Starz Distribution

Last updated

Starz Distribution
Formerly
  • IDT Entertainment
  • Starz Media
Company type Subsidiary
Industry
Founded2003;21 years ago (2003) (as IDT Entertainment)
Headquarters Burbank, California, U.S.
Key people
 Chris Albrecht (CEO)
Parent Starz Inc.
Divisions
  • Starz Digital
  • Starz Media Sales
Website www.starz.com

Starz Distribution, formerly IDT Entertainment and Starz Media is the distribution arm of Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Lionsgate, established in 2003. It develops, produces and acquires original programming content branded as Starz Originals, feature films and other audiovisual programming for distribution across television, home video and streaming media. [1]

Contents

History

In 2003, IDT Corporation, a telecommunications company based in New Jersey, formed an audiovisual entertainment division known as IDT Entertainment following its acquisition of animation studio Film Roman. Later on in the year, it acquired Anchor Bay Entertainment, owned DPS, and stakes in Mainframe Entertainment and Vanguard Animation, and also acquired DKP Studios and turned it into their own animation studio.

In May 2004, IDT Entertainment purchased a minority share in POW! Entertainment with exclusive distribution rights to POW's animated DVD properties and joint development of 6 cartoon films. [2] In 2005, IDT signed a deal with 20th Century Fox. [3] On May 16, 2006, IDT agreed to sell its IDT Entertainment division to Liberty Media "for all of Liberty Media's interests in IDT, $186 million in cash and the assumption of existing indebtedness." [4] On August 31, 2006, the sale of all of IDT Entertainment's US operations and several international operations was completed. "The remainder of the deal, to include the Canadian and Australian operations, is expected to be closed in the next few weeks after regulatory approval has been given." [5] This sale was completed on September 29, 2006. [6] Liberty then merged IDT Entertainment and its divisions with the Starz cable network to form Starz Media.

On January 4, 2011, The Weinstein Company purchased a 25% stake in the operating unit. While not including TV rights, the deal spans Blu-ray, DVD and VOD, pay-per-view and digital distribution and covers up to 20 TWC and Dimension titles per year. They include The King's Speech , Blue Valentine and Company Men. [7] Starz acquired the 25% stake owned by Weinstein in October 2015. [8]

On January 11, 2013, Liberty Media Corporation completed the "spin-off" of its Starz Entertainment segment as a separate entity. Under this new structure, the entity that was known as "Starz Media" became Starz Distribution. [9]

In November 2015, Waterman Entertainment purchased Film Roman from Starz Distribution. [10]

On December 8, 2016, Lionsgate purchased Starz Inc. for $4.4 billion. [11]

Former assets

Starz Distribution previously held minority stakes in:

Live-action films

Animated films

Starz Distribution/IDT Entertainment have been in charge of the animation production or distribution of the following films:

Theatrical

TV specials

Direct-to-Video

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manga Entertainment</span> US anime distributor

Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyroll Ltd. since 2022, while its U.S. branch was absorbed into Starz Inc..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Media</span> American mass media company

Liberty Media Corporation, commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty, is an American mass media company founded by John C. Malone in 1991. The company has three divisions, reflecting its ownership stakes in Formula One Group, Sirius XM, Live Nation Entertainment, and by the end of 2024, Dorna Sports. The SIRIUS XM Holdings segment operates two audio entertainment companies, Sirius XM and Pandora. Sirius XM offers channels and information and entertainment services. Pandora is a streaming platform for searching for music and podcasts. As of 2024, Liberty Media is set to own three global motorsport businesses in the form of Formula One, MotoGP and World Superbikes.

Mainframe Studios is a Canadian animation company owned by Wow Unlimited Media and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1993 as Mainframe Entertainment Inc. by Christopher Brough, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell, Gavin Blair and John Grace, the company established itself as a leading contributor to the introduction of computer-generated imagery (CGI) live action in animation, film and television.

Dimension Films is an American inactive independent film and television production and distribution company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, and it later became a part of The Weinstein Company (TWC) from 2005 until 2018. The company produces and releases independent films and genre titles, specifically horror and science fiction films.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American global mass media and entertainment company. Originally a Canadian company, it was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is currently headquartered in Santa Monica, California. In addition to its flagship Lionsgate Films division, its other divisions include Lionsgate Television and Lionsgate Interactive. It owns a variety of subsidiaries such as 3 Arts Entertainment, Pilgrim Media Group, Starz Inc. and a minority stake in Amblin Partners.

