Act III Communications

Last updated
Act III Communications
Company type Privately held
Industry Mass media
Founded1985;40 years ago (1985)
Founder Norman Lear
Headquarters Beverly Hills, California
United States
Key people
 Norman Lear (Chairman)
Hal Gaba (CEO)
Products Film
Television
Theater

Act III Communications is an American media and entertainment company owned by the estate of producer and screenwriter Norman Lear. It was founded in 1985 following Lear's sale of Embassy Communications and Tandem Productions to The Coca-Cola Company. In a Wall Street Journal interview in 1988, Lear explained the name by noting that in a Shakespeare play, there are always more than three acts and that he expects there to be an Act IV and V. [1] [2] Act III served as Lear's business vehicle, unconnected to his other activities as a political activist and philanthropist.

Contents

Act III notable investments and ventures

Among the many activities of Act III Communications is a minority interest in Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP); ownership interest in Concord Music Group (later merged with VRP to create Village Roadshow Entertainment Group); Act III Broadcasting; Act III Theatres; Act III Publishing; and Act III Television, a joint venture formed with Columbia Pictures Television in February 1989; [3] [4] and Act III Merchandising which handles the merchandising for The Princess Bride among other properties. Act III Broadcasting was divested for approximately $500 million in 1994/95 to ABRY Partners; Act III Theatres was divested to KKR in 1997 for just under $700 million, while Concord Music Group was divested in 2013 to Wood Creek Capital for $115 million. Act III/Lear continues to own the two Rob Reiner-directed films it produced, Stand By Me and The Princess Bride. Act III/Lear continues to hold an interest in Village Roadshow Pictures/Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.

Village Roadshow Pictures

Through a group led by Act III Communications, in January 2006, Norman Lear and his partner Hal Gaba purchased 50% of Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP), the Los Angeles-based, U.S. film production arm of Village Roadshow Limited, one of Australia's leading entertainment and media companies. Their entity, Crescent Film Group, included long-time colleague Michael Lambert through Lambert Media Group and Clarity Partners as investors. [5] Crescent invested $115 million for its interest in VRP. [6] The Australian parent, Village Roadshow Limited (VRL) also operates movie theaters; film production and distribution in Australia; TV and Video distribution; radio stations; and theme parks including "Warner Movie World." VRP co-produces and/or co-finances 6-8 movies per year. Historically a long-term partner with Warner Brothers, VRP moved its distribution to Sony Pictures in 2014. [7] VRP's library includes films such as The Great Gatsby , Winter's Tale , The Lego Movie , the Matrix trilogy, Miss Congeniality , Training Day , Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , and others. This interest has been diluted with subsequent expansion and re-capitalizations of VRP but remains a significant interest for Act III. Village Roadshow Pictures used the $115 million invested by Crescent to repay an inter-company loan of $100 million owed to its parent company, as well as pay a $15 million dividend to the existing VRP shareholders and management.

Concord Music Group

Norman Lear was also chairman emeritus of the Concord Music Group (aka Concord Records), one of the world's largest independent record and music publishing companies, which was acquired by Lear and his associate Hal Gaba in 1999 and divested to Wood Creek Capital in 2013. Concord is one of the leading producers and distributors of classic and contemporary Jazz musicians and also owns the legendary Stax label, which it acquired in 2004 as part of the Fantasy Records acquisition. [8]

Concord was acquired as a labor of love at the urging of Lear's long-time associate and then-CEO of Act III Communications, Hal Gaba. Gaba was CEO of Act III from late 1990, when he succeeded Tom McGrath, until his death in 2009. Gaba had long dreamed of owning a record company, and in 1999, he developed the Concorde opportunity.

The Concord Music Group had/has an extensive roster of household name artists that includes one of Gaba's favorite singers, who was also a personal friend - Frank Sinatra (Gaba produced a live tribute show regarding Frank Sinatra that included marrying archival film footage with live performances called Sinatra, His Voice, His World that played Radio City Music Hall [9] ). Other artists on Concord's labels include Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sergio Mendes, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Concord Records started a relationship with Starbucks in 2003 that reached a high point with the release of Genius Loves Company , Ray Charles' last recording. The album went on to win 8 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. [10]

In early 2007, Concord and Starbucks launched a joint venture record label – Hear Music. With guaranteed distribution at thousands of Starbucks stores, the label attracted Paul McCartney, who left EMI for the new label. James Taylor, John Mellencamp, and Joni Mitchell all recorded for Hear Music before the partnership was terminated by Starbucks, which was reacting to the general decline in physical sales of recorded music that made the label unprofitable. [11]

