Madman Entertainment

Last updated

Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd.
Company type Private
Industry Entertainment
Founded4 August 1996;28 years ago (1996-08-04)
Founders
  • Tim Anderson
  • Paul Wiegard
Headquarters
East Melbourne, Victoria
,
Australia
Area served
Australia and New Zealand
Key people
  • Brett Chenoweth (chairman)
  • Paul Wiegard (CEO)
  • Adrian MacKenzie
Products
OwnerFive V Capital
Number of employees
90 [1]
Divisions Third Man Films
Subsidiaries DocPlay
Garage Entertainment
Madman Interactive
Website www.madman.com.au

Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and New Zealand.

Contents

History

Early history

Madman Entertainment was founded in 1996 by Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard as a mail order business specialising in imported anime titles, after following the success of Manga Entertainment in the United States and the United Kingdom. [2] Originally selling titles on VHS, the company became the second Australian distributor to author DVDs in-house, with the 1995 film Ghost in the Shell being their first DVD release. In 1998, Madman began airing anime on television, with Neon Genesis Evangelion airing on SBS TV.

Madman manages the distribution of live-action titles through its labels Madman Films, Directors Suite, Madman Sports, Madman Laughs, Madman Television, Bollywood Masala and Eastern Eye as well as children's entertainment through its Planet Mad and Mad4Kids labels. Madman also has a theatrical distribution arm called Madman Cinema. In addition, the company distributes programmes acquired or produced by Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (and newly, titles from WWE in Australasia, thus replacing Shock Entertainment [3] ) on DVD and Blu-ray. [4] Until 2005, Madman was also the distributor for film distributor Umbrella Entertainment. [5]

Acquisition by Funtastic Limited

On 1 May 2006, Madman Group was purchased by Funtastic Limited for A$34.5 million, in order to acquire the media rights to titles for which Funtastic held the toy rights. Madman founders Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard also signed an employment agreement upon the acquisition, remaining on Madman's board of directors. [6]

In 2007, Madman began a licensing agreement to release original Cartoon Network and Adult Swim series on DVD in Australia and New Zealand. Madman also programmed Adult Swim's anime block in the two countries until Cartoon Network Australia dropped its entire Adult Swim lineup on January 1, 2008. [7]

On 23 February 2008, Madman announced that it had reached a distribution deal with Viz Media to distribute Viz Media's manga titles in Australia and New Zealand. [8] The distribution deal ended in April 2016, with Simon & Schuster taking over distribution of Viz's catalogue, and Madman Entertainment ceasing distribution of all manga titles. [9]

At the 2008 Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Madman announced plans to explore new distribution methods. Madman launched the Madman Screening Room, a video on demand streaming service, with School Rumble being the first title on the platform. [10] Madman also began releasing Blu-ray Disc titles, starting with The Transformers: The Movie in June 2009. [11] On 1 June 2009, Madman Entertainment produced an English adaption of Tamagotchi: The Movie , a 2007 film based on the Tamagotchi digital pets from Bandai and WiZ. Madman also intended to dub the film's sequel, Tamagotchi: Happiest Story in the Universe! , but the dub was cancelled for unknown reasons.

In April 2008, the company announced a collaboration with British company Warp Films. Warp and Madman plan to make "at least two films together over the next three years, starting with Tyrannosaur." [12]

Independent company

On 4 March 2014, Funtastic Limited announced its intention to sell Madman Entertainment due to Madman's market value being half of its carrying value. [13] On 31 July 2014, original founders Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard, along with a small group of investors, purchased Madman Entertainment from Funtastic for A$21 million. [14] [15]

In April 2017, Madman Media Group announced it had purchased Garage Entertainment from SurfStitch Group for "a nominal cash consideration", acquiring Garage Entertainment Pty. Ltd. and TMG Media Pty. Ltd., with Madman and SurfStitch agreeing to negotiate a strategic partnership for content development and advertising services. [16]

Sale of Madman Anime Group and further film development

On 17 February 2018, Madman co-founder & CEO Tim Anderson confirmed that on 15 November 2017, Sony Music Entertainment Japan subsidiary Aniplex had become a minority shareholder in Madman's anime business, Madman Anime Group, and was issued an undisclosed number of shares. [17]

