Artisan Entertainment

Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was founded in 1983 and was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until it merged with later mini-major film studio Lions Gate Entertainment on December 15, 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and distribution agreements. Its headquarters and private screening room were located in Santa Monica, California. It also had an office in Tribeca in Manhattan, New York.

The company owned the home video rights to the film libraries of Republic Pictures, ITC Entertainment, Gladden Entertainment, Miramax Films, Hemdale Film Corporation, The Shooting Gallery, and Carolco Pictures before it became defunct.

Artisan's releases included Requiem for a Dream, Pi, Killing Zoe, The Blair Witch Project, Grizzly Falls, Startup.com, Novocaine, and National Lampoon's Van Wilder.

History

Artisan, unlike most movie studios, had its roots in the home video industry.

1980s

Artisan Entertainment was founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom as Family Home Entertainment, Inc., and it was initially operated as a subsidiary of adult film distributor Caballero Control Corporation. It received a distribution pact with Wizard Video. In 1982, the latter had sold 10,000 copies of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre a week. Also in 1982, the label started distributing titles by Monterey Home Video. Later on, it received a distribution deal with MGM/UA Home Video to distribute the latter's library. In 1983, it received a new agreement with Filmation in order to distribute their library on videocassette.

In 1983, FHE began operating a new subsidiary U.S.A. Home Video, when tapes were usually packaged in large boxes and included non-family films such as Supergirl, Silent Night, Deadly Night, several Lorimar titles and many B-movies. It also published titles under the Adventure Video label, which began and ended with B-actress Sybil Danning talking about the film in question, and also released sports videos under the U.S.A. Sports Video label.

In 1984, FHE and U.S.A. became part of Noel Bloom's NCB Entertainment Group (which also included Bloom's other labels Caballero Home Video, Monterey Home Video and Thriller Video), and then later that year, both were consolidated into International Video Entertainment, Inc., formed under NCB and also taking ownership of Monterey and Thriller Video. The IVE name was used for non-family releases (although the U.S.A. name continued until 1987) and the FHE name was used for family releases. Also that year, Bloom launched Concept Productions to develop live programming. In the late 1980s, the company also branched out into film distribution for television.

In 1987, IVE was acquired by Carolco Pictures from NCB Entertainment after Carolco had taken a minority interest in the latter a year earlier. That year, it secured a deal with MCA Distributing Corporation to handle distribution of its titles. The unrated release of Angel Heart was the first Carolco film released by IVE on video. The studio hired José Menendez, previously of RCA, as head of IVE; he was responsible for creating product deals with Sylvester Stallone's White Eagle Enterprises and producer Edward Pressman. In 1989, Menendez and his wife were murdered by their two sons. Also in the same year, Noel C. Bloom left IVE after disputes with Carolco, to start Celebrity Home Entertainment, with some of IVE's employees defecting to the new company. Later in 1987, the company had acquired the assets of home video distributor Vista Home Video from The Vista Organization for $38 million.

In 1988, IVE and FHE were consolidated into LIVE Entertainment after a merger with wholesale media distributor Lieberman Enterprises. LIVE formed new ventures outside the home video business, including ownership of retail music and video chains across the East Coast, after the acquisitions of such stores as Strawberries and Waxie Maxie, and its Lieberman subsidiary acquired Navarre Corporation. It partnered with distributor Radio Vision International in 1988 to launch a music-oriented label, Radio Vision Video.

1990–1997

In 1990, IVE became LIVE Home Video. Carolco formed its own home video division under a partnership with LIVE. The company also formed Avid Home Entertainment, which reissued older LIVE products, as well as ITC Entertainment's back catalogue, on videocassette at discount prices (held to a $15 price point); this division was based out of Denver, Colorado and had their own sales force to better distinguish themselves from their parent company. In 1990, LIVE acquired German video distributor VCL.

LIVE Entertainment also branched out into film production. The company spent more than a million dollars to finance the 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, which marked the directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino. Other films included Paul Schrader's Light Sleeper. On January 11, 1991, Live announced that it would acquire Vestron, Inc. for $24 million after its downfall; Vestron had been known best for Dirty Dancing, which had been the second highest-grossing independent film of all time. Vestron releases continued into 1992.

Much of LIVE's earnings were partially thanks to Carolco's investment in the company, but by 1991, the studio was in such debt that a plan to merge the two companies was called off that December; around that time, the Lieberman assets were sold to another video distributor, Handleman, in an effort to stem LIVE's financial bleeding. In May 1992, its distribution agreement with Uni Distribution Corporation expired, and LIVE signed a deal with Warner-Elektra-Atlantic. The following month, LIVE defaulted on their debt payments; Carolco reduced their stake in LIVE concurrently (from a majority share of 53% to 49.9%), selling minority shares in LIVE to a group of investors led by Pioneer Electronic Corporation.

