Can a new investment group make a financial killing on traditional Hollywood turf?

Mitchell Koulouris, founder of Sacramento-based Gigatone Entertainment, thinks so.

He's one of four founders of Compendium Media Partners, which is lining up investors here and nationally for a new entertainment venture. Rather than spend millions chasing "the next big blockbuster," the partners plan to buy catalogs of TV shows, films and music and distribute them to a wider audience.

That means scooping up overlooked musical and visual content that can be packaged and sold to expanding U.S. and international markets.

The partners – with strong connections in Hollywood, Europe and Asia – hope to eventually raise $150 million. But short term, they anticipate securing about 10 percent of that total and making their first purchases early next year.

The projected return: At least triple the amount invested over the fund's eight-year life.

Chris Rowan, a La Jolla venture capitalist and one of the group's partners, says the rights to existing music, films and TV shows – some vintage, some more recent – are "significantly undervalued" in the current economy.

"There's a lot of distress out there, just as there is in real estate," Rowan says.

The trick is buying the right TV, film or music properties, says Koulouris, who previously founded and sold Digital Music Group Inc., an online music distribution company.

"We know where (the properties) are, what they're worth and how to get them," he says.

Court-ing business

Local architecture firm Nacht & Lewis recently won the big prize: It was selected to design a $509 million Sacramento courthouse, as part of an international partnership.

But two other local companies are celebrating, too, after being tapped last week for smaller jobs by the state's Administrative Office of the Courts.

Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects, in partnership with Denver-based Fentress Architects, got the nod to design a $173 million courthouse project in Woodland.

It's going to be a "great civic landmark … the most significant building (constructed) in Woodland in many a moon," says company partner Peter Saucerman.

And Sacramento-based LPAS was selected to design a $53 million courthouse in Red Bluff.

Curtis Owyang, a VP with LPAS (formerly LPA Sacramento), says the Tehama County project is a comfortable fit for his firm.

And he's got bragging rights: "We were the only local firm to get (a courthouse design job) on our own," without involvement of a big national partner.

House calls

Give the Sacramento River Cats credit for some creative Halloween marketing.

For a fee, the baseball team's management will send team mascot Dinger to your home with Halloween goodie bags, including hats, bats, foam fingers and lots of candy. The price for Dinger on your doorstep: $89.95.

"You get all this River Cats gear and candy and the 'wow' factor of Dinger showing up at your house," says team spokesman Gabe Ross.

A "Dinger Gram" visit can be scheduled for days or evenings between now and Halloween night. Call (916) 376-4796 for more info.

With the baseball season over, Ross says the goal is to keep the team "top of mind with our fans."

How long does the team's popular feline hang out during a visit? It's what you'd call a short stop.

As Ross notes, "I don't know how long before it would get awkward with a mascot who doesn't talk."

Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.