According to Rob Ragan, the recently formed White Tiger Releasing, which represents six U.S.-based gay content producers, held off on a European push until it became an established force in the domestic market.
The decision to wait paid off, Ragan said, because it put White Tiger in front of Dennis Heynen, who owns Multi-Stock BV.
“I wanted to wait to establish the White Tiger Releasing name here in the U.S. before speaking to anyone in Europe,” Ragan said. “I’m really glad that I waited because I was bombarded with European contacts wanting White Tiger products but it was pretty much the same pitch. Dennis was different, he personally came to my office and sat with me to discuss distribution and he didn’t promise the world to us, he just said he would do his best and I respect the hell out of that.”
Under the terms of the deal, Multi-Stock BV will have the exclusive right to distribute certain White Tiger lines in Europe.
“We will start with a four-month contract to see if it’s going to work,” Heynen said. “This is a new relationship between White Tiger and Multi-Stock and we’ve never distributed gay films before but we like the quality of films White Tiger offers.”
Despite a lack of experience distributing gay titles, Heynen said he believes moving White Tiger product won’t be a problem, adding that the deal “opens a whole new market” for his company.
With European distribution in place, Ragan said he would turn his attention to securing relationships with distributors in Canada and South America.
