Letter From CEO & President Mark E. Astrom
Dear Shareholders,
I would like to introduce myself to those of you that I have not met and/or spoken with personally. To the shareholders that I have had the opportunity to meet, thank you once again for your support of Vision Works Media Group and New Screen Television.
I would like to address a few of the key areas of our business that have been brought to my attention over the past few months. I would also like to bring everyone up to speed on the state of the industry and particularly Vision Works Media Group.
Vision Works Media Group (symbol: vwkm) currently has roughly 564 million shares in the public float and roughly 2 billion shares that are restricted and under management control. These numbers are a matter of public record and are available to interested third parties and the investment community. Our transfer agent has agreed to make these numbers available to any and all interested parties. The share structure is also available on the Vision Works Media Group web site. The numbers are frequently up-dated; please check the web site before contacting us or before contacting the transfer agent. Please note that due to the forward split effectuated August 30th of this year, the symbol has changed from vswm to vwkm. Once again, there is no reverse split planned.
We have made a DVD of our television programming available from New Screen TV. This DVD is a broadcast capture, or “snap shot,” of what was shown on New Screen TV during one of our broadcasts. I have received numerous requests for a copy of this DVD, and I am delighted to be able to satisfy these requests. Please email us at adsales@newscreen.tv and indicate that you would like a copy of the DVD. Please provide your name, address, and telephone number, and we will send a copy of the DVD to you at the address you provide to us.
Over the last six months Vision Works Media Group has made tremendous progress and achieved a number of important and key milestones. From a macro perspective, New Screen TV has successfully launched as an independent film channel in Orlando, and with absolutely zero down time of our signal. The quality of our feed is superb. New Screen TV has also signed its first contract for distribution outside of Orlando, and as a channel that is part of a “basic package” of service in the world of pay-TV (cable, satellite, and fiber-to-the-home). This is the direction of the channel, and the company, going forward, and the success we are enjoying now puts us at least six months ahead of our original business plan. I must add that this rapid acceleration is in part the result of the addition of Rick Erikson to the New Screen TV team six months ago. Rick is a veteran of the television industry, starting with HBO, DIRECTV, and DIRECTV Latin America. Rick continues to open doors that would not normally be available to a young organization like New Screen TV. His experience and industry insight will be instrumental in the ongoing negotiations for greater distribution and continued business expansion.
The television industry is in a state of transition that is creating untold opportunities for new broadcasting companies like Vision Works Media Group. Digital technologies have made signal transmission and channel programming vastly more streamlined and economical than ten years ago – in fact the change is profound from the standpoint of even five years ago. New Screen TV has picked up affiliates – for distribution of our channel – like Optical Entertainment Network (OEN), a cutting-edge, fiber-to-the-home operator in Houston, Texas (the tenth largest market in the U.S.). Companies like OEN are defining the future of communications to residential consumers. TV, broadband, and telephony will finally all be available, at unprecedented quality levels, from one company when consumers bring OEN’s fiber networks into their homes. The future of digital TV and communications is here now, and it is a boon to the market.
Expansion is only a good thing if it is managed well and correctly. At New Screen TV, we are keeping a tight rein on costs and on our budgets. Prudent cost management, timely investment in our physical plant through effective capital expenditures, and stringent control of staff growth allows the company to move forward with confidence and with continued success.
Advertising will allow New Screen TV to realize significant and growing revenues in 2006 and beyond. As the channel switches from a local to a national focus, ad sales will switch as well. National and international brands and products are negotiating to establish an advertising relationship with us now, and those relationships are being structured to be long-term, innovative, and profitable. Ad sales began this year for inventory on our web site, and that category of our ad revenue is poised for substantial growth in the fiscal quarters and years ahead.
New Screen TV plays an increasingly important role in the global independent film community. Films like “The Blair Witch Project” or “The Brothers McMullen,” to name just two, were shot and produced for only a few thousand dollars each. Through brilliant marketing and timing, they both went on to produce millions of dollars in revenues. Today, with the advent of greatly increased computer processing technologies and the enormous reductions in cost for memory in computers, many thousands of independent films are being created every year. Venues for exhibition and movie theaters cannot possibly support the volume of films created. Additionally, these films are independent and they do not have large studios funding or pushing them into the exhibition marketplace where viewers can see them. These films can only be seen at film festivals or, with an attendant level of quality that doesn’t come close to doing them justice, online. Go to a film festival, the films are great! However, only a tiny number of them are ever picked up for distribution. Once a film has done it’s festival run of one to two years, it looses its ability to connect with an audience. The film has had its run, and it cannot do it again. New Screen TV was created to support these wonderful but under-exposed films. These are extraordinary films with tremendous insight and true originality. They are absolutely pushing the envelope of filmmaking today. Now filmmakers are embracing the opportunity to have their works seen by millions of viewers on television via New Screen TV. It is in this broad audience that filmmakers will find their following, their future audience and supporters, and their future funding. This is the large niche that New Screen TV fills.
How many times have we said, “400 channels and nothing on?” New Screen TV debuts a new film every night at 7:00 PM. How many TV channels can honestly make that claim? We take the business of television just as seriously as we take the business of film. This is immediately obvious to anyone who has viewed New Screen TV.
I have said many times that this is a symbiotic relationship between New Screen TV and the filmmaker. The real relationship is between the filmmaker and the audience; and New Screen TV is the venue that facilitates that relationship. I am thrilled that the public has requested copies of the New Screen TV DVD. In fact, I am sorry I did not think of it myself! We responded to an enthusiastic interest in what we are doing. The films we are showing today are just the tip of the iceberg.
Thank you for supporting the birth and early life of America’s most innovative, exciting and rapidly expanding television channel. With your continued support we expect even greater success in the years ahead.
Sincerely,
Mark E. Astrom
CEO & President
Vision Works Media Group, Inc.
Ref:
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