'Lord of the Rings' a big winner at 6th annual DVD Entertainment Awards

New Line Home Entertainment's special edition of 'Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring' took four of the 15 DVD Awards handed out by host Leonard Maltin at the 6th Annual DVD Awards gala at the Universal City Hilton in Los Angeles.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' disc received the award for Best Standard Release as well as the Viewers' Choice honours. The event was the most well attended DVD Awards yet, with more than 400 leading executives from Hollywood's content community.
The DVD Awards is held annually in conjunction with the DVD Conference and Showcase and is produced by the International Recording Media Association (IRMA) and United Media Entertainment (UEM).
The purpose is to honour the technical and artistic achievements involved specifically in the creation of DVDs from menu design to the use of special features, with awards in 15 categories.
"This year, more than ever, it's clear that people regard watching a movie on DVD as an experience all its own - quite apart from seeing the same film in a theatre," says renowned critic and historian Leonard Maltin, MC of the awards for the past four years. "Nothing illustrates this point more pointedly than the extended edition of Fellowship of the Ring prepared especially for DVD by the film's director Peter Jackson."
New Line Home Entertainment's President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Einhorn also received the DVD Awards' 2nd Annual Pioneer Award in recognition of his tireless efforts to help get DVD off the ground in the earliest days before many in his field saw the format's powerful potential.
(GB)