July 17, 2007

Catblue Dynamite to premiere at New York Anime Festival

New York Anime Festival to host the American premiere of Romanov Higa's Catblue Dynamite

Norwalk, CT, July 9, 2007: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced it will host the North American Premiere of the anime film CATBLUE Dynamite at its inaugural event this December in New York City. CATBLUE Dynamite, set in the 1970s, is the story of a girl named Blue who gets mixed up with the mob over a missing Frank Sinatra album. But while going up against an army of hitmen might make a normal woman shake, Blue's anything but normal. Blue has all the agility and finesse (and ears and a tail) of a cat, and when her reflexes alone aren't enough, she can also count on an undead sidekick. Sinatra, catgirls, and ghosts are just the start of the psychedelic motion picture that is CATBLUE Dynamite.

CATBLUE Dynamite is the latest work from Romanov Higa, Director of URDA and TANK SWAT 01 and Action Director of the Hellsing Ultimate series. As noted, the premiere of the film will be a highlight of the The New York Anime Festival which takes place December 7 - 9 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. The exact time and location of the premiere will be announced in the near future.

The North American premiere of CATBLUE Dynamite is presented by Wedge Holdings, the producer of the animation and an Official Sponsor of the New York Anime Festival. Fans and professionals wishing to discover more about CATBLUE Dynamite and Wedge Holdings will have numerous opportunities at CATBLUE Dynamite panels as well as at the Wedge Holdings booth in the New York Anime Festival's Exhibition Hall.

"CATBLUE Dynamite is absolutely unique," John McGeary, the New York Anime Festival's Show Manager, said. "We've very honored to be working with Wedge Holdings to bring CATBLUE Dynamite to North America for the first time."

CATBLUE Dynamite's trailer and high-resolution images are now available online at www.newyorkanimefestival.com.

ABOUT WEDGE HOLDINGS:

Wedge Holdings is an integrated entertainment company with a focus on the content business.
Wedge's major activities are producing animation films, movies, music, and mobile phone content, as well as publishing and editing in all forms of media. Wedge's strength is the ability to develop content from scratch, expanding with an integrated view, covering everything from start to finish. For more information, please visit www.wedge-hd.com.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL:

The New York Anime Festival takes place December 7-9, 2007 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, the creators of New York Comic Con. The New York Anime Festival will showcase the best of anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music, and games, and anime-influenced comics, animation, and films from around the world. The festival will feature exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America, and explore the Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese life.

The New York Anime Festival is sponsored by ADV Films, Anime Insider Magazine, Anime Network, Anime News Network, AnimeNEXT, BookExpo, Diamond Book Distributors, ICv2, New York Comic Con, NEW YORK - TOKYO, Newtype USA Magazine, Publishers Weekly, TOKYOPOP, and Wedge Holdings.

The New York Anime Festival's current Guests of Honor include Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr.

Further information and tickets can be found at www.newyorkanimefestival.com.

ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS:

The New York Anime Festival is operated by Reed Exhibitions, the world's leading events organizer. In 2006, Reed brought together over six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today, Reed events are held in 34 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and organized by 37 fully staffed offices.

Reed organizes a wide range of events, including exhibitions, conferences, congresses, and meetings. Its portfolio of over 460 events serves 52 industry sectors, including aerospace and defense, building and construction, design, electronics, energy, oil and gas, entertainment, food and hospitality, gifts, healthcare, IT/telecoms, jewelry, manufacturing, marketing and business services, pharmaceuticals, property, publishing, security, sport and recreation, transport and logistics, and travel.

Working closely with professional bodies, trade associations, and government departments, Reed ensures that each and every event is targeted and relevant to industry needs. As a result, many Reed events are market leaders in their field.

Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2005, Reed Elsevier made adjusted profit before taxation of £1,002 million on turnover of £5,166 million.

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