On 23 May 2018, it was revealed that investors Adrian MacKenzie, Brett Chenoweth, and Charbel Nader were examining options to sell the Madman Media business, or bring in another investor, after PwC Australia conducted a strategic review, with Madman being valued around A$50 million. [18]

On 6 February 2019, Madman Entertainment sold Madman Anime to Aniplex for A$35 million. [15] [19]

On 13 February 2020, it was announced that Madman Entertainment, Curzon, and Cinéart partnered to launch a US$1.6 million film development fund for three years. The partnership provides the companies first look options for distribution, and is expected to back 16 projects. [20] The Curzon CM Development Fund is operated from Curzon's London offices, and its first projects include Swimming Home, Sweet Maddie Stone, and The Ballad of a Small Player. [21]

On 11 July 2023, APRA AMCOS filed a lawsuit against Madman streaming services DocPlay and Garage Entertainment, claiming the two services had failed to pay for licences for the use of music on platforms' titles. [22] [23] This proceedings settled swiftly with DocPlay and Garage becoming among the first streaming services to reach agreement with APRA AMCOS for the ongoing payment of music fees.

DocPlay

DocPlay
Type of site
 Subscription video on demand
Available inEnglish
Area servedAustralia, New Zealand, United Kingdom
OwnerMadman Entertainment
URL docplay.com
RegistrationRequired
Launched1 December 2016;8 years ago (2016-12-01)
Current statusActive

DocPlay is a video-on-demand streaming service dedicated to streaming documentaries. The serviced was launched by Madman Entertainment on 1 December 2016 as a subscription-only service, and included 130 documentary titles, with 20 Australian titles. [24]

On 29 November 2016, it was announced that Madman Entertainment were the recipients of Screen Australia's Enterprise funding program, with Madman launching DocPlay to allow for a revenue-sharing model for filmmakers of documentaries on the platform. The funding also allowed for DocPlay to acquire and stream Australian documentaries on the service. [25]

On 23 July 2019, DocPlay reached a content agreement with ABC Commercial to expand DocPlay's content by adding 180 hours of factual content from ABC's library onto the service. The deal included locally produced content, as well as content from New Zealand and the United Kingdom. [26]

Related Research Articles

Funimation was an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It streamed popular series, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, YuYu Hakusho, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, Black Clover, Fruits Basket, Assassination Classroom and Tokyo Ghoul among many others. The service and its parent company were acquired by Sony, who ran the service through Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2017 to 2019 and then through SPE and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex from 2019 to its closure in 2024. In 2021, Sony acquired Crunchyroll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right Stuf</span> Asian media distributor

Right Stuf Inc. was an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specialized in Asian entertainment. It had several divisions including: Nozomi Entertainment (production) and RightStufAnime.com. In March 2012, Right Stuf launched 5 Points Pictures, its live action label. Right Stuf also offered production services and distribution for Japanese labels Sunrise Inc., Eleven Arts, Pony Canyon, and its corporate sibling, Aniplex of America.

Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by East Asian media, including Japanese anime, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a Japanese branch located in Shibuya, Tokyo.

<i>Naruto: Shippuden</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third season of the Naruto: Shippuden anime series is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo. They are based on Part II for Masashi Kishimoto's manga series. The third season aired from April to August 2008 on TV Tokyo. Titled in Japan Twelve Guardian Ninja, the anime only season follows Naruto Uzumaki attempting to protect Asuma Sarutobi's monk named Sora and defeat Team Furido. It is also the first season to be produced in 16:9 widescreen, instead of 4:3, which was the aspect ratio of all previous seasons.

<i>Naruto: Shippuden</i> season 8 Season of television series

The eighth season of the Naruto: Shippuden anime series is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Pierrot and TV Tokyo. The eighth season aired from March to August 2010. The season follows the Akatsuki Leader Pain invading the Leaf Village and attempting to kidnap Naruto Uzumaki while Naruto tries to avenge his master Jiraiya's death as he trains with Fukasaku in the Mount Myoboku to learn the Sage Jutsu. It is referred to by its DVDs as the chapter of Two Saviors. Aniplex released the six volumes between October 7, 2010 and March 2, 2011. While the volumes contains all the episodes, episodes 170 and 171 were skipped to the sixth volume.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunchyroll EMEA</span> European entertainment company

Crunchyroll EMEA, formerly known as Viz Media Europe, is a European anime distributor. Established as Viz Media Europe, it was Viz Media's European sister company until 2019. It holds partnerships with TV channels, DVD distributors, and manga publishers. The company was once headquartered in Amsterdam, before the company opened its current Paris operations on January 15, 2007. The division is made up of two subsidiaries, Crunchyroll SAS based in Paris, France, and Crunchyroll SA based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Crunchyroll EMEA is run by Sony through Crunchyroll, LLC, a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex, with Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (ShoPro) retaining full ownership of the former Viz Media Europe's Publishing/Licensing Business for manga publishing in the region.

