Roy Karch, president of Empire Video Distributors, announced Wednesday that he is closing Epic Interactive, Inc., which he recently formed as a production and manufacturing company.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terribly disappointed," he said. "But I was only going to launch the new company if the product we would generate could meet the highest standards, which proved impossible at this time. I’m simply unwilling to do it half-way.”
Karch, who is not to be confused with the veteran director of the same name, has not ruled out re-launching the company in the future.
Karch’s biggest regret is parting ways with national sales manager Ed Kail. "Ed and I have grown very close and it breaks my heart to let him slip away," Karch said. "I have no doubt that he’ll be snapped up by another company immediately. He’ll be a boon to anyone lucky enough to land him - and I, naturally, will be deeply jealous."
Kail, for his part, is equally saddened. "Roy has a terrific vision and a real understanding of how a company can be successful in this business, which he’s proven with Empire Video Distributors. I was very excited to work closely with him to build the new line from the ground up, but I fully agree that half-measures would have done it too much of a disservice. It’s a credit to him that he expects excellence and will settle for nothing less."
Karch has not ruled out re-launching the company in the future when the stars are more properly aligned. In the meantime he will continue to run his thriving one-stop, Empire Video Distributors, which is one of the largest distributorships on the West Coast.
Kail is now officially on the market. He can continue to be reached at Epic’s offices at 818-700-2444 or [email protected].
