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Halcyon Studios

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Sonar Entertainment, Inc.
Company typePublic
OTC Pink: RHIEQ
IndustryEntertainment
GenreMedia Company
Founded1979
FounderRobert Halmi, Sr.
Headquarters
New York, New York
,
United States
Number of locations
New York, Los Angeles, London and Sydney
Key people
Stewart Till (CEO)
Jeffrey "Jeff" Sagansky (Chairman)
Peter N. von Gal (COO)
Number of employees
78 (2008)
Websitehttp://www.sonarent.com/

Sonar Entertainment, Inc., formerly known as Cabin Fever Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment and RHI Entertainment, is an American producer of television movies and miniseries, founded in 1979 by Robert Halmi Jr. and Robert Halmi Sr. (1924-2014) as Robert Halmi Incorporated.

In 1988, 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 acquired by RHI Entertainment, with New Line Cinema and Chemical Banking Corporation acting as shareholders.[1] Hallmark Cards purchased RHI in 1994 and renamed it to Hallmark Entertainment. In 2006, the Halmis, along with affiliates of Kelso & Company, reacquired the company and revived the RHI name.[2]

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.

RHI 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.

In June 2010, it was revealed that RHI might go bankrupt.[3] The company filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in December of that year.[4] After emerging from bankruptcy in March 2011, Halmi, Jr. left the company.[5] Halmi, Sr. followed suit in February, 2012 and will form a new company. RHI's new management will now focus on "television series and other formats that have not traditionally been central to RHI’s business model."[6]

In March 2012, RHI was renamed Sonar Entertainment.[7]

References

  1. ^ Citron, Alan (6 June 1990). "Qintex Entertainment to Sell Virtually All of Its Assets".
  2. ^ (12-08-2005). "Hallmark to Sell Film-Production Entity". Hallmark.com. Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on 03-24-2013.
  3. ^ "Robert Halmi looks at bankruptcy". New York Post. 15 June 2010.
  4. ^ "Halmi's RHI Entertainment files for Chapter 11". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ "Robert Halmi Jr Out At RHI; Robert Sr Staying Put With Long-Term Deal" Deadline.com (July 6, 2011).
  6. ^ Andreeva, N. "Robert Halmi Sr. Exiting RHI Entertainment" Deadline.com (February 3, 2012)
  7. ^ "RHI Renamed Sonar Entertainment With Stewart Till As CEO" Deadline.com (March 31, 2012)
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