See also
- Gaia, Inc., the company that fully bought out GoodTimes back in 2005
- Jetlag Productions
- Golden Films
- American Video Entertainment
- UAV Corporation
- Celebrity Home Video
- Phase 4 Films
- Mockbuster
- Vídeo Brinquedo
- Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Industry | Home video company |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Fate | Folded into Gaia, Inc. |
| Headquarters | Midtown Manhattan, New York City |
Key people |
|
| Products |
|
| Parent |
|
GT Media, Inc. was an American home video company that originated in 1984 under the name of GoodTimes Home Video. Though it produced its own titles, the company was well known due to its distribution of media from third parties and classics. The founders for the company were the brothers Kenneth, Joseph and Stanley Cayre (often referred to and credited simply as the "Cayre Brothers") of Salsoul Records. Its headquarters were in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company had a distribution facility in Jersey City, New Jersey and a duplication facility in Bayonne, New Jersey, known as GTK Duplicating Co.. [1]
Following the bankruptcy, GoodTimes' parent company was sold to Yoga company Gaiam in September 2005.
GoodTimes began with the distribution of copies of public domain titles. Though the company also produced and distributed many low-priced fitness videos, its most recognized line of products were the series of low-budget traditionally animated films from companies such as Jetlag Productions, Golden Films, and Blye Migicovsky Productions, as well as a selection of the works of Burbank Films Australia. Many of its home-video titles—such as Aladdin , Beauty and the Beast , Pinocchio, Sinbad , The Little Mermaid, The Three Musketeers and Thumbelina—were named similarly or identically to big-budget animated films from other studios [2] (though their plots were sometimes very different), and GoodTimes would often release these films close to the theatrical/home-video releases of other studios. This was largely legal, as the stories of the big-budget films were based on folk tales that had long been in the public domain, and the major studios had little room to claim exclusive rights to the stories or the main characters. The Walt Disney Company sued GoodTimes in 1993 because the videotape packaging closely resembled Disney's, allegedly creating the potential of confusing consumers into unintentionally purchasing a GoodTimes title, when they instead meant to purchase a film from Disney. [3] As a result of this lawsuit, GoodTimes was required by law to print its name atop all of its future VHS covers, in order to clearly demonstrate to the public at large that this was not the "blockbuster" title that they would be purchasing. Despite these changes, however, GoodTimes continued to produce animated films based on public domain "knockoff" titles. [4] At the Summer CES 1985, GoodTimes launched a home video label Kids Klassics Home Video, which was specifically designed for a children's audience. [5] The first Kids Klassics videos were 52 different cartoons, which were all meant to be in color and received a 50-50 joint venture with Remco to market the Mel-O-Toons cartoons by Storer Broadcasting. [6] The company made its first licensed client in 1986, by signing a deal with Worldvision Home Video to reissue titles on videocassette, through the Kids Klassics label, which was mostly on Hanna-Barbera cartoons. [7] This was followed in 1987 by signing a deal with major video distributor MCA Home Video to license these titles to videocassette, mainly the Universal Pictures catalog for a price of $15. [8] That year, Goodtimes and Kids Klassics merged their distribution arms to form Goodtimes/Kids Klassics Distribution Corp. [9] In the 1990s they expanded the company into GT Publishing, a division of the company that published children's books under the Inchworm Press imprint. [10] Expanding from home video distribution, GoodTimes founded its spin-off, GT Interactive as a way to distribute video games. [11] This company was sold to the French game publisher Infogrames in 1999. At different times, GoodTimes contracted with Columbia Pictures, NBC, HBO, Worldvision Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera, [7] Orion Home Video, [12] Universal Pictures [8] and Paramount Pictures to release inexpensive tapes of many of their films and TV series. In addition, GoodTimes released several compilations assembled from public domain films, film trailers, earlier television programs and newsreels. Most of these were credited to Film Shows, Inc.
On February 10, 2003, [13] Quadrangle Capital Partners purchased GoodTimes Entertainment for $90 million plus $160 million in debt, [14] and rebranded the company as GT Brands. [13]
On July 11, 2005, GT Brands Holdings filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. [15] A day later, Gaiam announced to acquire all of GoodTimes' assets for $40 million. [16] The deal was closed in September 2005 [17] and GT Brands Holdings LLC was renamed as GT Media, Inc., [18] becoming Gaiam's general-interest label that released films and animation from DIC Entertainment and mockbusters from The Asylum.
