Sony resumes U.K. disc operations

Sony Digital Audio Disc Corp. will resume business today after an arson attack destroyed its London warehouse during riots in the city this month.According to PIAS Entertainment Group, Blighty's largest distributor of independent music, which used the facility, it has finalized a plan with Sony DADC and a new partner, Proper Music Distribution, to continue retail delivery of new and catalog releases.Sony has set up a new distribution center in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire -- 20 miles north of London. Sony was unavailable for comment at press time.Andy Whittaker, founder of indie film distrib Dogwoof, has set up Theothercinema.com to promote ways of accessing pics of the indie distribs, including Dogwoof, Artificial Eye, Metrodome, Guerilla Films, Scanbox and Warp Films, just some of the companies that lost stock when 30 million discs were destroyed in the fire.The site advises viewers to buy direct from the indies' websites. It is also promoting online offers of DVDs still available and suggests accessing pics through iTunes.The fire was unexpected and shocking, Whittaker said. "You get a call early in the morning that all of your stock is gone. So I called some of the distributors and asked how they were impacted and found, in an environment where we're always competitors, a lot of us were suddenly in the same boat."He said the site "is a way of letting the public know that if you like this label, please find a way to buy their titles." Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com