In February 1993, LIVE, despite their best efforts, was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to insufficient cash flow; as a part of this deal, Pioneer acquired 30% of LIVE's voting stock (Carolco was also restructuring, and their stake in LIVE was further reduced to 35%). In August 1994, Carolco and LIVE plotted another merger attempt, but the plans fell apart once again that October. Under new CEO Roger Burlage, the unprofitable retail assets were sold and more focus was placed upon film production (Burlage took the inspiration for this new business plan from his previous employer, Trimark Pictures). In 1996, when Carolco ceased to exist as a company, StudioCanal got full rights to their film library; LIVE, under a new deal with the French-based production company, continued to distribute Carolco's films on video. LIVE also took control of its video sales at this time from WEA; WEA continued to handle distribution of its products.

1997–2003

In July 1997, LIVE was acquired by Bain Capital and was taken private. Though Burlage was retained as chairman initially, a new trio of executives took power: former International Creative Management agent Bill Block and former October Films partner Amir Malin became co-presidents, while former Bain Capital financial consultant Mark Curcio handled financial matters. Their goal was to utilize the large video library and the consistent profit from that area to invest in independent film production, which they saw as a market in flux in the wake of several notable independent film companies, including Orion Pictures, Miramax Films and others, being subsumed into larger corporate organizations; going along with this, LIVE's existing film production unit was shuttered. As part of the restructuring process, in April 1998, LIVE was rebranded as Artisan Entertainment; the rebranding was in part motivated by LIVE's reputation for mediocre product and lingering memories of their connection to the Menendez brothers case. The company headquarters was moved from Van Nuys, California to oceanfront offices in Santa Monica, while the company's New York branch office relocated to the TriBeCa neighborhood.

On December 18, 1997, LIVE entered a domestic home video deal with Hallmark Entertainment to handle the distribution of products from its Hallmark Home Entertainment subsidiary, including Crayola-branded releases and Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. These releases would be distributed under Family Home Entertainment, while Hallmark Home Entertainment would retain marketing rights. By 1998, products from Cabin Fever Entertainment were added to the deal after Hallmark purchased and folded the company in March of that year.

In August 1998, the distribution deal with WEA expired and was replaced by a new distribution deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In addition to adding more theatrical releases, the company's home video subsidiary, Artisan Home Entertainment, continued to expand with more home video deals. The company began releasing products from TSG Pictures around this time, and by September 1998, Artisan signed a deal with Spelling Entertainment Group to distribute films from its Republic Pictures unit for home video release throughout a five-to-ten-year period. This was followed in October 1999 with a four-year home video deal with Discovery Communications to release programming from the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC networks through dedicated labels under Family Home Entertainment.

On February 10, 2000, Artisan acquired a minority stake in The Baby Einstein Company in exchange for a three-year North American home video distribution agreement for the Baby Einstein catalog. The deal was eventually revoked early at the end of 2001 following The Walt Disney Company's purchase of The Baby Einstein Company. In May 2000, Marvel Studios negotiated a deal with Artisan Entertainment for a co-production joint venture that included rights to 15 Marvel characters including Captain America, Thor, the Black Panther, Iron Fist, and Deadpool. Artisan would finance and distribute while Marvel would developing licensing and merchandising tie-ins. The resulting production library, which would also include television series, direct-to-video films and internet projects, would be co-owned.

On September 13, 2000, Artisan launched Artisan Digital Media and iArtisan. The last major deal Artisan undertook that year was their renewal of a distribution pact with Canadian media firm Alliance Atlantis, which included distribution rights to Artisan product in Canada, and theatrical distribution of Artisan films in Britain via AAC's Momentum Pictures unit. In 2001, the company acquired Canadian film and television company Landscape Entertainment. In May 2003, Artisan and Microsoft jointly announced the first release of a high definition DVD, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Extreme Edition). The release was a promotion for the Windows Media version 9 format; it could only be played on a personal computer with Windows XP. Artisan had released the movie in 2002 on D-VHS.

In the summer of 2003, Marvel Enterprises placed an offer for Artisan, with then-Disney-owned and Weinstein-operated Miramax Films to provide backing for Marvel's bid. On December 15, 2003, Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation would merge with Artisan for $220 million, and video releases through Artisan were re-released under the Lionsgate Home Entertainment banner.

Filmography

As LIVE Entertainment

As Artisan Entertainment

Television films