Village Roadshow Entertainment Group

In 2008, Concord Music Group merged into Village Roadshow Pictures to form Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG). [12] [13] Investors in VREG included the shareholders of Crescent, as shown above, as well as Australia's Village Roadshow Limited and Tailwind Capital. [14] Concord Music Group was sold to Wood Creek Capital, an affiliate of MassMutual, in 2013 for approximately $120 million. [15] [16]

Film productions

Theater productions

Television productions

Shareholders

Act III was initially formed by Lear as a 100% controlled investment and management vehicle for his post-Embassy Communications business activities. In January 1989, Tractebel S.A., a large Belgian utility company with interests in Cable TV in Europe, acquired a 20% equity stake in Act III Communications for $30 million, placing a value on the start-up venture's equity of $150 million. Tractebel was headed by Baron Philippe Bodson, who oversaw the formation of Tractebell from the merger of Tractionel and Electrobel. Société Générale de Belgique (SGB) holds 50.3% of Tractebel's stock. SGB, Belgium's largest holding company, is in turn controlled by France's Suez-Lyonnaise, the holding giant formed by the merger of Compagnie de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux in early 1997. Tractebel sold its shares back to Act III and related parties in 1991. [34]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Lear</span> American screenwriter and producer (1922–2023)

Norman Milton Lear was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms, including All in the Family (1971–1979), Maude (1972–1978), Sanford and Son (1972–1977), One Day at a Time (1975–1984), The Jeffersons (1975–1985), and Good Times (1974–1979). His shows introduced political and social themes to the sitcom format.

Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have won 14 GRAMMY Awards and 88 GRAMMY nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Rock Entertainment</span> American film and television production company

Castle Rock Entertainment is an American independent film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a label of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy Pictures</span> Former American film and distribution company

Embassy Pictures Corporation was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was active from 1942 to 1986. Embassy was responsible for films such as The Graduate, The Producers, The Fog, The Howling, Escape from New York, and This Is Spinal Tap, Swamp Thing, and television series such as The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time and The Facts of Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Pictures Television</span> Former American television and distribution company

Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution company. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures' television division Screen Gems (SG) and the third name of Pioneer Telefilms. The company was active from 1974 until New Year's Day 2001, when it was folded into Columbia TriStar Television, a merger between Columbia Pictures Television and TriStar Television. A separate entity of CPT continues to exist on paper as an intellectual property holder, and under the moniker "CPT Holdings" to hold the copyright for the TV show The Young and the Restless, as well as old incarnations from the company's television library such as What's Happening!!

Village Roadshow Pty Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and majority owned by Village Roadshow Corporation, with members of founder Roc Kirby's family in the top roles.

Village Roadshow Pictures is an American film company founded in 1989 that co-finances and co-produces major Hollywood motion pictures. It's a division of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG), which in turn is majority-owned by Vine Alternative Investments and Falcon Investment Advisors, with the Australian media company Village Roadshow currently holding a 20% minority stake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakeshore Entertainment</span> Film production company

Lakeshore Village Entertainment is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.

Tandem Productions, Inc. was a film and television production company that was founded in 1958 by television director Bud Yorkin and television writer/producer Norman Lear.

ELP Communications was an American television production company that was founded in 1974 by Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hear Music</span> American record label

Hear Music was a record label that was founded in 2007 in a partnership between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999.

Thomas Berard McGrath is an American media executive. He is the chairman of Crossroads Media, a company which invests in live and location-based entertainment on a global scale. He was formerly the Chairman of Crossroads Live, a global distributor of theatrical entertainment. Previously, the president and COO of STX Entertainment; executive chairman of Key Brand Entertainment, a producer and distributor of live theatre in the United States and parent company of Broadway.com; president and COO of Act III Communications; and executive vice president and COO of Viacom Entertainment Group. He is a nine-time Tony Award-winning producer, member of the National Recording Academy, and board member of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He also serves as trustee of New England Conservatory of Music and American Repertory Theater at Harvard.

Act III Broadcasting was a company that owned several television stations that started as independents, and later became Fox affiliates. The stations were located in medium-sized DMA's (markets) and were primarily UHF stations. Act III Broadcasting was in business from 1986 to 1995 when it was sold to ABRY Partners/Sullivan Broadcasting for US$500 million. Television producer Norman Lear owned a controlling stake in Act III Broadcasting through his company Act III Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord Music Group</span> American independent music company

Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On April 1, 2015, Concord Music Group merged with Bicycle Music Company to become Concord Bicycle Music.

