Kino Lorber’s MHz Choice and Topic will merge into one streaming service, the company announced.
The combined product will become the exclusive U.S. streaming home of hit German series “Babylon Berlin” starting in April. As of Feb. 29, the series is no longer available in the country on Netflix, which previously held the U.S. streaming rights.
Co-created, written and directed by Tom Twyker, Achim von Borries and Hendrik Handloegten, “Babylon Berlin” is based on the novels by Volker Kutscher and distributed by Beta Film. The fourth season of the drama, which has not been available for streaming in North America before, will land on the new service June 25.
Along with “Babylon Berlin,” MHz Choice and Topic’s combined lineup will include “The Killing,” “The Bridge,” “Detective Montalbano,” “The Sea Beyond,” “Pagan Peak,” “A French Village,” “Spiral,” “Beck” and “Murder In.”
Current MHz Choice and Topic subscribers will be...
The combined product will become the exclusive U.S. streaming home of hit German series “Babylon Berlin” starting in April. As of Feb. 29, the series is no longer available in the country on Netflix, which previously held the U.S. streaming rights.
Co-created, written and directed by Tom Twyker, Achim von Borries and Hendrik Handloegten, “Babylon Berlin” is based on the novels by Volker Kutscher and distributed by Beta Film. The fourth season of the drama, which has not been available for streaming in North America before, will land on the new service June 25.
Along with “Babylon Berlin,” MHz Choice and Topic’s combined lineup will include “The Killing,” “The Bridge,” “Detective Montalbano,” “The Sea Beyond,” “Pagan Peak,” “A French Village,” “Spiral,” “Beck” and “Murder In.”
Current MHz Choice and Topic subscribers will be...
- 2/29/2024
- by Jennifer Maas
- Variety Film + TV
Kino Lorber’s streaming platform MHz Choice is merging with First Look Media’s Topic platform to create a single North American streamer, operating under the MHz Choice brand, specializing in international series and films for the domestic market.
Kino Lorber and First Look Media launched a joint venture in 2022 that bundled their streaming activities. The new agreement will fold both MHz Choice and Topic into a single platform.
Kino Lorber Chief Operating Officer Martha Benyam will oversee the new combined service, with Lisa Schwartz, Kino Lorber Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing distribution and partnerships, Executive Vice President, Content Strategy Lance Schwulst continuing to oversee programming and Monica Bloom, who joined Kino Lorber from Topic, continuing to serve as Chief Marketing Officer.
The new service has secured exclusive North American rights to award-winning German period series Babylon Berlin from sales group Beta Film and will stream all four seasons of the show.
Kino Lorber and First Look Media launched a joint venture in 2022 that bundled their streaming activities. The new agreement will fold both MHz Choice and Topic into a single platform.
Kino Lorber Chief Operating Officer Martha Benyam will oversee the new combined service, with Lisa Schwartz, Kino Lorber Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing distribution and partnerships, Executive Vice President, Content Strategy Lance Schwulst continuing to oversee programming and Monica Bloom, who joined Kino Lorber from Topic, continuing to serve as Chief Marketing Officer.
The new service has secured exclusive North American rights to award-winning German period series Babylon Berlin from sales group Beta Film and will stream all four seasons of the show.
- 2/29/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“The Sea Beyond,” the Naples-set prison drama that has become a pop culture phenomenon in Italy, has been bought by U.S. streamer MHz Choice for North America.
Represented in international markets by Beta Film, all four seasons of the drama will premiere exclusively on MHz Choice, with the first season premiering this fall in the U.S. and Canada.
“The Sea Beyond,” which airs on public broadcaster Rai’s Rai Play streaming platform, follows Filippo (Nicolas Maupas) and Carmine (Massimiliano Caiazzo) as their resilience and loyalties are tested while serving time in a juvenile detention center on the Gulf of Naples. As Variety reported earlier this year, the third season of the show scored record-breaking ratings just as previous installments played in more than 20 international territories. Rai Play is believed to have gained roughly 300,000 new subscribers as Season 3 kicked off. The series was created by Cristiana Farina, who co-wrote the script with Maurizio Careddu.
Represented in international markets by Beta Film, all four seasons of the drama will premiere exclusively on MHz Choice, with the first season premiering this fall in the U.S. and Canada.
“The Sea Beyond,” which airs on public broadcaster Rai’s Rai Play streaming platform, follows Filippo (Nicolas Maupas) and Carmine (Massimiliano Caiazzo) as their resilience and loyalties are tested while serving time in a juvenile detention center on the Gulf of Naples. As Variety reported earlier this year, the third season of the show scored record-breaking ratings just as previous installments played in more than 20 international territories. Rai Play is believed to have gained roughly 300,000 new subscribers as Season 3 kicked off. The series was created by Cristiana Farina, who co-wrote the script with Maurizio Careddu.
- 8/31/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
A new Kino Lorber-led joint venture will manage both Topic and international content rival MHz.
US distributor and streamer Kino Lorber has formed a joint venture with First Look Media that will encompass the companies respective North American streaming services MHz Choice and Topic.
Kino Lorber will be the majority owner of the as yet unnamed joint venture and have management oversight of both MHz, which it acquired late last year, and Topic (Topic Studios is not part of the joint venture). Both services offer American audiences access to international television series such as the MHz’s Detective Montalbano and Topic’s The Killing.
US distributor and streamer Kino Lorber has formed a joint venture with First Look Media that will encompass the companies respective North American streaming services MHz Choice and Topic.
Kino Lorber will be the majority owner of the as yet unnamed joint venture and have management oversight of both MHz, which it acquired late last year, and Topic (Topic Studios is not part of the joint venture). Both services offer American audiences access to international television series such as the MHz’s Detective Montalbano and Topic’s The Killing.
