RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, Image has exclusive audio and broadcast rights as well as digital download rights to approximately 2,100 video programs and over 400 audio programs containing more than 6,000 tracks. The company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California.
Founded in 1981 as a NASDAQ-listed public company known as Image Entertainment, Image began as a distributor of LaserDiscs, whose sound and picture quality surpassed that of VHS and Beta, the dominant tape formats of the time. In its earlier years, the company originally distributed X-rated titles in addition to mainstream titles.[4] Image successfully secured exclusive output deals with major studios such as Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox, Orion Pictures, and The Walt Disney Company, and grew to become the dominant distributor of the format. The company was trading under the symbol "DISK".
In August 1994, Image entered the CD-ROM market, releasing movies on the CD-ROM format.[5]
As the 1990s came to a close and Laserdiscs gave way to DVDs, Image re-focused on the fledgling format that quickly came to dominate the home video marketplace. While studios were busy managing the transition from VHS to DVD, Image began to acquire DVD rights to long-form music concert programs, television programming, foreign films and a broad array of special interest programming from GRB Entertainment, 20th Television/Foxstar Productions, Orion Pictures, Playboy Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures, all of which were being ignored by the major studios and music labels.[6]
In 2005, Image signed a distribution deal with Bandai Visual to distribute select anime titles under the Honneamise label.[7] The deal ended in March 2007, when Bandai Visual switched over to Geneon USA.[8]
Image continued to work with its long-term partner, Criterion Collection, as well as hundreds of independent content producers and rights holders to bring products to the marketplace. By the 10th anniversary of the DVD, Image has once again established itself as a dominant distributor of independently produced programs. In 2008, Image began to expand its release schedule to include feature films.
On August 31, 2010, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment partnered with Image Entertainment in a multi-year agreement, marketing and distributing some DVDs and Blu-rays by Image. Image retains its own sales and marketing.[9] The deal was expired in April 2012, when Mill Creek Entertainment agreed to release the most of Sony Pictures libraries. On April 27, 2011, Image Entertainment made a long-term agreement with Lakeshore Entertainment to distribute their film library on home media. This also gave them access to the New World Pictures library which Lakeshore acquired in 1996, with many of the titles not issued on Blu-ray at the time.[10] Incidentally, Image originally released a number of New World titles on laserdisc from the late 80's to early 90's. On April 2, 2012, it was announced that RLJ Acquisition, Inc. had entered into an agreement to acquire Image Entertainment as well as Acorn Media and plan to merge the two companies. The two companies operate under the banner "RLJ Entertainment".[11] The company was then renamed RLJ Entertainment.[12] In 2014, RLJ acquired British media distributor Acorn Media UK, this deal also included 64% in Agatha Christie Limited.[13]
On July 30, 2018, AMC Networks reached a definitive agreement to acquire RLJ Entertainment where AMC would pay $59 million for the remaining RLJE shares not owned by AMC or Robert L. Johnson.[14] The transaction was approved by RLJ Entertainment's stockholders on October 31, and AMC Networks completed the acquisition on November 1.[15] RLJ Entertainment became a privately owned subsidiary of AMC Networks, with Johnson and his affiliates owning a 17% stake.
Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
StudioCanal S.A.S., from 2001 until 2011 known as STUDIOCANAL, today from 2011 to present stylized as STUDIOCANAL and also known as StudioCanal International, is a French film production and distribution company. The company is a subsidiary of the Canal+ Group, owned by Vivendi. As of May 2024 the company has 14 production companies in Europe and the US, and holds around 9,000 titles in its extensive film library.
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. is the American home video distribution division of Warner Bros. Discovery.
IFC Films LLC is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its Sundance Selects label and genre films under its IFC Midnight label. It operates the IFC Center.
AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony.
Dark Castle Entertainment is a film, TV, and digital projects production label. It is owned by North American sports and entertainment company, OEG Inc. The firm is led by co-CEOs Hal Sadoff and Norman Golightly.
MGM Home Entertainment LLC is the home video distribution arm of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). It is owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon.
Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued in DVD or Blu-ray format, include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy specials. Considered a boutique Blu-ray label, Shout! Studios, in addition to its mainline home video releases, also releases films under the sublabels Scream, Shout! Select, and Shout! Kids. Shout! Studios owns and operates Westchester Films, Timeless Media Group, Biograph Records, Majordomo Records, and Video Time Machine. Their releases are currently distributed by Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture between Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, via a distribution deal formed by the two companies.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. is the home entertainment distribution arm of the Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, and other audiovisual content across digital formats and platforms.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio, owned by NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast.
Viva Communications Inc., also known as Viva Entertainment Inc. and simply Viva is a Philippine multinational private conglomerate headquartered in Ortigas Center, Pasig. It was founded in 1981 by Vic del Rosario Jr. and his sister Tess Cruz.
The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics, and remastered catalog releases".
Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. was an American anime, multimedia production and distribution company that was owned by Geneon Entertainment. It was primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime from Japan to North America.
RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn Media, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television.
Sentai Filmworks, LLC is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios.
SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films, is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside Sentai Filmworks, Switchblade Pictures, Maiden Japan, and AEsir Holdings. The company is named after a Texas tax code.
PGS Entertainment is a French-Swiss privately owned investment family group dedicated to the financing and brand management of independent producers' children's television programming. PGS' broadcast and media partners include Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and free-to-air broadcasters such as Super RTL, RAI, ABC, Pop, and Neox.
GRB Entertainment, Inc. is an American film and television production and distribution company, known for producing and distributing reality and documentary programs such as Intervention and Untold Stories of the ER for cable television networks around the world such as Discovery Channel, TLC, Paramount Network, A&E, Travel Channel, The Weather Channel, National Geographic and Animal Planet.
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