The home entertainment division of Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, which releases films from both Palm and Palm-owned Japanese animation label Manga Entertainment, has struck a domestic distribution deal with WEA Home Video to replace a previous arrangement with RYKO Distribution.

The Palm/Manga catalogue consists of over 300 titles including live action movies such as The Basketball Diaries and Stop Making Sense as well as Manga's anime line featuring films like Ghost In The Shell, Ninja Scroll and Blood The Last Vampire. The catalogue now includes 60 DVDs with another 20 new DVD releases scheduled for 2002. Upcoming Manga releases include two Neon Genesis Evangelion films in the summer.

Both Manga's general manager Mike Egan and CEO of Palm Pictures Home Entertainment Marvin Gleicher have worked with WEA in the past when they were both in the music business.