Aniplex of America, or Aniplex USA, is an anime distributor based in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an entertainment company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, where its goal is to reinforce the parent company's licensing business in the North American market. They operate the English language version of the Aniplex+ store, and from 2013 to 2017 operated a streaming service called Aniplex Channel through their website. The company most of the time only directly releases its titles in the Americas, however, some of its titles have been released in other territories by other distributors, such as Anime Limited, MVM Films, Siren Visual and corporate siblings Crunchyroll UK and Ireland and Crunchyroll Store Australia.

<i>K</i> (TV series) 2012 anime series

K is a Japanese anime series created by the animation studio GoHands and GoRA, a group consisting of seven anonymous authors known as Kōhei Azano, Tatsuki Miyazawa, Yukako Kabei, Yashichiro Takahashi, Hideyuki Furuhashi, Suzu Suzuki, and Rei Rairaku. The series is directed by Shingo Suzuki, who also serves as its character designer. It began airing on MBS on October 5, 2012. The anime has been licensed by Viz Media in North America and by Madman Entertainment in Australia. The series is set when Japan is secretly being ruled by seven Kings of psychic clans called the Seven Clans of Color. Yashiro Isana, a seemingly normal student of Ashinaka High School, is targeted by HOMRA of the Red Clan and Scepter 4 of the Blue Clan, following the murder of pacifist Tatara Totsuka from HOMRA. With the help of a highly skilled swordsman named Kuroh Yatogami and a feline Strain with the ability of sensory interference named Neko, Yashiro rediscovers his true identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madman Anime Festival</span> Australian anime & Japanese culture convention

Anime Festival was an annual Australian anime and Japanese culture convention held in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. The convention was organised by Madman Anime. The convention was inaugurated in 2016 and held in Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre as a two-day event from the 3–4 September 2016 in Melbourne. The convention was later expanded to Perth and Brisbane in 2017 after a successful inaugural event, with each event held a few months apart, and to Sydney in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunchyroll UK and Ireland</span> Anime distributor and licensing company in the United Kingdom and Ireland

Crunchyroll Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, is an anime distributor and licensing company in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1987 as Island World Communications, the company operated as Manga Entertainment Ltd. until 2021. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Television and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.

<i>Boruto: Naruto Next Generations</i> episodes 1–52 Season of television series

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series of the same name and is a spin-off of and sequel to Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto. It is produced by Pierrot and broadcast on TV Tokyo. The anime is directed by Noriyuki Abe (#1–104), and Hiroyuki Yamashita (#1–66) and is written by Makoto Uezu (#1–66). Former manga writer Ukyō Kodachi supervised the story until episode 216 And after that the Manga will be written by Masashi Kishimoto itself.

<i>Boruto: Naruto Next Generations</i> episodes 53–104 Season of television series

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series of the same name and is a spin-off of and sequel to Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto. It is produced by Pierrot and broadcast on TV Tokyo. The anime is directed by Noriyuki Abe (#1–104), Hiroyuki Yamashita (#1–66), and Toshirō Fujii (#67–104) and is written by Makoto Uezu (#1–66) and Masaya Honda (#67–). Former manga writer Ukyō Kodachi supervised the story until episode 216.

<i>Boruto: Naruto Next Generations</i> episodes 105–156 Season of television series

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series of the same name and is a spin-off of and sequel to Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto. It is produced by Pierrot and broadcast on TV Tokyo. The anime is directed by Masayuki Kōda (#105–281) and is written by Masaya Honda (#67–). Former manga writer Ukyō Kodachi supervised the story until episode 216.

