Word Distribution has announced the signing of a long-term distribution agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE), with two promotions of marketing veterans and three new positions in the marketing department to represent distributed label-marketing services.

The agreement renews the two-and-a-half-year contract between Word and Fox that has resulted in a significant increase in sales of family-friendly and faith-based films in the Christian retail market. TCFHE's ongoing commitment to provide these types of film and marketing support to the CBA marketplace was further solidified by the recent renewal of a long-term

Along with the agreement, TCFHE has solidified details of its new “FoxFaith” imprint to distribute faith-based film projects with limited theater runs, first announced in February. All films that appear with the FoxFaith logo will contain overtly Christian content and be based on stories and books by best-selling Christian authors, Word said in a statement.

TCFHE previously released to home-viewing Frank Peretti's Hangman's Curse, Janette Oke's Hallmark Channel series including Love Comes Softly and Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ. Upcoming TCFHE releases include Three, based on the best-selling book by Ted Dekker; Mother Teresa, staring Oscar-nominated actress Olivia Hussey; and The Last Sin Eater, based on the book by Francine Rivers.

“Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is excited about the continued growth in our relationship with Word Distribution, whom we view as a critical strategic partner in the development of our faith-based business,” said Jeff Yordy, vice president acquired marketing for TCFHE. “With the launch of the FoxFaith brand nationally later this year, over a dozen new Christian films in production and important additional strategic initiatives underway, Word has become a critical part of driving this business forward, and we are pleased to expand our relationship with them.”

“We've been excited to see the family and faith-based film market grow exponentially over the last couple of years, and we're very proud to be associated with Jeff Yordy and his team,” said Mark Funderburg, president of Word Distribution. “Because of this growth, we've been able to assemble a team here in Nashville, under the leadership of Laura Neutzling, to specifically move forward with this important initiative. These new resources will enable us to reach our goal of doubling family and faith based film sales for our retailers by this time in 2007.”

Word Distribution has promoted Neutzling, former senior marketing director, to vice president of marketing; and Rodney Bowen, former marketing director, to senior marketing director. Word has hired Josh Mullenix as marketing manager, John Chapman as marketing coordinator and Matt Toth as manager of marketing services.

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