- 5/22/2023
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Kino Lorber and First Look Media have formed a joint venture to operate their respective streaming services, MHz Choice and Topic.
The new entity will be run by Kino Lorber, which will also take a majority stake. Programming, marketing and technology will be handled by MHz Networks founder Frederick Thomas. Topic Gm Ryan Chanatry and Jennifer Liang, who oversaw acquisitions for the streaming service, will consult through the transition period. Kino Lorber’s streaming services are overseen by Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll, the former longtime AMC Networks exec who joined the company earlier this year.
Programming for both Topic streaming and MHz Choice will be overseen by Lance Schwulst, SVP of Content Strategy for MHz Networks. Monica Bloom, VP of Marketing for Topic, will join the Jv as Chief Marketing Officer for both services.
Topic, which launched as an effort to showcase high-caliber international series and eventually focused in on the crime genre,...
The new entity will be run by Kino Lorber, which will also take a majority stake. Programming, marketing and technology will be handled by MHz Networks founder Frederick Thomas. Topic Gm Ryan Chanatry and Jennifer Liang, who oversaw acquisitions for the streaming service, will consult through the transition period. Kino Lorber’s streaming services are overseen by Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll, the former longtime AMC Networks exec who joined the company earlier this year.
Programming for both Topic streaming and MHz Choice will be overseen by Lance Schwulst, SVP of Content Strategy for MHz Networks. Monica Bloom, VP of Marketing for Topic, will join the Jv as Chief Marketing Officer for both services.
Topic, which launched as an effort to showcase high-caliber international series and eventually focused in on the crime genre,...
- 5/22/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
The streamer specialises in international series.
US arthouse distributor Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, parent of streamer MHz Choice, a North American SVOD service that screens international television series.
With the acquisition, Kino Lorber Media Group will have more than 10,000 hours of international series and films under license, the company said.
MHz Networks CEO Frederick Thomas and senior vice president of content strategy Lance Schwulst will continue to lead MHz Networks within Kino Lorber Media Group.
MHz Networks was an early entrant into the boutique streaming market, launching MHz Choice in 2015. The service has screened series including Wallander, Detective Montalbano and Paris Police 1900.
US arthouse distributor Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, parent of streamer MHz Choice, a North American SVOD service that screens international television series.
With the acquisition, Kino Lorber Media Group will have more than 10,000 hours of international series and films under license, the company said.
MHz Networks CEO Frederick Thomas and senior vice president of content strategy Lance Schwulst will continue to lead MHz Networks within Kino Lorber Media Group.
MHz Networks was an early entrant into the boutique streaming market, launching MHz Choice in 2015. The service has screened series including Wallander, Detective Montalbano and Paris Police 1900.
- 11/3/2022
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
New York-based arthouse distributor Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, the parent company of MHz Choice, an online streaming service dedicated to international television series.
Under the deal, announced Thursday, Kino Lorber will add its library of more than 5,000 titles to MHz Choice, which specializes in non-u.S. TV series, streaming such shows as Scandinavian crime dramas Wallander and Beck, or French period procedural Paris Police 1900. The entire staff of both MHz Networks and Kino Lorber will remain in place, with CEO Frederick Thomas and SVP of Content Strategy Lance Schwulst continuing to lead MHz Networks within Kino Lorber Media Group.
“MHz’s track record of curating best-in-class series from around the world has helped it build one of the most loyal subscriber audiences in streaming,” said Kino Lorber president and CEO Richard Lorber in a statement. “At a time when Hollywood...
New York-based arthouse distributor Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, the parent company of MHz Choice, an online streaming service dedicated to international television series.
Under the deal, announced Thursday, Kino Lorber will add its library of more than 5,000 titles to MHz Choice, which specializes in non-u.S. TV series, streaming such shows as Scandinavian crime dramas Wallander and Beck, or French period procedural Paris Police 1900. The entire staff of both MHz Networks and Kino Lorber will remain in place, with CEO Frederick Thomas and SVP of Content Strategy Lance Schwulst continuing to lead MHz Networks within Kino Lorber Media Group.
“MHz’s track record of curating best-in-class series from around the world has helped it build one of the most loyal subscriber audiences in streaming,” said Kino Lorber president and CEO Richard Lorber in a statement. “At a time when Hollywood...
- 11/3/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, the owner and operator of subscription streaming outlet MHz Choice and a specialist in bringing international TV series to North American audiences.
After the transaction, Kino Lorber Media Group has more than 5,000 titles and 10,000 hours of programming, much of it prestige and arthouse fare. It is the biggest push yet into streaming for Kino Lorber, which was formed in 2009 after Lorber Ht Digital acquired and merged with Kino International, though it has has had a presence in streaming with transactional VOD purveyor Kino Now and virtual cinema hub Kino Marquee. The company has been a fixture of the festival circuit and Oscar season in recent years, releasing films like Martin Eden, Bacurau and Taxi.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Kino Lorber President & CEO Richard Lorber said the sensibilities and business strategy of MHz are a fit with his company. “MHz’s track...
After the transaction, Kino Lorber Media Group has more than 5,000 titles and 10,000 hours of programming, much of it prestige and arthouse fare. It is the biggest push yet into streaming for Kino Lorber, which was formed in 2009 after Lorber Ht Digital acquired and merged with Kino International, though it has has had a presence in streaming with transactional VOD purveyor Kino Now and virtual cinema hub Kino Marquee. The company has been a fixture of the festival circuit and Oscar season in recent years, releasing films like Martin Eden, Bacurau and Taxi.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Kino Lorber President & CEO Richard Lorber said the sensibilities and business strategy of MHz are a fit with his company. “MHz’s track...
- 11/3/2022
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
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