Siren Visual
Siren Visual is an Australian company which specialises in the distribution of Japanese anime, documentaries and off-beat cinema in Australia and New Zealand.
History
Founder and managing director Nigel Rennard started Siren in 1987 as a music distribution company. As the company grew, so too did its scope with the addition of VHS distribution in 1994.
A full service distribution company, Siren managed labels such as Manga Entertainment, Madman Entertainment, Redemption and Chinatown Video. Siren also undertook acquisition of its own titles and was the first company responsible for bringing the works of John Woo, Jet Li and Jackie Chan to the Australian home entertainment market.[1].
The popularity of the Pokemon franchise, licensed in 1998, propelled the company to become one of the largest independent distributors in Australia Siren Visual won the Australian Video Retailers Association best independent distributor awards in both 1999 and 2000.
With the advent of DVD in the early 2000’s, Siren repositioned itself as a specialist licensing company. Distribution was outsourced to Shock Records, allowing a more concentrated operational structure focusing solely on acquisitions.[1].
Siren steadily increased its operations between 2001 and 2006. At the beginning of 2007 Siren parted ways with Shock Records, teaming up with independent sales and distribution company Gryphon Entertainment to continue and expand the business.
2006 saw Siren release Roger Watkins' underground classic Last House On Dead End Street. Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (which had previously been banned in Australia for 23 years) followed soon after.[2].
Siren has released films by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Fernando Arrabal, Jan Švankmajer, Takashi Miike, Larry Clark, Tinto Brass, Lucio Fulci and Herschell Gordon Lewis; contemporary European films from Koen Mortier, György Pálfi and Marina De Van; as well as work by Australian film-makers Kriv Stenders, Eddie Martin and Maya Newell.
Siren continues to license anime for the Australian market from companies such as Bandai, Gonzo, Klockworx, Nippon TV and Madhouse. In June 2009, Siren released the first collection of Studio 4°C's Genius Party on DVD, the first Genius Party title to be released ouside of Japan. A second Genius Party collection, Genius Party Beyond followed in September.
Two documentaries released by Siren Visual were nominated for Australian Film Institute awards in 2009 - Amiel Courtin-Wilson's Bastardy and Eddie Martin's Lionel.[3].
Cult 1960's TV series The Samurai will be reissued by Siren Visual beginning with the first series in February 2010. In November 2009 SBS Television broadcast a documentary that reviewed the impact of the series and featured interview material with Siren Visual founder Nigel Rennard[4].
External links
References
- ^ a b "Siren Visual". Siren VIsual/About. Siren Visual. 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2009-11-19. Cite error: The named reference "Siren Visual" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Cannibal Holocaust no longer banned in Australia". Cannibal Holocaust. Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia). 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
- ^ "AFI Awards 2009". AFI Award Nominations 2009. Australian Film Institute. 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
- ^ "Shintaro". Shintaro!. Special Broadcasting Service. 2009-11-04. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- The Samurai DVDs Series 1 to 6 (Siren Visual Entertainment)