Film Production and Release question

[ra1024]

Having watched a lot of the discussion about releases and overseas distribution rights, I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on how this works to someone outside the industry.

I had always assumed that if Universal made a movie, they owned it and distributed it everywhere. Since we're seeing Uni movies on BR overseas and Sony movies on HD-DVD overseas, it seems that's not the case or either there's more to it.

I've also read where Spielburg won't let his movies come out on either HD format at the moment and I thought his movies were owned by Universal.

I was kinda interested in knowing a little about the roles of studios, directors, producers in terms of who "owns" the film and controls how and where it's released.

Thanks in advance.

[akadkins]

What Universal movies are on Blu-Ray overseas? Maybe what you are asking about are bootleg/pirated versions of the movies. I haven't heard/seen anything like what you are referring to. Sony would NEVER release something on HD-DVD.

[ra1024]

It has to do with distribution rights which is what I was asking about. Certain films are distributed wordlwide by various companies and these individual companies can choose their own format. I was curious about how these distribution rights work.

If you search these forums, you can find a reference to a BR import guide telling you how to buy HD-DVD exclusives on BR from foreign distributors.