Halcyon Studios

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Sonar Entertainment, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryEntertainment
GenreMedia Company
Founded1979
FounderRobert Halmi, Sr.
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
United States
Number of locations
5
Key people
Thomas Lesinski (CEO)[1]
Websitehttp://www.sonarent.com/

Sonar Entertainment, Inc., formerly known as Cabin Fever Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment and RHI Entertainment, is an American entertainment company specializing in television miniseries and movies.

The company was founded in 1979 by Robert Halmi Jr. and Robert Halmi Sr. (1924-2014) as RHI Entertainment.

Summary

Sonar Entertainment's current portfolio is primarily built on the development and production of intellectual property into scripted dramas. In 2017, the company diversified its offering with other genres and formats including comedy and non-scripted programming with the acquisition of Tricon Films & Television.[2]

Upon identifying properties for development and production, Sonar is able to finance projects with private equity from Toronto-based Catalyst Capital and Kelso & Company.[3]

Completed productions are then distributed to the company’s network of 165+ territories worldwide. While primarily focused on the development and production of new product, Sonar is also the distributor of over 1,000 library titles.

Notable works

As of December 2017, Sonar Entertainment's scripted series on-air, in production or slated to commence production include Mr. Mercedes, written by David E. Kelley, based on the novel by Stephen King, with the AT&T AUDIENCE Network for DIRECTV and AT&T Uverse; Seasons One and Two of The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan for AMC; Seasons One and Two of The Shannara Chronicles, for Spike; and Das Boot, an eight-part series based on the acclaimed movie, for Sky.[4]

Sonar Entertainment also distributes internationally, outside the UK, Taboo, for FX and BBC One, starring Tom Hardy and executive produced by Ridley Scott.[5]

Factual and lifestyle series currently on air or in production include Texas Metal for Discovery and Food's Greatest Hits for Scripps.

Sonar Kids and Family series on-air or in production include Counterfeit Cat, airing on Disney XD in the US, Teletoon in Canada, and on Hulu worldwide; and Go Away Unicorn for Disney.[6]

History

In 1986, the Halmis merged their company with Hal Roach Studios to form Qintex Entertainment, named after the Australian company that bought a share in the new venture. After Qintex's downfall, the company's assets were again acquired by RHI Entertainment, with New Line Cinema and Chemical Banking Corporation acting as shareholders.[7] Hallmark Cards purchased RHI in 1994 and renamed it to Hallmark Entertainment.[8] In 1997, Hallmark Entertainment teamed up with Alliance Atlantis to create Crayola Kids Adventures, a series of three direct-to-video adaptations of famous childrens novels.

In 2006, the Halmis, along with affiliates of Kelso & Company, reacquired the company and revived the RHI name.[9][10]

In 2007, RHI began offering premieres of its films to digital cable customers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Cox Cable and Comcast, via the video on demand service. Also that year, RHI licensed a number of its new movies, miniseries and back catalog titles to global subscribers of Apple's iTunes service.

In December 2010, the company filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.[11] After emerging from bankruptcy in March 2011,[12] Halmi Jr. left the company.[13] Halmi Sr. followed suit in February 2012.[14]

In March 2012, the company was renamed Sonar Entertainment.[15] With these changes, the company is private and stock is no longer traded. In 2015 the company relocated its headquarters from New York to Los Angeles.[16] Sonar now has global offices in London, Munich, Miami and Sydney.

Sonar also owns the library of the defunct Cabin Fever. Formed in 1987, Cabin Fever Entertainment was a subsidiary of UST Inc., parent of the U.S. Tobacco Company. In 1998, UST sold Cabin Fever to Hallmark Cards and was folded into Hallmark Home Entertainment, now Sonar Entertainment. The company has an extensive library that includes material from its Hallmark Entertainment and Qintex Entertainment predecessors, including most of the classic Hal Roach library (Topper, Laurel and Hardy, etc.), the Lonesome Dove television franchises, and the theatrical and home video rights to the Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts released before MGM took over the series.

References

  1. ^ Sonar Entertainment Appoints Thomas Lesinski Permanent CEO. Variety, 2016; https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/sonar-entertainment-appoints-thomas-lesinski-ceo-1201739615/
  2. ^ Pedersen, Erik (2017-05-03). "Sonar Entertainment Expands Into New Genres With Acquisition Of Tricon Films & TV Assets". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  3. ^ "Catalyst Capital-backed Sonar acquires Tricon Films & Television - PE Hub". PE Hub. 2017-05-03. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  4. ^ Petski, Denise (2016-09-27). "'Das Boot': Sonar Acquires Rights To Event Series; Boards As Co-Producer". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  5. ^ Holloway, Daniel (2016-03-25). "Sonar Entertainment Appoints Thomas Lesinski Permanent CEO". Variety. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  6. ^ "Sonar Entertainment moves into kids content". Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  7. ^ Citron, Alan (6 June 1990). "Qintex Entertainment to Sell Virtually All of Its Assets".
  8. ^ "Weinstein pacts with RHI for Hallmark output". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  9. ^ (12-08-2005). "Hallmark to Sell Film-Production Entity". Hallmark.com. Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on 03-24-2013.
  10. ^ Times, Richard W. Stevenson, Special To The New York (1989-10-21). "Qintex Unit Files for Bankruptcy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-07.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Robert Halmi looks at bankruptcy". New York Post. 15 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Halmi's RHI Entertainment files for Chapter 11". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ "Robert Halmi Jr Out At RHI; Robert Sr Staying Put With Long-Term Deal" Deadline.com (July 6, 2011).
  14. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2012-02-03). "Robert Halmi Sr. Exiting RHI Entertainment". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  15. ^ "RHI Renamed Sonar Entertainment With Stewart Till As CEO" Deadline.com (March 31, 2012)
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2014-11-18). "Sonar Entertainment To Close New York Office". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-09-07.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Halcyon_Studios&oldid=820084692"