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For the Japanese film company within the Sony corporation, see Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary of Sony[1]
IndustryEntertainment
FoundedDecember 21, 1987 as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.,[2] renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. on August 7, 1991
Headquarters10202 West Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Michael Lynton
(Chairman & CEO)
Amy Pascal
(Co-Chairman)
Doug Belgrad
(President)
ProductsMotion pictures
Television Production
Television Syndication
Online games
Mobile Entertainment
Video on demand
Digital distribution
RevenueIncrease US$ 8.054 billion (FY2014)[3]
Increase US$ 501 million (FY2013)[3]
ParentSony Corporation
WebsiteGlobal site

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE) is the American entertainment subsidiary of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony. Based in Culver City, California, it encompasses Sony's motion picture, television production and distribution units. Its group sales in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 has been reported to be of $8.054 billion.[3][4]

Throughout the years, SPE has produced, distributed, or co-distributed successful franchises such as Spider-Man, Men in Black, Underworld, and Resident Evil.[5]

Sony Pictures Entertainment is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).[6]

In December 2014, Sony Pictures Chairman Amy Pascal was controversially involved in the hacking and leaked Sony emails scandal that revealed allegedly racist, sexist and rude remarks of hers against various Hollywood actors and personalities, including Angelina Jolie and President Barack Obama.

History

On September 1, 1987, The Coca-Cola Company announced plans to spin-off its assets of Columbia Pictures, which they had owned since 1982. Under this arrangement, Coca-Cola would sell their entertainment assets to Tri-Star Pictures, of which they owned 39.6%. Tri-Star would be renamed to Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. (CPE), with Coca-Cola owning 49%, its shareholders owning 31%, and Tri-Star's shareholders owning 20%.[7][8] A new company was formed in early 1988 with the Tri-Star name to take over the studio's production operations.[9]

On September 28, 1989, Sony Corporation obtained an option to purchase all of The Coca-Cola Company's stock in CPE for $27 per share.[10] The next day, Sony also announced that it reached an agreement with Guber-Peters Entertainment Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPEC; formerly Barris Industries, Inc.) to acquire CPE for $200 million when Sony hired Peter Guber and Jon Peters to be its co-chairmen.[11] This was all led by Norio Ohga, who was the president and CEO of Sony during that time.

The hiring of Guber and Peters by Sony to run Columbia was conflicted by a previous contract the producers had signed at Warner Bros. Time Warner's chairman, Steve Ross, threatened Sony with a lawsuit for breach of contract. The lawsuit would be subsequently dropped when Sony sold half-interest in Columbia House and cable distribution rights to Columbia's feature films, TV movies, and miniseries to Warner Bros. Said agreement also saw Columbia sell its 35% interest in the Burbank Studios, and acquired Lorimar Studios, previously the MGM lot, from Warner Bros.[12][13]

On October 31, 1989, Sony completed a friendly takeover bid for the rest of shares (51%) of CPE, which was a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KPE), and acquired 99.3% of the common stock of the company. On November 8, 1989, Sony completed the acquisition by a "short-form" merger of its wholly owned subsidiary Sony Columbia Acquisition Corporation into CPE under Delaware law. Sony also completed a tender offer for shares of common stock of the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company on November 6, 1989 and acquired the company on November 9, 1989. The acquisition cost Sony $4.9 billion ($3.55 billion for shares and $1.4 billion of long-term debt) and was backed (financed) by 5 major Japanese banks Mitsui, Tokyo, Fuji, Mitsubishi and Industrial Bank of Japan.[14][15][16] The company was renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment on August 7, 1991.[17][18]

Sony has since created numerous other film production and distribution units, such as creating Sony Pictures Classics for art-house fare, by forming Columbia TriStar Pictures (also known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group) by merging Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures in 1998, revitalizing Columbia's former television division Screen Gems. It expanded its operations on April 8, 2005, when a Sony-led consortium acquired the legendary Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in a US$4.8 billion leveraged buyout, through the holding company MGM Holdings Inc.[19][20][21]

On June 4, 2008, SPE's wholly owned group 2JS Productions B.V. acquired Dutch production company 2waytraffic N.V., famous for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and You Are What You Eat for £114.3 million ($223.2 million in US dollars).