Harold Gaba, also known as Hal Gaba, was an American businessman. He served as president and CEO of Act III Communications, chairman of Concord Music Group, and co-chairman of Village Roadshow Pictures.

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) was an entertainment production company and distribution studio founded by Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. The company is notable for producing Manhunter, Blue Velvet, the horror films Near Dark and Evil Dead II, King Kong Lives, and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, as well as distributing The Transformers: The Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Studios Home Entertainment</span> British video and music publisher

2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide and the Woolworths Group respectively.

Roadshow Entertainment is an Australian home video, production and distribution company that is a division of Village Roadshow that distributes films in Australia and New Zealand. Their first release was Mad Max. Roadshow Entertainment is an independent video distributor in Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flying Bark Productions</span> Australian animation studio

Flying Bark Productions Pty. Ltd. is an Australian entertainment and animation studio. The studio acts as a full-service production facility across feature films, television and an assorted range of digital content. The studio was established by Yoram and Sandra Gross in 1967 as Yoram Gross Film Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord (entertainment company)</span> Music company

Concord, the assumed business name of Alchemy Copyrights LLC, is an independent American holding company dealing in creative rights primarily in the music industry. It develops, manages and acquires sound recordings, music publishing rights, theatrical performance rights and narrative content. It has been funded by Barings LLC, by Sound Investors and by members of its management team.

References

  1. ↑ LLC, Sussex Publishers (1 June 1989). "Spy". Sussex Publishers, LLC. Retrieved 10 April 2017– via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Wall St. Journal April 8, 1988
  3. ↑ Knoedelseder Jr, William K. (February 2, 1989). "Norman Lear, Columbia Form Joint TV Venture". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on January 23, 2021.
  4. ↑ Stevenson, Richard W. (February 2, 1989). "Lear Joins With Columbia To Produce TV, Not Manage" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 8, 2021.
  5. ↑ McClintock, Pamela; McNary, Dave (2005-07-27). "Lear jetting to Roadshow deal". Variety. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  6. ↑ LaPorte, Nicole (2005-10-23). "Lear's Crescent rounds out". Variety. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  7. ↑ Cheney, Alexandra (5 May 2014). "Village Roadshow Inks Co-Finance Deal with Sony Pictures (EXCLUSIVE)" . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Gallo, Phil (19 December 2006). "Concord resurrects Stax" . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Sinatra: His Voice. His World. His Way" . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Ray Charles big winner at Grammy Awards" . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  11. ↑ ""Starbucks Refines Its Entertainment Strategy" News.starbucks.com". Archived from the original on January 16, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Concord | Independent Music". Concord. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ "VILLAGE ROADSHOW PICTURES GROUP and CONCORD MUSIC GROUP JOIN FORCES - jazzreview.com - Where People Talk About Jazz Since 1997". Archived from the original on 27 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Clarity Partners Release PDF" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
  15. ↑ Abrams, Rachel; Barker, Andrew (2013-03-25). "Concord Music Group Sold to Wood Creek Capital (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  16. ↑ "Concord Music Group to be Sold to Wood Creek Capital Management". Billboard.com. 25 March 2013.
  17. ↑ "Stand by Me". Box Office Mojo.
  18. ↑ "Stand by Me (1986) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  19. ↑ "The Princess Bride". Box Office Mojo.
  20. ↑ "The Princess Bride (1987) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  21. ↑ "Breaking In". Box Office Mojo.
  22. ↑ "Fried Green Tomatoes". Box Office Mojo.
  23. ↑ Frank Rich, "Arsenic and Old Lace Revival" New York Times June 27, 1986
  24. ↑ "Broadway Grosses, Broadway Box Office - 4/24/2022". www.broadwayworld.com.
  25. ↑ "Sunday Dinner (TV Series 1991) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  26. ↑ "The Powers That Be (TV Series 1992–1993) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  27. ↑ "704 Hauser". April 11, 1994 – via IMDb.
  28. ↑ "Channel Umptee-3". October 25, 1997 – via IMDb.
  29. ↑ IMDb Tait Stages (TV Series 2013) , retrieved 2017-07-20
  30. ↑ "America Divided". September 30, 2016 – via IMDb.
  31. ↑ "One Day at a Time". January 6, 2017 – via IMDb.
  32. ↑ "Good Times (2024)". April 12, 2024 – via IMDb.
  33. ↑ Boucher, Ashley (December 18, 2024). "Get a first look at Laverne Cox's new comedy series Clean Slate — and learn how it honors Norman Lear (exclusive)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  34. ↑ "History of Tractebel S.A. – FundingUniverse" . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.