasánchez is president-, and another with Cinematográfica Calderón.Tom Mohler, CEO of Olympusat, told PRODU that the Movie Mex deal grants his company rights for all platforms in the U.S. –except broadcast TV-, of the restored material, while in Latin America Olympusat gets non-exclusive rights. This is the highest-volume deal signed to date, covering 250 titles.“We’ve invested millions of dollars in the restoration of these films. The process takes around 1,500 man-hours per movie and Olympusat owns the restored material. Movie Mex does not own these titles in the U.S., and even for broadcast TV rights, they have to consult with us before selling,” said Mohler, adding that a Hispanic pay-TV executive recently praised the quality of these movies, currently airing on Olympusat’s Ultra Clásico channel, available on Charter and Verizon in the U.S.Arturo Chávez, VP of Hispanic Channels of Olympusat, added that other deals include: Cinematográfica Calderón (122 films), René Cardona Chávez (8), Mauricio Walerstein (20), Olallo Rubio (10), Esteban García (10), Jorge García Besne Calderón (4), and soon two more libraries of 100 titles.