<i>Boruto: Naruto Next Generations</i> episodes 157–208 Season of television series

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series of the same name and is a spin-off of and sequel to Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto. It is produced by Pierrot and broadcast on TV Tokyo. The anime is directed by Masayuki Kōda (#105–281) and is written by Masaya Honda (#67–). Former manga writer Ukyō Kodachi supervised the story until episode 216.

<i>Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic</i> season 1 Season of television series

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series of the same title written and illustrated by Shinobu Ohtaka. Produced by A-1 Pictures, it began airing in Japan on October 7, 2012. It also debuted in North America on October 10 on Crunchyroll and Hulu. The series is licensed by Aniplex of America in North America, by Viz Media Europe in Europe and by Madman Entertainment in Australia. From episodes 1–12, the opening theme song is "V.I.P." by SID and the ending theme song is "Yubi Bōenkyō" by Nogizaka46. From episode 13 onwards, the opening song is "Matataku Hoshi no Shita de" by Porno Graffitti and the ending is "The Bravery" by Supercell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunchyroll Store Australia</span> Australian anime distribution company

Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll Store Australia, and previously known as Madman Anime, is an Australian video publisher and distribution company focused on Asian entertainment. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film distributor Madman Entertainment, the company is now operated as a division of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunchyroll, LLC</span> American entertainment company

Crunchyroll, LLC is an American entertainment company based in Coppell, Texas. It currently operates the anime-focused eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand streaming service.

References

  1. ↑ "Madman Entertainment". Five V Capital. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Travis (31 October 2016). "20 Years Of Madman Entertainment". FilmInk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "Madman Entertainment Becomes the New Distributor for WWE in Australasia". Capsule Computers. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Madman Entertainment - Anime & Pop Culture Store". Archived from the original on 13 October 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Change in Distribution for Umbrella Entertainment Titles" (Press release). Madman Entertainment. 1 August 2005. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  6. ↑ Hayward, Jon (11 May 2006). "Madman Acquired by Funtastic for $34.5 Million AUD". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Madman Entertainment - Anime & Pop Culture Store". Archived from the original on 22 December 2007.
  8. ↑ "Viz Media Teams With Madman Entertainment on Manga". Anime News Network . Madman Entertainment. 23 February 2008. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  9. ↑ Hayward, Jon (21 April 2016). "Simon & Schuster Australia Takes Over Distribution of Viz Manga in AU/NZ". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  10. ↑ Hayward, Jon (31 March 2008). "Madman News from Supanova Expo". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Transformers - The Animated Movie (Blu-Ray)". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Warp Teams with Madman". Madman Entertainment. 22 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Hayward, Jon (6 March 2014). "Funtastic Limited to sell Australian Distributor Madman Entertainment". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  14. ↑ Hayward, Jon (31 July 2014). "Madman Entertainment Completes Buy-Back from Funtastic Limited". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  15. 1 2 Thompson, Sarah; Macdonald, Anthony (6 February 2019). "Director's cut: MacKenzie's Five V Capital sells Madman anime arm to Sony" . The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  16. ↑ Pash, Chris (17 April 2017). "SurfStitch has sold Garage Entertainment for a loss". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  17. ↑ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (17 February 2018). "Aniplex Invests in Australia's Madman Anime Distribution Company". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018.
  18. ↑ Thompson, Sarah; Macdonald, Anthony; Sprague, Julie-anne (23 May 2018). "Power trio seek buyer for Madman Entertainment" . The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  19. ↑ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (6 February 2019). "Aniplex Acquires Australian Distributor Madman Media's Anime Division". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  20. ↑ Grater, Tom (13 February 2020). "UK's Curzon, Australia's Madman, Benelux's Cineart Partner To Launch $1.6M Film Development Fund". Deadline. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  21. ↑ "Curzon reveals first recipients of £1.2m development fund". Cinéart. 22 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  22. ↑ Bolza, Miklos (13 July 2023). "Madman streaming services sued in licensing spat". PerthNow . Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  23. ↑ Australasian Performing Rights Association Ltd & ors v. DocPlay Pty Ltd & ors( Federal Court of Australia , New South Wales Registry), Text .
  24. ↑ "Madman launches DocPlay". Inside Film. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  25. ↑ "Screen Australia names recipients of $2.5 million in Enterprise funding". Inside Film. 29 November 2016. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  26. ↑ "ABC Commercial signs agreement with Docplay for over 180 hours of content". ABC Commercial. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
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.