Starz is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lionsgate, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consists of theatrically released motion pictures and first-run original television series. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of Starz Encore, Starz operates six 24-hour, linear multiplex channels; a traditional subscription video on demand service; and a namesake over-the-top streaming platform that both acts as a TV Everywhere offering for Starz's linear television subscribers and is sold directly to streaming-only consumers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederator Studios</span> American animation television production studio

Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio founded by Fred Seibert, which is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc. It was formally launched by Seibert in 1998, with its initial formation in January of the prior year. Seibert remained at the company until founding FredFilms, its successor company in February 2021. The studio has been credited with producing various media projects, predominantly in children's animation. Their slogan is "Original Cartoons since 1998." The studio has locations in New York City, where Frederator Digital is based, and Burbank, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film Roman</span> American animation studio

Film Roman, LLC, is an American animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and currently by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of producer Steve Waterman.

MoviePlex, stylized as movieplex since 2006, is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the Starz Inc. subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment and headquartered at the Meridian International Business Center complex in Meridian, Colorado. Launched on 1 January 1997 as Plex: Encore 1, its programming consists of recent, as well as older theatrically released motion pictures. It is the sister channel of Starz and Starz Encore.

<i>Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!</i> American Flash-animated television series

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is an American children's educational Flash animated television series created by Bob Boyle for Nickelodeon. The series was produced by Bolder Media and Starz Media in association with Film Roman, and it was animated by Bardel Entertainment using Toon Boom and Adobe Flash software. Bob Boyle, Susan Miller, and Fred Seibert served as executive producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin VanHook</span> American film director

Kevin VanHook is an American comic book writer, comic book artist, visual effects supervisor, and filmmaker.

Vanguard Films & Animation, often named only as Vanguard Animation, is an American production studio founded in 2002 by producer John H. Williams and Neil Braun. The studio has offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Ealing Studios in London, England, United Kingdom. Starz Media owns the studio's minority stake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anchor Bay Entertainment</span> American home entertainment and production company

The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American 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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Albrecht</span> American media executive

Chris Albrecht is an American media executive. He is the co-founder of Rubicon Global Media and was previously chairman and CEO of HBO and CEO and President of Starz. He spent 22 years at HBO and was credited for ushering in the Golden Age of Television with hit series such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Entourage, Band of Brothers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire, Power, Outlander, and The Girlfriend Experience.

Steve Waterman is a film and television producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John W. Hyde</span> American film producer

John W. Hyde is a veteran producer whose credits span feature film, television, and animation. Hyde is married to Kate Morris Hyde and lives in both Los Angeles and Badger, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jam Filled Entertainment</span> Canadian animation studio

Jam Filled Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio based in Ottawa, Ontario, and a division of Boat Rocker Media. The company is best known for animating Thomas & Friends and Nicktoons.

<i>Wubbzys Big Movie!</i> 2008 American film

Wubbzy's Big Movie! is a 2008 American animated comedy anthology film based on the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! television series. It premiered on the Starz Kids & Family channel on August 29, 2008. The film was produced by Starz Media and Bolder Media in association with Film Roman and distributed by Starz Distribution.

Starz Inc. is an American entertainment company that owns and operates pay television channels, including the namesake Starz network, Starz Encore and MoviePlex, as well as a media distribution company. The company is headquartered at Meridian, Colorado, and uses nearby Englewood as its location in corporate filings and press releases. On December 8, 2016, the company became a subsidiary of Lionsgate.

References

  1. ↑ "Starz (STRZA.O)". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  2. ↑ Graser, Marc (May 7, 2004). "IDT joins Lee in POW! to distrib toon DVDs". Daily Variety. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  3. ↑ Fritz, Ben; Brodesser, Claude (June 8, 2005). "IDT animated over 20th". Variety. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  4. ↑ "IDT Corporation – Press Releases". Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  5. ↑ UK Film and Television News – Liberty Completes First Stage of IDT Acquisition
  6. ↑ "Liberty Completes Final Stage of IDT Entertainment Acquisition". IDT Corporation. Archived from the original on October 5, 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Weinstein Company Acquires 25 Percent Stake in Starz Media". The Hollywood Reporter. January 4, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Starz - Annual Report". February 22, 2016. Archived from the original on February 29, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Liberty Media Corporation and Starz Announce Completion of Spin-Off". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  10. ↑ McNary, Dave (November 12, 2015). "'Simpsons' Animator Film Roman Bought by Waterman Entertainment". Variety . Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  11. ↑ Lieberman, David (December 8, 2016). "Lionsgate Closes Deal To Buy Starz". Deadline. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
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.