In 2011, the Sony Pictures computer network was breached and approximately 1 million user accounts associated with the SonyPictures.com website were leaked.[22]

On November 18, 2012, Sony Pictures announced it has passed $4 billion with the success of releases: Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, 21 Jump Street, Men in Black 3, Hotel Transylvania, Underworld: Awakening, The Vow, and Resident Evil: Retribution.[5]

On November 21, 2013, SPE and Sony Entertainment's CEO Michael Lynton announced that SPE will shift emphasis from movies to television by cutting its 2014 film slate.[23][24][25][26] It was also announced on the same day, that there will be more Spider-Man sequels and spin-offs.[27]

On January 22, 2014, SPE folded its technology unit into its various cores of its businesses.[28] In April, Sony Pictures arranged a film financing deal worth $200 million with LStar Capital, the credit venture of Lone Star Capital and CitiBank, half in debt and the other in equity to fund most of SPE's film slate for several years. SPE was originally considering a $300 million deal with Blue Anchor Entertainment, led by Bloom Hergott partner John LaViolette and former investment banker & producer Joseph M. Singer, and backed by Longhorn Capital Management and Deutsche Bank, which was held up by regulatory matters.[29]

In November 2014, the Sony Pictures computer network was compromised once more by a group of hackers, disabling many computers.[30] Later the same week, five of Sony Pictures' movies were leaked, including some not yet released (such as Fury and Annie), as well as confidential data about Sony staff.[31][32] Film historian Wheeler Winston Dixon suggested that the hack, which exposed the inner workings of the studio, was "not a pretty picture," and served as a "wake-up call to the entire industry."[33] The hack also revealed some other plans, like a partnership with Marvel Studios for the inclusion of the superhero Spider-Man on the third Captain America film[34] and the acquisition of the movie rights for a future film based on Nintendo's Mario franchise.[35] On December 16, the hackers issued a warning to moviegoers, threatening to attack anyone who sees The Interview during the holidays and urging people to "remember the 11th of September 2001".[36]

Corporate structure

Headquartered in Culver City, California, USA, SPE comprises various studios and entertainment brands, including Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures and GSN.

Senior management team

List of holdings

Sony Pictures Plaza in Culver City, California

Motion Pictures and Home Entertainment

  • Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group: With a library of more than 4,000 films (including 12 Academy Award for Best Picture winners), as of 2004 this unit of Sony distributes about 22 films a year under its various studio brands in 67 countries.[4] The group owns studio facilities in the United States, Hong Kong, Madrid, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Japan. In addition to the company-owned brands below, Columbia TriStar also has a contract to distribute films for independent Revolution Studios and select films by MGM and United Artists.
    • Columbia Pictures: Founded in 1924 by Harry Cohn, Sony acquired the studio in 1989 from The Coca-Cola Company for $3.4 billion.[14][15]
    • TriStar Pictures Formed in 1982 as a joint venture between Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS. Became part of Columbia Pictures Entertainment in December 1987 and the Sony ownership in 1989. Was relaunched in 2004 as a marketing and acquisitions unit that specializes in genre and independent films.
    • Screen Gems: Originally Columbia's animation division and later a television production company best known for TV's Bewitched and The Partridge Family, as well as bringing The Three Stooges short subjects to TV in 1958. Sony revived the Screen Gems brand to develop mid-priced movies (production budget of between $20 million and $50 million) in specific genres such as science fiction, horror, black cinema and franchise films.
    • Sony Pictures Classics (SPC): Specializes in acquiring distribution rights to independent and art films as well as producing lower-budget productions geared to limited audiences.[4]
    • Sony Pictures Releasing: Founded in 1994.[37]
    • Sony Pictures Releasing International (formerly Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International)
      • Sony Pictures India, production house established by Sony to release Indian movies and distribute Hollywood movies, released under Columbia Pictures.
      • Monumental Pictures: A Russian motion picture studio formed on February 2, 2006 as a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Russia-based Patton Media Group producing and releasing Russian language films in Russia, the CIS, and Mongolia.
    • TriStar Productions: A joint-venture between Thomas Rothman and SPE.
  • Sony Pictures Home Entertainment: Manufactures and distributes the Sony film library on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, video cassette, and UMD forms to global markets.
  • Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA): A Sony division which acquires and produces about 60 films per year for a wide variety of distribution platforms, especially for non-theatrical markets. It had been called Worldwide SPE Acquisitions, Inc. until September 2010.

