Mark Berry's AMG Enters Lifestyle Programming Arena With AMG Lifestyle

Sizzlin' Cooking Show Poised For Major Broadcast Deals Internationally AMG Lifestyle's First Rollout. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) February 05, 2015 - TORONTO - It's in 2015 that AMG decided to create a new division to enter Canadian television - lifestyle.

The production company is already present in the country for eighteen years providing music and related services to the international film industry landing high profile placements in films from The Matrix Reloaded to TV's America's Most Wanted. Recently, Berry along with AMG EVP Rob "Kelo" Hendricks developed and executive produced the live concert feature film, Drake's Homecoming The Lost Footage, in an international partnership with Specticast, Fathom/AMC, Cineplex Odeon & Rap-a-Lot Records. North American theatrical is set with AMC & Cineplex Odeon for March 19, 2015

For years focusing on music, AMG found an opportunity to carve a new space and saw potential in the consumption of lifestyle programming among the Canada's various ethnicities. Today lifestyle content on television is pervasive. AMG has been responsible for opening up genres with their new international cookery show, Sizzlin'. It was the right time for AMG to start its lifestyle portfolio with the acquisition and launch of B-Squared Entertainment, co-executive production team of Sizzlin' headed up by Frank Blenman.

AMG Lifestyle's long-term goal is to create new segments of lifestyle ranging from wine, cheese, travel, cuisine to high life. Sizzlin' was an overnight success as it was loved for its refreshing and differentiated content by international broadcasters, affiliates and advertisers.

Frank Blenman, B-Squared's co-president, was made to look after the lifestyle initiative. The vision of launching AMG Lifestyle was to increase people's horizons. "We did a whole lot of background work to find out about the various cultures and society, what people want, what their aspirations are, what they read. It was a time when people were open to new things. We offer them that. We show them new places to travel, explore different kinds of cuisine and even different hotels to stay in. We wanted to help discover different kinds of holidays, driving experiences, vineyards, wine etc." said Blenman.

Blenman noted the challenge of being a first mover. "We had to build brand familiarization by effectively communicating the proposition and developing a community for first-time viewers of a new category of television entertainment. People were getting more interested in leisure time activities. They also started becoming more interested in brands whether it was clothing or cars. The concept of eating in restaurants and experimenting with food was catching on. A big change was going on in urban North America in terms of how people spent their money and lived. We want AMG Lifestyle to became the default production entity for new lifestyle entertainment in North America."

We had three challenges reacted to the stakeholders in this business. One challenge was convincing distributors that Sizzlin' was worth showing. You had to persuade advertisers that this is something worth being invested in.

After all, advertisers plan budgets for different types in advance. Viewers also had to be convinced as they have viewing habits. They have eight to ten shows that they choose from. We had to break into that."

Growing exposure to lifestyle also helped AMG grow. "I remember getting emails from people saying that they had planned a Caribbean holiday after watching the Sizzlin' screener. Watchers wrote that they visited a restaurant after it was featured on our AMG screener for Sizzlin'. They were planning trips around television content. This was a testament to the fact that we got both our launch timing right and programming right," said Berry. We generated interest from the advertising and marketing communities very early on." For Blenman the key to success lay in being ahead of the curve in identifying emerging trends and developing programming for a supreme viewing experience. There was increasing awareness and desire to know more about the world around, different life style, cuisine, trends, etc.

The plan going forward is to continue to bring in more types of lifestyle entertainment and to broaden AMG's Lifestyle appeal, present more acclaimed personalities, amplify Canadian content and invest in marketing and distribution of a Lifestyle channel.

"AMG is positioned to be the premium lifestyle producer and will continue to enhance its offering with a wide variety of lifestyle content. The Canadian television landscape is ever changing and we have stayed ahead of the curve by recognizing the evolving trends and addressing them by creating new television genres and distinct audience segments. We are committed to further invest in content, distribution and promotion to deliver the finest viewing experience and offer the maximum value to the advertisers," concludes Berry.

About Mark S. Berry & AMG:
AMG is a leading Toronto based entertainment & media company with an unparalleled client list of artists and content creators across film, television, music and digital media. Led by an experienced and innovative management team, AMG was formed in 1998 by international record producer, engineer & mixer Mark S. Berry, Music Producer and operates under his leadership as Chairman. Berry, whose extensive production, engineering & re-mixing talents has earned him 36 international gold & platinum records for such notable Grammy & Juno nominated musical icons as, Davie Bowie, Duran Duran, Yes, Boy George, Billy Idol, Kool & The Gang, Cameo, Carly Simon, Joan Jett & many, many more. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices in NYC, LA, Hong Kong, Seoul & Beijing.

Berry along with AMG EVP Rob "Kelo" Hendricks developed and executive produced the live concert feature film, Drake's Homecoming The Lost Footage, in an international partnership with Specticast, Fathom/AMC, Cineplex Odeon and Rap-a-Lot Records. Theatrical is set with AMC & Cineplex Odeon for March 19, 2015.

Through its partner companies, including award-winning global creative music supervision agency AttackTrax, AMG also provides clients with unique music advertising, music brand integration and marketing opportunities across traditional, social media, mobile, film, television and gaming platforms. Already the owner of an extensive music publishing catalogue in affiliation with BMG Music, AMG's mission is to target potential acquisitions in the music, film & television industries ranging from independent record labels, artists, writers, DVD, feature length films, extreme sports content to purchases in the music publishing sector. AMG's focus is music distribution through its deal with Universal Music Group Distribution, the insertions of music into international feature film & television, as well as the development of reality based and documentary television programming.

About AttackTrax:
AttackTrax is one of the world's leading providers of 100% pre-cleared production music in all media. AttackTrax is committed to quality and offers 10,000+ tracks of music in all genres from world renowned music publishing catalogs. Previous AttackTrax insertions have included Making of The Matrix Reloaded, Coach Carter, Urban Legend, Harvard Man, Dawsons Creek, Roswell, MTV, Viacom, VH1 and many more including major sports programs internationally. The attacktrax.com website has been designed as a state-of-the-art, automated, online customer experience and decision engine that functions on all platforms and complements an already world-class AttackTrax brand.

For more information, please visit:
www.attackmediagroup.com
www.attacktrax.com
www.markberry.com.

For AMG publicity:
info ( @ ) attackmediagroup dot com.
kelo ( @ ) attackmediagroup dot com.

Contact: Rob "Kelo" Hendricks
+1-416-340-9111 Ext. 1.

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