Razor will handle distribution for titles and lines produced for and by Black Widow, with the new company beginning foreign operations in late April.
Titles produced prior to the change will continue to be distributed under the Black Widow Productions label.
After the changeover, Black Widow Productions will shift from distribution to producing one movie per month. Titles from its current stable of producers, including Team Tyler Productions, Jose Pusher Productions, SSM Productions, Hollywood Hunter Productions and numerous producers from Europe, will continue to ship from North America.
Ric Williams, president of Black Widow Productions, also will head Razor North America. Williams said his previous experience as president of Private North America, whose parent company is based in Barcelona, Spain, gives him the knowledge to help U.S. producers looking to expand their business overseas.
“With our prior global experience with the Private Media Group, we felt the time was right to develop an international distribution company that would give American producers exposure to the world market without getting ripped off by licensing deals and money that never shows up," Williams said.
Razor encompasses three companies, Razor North America, Razor International Trading and Black Widow Productions.
Razor International Trading is headquartered in Marbella, Spain, with offices in Barcelona, Spain, and Copenhagen, Denmark, and is headed by its president, Lars Merland, who also is a partner in Black Widow Productions.
Razor International Trading also has appointed Jonas Ramirez, previously in charge of global sales for Private Media Group, as head of its sales efforts.
"We have positive responses from distributors worldwide to carry the lines produced and distributed by Black Widow Productions, and we plan to ship our first four titles during the last week in April," Ramirez said. "We will also be putting titles in hotels, on mobile phones, on video-on-demand and on cable in Europe for added revenue."
North American distribution will shift from Black Widow Productions to Razor North America on May 1.
"Our customers will notice a change only in the name on the invoice, and we will continue our excellent service to our customers in North America," Lisa, vice president of Black Widow Productions and Razor North America, said.
Williams added, "We are actively looking for American producers of top quality material who wish to maintain ownership of their titles but are looking for top-quality distribution on a global basis for their movies."
Producers/directors can contact Ric Williams at ric@blackwidowproductions.com.