By the end of the 2000s, the GT Media brand was no longer used by Gaiam, with the company solely distributing fitness and yoga media under the latter label. On April 3, 2012, the company acquired and merged with Vivendi Entertainment, renaming the combined subsidiary Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment. [19] In October 2013, Cinedigm purchased Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment for $51.5 million; after this Gaiam had exited the home video industry, with the subsidiary merging with Cinedigm's New Video to form a standalone distributor under the Cinedigm name. [20] [21]
Prior to the company's bankruptcy, GoodTimes Entertainment produced at that time a TV series called Wulin Warriors . The series was an edited version of Pili , produced by Broadway Video and Animation Collective for Cartoon Network's Toonami block in 2006.
The company also produced the children's musical live action video series Treehouse Trolls Birthday Day and Treehouse Trolls Fun and Wonder (1992), the latter being remembered as Rachael Harris's first contribution to the film industry. [22]
A troll doll is a type of plastic doll with furry up-combed hair depicting a troll, also known as a Dam doll after their creator Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam. The inspiration came from trolls in old Scandinavian folklore. The toys are also known as good luck trolls.
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers, Robert B. and Leon Harvey, joined shortly after. The company soon got into licensed characters, which, by the 1950s, became the bulk of their output. The artist Warren Kremer was closely associated with the publisher.
Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. was an American television program and home video distributor established in 1954 as ABC Film Syndication, the domestic and overseas program distribution arm of the ABC Television Network. They primarily licensed programs from independent producers, rather than producing their own content.
Sony Pictures Kids Zone is the kids and family entertainment label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the former record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
The Asylum is an American independent film production and distribution company that focuses on low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and scripts very similar to those of current blockbusters in order to lure customers. These titles have been dubbed "mockbusters" by the press. Its titles are distributed by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, GT Media, and as of 2015, Cineverse.
Casper's First Christmas is a 1979 animated Christmas television special and crossover produced by Hanna-Barbera. It features Casper the Friendly Ghost and his friend Hairy Scarey from the animated series Casper and the Angels. The special features guest stars Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw, and Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy. It aired on NBC on December 18, 1979.
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.
Gaia, Inc. is an American alternative media video on demand streaming service founded by Jirka Rysavy in 1988. The company produces and releases content focusing on a variety of topics, with an overall focus on mindfulness, alternative medicine, and several forms of divination. Gaia has been criticized as a "conspiracy theory hub," with content featuring British conspiracy theorist David Icke. Additional content includes videos promoting the chemtrail conspiracy theory, UFO conspiracy theories, astral projection, and the Lost City of Atlantis.
Heidi's Song is a 1982 American animated musical film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and based on the 1881 novel Heidi by Johanna Spyri. The film was directed by Robert Taylor from a screenplay by Taylor, Joseph Barbera and Jameson Brewer, and stars Margery Gray as the title character, alongside the voices of Lorne Greene and Sammy Davis Jr. It is one of only four films Hanna-Barbera ever made that did not feature their trademark characters.
Genius Products was a home entertainment company based in Santa Monica, California, United States.
A mockbuster is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to maximize profits. "Mockbuster" is a portmanteau of the words "mock" and "blockbuster".
Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. The company expanded into other media including advertising, podcast networking, film, television, streaming media, and management.
Vídeo Brinquedo is a Brazilian animation studio, located in São Paulo, known for producing animated films widely viewed as cheap mockbusters of comparable, more successful films from studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, DreamWorks Animation, 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios. The company was founded in 1995 as a Brazilian subsidiary of American distributor Spot Films, to distribute animation with the intention of distribution in its home market of Brazil, then seemingly split up and became Vídeo Brinquedo in 2004; later on, in 2006, they expanded to North America with the falling costs of DVD duplication and packaging, and easier access to language translation services. Most of Vídeo Brinquedo's films are still available on DVD and streaming services, though it is unclear who the current owners of the studio's output are.
Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment was a film, television, DVD and digital distribution company that operated in the United States and Canada. It was also a distribution partner for independent content providers.
Black Beauty is a 1978 animated television film produced by the Australian division of Hanna-Barbera and based on the 1877 novel of the same name by Anna Sewell. It originally aired October 28, 1978 as part of Famous Classic Tales on CBS.
New Video is an American entertainment distributor and collector of independent digital content. The company works with independent producers, filmmakers and television networks to curate content for many types of distribution platforms, including digital, cable, video on demand, Blu-ray, DVD, and theatrical releases.
Joseph Jack Cayre is an American billionaire businessman and real estate developer. Together with his brothers he co-founded the record label Salsoul Records, video tape distributor and producer GoodTimes Entertainment, and video game publisher GT Interactive. He is also the founder and principal of the New York-based real estate development firm Midtown Equities.
Cineverse Corp. is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cineverse’s businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution.
