Exclusive Film Distribution is based in London and will make its market debut at the AFM next month. Exclusive will handle worldwide sales and distribution for both Spitfire Pictures and Hammer Films, both of which fall under the HS Media banner. Additional films on the company’s international slate will be announced over the coming weeks.

Veteran sales executive Peter Naish has joined Exclusive as Head of Sales, reporting to President and Chairman of HS Media’s Sales and Distribution Operation, Guy East, and Managing Director Andy Mayson.

Exclusive will also be actively sourcing negative pick up and third party productions for sales and distribution. Exclusive has adopted the name of the company initially used to distribute the original Hammer films in the 1940’s and 1950’s, when the name Exclusive was synonymous with British filmmaking.

Under HS Media, Spitfire and Hammer operate as two separate production entities. HS Media aims to produce 6-8 films per year and to acquire additional pictures for worldwide distribution through its London-based subsidiary Exclusive Film Distribution.  The group also develops projects for television and digital platforms.
 
HS Media has over 300 titles in the combined Hammer and Spitfire libraries and will pursue an aggressive library acquisition policy. The Hammer library is noted for its remake potential and the company is in discussions with A-list writers and directors to revive and re-imagine some of the highly touted titles.

The announcement is of particular interest to Hammer fans as Exclusive was the name of the sister company of the original Hammer, founded in 1935 by Enrique Carreras and Will Hinds (aka. Hammer) to serve principally as a sales and distribution concern.

Exclusive was effectively wound up as a distribution entity in the early 1960s, though the company remained in existence until the early 1980s. Interestingly after years of frustration for the Hammer group of companies, it now appears to be adopting a similar strategy to the one which made it a success in the 1950s. Both Beyond the Rave and new film The Wake Wood are low-budget productions, and The Wake Wood  is also being distibuted by Exclusive (with the UK rights having been subsequently picked up by Vertigo Films).

Here at unofficialhammerfilms.com we're delighted by the choice of imagery for the new Exclusive Film Distribution logo. The company has updated the classic Exclusive logo depicting a sailing boat at sea (and which featured on company advertising as well as onscreen). A full-colour version of the logo is available on the new company's website - www.exclusivefilmdistribution.com

For more on the background to the original Exclusive, Hammer have published an article by Exclusive scholar Robert J.E. Simpson called "It's Exclusive".