Mantra Entertainment, the production company behind the infamous “Girls Gone Wild” (GGW) video series, and Jive Records announced today that they have teamed up to create a series of “Girls Gone Wild” music compilations.
The first compilation is scheduled for an early first quarter ’04 release, and will feature a mix of tracks by the hottest chart-topping artists and old school party songs. The “Girls Gone Wild” compilations will also exclusively feature one to two groundbreaking artists, with the goal of creating a platform for Mantra and Jive to launch new artists. Recently, compilations have proven to be a highly profitable and successful format for the recording industry. The “NOW That’s What I Call Music!” series is just one example.
Mantra will market and distribute the “Girls Gone Wild” compilations via its direct response marketing operation, including through promotions during Mantra’s college campus tours and as an integral part of Mantra’s popular infomercials, which air on such cable channels as E! Entertainment Television, TNT, BET and Comedy Central.
“The ‘Girls Gone Wild’ compilations will capture the spirit and youthful party lifestyle that the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ brand has come to signify,” said Joe Francis, the Chairman of Mantra Entertainment. “With the quality of Jive/Zomba’s catalog, the appeal of the ‘Girls Gone Wild brand,’ our combined marketing expertise and our complementary distribution outlets, we are on our way to creating an extraordinarily profitable alliance.”
The “Girls Gone Wild” brand has spawned dozens of extremely successful titles, which capture adventurous young women against settings such as Mardi Gras and Spring Break. Today’s announcement is only the first business venture of many by Mantra that will capitalize on the huge popularity of the GGW brand. Currently, a fictionalized major motion picture with MGM is in the works; a restaurant chain and apparel lines are in the works for 2004.
“We look forward to working with Mantra on creating an exciting music series that we believe will be enthusiastically received by fans of the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ brand, as well as music lovers in general. Our goal is to deliver non-stop party mix CDs that will become must-have collectibles,” said Julia Lipari, the Senior Vice President of Special Projects & Marketing for Jive Records.
ROAR brought the parties together and will oversee Mantra’s interest in the “Girls Gone Wild” compilations.
Mantra Entertainment is the leading producer and distributor of reality-based programming worldwide. Formed in 1997, Mantra recognized the opportunity to develop reality-based, direct-to-consumer video titles that did not fit the traditional mold of studio-distributed product. The company has established its reputation by creating key franchises such as the pop-culture phenomenon “Girls Gone Wild.”
Jive Records and its associated Zomba labels, Silvertone, Verity, Mojo and Volcano, are home to a diverse group of top entertainers, including: R. Kelly, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Three Days Grace, Petey Pablo, *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Nick Carter, Joe, Mystikal, JC Chasez, Aaron Carter, Nivea, Nick Cannon, Mobb Deep, Buddy Guy, Tool and Weird Al Yankovic. The company is owned by BMG, the worldwide music division of Bertelsmann AG.
ROAR, an integrated media company that specializes in talent management and film and television production, brought the parties together and manages brands for Mantra. Together with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., ROAR is producing, marketing and distributing the movie “Girls Gone Wild.”