News

DVDPlay hires former Blockbuster executive

January 21, 2007

SAN JOSE, Calif. — DVDPlay, owner/operator of DVD rental kiosks, announced that Tom Szwak has joined the company as vice president of video.

Szwak joins DVDPlay from Monterey Media where he served as senior vice president of sales and drove sales of new release and catalog DVD and VHS product to retailers, distributors and Internet sites in the U.S. and Canada. Earlier in his 24-year career, Tom was vice president of purchasing at Blockbuster Entertainment where he was responsible for the purchasing and distribution of all products and merchandise to over 4,000 Blockbuster corporate stores, and for negotiating agreements with studios and distributors. Szwak left Blockbuster to take the position of senior VP of acquisitions and development, and later senior vice president of sales at Republic Pictures.

"Tom's leadership will play an instrumental role in developing and maintaining the strategic alliances with industry vendors," said Chuck Berger, chairman and chief executive of DVDPlay. "We are delighted to welcome Tom to our executive team. He brings a wealth of industry experience and expertise in purchasing to DVDPlay. His role is critical as we accelerate our roll out of DVDPlay kiosks to supermarkets, convenience stores, military installations and other high-traffic locations across the country."