Television

Production and Distribution
  • Sony Pictures Television Group: (formerly Columbia TriStar Television Group) The successor-in-interest to Columbia's television division (first Screen Gems, later Columbia Pictures Television, Coca-Cola Television, TriStar Television (A division of Columbia Pictures Television), and Columbia TriStar Television), as of 2004 the unit was producing 60 titles for various television outlets globally. Contains a library that includes more than 35,000 episodes of more than 270 television series and 22,000 game show episodes under the Columbia TriStar Television brand, and the television rights to the Embassy Pictures library (including The Graduate and The Lion in Winter) and also the owner of the television division "Embassy Television"—among most recent notable shows in this library are Seinfeld, King of Queens, Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless. Their former international distribution division Sony Pictures Television International was responsible for global distribution for the Sony film and television properties worldwide. Formerly known as Columbia TriStar International Television from 1995 to 2002.
    • 2waytraffic: Acquired by Sony in 2008, this television production company owns a number of formats, most notably including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
    • Adelaide Productions
    • Barris Industries: Formed in 1965 by Chuck Barris as Chuck Barris Productions. Renamed to Barris Industries in 1981. Merged with the Guber-Peters Company in 1988 and renamed as Guber-Peters Entertainment Company in 1989.
    • Barry & Enright Productions (post-scandal), including Jack Barry Productions: Formed in 1947 by Jack Barry and Dan Enright, shut down in 1959, and reformed in 1975. Later renamed Stafford-Enright Productions in 1991. Sony acquired the library in 1992.
    • Culver Entertainment
    • Electric Ray: Founded by Karl Warner with SPT in January 2014.[38]
    • ELP Communications (ELPC) and Tandem Licensing Corporation (TLC): The two in-name only units of Sony Pictures Television own the productions' copyrights presented by Norman Lear's companies: Tandem Productions and ELP Communications (series from T.A.T. to ELP Communications). The companies were formed by Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear in 1958 as Tandem Productions. Yorkin ended his partnership with Lear in 1975, but remained with Tandem. Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio sold Tandem/Embassy Television to The Coca-Cola Company in 1985 and later became Embassy Communications in 1986 (later became ELP Communications in 1988). ELPC and TLC are part of Sony Pictures Entertainment since 1991.
    • Embassy Row: A television and digital production company by Michael Davies. SPT acquired the company on January 14, 2009.
    • Floresta
    • Four D Productions: Independent production house founded by Danny Arnold in 1974. Acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 1986.[39]
    • Gogglebox Entertainment
    • Lean-M Producers Center: A Russian production company founded in 2000 by Timur Weinstein, Vyacheslav Murugov and Oleg Osipov. In 2007, SPTI acquired a majority stake in Lean-M, with an additional 16% on April 13, 2009 [40] and the remainder in 2010.
    • Left Bank Pictures: A UK production company founded by Andy Harries, Francis Hopkinson, and Marigo Kehoe in 2007. Majority stake acquired by SPT in 2012.
    • Merv Griffin Enterprises: Founded in 1964 by Merv Griffin as Merv Griffin Productions. He sold his company to The Coca-Cola Company in 1986 as Merv Griffin Enterprises and was a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures Entertainment from 1988 to 1991 and Sony Pictures Entertainment from 1991 to 1994.
    • Silver River Productions
    • Stellify Media: A joint venture between SPT, Kieran Doherty, and Matt Worthy launched in 2014 for Northern Ireland.[5]
    • Stewart Tele Enterprises: Formed in 1964 by Bob Stewart. Merged with SPE in 1994.
    • Teleset
    • Victory Television: A UK television production company that was founded in 2011; a joint-venture with Victoria Ashbourne.
Television Networks

Other Sony Pictures operations

Entrance to SPE main lot in Culver City
  • Sony Pictures Cable Ventures, Inc.
  • Sony Pictures Studios: The actual physical buildings, land and movie-making equipment properties in Culver City, California. Includes 22 sound stages, ranging in size from 7,600 to 43,000 square feet (700 to 4,000 m²)
  • Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan (SPEJ): The company plans, produces, manufactures, sells, imports, exports, leases, broadcasts and distributes movies, TV programs, videos and audio-visual software in Japan. The company web site says it was established on February 10, 1984,[46] predating Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures Entertainment by 5 years. SPEJ was formed in 1991 through the merger of Columbia TriStar Japan, RCA-Columbia Pictures Video Japan, and Japan International Enterprises.[47] Based in Tokyo, Japan.
  • Sony Pictures Europe: Offices located at 25 Golden Square, London, England
  • Sony Pictures Studios Post Production Facilities
  • Worldwide Product Fulfillment

