MMA Movie :)

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http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060420/20060420005791.html?.v=1

Imperia Entertainment Announces Partnership with TKO Major League MMA to Produce Mixed Martial Art (MMA) Movie
Thursday April 20, 1:07 pm ET

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2006--Imperia Entertainment, Inc. (Pink Sheets:IPRE - News) announced today that it has signed an agreement with the TKO Major League MMA (mixed martial arts) organization (http://www.tkomma.tv/) to co-produce an independent movie with the working title "Never Submit."

The movie was written and will be directed by Imperia president James Hergott.

The deal calls for some footage of the movie to be shot at a July event put on by TKO in Montreal, Canada with an option to film at a September event if more time is needed. Fights for the movie will be filmed in between real fights for the event. Additional filming will continue over the following weeks in Montreal, Quebec and possibly Ontario, Canada.

Imperia Entertainment will also seek out well-known real fighters to appear in the movie as fictional characters.

TKO is the top MMA organization in Canada. It often has fighters go on to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (http://www.ufc.com/), the top MMA organization in the World.

President of TKO, Stephane Patry, also manages several top fighters who have fought both in TKO and the UFC, including fan favorite Georges "Rush" St.-Pierre ), who recently beat MMA's best pound for pound fighter, BJ Penn at the UFC's USA vs. Canada event. This event featured a number of fighters managed by Mr. Patry. It was recently announced that Georges St.-Pierre would get a title shot for the UFC World Welterweight Championship, possibly in September.

Both George St.-Pierre and Stephane Patry were recently featured in the following Toronto Sun article, talking about the rise of the sport: http://torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2006/04/17/1537296-sun.html.

The film will also benefit from tax incentives from the provincial and federal government in Canada, as Mr. Hergott is a Canadian citizen. The movie will be filmed exclusively in Canada. Actors and the fighters will be from both Canada and the US.

Some of the actors may also get an opportunity to train with Georges St.-Pierre or other top fighters managed by Mr. Patry, prior to filming in order to bring greater realism to the movie. Additionally, some of TKO's sponsors may participate in the movie, helping to reduce the movie's budget. Since the movie is fictitious, Imperia Entertainment is open to working with other sponsors as well who would like to be showcased in the film.

Mr. Hergott comments, "This is the most exciting project I have ever been involved with. I have been an MMA fan since its North American introduction in 1993. I have competed in Judo, and have closely followed MMA. I frequently visit, and sometimes post on the fan sites. I believe the sport is about to explode into the mainstream, and I intend to be a part of that movement. My intention is to not portray MMA as an underground blood sport, but rather to show the courage, integrity and inspiration of the fighters. I want to do right by the hard-core fans, and also to bring in new fans to the sport. I will do everything to make this movie as realistic and exciting as possible."

TKO president Stephane Patry will serve as an Executive Producer for the project. Mr. Patry comments on the deal: "I am very enthusiastic to work with Mr. Hergott and Imperia Entertainment. This will mean great things for the TKO organization; we bring one of the best production value in the sport of MMA and now the Hollywood world will discover why insiders say TKO is the best-kept secret in MMA."

Additionally, Imperia announced that Cindy Ortiz, who has written for top MMA online magazines, including MMA Weekly (http://www.mmaweekly.com/) and MMA Fighting (http://www.mmafighting.com/) will be a producer for the movie. Ms. Ortiz will serve as a liaison between Imperia Entertainment and the MMA world.

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Ms. Ortiz has close relationships with several organizations, as well as fighters, and brings a wealth of knowledge about the sport. She has been an advocate for the sport since the mid '90s when Senator McCain spearheaded a campaign to have it banned from North America. Since then both the Nevada and New Jersey athletic commissions have sanctioned the sport.

Ms. Ortiz comments: "I feel that this is a project that will appeal to MMA fans not only in North America, but all over the world. It is a pleasure to be involved."

"Never Submit" is a movie which portrays the thrill of victory and agony of defeat within the sport. The story is set in a tournament setting similar to the movie "Bloodsport" but rather than exploiting the sport as underground no-holds-barred fighting, it seeks to portray the sport in a realistic and positive light.

The movie will be an inspirational tale similar to "Rocky." Unlike "Rocky" the lead character is an educated young man, rather than a beaten-down punch-drunk fighter.

Mr. Hergott comments: "MMA is a very intellectual sport. A physical chess match. I want to portray the sport and its fighters as intelligent rather than dumb brawlers, as is often done in other movies."

MMA is an emerging sport, which has already gained huge acceptance in Asia and looks poised to explode into the mainstream in North America. Indeed, several landmarks have recently occurred within the sport of MMA. For example, Marc Ratner, who served with the Nevada State Athletic Commission since 1984, and as its Executive Director for the last 13 years, recently left his job to join the UFC. In his new position he will seek to attain sanctioning of the sport in additional states.

Also, the UFC held its first event in California at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on April 15th. The event quickly sold out all 18,000 seats in two days and was the fastest sell-out event in UFC history and brought in a $9 million US gate. A similar event is scheduled for May 27th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.

The sport is also gaining exposure on television. The IFL recently signed a distribution deal with Fox Sports Net for their first event in April, and the UFC just extended its content deal with Spike TV. The UFC's MMA-based reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" is the top rated-series for Spike TV, formerly called "the network for guys." Season #1 (13 weeks) of "The Ultimate Fighter" averaged a 1.7 HH rating (1.5 million) with a 2.0 (1,015,000) in M18-49, a 2.4 (604,000) in M18-34, and an average audience of 2.1 million viewers.

The 3rd "Ultimate Fighter" season premiered April 6th, 2006 as the most-watched original series premiere in Spike TV History. It drew record ratings for the network and out-delivered anything else in television in its timeslot in the hard-to-reach demographic of Men 18-34. The 90-minute premiere also out-delivered major competition on cable including the NBA on TNT (Pistons vs. Heat and Lakers vs. Nuggets) and USA Networks' coverage of The Masters.

Among the notable ratings achievements for the premiere of Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter 3" include:

1 among Men 18-34 (3.71, 971,000) in its timeslot, out-delivering everything on broadcast, cable, or pay cable.
1 in HH rating (1.95), average audience (2.4 million), Men 25-34 (5.03, 758,000), Men 18-49 (2.70, 1,411,000), Persons 18-49 (1.67, 1,794,000) (Ad-supported cable only).
Highest household ratings for an original series premiere in Spike TV history (1.95).
Defeated TNT's NBA doubleheader featuring the leagues marquee teams including Pistons vs. Heat/Lakers vs. Nuggets in household rating (1.95 to 1.68), average audience (2.4 million to 1.8 million), and Men 18-34 (3.61 to 1.41).
Defeated USA Networks' coverage of golf's biggest tournament, The Masters, in average audience (2.4 to 2.2 million), Men 18-34 (3.61 to 0.72), and Men 18-49 (2.70 to 1.01).
Highest delivery of Men 18-34 in network history for an original series versus last year in the timeslot (MXC), up +236% in households, +429% in Men 18-49, +395% in Men 18-34, and +262% in average audience.
Earlier in the evening, Spike TV simulcasted the first-ever LIVE network sporting show (Ultimate Fight Night Live) to a mobile device, Amp'd Mobile.

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"The movie was written and will be directed by Imperia president James Hergott."

A Cobourg, Ontario guy no less !

(Who should really cast at least another Cobourg guy in his movie)

;)

lol

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wow

thats aweosme news for mma, canada and TKO

ttt

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I KNOW KEVIN BARKHOUSE AND MATT LEO ARE FROM COBOURG....

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and you are too I assume... ;)