First Look Studios
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012) |
File:First Look Studios.jpg | |
First Look Pictures | |
Company type | Private |
Industry | Film Home video |
Founded | 1980 (as Overseas Filmgroup) |
Defunct | 2010 (as First Look Pictures) |
Fate | Dormitory
|
Successor | Millennium Entertainment (2010 to 2014) Alchemy (2014 to 2016) |
Headquarters | Century City, California |
Products | DVD, Blu-ray |
First Look Studios was an independent American film distributor, that specialized in home video releases of films and television series.
History
In 1980, Robert and Ellen Little founded Overseas Filmgroup as a film sales company for foreign markets. Overseas Filmgroup expanded towards film financing to give the company greater control over its output.
Films ranged from genre titles such as Blue Tiger (starring Virginia Madsen) and No Way Back (starring Russell Crowe) to art house films, including Antonia's Line, Mrs. Dalloway, The Secret of Roan Inish, Waking Ned Devine, and Titus.[1] In 1993, the company expanded towards North American distribution through its First Look Pictures subsidiary.[2]
In 1998, Overseas Filmgroup went public. Two years later, EUE/Screen Gems acquired a minority interest in the company. In January 2001, as part of a restructuring, Overseas Filmgroup and First Look Pictures became subsidiaries of First Look Media.[3] Overseas Filmgroup was eventually renamed First Look International.[4] Robert and Ellen Little left First Look in 2003.[1]
On July 29, 2005, after a merger with Canadian businessman Henry Winterstern's Capital Entertainment, the combined company became First Look Studios. Winterstern became CEO of First Look and shared the role as chairman with EUE/Screen Gems' Chris Cooney.[5] In November 2005, First Look acquired DEJ Productions from Blockbuster.
In March 2006, First Look acquired Ventura Distribution, a home video distribution company,[6] and acquired the domestic television syndication rights to fifty six films from Pinnacle Entertainment.[7] By 2006, First Look had a seven hundred film library to its name, and continued to add more with the financing of in house productions.[8] Henry Winterstern resigned from First Look in March 2007.[9]
That March, Nu Image acquired controlling interest in First Look.[10] In November 2010, Millennium Entertainment acquired First Look's assets.[11]
Films
- 10 Items or Less (released theatrically by ThinkFilm)
- All About You
- American Adobo
- An American Crime
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (the only animated film by the company)
- As Good as Dead
- August
- Back in the Day
- Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
- The Breed
- A Brother's Kiss
- Chopper
- The Contract
- Danika
- Day of the Dead
- Day Zero
- Dedication (co distribution with The Weinstein Company)
- Eat Your Heart Out
- Ernest Goes to Africa (re released by Mill Creek Entertainment and Image Entertainment)
- Ernest in the Army (re released by Mill Creek Entertainment and Image Entertainment)
- Firecracker
- Flu Birds
- Forty Shades of Blue
- Four Sheets to the Wind
- Frank
- Freeze Frame
- God's Gift
- A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
- Hydra
- Immortal (United States distributor)
- In a Dark Place
- Infinity
- King of California
- King of the Avenue
- Labor Pains
- Leaves of Grass
- Leo
- A Little Trip to Heaven
- A Map of the World
- Mayor of the Sunset Strip
- Meet Bill
- Minotaur (co distribution with Lionsgate)
- Miranda
- Monster
- Mrs Dalloway
- My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
- Paris, je t'aime
- Party Girl
- The Prophecy (co distribution with Dimension Films)
- The Pumpkin Karver
- Relative Strangers
- The Secret of Roan Inish
- Sex and Breakfast
- Silence Becomes You
- Smiley Face
- Stiletto
- Sukiyaki Western Django
- Tara Road
- Thick as Thieves
- Trading Mom (co distribution with Trimark Pictures)
- Transsiberian
- The Volcano Disaster (also called Volcano: Nature Unleashed)
- War, Inc.
Television series
Distributed lines
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Video Asia
References
- ^ a b "First Look Studios at 25".
- ^ "First Look Pictures/Overseas Filmgroup - Independent Magazine". Independent Magazine. 1998-01-01. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ^ First Look Media. "Overseas Filmgroup Changes Name to First Look Media To Reflect the Widened Scope of Its Business and Adds Two Divisions". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
- ^ Indiewire. "Relaunched First Look Media Bolsters Company In Advance of AFM | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ^ First Look Studios. "Capital Entertainment Merges With First Look Media to Become First Look Studios". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ^ "Ventura Home Entertainment Formed by First Look Studios; New Entity Acquires Assets of Ventura Distribution; Ventura's Founder and CEO Larry Hayes Named Company's President | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ^ Dempsey, John (2006-06-14). "First Look pix it up". Variety. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- ^ Waxman, Sharon (2007-03-08). "First Look Studios - Henry Winterstern - Movies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ^ "First Look's Winterstern resigns". variety.com. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "First Look gets a Nu Image". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ^ First Look Studios Acquired by Millennium Entertainment., retrieved 2016-10-14
External links
- Film distributors of the United States
- Film production companies of the United States
- Mass media companies established in 1993
- Mass media companies disestablished in 2010
- Home video companies of the United States
- Privately held companies based in California
- Companies based in Thousand Oaks, California
- Defunct mass media companies of the United States
- Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles
- Culture of Thousand Oaks, California
- American film company stubs