References

  1. ^ Outline of Principal Operations, Sony Corporation of America
  2. ^ Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.: Private Company Information BusinessWeek
  3. ^ a b c "Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014" (PDF). Tokyo, Japan: Sony. 9 May 2014. p. 6. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d Sony Pictures – Corporate Factsheet, sonypictures.com
  5. ^ a b c ‘Skyfall’s $669.2M Global Helps Sony Pictures Post Best Ever $4B Worldwide deadline.com, Retrieved on November 19, 2012 Cite error: The named reference "Deadline" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Motion Picture Association of America - About Us". MPAA. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  7. ^ Dick, Bernard F. (1992) "Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio" (p. 46). The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1769-0.
  8. ^ "New York Department of State Division of Corporations - Entity Search: Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc". Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  9. ^ "State of New York Division of Corporations - Entity Search: Tri-Star Pictures, Inc". Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Sony to Buy Columbia, Says Americans Will Run Studio : 1st Sale of Film Maker to Japanese". latimes.com. 27 September 1989. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Funding Universe - Columbia Tristar". Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  12. ^ Warner, Sony settle suit over producers (November 17, 1989). Los Angeles: Associated Press.
  13. ^ Medavoy, Mike and Young, Josh (2002). You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot (p. 210). New York City: Atria Books
  14. ^ a b Rudolph B (1994) So many dreams so many losses. Time vol. 144, no. 22 (November 28, 1994)
  15. ^ a b Griffin N, Masters K (1996) Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood. (Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-83266-6)
  16. ^ Nathan, J. (1999) Sony: The Private Life. (Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-89327-5, ISBN 0-618-12694-5)
  17. ^ She Holds Torch for Sony Pictures Entertainment, latimes.com
  18. ^ "Funding Universe - Sony Corporation". Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  19. ^ Sony will purchase MGM in a deal worth about $5 billion, CNN, September 14, 2004.
  20. ^ MGM Disclosure Statement page 424 (Appendix D: Audited Financial Statement. March 2009, page 6), October 7, 2010
  21. ^ Sony Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended March 31, 2008
  22. ^ "Sony Pictures Website Hacked, 1 Million Accounts Exposed". mashable.com.
  23. ^ DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony Pictures Vows To Cut Costs $250M+ Through 2016 deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013
  24. ^ DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony Pictures To Shift Emphasis From Movies To TV, Will Cut Film Output For 2014 deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013
  25. ^ NELLIE ANDREEVA "Deadline" From Pariah To Company MVP: The Quiet Rise Of Sony’s Television Division deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013
  26. ^ DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony TV Execs Talk Up Global Opportunities deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013
  27. ^ DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony Pictures Plans More Spider-Man Sequels And Spinoffs – But Still No Marvel Reunion deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013
  28. ^ "Deadline" Layoffs Hit Sony Pictures As SPE Absorbs Technology Unit deadline.com, Retrieved on January 24, 2014
  29. ^ Fleming, Mike, Jr (April 8, 2014). "Sony Closes Slate Co-Fi Deal With Lone Star Capital, CitiBank". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 31, 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "Hack at Sony Pictures shuts computer system". LA Times.
  31. ^ "Sony movies leak online after hack attack". Torrentfreak. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  32. ^ "Hackers Pirate Sony Films and Leak Studio Salaries". New York times.
  33. ^ MEG JAMES, RYAN FAUGHNDER, December 13, 2014, Los Angeles Times, Fallout from Sony hack may alter how Hollywood conducts business, Retrieved December 14, 2014
  34. ^ Spider-Man may appear in 'Captain America 3' mashable.com
  35. ^ Leaked emails show Sony Pictures got the Mario film rights www.elmundotech.com
  36. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/12/16/sony-hackers-threaten-movie-theaters/20485591/
  37. ^ SONY PICTURES RELEASING CORPORATION businessprofiles.com, Retrieved on January 20, 2014
  38. ^ NANCY TARTAGLIONE "Deadline" Sony Pictures Television, Karl Warner Launch UK Production Outfit Electric Ray deadline.com, Retrieved on January 21, 2014
  39. ^ "Columbia Pictures Television Group acquires Four D Productions Inc". PR Newswire. August 28, 1986. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
  40. ^ CCC director sold shares of Sony Pictures Television series producer. Retrieved on February 28, 2012
  41. ^ The Anime Biz – By Ian Rowley, with Hiroko Tashiro, Chester Dawson, and Moon Ihlwan, BusinessWeek, June 27, 2005.
  42. ^ Animax Asia – Corporate Profile – Animax-Asia official website.
  43. ^ Sony closes CSC deal, ups Kate Marsh tbivision.com, Retrieved on August 20, 2014
  44. ^ "Sony Pictures TV To Launch Movies Diginet". TVNewsCheck. April 22, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  45. ^ Affiliated Companies (Outside Japan) Sony Corporation
  46. ^ Sony Pictures Online SPEJ – Company Profile, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan), Inc. official website.
  47. ^ History of Columbia Pictures Part 3, Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan (in Japanese)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sony_Pictures&oldid=638638662"