Артизан Энтертейнмент: История американской киностудии

American movie studio

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 considered one of the largest mini major film studios until it was purchased by later mini major film studio Lions Gate Entertainment in 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 went 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.

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

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 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 10,000 copies a week. Also that year, the label started distributing titles by Monterey Home Video. Later on, it received a distribution deal with MGM/UA Home Video to distribute the library. In 1983, it received a new agreement with Filmation in order to distribute the library on videocassette. In 1983, FHE began operating its 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, including those that begin and end with B actress Sybil Danning talking about the film that is being shown under the Adventure Video label. U. S. A. 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 on 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 Menéndez, 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. Also in 1987, Noel C. Bloom left IVE, following disputes with Carolco, to start out Celebrity Home Entertainment, with some of IVE's employees defecting to Celebrity. Later that year, 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 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.

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 IVE products, as well as ITC Entertainment's back catalogue, on videocassette at discount prices. Also 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. For several years starting in 1993, LIVE Entertainment distributed anime released by Pioneer Entertainment, including Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki and the first Tenchi Muyo! movie, Tenchi Muyo! in Love. 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 this time, the Lieberman assets were sold to another video distributor, Handleman, in an effort to stem LIVE's financial bleeding. In 1992, its distribution agreement with Uni Distribution Corporation has been expired, and signed a deal with Warner Elektra Atlantic. In 1993, Carolco restructured itself and was forced to sell its shares in LIVE Entertainment to a group of investors led by Pioneer Electronic Corporation. Under new CEO Roger Burlage, the unprofitable retail assets were sold and more focus was placed upon film production. 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 for video. Also that year, in July, WEA's role has been mostly decreased, with LIVE took control of its sales, while WEA continue to handle distribution of its products.

In 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. On December 18, 1997, LIVE entered into 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. As part of a restructuring process, in April 1998, LIVE Entertainment 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 Menéndez brothers case. 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 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 TV 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 TV 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 acquired Artisan for $220 million and video releases through Artisan have now been re released under the Lionsgate Home Entertainment banner. After the sale, Artisan Entertainment, Inc. was renamed to Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc.

Release date Title Notes September 4, 1992 Bob Roberts co production with Paramount Pictures, Miramax Films, StudioCanal and Working Title Films October 23, 1992 Reservoir Dogs co production with Miramax Films November 20, 1992 Bad Lieutenant distributed by Aries Films; video distributor July 30, 1993 Tom and Jerry: The Movie U. S. co distributor with Miramax Films and Turner Entertainment; co production with Film Roman September 17, 1993 Frauds co production with J&M Entertainment and Latent Image Productions February 4, 1994 Gunmen U. S. co distributor with Dimension Films; co production with Davis Entertainment July 8, 1994 Pentathlon January 19, 1995 Mutant Species co production with Southern Star Studios April 28, 1995 Top Dog June 2, 1995 Out of Sync co production with United Image Entertainment September 9, 1995 Blood and Donuts co production with Daban Films and The Feature Film Project April 19, 1996 The Substitute co production with Orion Pictures May 31, 1996 The Arrival August 2, 1996 Phat Beach September 17, 1996 Deadly Outbreak co distributed by Nu Image Films October 11, 1996 Trees Lounge co production with Orion Pictures and Pioneer Entertainment February 7, 1997 Hotel de Love co production with Village Roadshow Pictures and Pratt Films March 7, 1997 The Grotesque September 19, 1997 Wishmaster October 31, 1997 Critical Care co production with Village Roadshow Pictures, Mediaworks and ASAQ Film Partnership November 18, 1997 Joyride co production with Trillion Entertainment December 19, 1997 Open Your Eyes co production with Redbus Film Distribution February 27, 1998 Caught Up co production with Heller Highwater Productions April 17, 1998 Suicide Kings co production with Dinamo Entertainment