For those that heavily rely on press and photos. The competition has been purchased.
For those that don't know, Getty and Wireimage have been and will be at every major event that you will ever attend.
They are very important to your future as a Socialite or Celebrity.
For this press release to not mention its founders is a travesty. so here is the bio's of wireimage co-founders:
WireImage was established by five photographers - Lester Cohen, Steve Granitz, Michael Caulfield, Jeff Vespa and Kevin Mazur - and four investment bankers and technology experts - Justin Kahn, Paul Donohue, Jason Nevader and Josh Tang. It has become a leading supplier of `entertainment photography' to magazines, since it was set up a few years ago.
Jeff Vespa is an artist, well-known celebrity photographer and Co-founder and Vice-President of the global digital photographic agency, WireImage. He is responsible for the creation of the WireImage Celebrity Portrait Studio that has become an integral part of the independent film festival worldwide and is the official photographer for the Sundance Film Festival, where he captures the portraits of all attending stars. Vespa shoots a monthly celebrity portrait spread for LA Confidential and is the Hollywood Reporter's photographer, producing the high-profile covers for the Power 100 and Next Gen issues.
Kevin Mazur
Kevin Mazur's career as a world-class photographer spans twenty-five years of music history. As a staff photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine, Mazur shot many of the world's greatest performers to become the top music photographer in the world. In 2001, Mazur co-founded WireImage and later launched WireImage's sister agency, Contour Photos, a premier stock photo agency designed specifically for the high-end celebrity portraiture market. His photos have appeared in numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, People, Entertainment Weekly, Musician, Spin US, Newsweek, and more. Previously, he was the top-producing photographer with London Features photo agency. In its April 2005 issue, American Photo named Kevin Mazur #4 among the 100 most important contemporary people in photography. Kevin Mazur is a WireImage Co-Founder.
Kevin Mazur, who features in the current edition of Vanity Fair, bypassed his fellow photographers and sauntered into the event, having secured the enviable tag allowing him comprehensive access to the stars.
Hailed by Barbra Streisand as a "very pleasant person" and credited for having "impeccable manners" by David Bowie, Kevin Mazur is one of the co-founders of Wire- Image, which continues to secure greater or more exclusive access at celebrity events around the world.
Steve Granitz
One of the most recognized and prolific celebrity event photographers in the world, Granitz has covered high-profile entertainment events and personalities for the past twenty years, including award shows, movie premieres, and more. Granitz's photos have appeared in countless publications, including People, Newsweek, Time, US Magazine, and Rolling Stone. Steve Granitz is a WireImage Co-Founder.
Lester Cohen
Based in Los Angeles, Lester Cohen is one of the premier figures in American rock music photography. Over the past thirty years, Cohen has covered high-profile musicians and musical events for major studios and labels (Atlantic, Elektra, Geffen, Universal, MCA, Columbia, Sony, DreamWorks, Capital, ASCAP, BMI, BMG, Arista, RCA and more). In addition, he has been the personal photographer for Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Janet Jackson, Rod Stewart, Sting, The Police and others. His photos have appeared in People, Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Spin, Source, Music Express, Paris Match, The L.A. Times, and The New York Times as well as on album packaging, advertising, and music merchandise. Lester Cohen is a WireImage Co-Founder.
"I know the stars. I have worked with them all and I can honestly say I have never done paparazzo style. Celebrities are human too and they should not be stalked," said Cohen.
Michael Caulfield
Michael has covered many of the major news events in the last fourteen years eight with the Associated Press including the O.J. Simpson trial, the Rodney King trial, the L.A. riots, the Oklahoma City bombing trial, President Bush, President Clinton, earthquakes, fires, World Series, Super Bowl, World Cup Soccer, NBA Championships, the Oscars, the GRAMMYS, the Golden Globes and many more. Michael's photos have been on the cover of The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, International Herald Tribune, USA Today, People Magazine; his photos are featured regularly in these publications as well as Newsweek, Time, Life, US News & World Report, Business Week, Sports Illustrated, among others. Michael Caulfield is a WireImage Co-Founder.
Jeff Vespa
Based in Los Angeles, Jeff Vespa specializes in film festival photography, capturing all the rising stars at Sundance as well as the Toronto Film Festival for the past ten years. Vespa's photos have appeared in People, US Weekly, Glamour, Elle, Premiere, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Teen People, Rolling Stone, GQ, New York Daily News, London Daily Mail, Newsweek, and TV Guide. Jeff was the exclusive photographer for Paris Hilton's "Confessions of an Heiress". Jeff Vespa is a WireImage Co-Founder.
Find out more about the Author of this blog at his website Rob Tencer pr.
Getty Images Agrees to Acquire WireImage, a Renowned Brand in Entertainment, Event and Celebrity Imagery
Move Boosts Company's Capabilities in Fast-Growing Category
SEATTLE, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- It's no secret. Now, more than ever, the world is fascinated with images of celebrities, entertainers and athletes. So much so, in fact, that it's become one of the fastest growing categories in the visual content business. Today, Getty Images, Inc. (NYSE: GYI), the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content, is announcing an acquisition that will support the company's stated strategy of accelerating the growth of its editorial imagery business.
