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ShortsHD on Dish

05/18/2010
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Shorts International has announced the launch of ShortsHD on Dish Network. ShortsHD is the first and only high definition movie channel of its kind, and has experienced significant growth since launching in the U.S. only nine months ago. The network is now available to over 16 million U.S. subscribers and will derive revenues from subscriptions and advertising.

As part of Dish's Platinum HD package (on channel 375), the movie network will offer fresh HD programming 24 hours a day drawn from its library of over three thousand short movies, which range from thought-provoking films starring widely known celebrities to Academy Award winning animated features to art house thrillers and a myriad more.

Given significant shifts in consumer behavior, and increasing demand for high-quality entertainment in short, easy to consume formats � along with the fact that short film is the only recognized movie category not widely available on U.S. television today � Shorts' executives believe the network is reaching an un-tapped segment of the market. "At its core, ShortsHD is a next generation movie channel and movies are one of the industry's most highly-valued entertainment products, by viewers and distributors alike.", said Carter Pilcher, CEO of Shorts International. In today's time-constrained culture, ShortsHD is a perfect entertainment format. The traction we are seeing in the U.S. and European markets is a good sign to all filmmakers in this genre. ShortsHD is a great complement to existing products in Dish's HD package, and our hat is off to them for breaking new ground in entertainment with us".

Shorts International also recently partnered with Movies OnDemand to bring the feature presentations of the Oscar � Nominated Shorts 2010 to VOD with major operators last month and has built a steady revenue stream from e-commerce platforms such as iTunes. Outside the U.S., Shorts International operates ad-supported TV networks in the U.K, France, Belgium, Turkey and Luxembourg.

The schedule for ShortsHD consists primarily of short films categorized into 30 and 60 minute thematic "zones" covering a variety of genres, such as comedies, musicals, documentaries, thrillers, dramas and animation. The massive ShortsHD film catalog features Academy Award winners and nominees, International film festival winners and nominees, high quality CGI animation as well as cinematic gems from international independent filmmakers, among many others. The network also includes a range of short film-related programming, such as film festival news, 'making-of' features and film school vignettes. Every night is premiere night on ShortsHD, with a new short movie debuting at Midnight Eastern/9pm Pacific.

In its first month on Dish, the TV network will feature Academy Award nominated drama Overnight Sensation (19 April � 12/9p) starring Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) as a writer whose sudden literary success agitates her resentful husband (Robert Loggia - Independence Day). Chiara (21 April � 12/9p) is an Irish romantic comedy from writer/director Chris Roche that charts a romantic encounter between an Italian girl and an Irish boy. For animal lovers Hallo Panda (24 April-12/9p) is the hilarious and oddly touching tale of two tourists � one an American alcoholic, the other a Chinese Panda � whose mutual loneliness sparks a tender friendship.



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