American Paper Optics, LLC has completed production of more than 40 million 3D glasses for the DVD release of Disney’s “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour,” a deal worth about $4.5 million.
The Memphis-based manufacturer of 3D technology needed to increase capacity and almost double its warehousing space just to handle the deal, which included contracts with Disney, Wal-Mart and TV Guide.
APO added a new $250,000 dye cutter that increased capacity by about 50%, almost doubled its footprint from 16,200 square feet to 28,000 square feet, and added about 20 temporary employees. 32 employees worked two shifts, six days a week for 82 days to meet the production deadline.
“We added equipment that quickly and added 50% to our production capacity,” says John Jerit, president of APO. “That equipment, along with a can-do attitude of my production staff, made this project surprisingly smooth. There were days that we produced over 1 million glasses.”
It was the third largest production deal in the company’s 18-year history, with only contracts for “Shrek 4-D” and “Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus 3D” surpassing the demand for Hannah Montana 3D glasses.
APO produced about 1,922 miles of film for the Hannah Montana glasses, used 68 55-gallon drums of glue and shipped 21 truckloads of glasses.
The great demand, Jerit says, came after the success of the movie in theaters and the fact that producers wanted to include the 3D experience in the DVD.
“As success of the movie swelled in the month it was in theaters, my quotations to Disney grew from 300,000 four-packs for the DVD to over 3.5 million,” he says. “Once Disney found a major distributor (Wal-Mart), the order took on a life of its own.”
“Hannah Montana,” released earlier this year, had the best-ever box-office premiere for a concert film, topping “The Original Kings of Comedy” released in 2000, according to IMDB.com. That success led APO to find multiple clients for the 3D glasses.
APO produced 14 million glasses for the Disney DVD, 25 million to be given away inside Wal-Mart stores and 1.9 million for an insert in the latest edition of TV Guide.
Thanks to the insert of APO glasses, Debra Birnbaum, editor-in-chief of TV Guide, says the magazine has been able to reach younger readers.
“TV Guide has a long-standing relationship with TV viewers of all ages,” she says. “We’re thrilled to offer our readers — and Miley Cyrus fans– the 3D glasses as a bonus to enhance their TV experience.”
Although APO has now completed the Hannah Montana order, Jerit says the company has picked up another movie deal, with production already in progress for 3D glasses for the DVD release of “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.”
Movie executives inked a contract with APO for the DVD release, Jerit says, because of the popularity of the 3D experience.
The “Journey” movie opened in about 900 3-D theaters nationwide compared to more than 2,000 normal theaters. But Jerit says 60% of the film’s gross earnings came from the 3D theaters. That’s success that moviemakers want to mirror in DVD sales.
“What has basically happened is, Hollywood needs a reason to get people to go back to the theaters,” he says. “In order to do that they have to create a new experience.”
APO, which Jerit says one of the few 3D manufacutring companies in the U.S., is working to complete 9 million glasses for the “Journey to the Center of the Earth” DVD release, helping the company to eclipse 1 billion glasses manufactured in its history.
“With the world’s crazy appetite for 3D and our great optical effects, I’ll be surprised if we don’t sell and manufacture another billion glasses in the next five or six years,” Jerit says. “The quality of the optics and the material we use is second to none.”
For more information about John Jerit and American Paper Optics, please contact:
Jason Lewin – Marketing Director
American Paper Optics, LLC
2995 Appling Road, Suite 106
Bartlett, TN 38133
Phone: 1-800-767-8427
Fax: 901-381-1517
email: Jason@3dglassesonline.com