Getty Images announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase WireImage, one of the leading creators of entertainment and event imagery, for approximately $200 million in cash. The deal also will include MediaVast, Inc. the owner of WireImage, and sub-brands FilmMagic and Contour Photos. The acquisition is subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions.
"The demand for entertainment, event and celebrity imagery is growing exponentially, and Getty Images has determined that there are great growth opportunities in the category," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. "A key focus for us in the last several years has been to grow our editorial imagery business, particularly in international markets. The proposed acquisition of WireImage will enable us to develop new products and services, including podcasts, editorial video, multimedia, mobile, consumer offerings and exclusive imagery. We are confident that the proposed acquisition will help us expand our global entertainment and celebrity imagery business, allowing us to satisfy growing customer demand in the U.S. and abroad."
Under the agreement, WireImage's founding photographers and key executives have signed long term agreements to remain with WireImage and Getty Images following the acquisition.
The acquisition will bring together two leading innovators within the entertainment imagery category. Getty Images has made entertainment and celebrity imagery accessible to a growing global entertainment marketplace through its industry-leading Web site, featuring search in local languages and purchase in local currencies, and leads the industry in delivery speed, service and international distribution. WireImage has built a reputation for depth and breadth of entertainment coverage and has an innovative and customer-friendly Web site.
Several of the companies' product offerings complement each other. For example, Getty Images' Exclusive by Getty Images offering, launched in 2006, and MediaVast's Contour Photos will combine to give customers unprecedented access to celebrity portraiture and compelling editorial features.
The business of entertainment imagery has grown significantly in recent years, and like the many other players in the space, Getty Images has benefited. The company has targeted this category for continued growth, especially in non-English speaking countries, and the acquisition of WireImage is expected to help the company expand the entertainment and celebrity imagery segment.
Getty Images plans to maintain MediaVast's three brands: WireImage, FilmMagic, and Contour Photos, and its Web sites. WireImage's team and Getty Images will continue to generate new imagery for their respective collections and make it available for online distribution, both in the U.S. and globally.
"We are very excited to be joining Getty Images," said Jason Nevader, co-founder and CEO of MediaVast. "Under the Getty Images umbrella our customers will be able to take advantage of Getty Images' global, localized e-commerce platform. Getty Images' breadth of products and services, including their vast archival collections, will give our customers more choice and richer, more accessible content."
The company estimates, on a preliminary basis, that the acquisition will be neutral to earnings per share, excluding amortization, in 2007 and accretive to earnings per share on a GAAP basis in 2008. WireImage's portfolio includes an online archive of over 8.5 million images. The company has about 230 employees and offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Madrid, and Amsterdam.
About Getty Images
Getty Images is the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content and the first place creative professionals turn to discover, purchase and manage imagery. The company's award-winning photographers and imagery help customers create inspiring work which appears every day in the world's most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Headquartered in Seattle, WA and serving customers in more than 100 countries, Getty Images believes in the power of imagery to drive positive change, educate, inform, and entertain. Visit Getty Images athttp://gettyimages.com/.
Some of the statements in this press release may constitute "forward- looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's expectations, assumptions and projections about Getty Images and its industry as of the time the statements are made. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our past performance and our current expectations, assumptions and projections. Differences may result from actions taken by the company as well as from risks and uncertainties beyond the company's control. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks associated with the regulatory review of the proposed acquisition, the risk that the proposed acquisition may not be consummated in a timely manner, or at all, the risks associated with currency fluctuations, changes in the economic, political, competitive and technological environments, and the risks associated with system security, upgrades, updates and service interruptions. The foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is illustrative, but by no means exhaustive. For more information on factors that may affect future performance, please review the reports filed by Getty Images with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in particular our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2006 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. Except as required by law, Getty Images does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
For more information, please contact:
Press: Deb Trevino, VP, Communications, 206-925-6474,
deb.trevino@gettyimages.com
Press: Roger van Oosten, VP, Edelman for Getty Images, 206-268-2213
roger.vanoosten@edelman.com
Investors: Alan Pickerill, Director, Investor Relations, 206-925-6355,
alan.pickerill@gettyimages.com
SOURCE: Getty Images, Inc.
CONTACT: Deb Trevino, VP, Communications, +1-206-925-6474,
deb.trevino@gettyimages.com; Roger van Oosten, VP, Edelman for Getty Images,
+1-206-268-2213, roger.vanoosten@edelman.com; Alan Pickerill, Director,
Investor Relations, +1-206-925-6355, alan.pickerill@gettyimages.com
Web site: http://www.gettyimages.com/
another update to getty's purchasing all the competition:
Photo agencies are consolidating, and Getty Images recently bought WireImage's leading competitor, Image Direct. It kind of makes you wonder, who will be next, to be eaten by Getty images?
Find out more about the Author of this blog at his website Rob Tencer pr.
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