 Logo used since 2004 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | Home entertainment |
| Founded | June 1978; 47 years ago (1978-06), inBurbank, California,United States |
| Headquarters | 10202 West Washington Boulevard,, United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Mike Wald (co-president)[1] Jason Spivak (co-president)[1] |
| Products | DVD,Blu-ray,EST,VOD |
| Services | Physical and digital distribution |
| Parent | Columbia Pictures (1978–1991) RCA (1982–1991) Sony Pictures Entertainment (1991–present) |
| Subsidiaries | Sony Pictures Kids Zone Kartoon Studios (equity stake) Big Picture Productions (Iberia) |
| Website | SPHE website |
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated asSPHE) is thehome entertainment distribution division ofSony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary ofSony. It was founded in June 1978.
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library for home entertainment, mainly releases from theSony Pictures Motion Picture Group (Columbia Pictures,TriStar Pictures,Sony Pictures Classics, andScreen Gems) as well as releases fromSony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (Triumph Films,Destination Films,Stage 6 Films andAffirm Films) andCrunchyroll, LLC after the latter company's deal with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment asFunimation expired.[2][3]
SPHE also releases and distributes products fromLionsgate Home Entertainment (since 2021),Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (since 2024),The Criterion Collection (since 2013) and Content Partners LLC (which includes titles fromFilmDistrict (now absorbed intoFocus Features),Morgan Creek Entertainment,Franchise Pictures andRevolution Studios). Since June 20, 2007, SPHE has handled distribution of children's content formerly handled bySony BMG'sSony Wonder label.[4]
In Canada, Columbia TriStar Home Video helped distribute tapes fromAstral Video in the 1990s. It also has an Australian deal withHoyts.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was established in June 1978 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, and released 20 titles in November 1979.[5] Its first 20 titles were licensed and distributed byTime-Life Video, a unit of Time-Life Films, but the relationship didn't last long, and Columbia formed its own distribution arm.[6]
In March 1981, Columbia Pictures established a joint venture withRCA, RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video, to distribute tapes in overseas markets. The partnership expanded to North America as RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video the following year; this was in part to give RCA'sCED videodisc format a steady stream of titles.[7][8][9] The venture distributedNBC titles, as it was a subsidiary of RCA at the time. WhenTri-Star Pictures was formed in 1984, RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video became one of the three primary distributors of Tri-Star product for home video (the other two beingCBS/Fox Video andThorn-EMI/HBO Video {later renamed to HBO/Cannon Video and then simply HBO Video}, asCBS and HBO originally held stakes in Tri-Star), and fully assumed distribution of TriStar titles in the early 1990s. In Australia, they signed a deal to distribute releases fromHoyts Distribution and formed a longstanding relationship in August 1983.[10]
They also distributed titles from various other film companies related to Columbia, including most ofNew Line Cinema's theatrical releases (though not all, asMedia Home Entertainment andFamily Home Entertainment distributed several New Line films during the Columbia deal). New Line formedtheir own video label in 1990 (the result of acquiringNelson Entertainment, which had previously beenEmbassy Home Entertainment, itself a former Columbia subsidiary), but continued to go through RCA/Columbia Pictures (as well as SVS-Triumph and then Columbia TriStar Home Video) for distribution until 1994, whenTurner Broadcasting acquired New Line andTurner Home Entertainment assumed distribution functions. Other companies distributed by RCA/Columbia includedWeintraub Entertainment and21st Century Distribution.
In 1987, once pre-existing distribution deals had expired,Tri-Star Pictures announced that it would be launching a home video unit,Tri-Star Video, with Saul Melnick, a formerMGM/UA Home Video employee, as its president.[11] In 1988, after Coca-Cola sold its entertainment business, Tri-Star Video was merged into RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video.[12] In late 1989, it was rumored thatTrans World Entertainment would eventually sign a deal with RCA/Columbia to distribute its titles.[13][14] This rumor bore fruit by that December when a deal with TWE -- which had by this point become a part ofEpic Productions, which struck a separate distribution deal with RCA/Columbia not long before -- was officially announced.[15]
In March 1990, NBC filed a lawsuit against Columbia and its then-new parent companySony under the perception that the latter two parties were violating their joint pact. Columbia purchased the foreign video rights toOrion Pictures titles a month earlier. NBC alleged that they were unaware of this transaction and had become convinced that Columbia was forming their own video unit in strict defiance of the joint venture, which was set to expire in 1992. Sony and Columbia denied NBC's claims.[16] As the lawsuit continued into 1991,General Electric, the parent of NBC and RCA, announced that it was divesting its interest in RCA/Columbia.[17] The deal closed in August of that year and the litigation officially ended with Sony renaming the company as Columbia TriStar Home Video (CTHV).[18] In 1998, CTHV signed a deal withThe Jim Henson Company to launch its own video label,Jim Henson Home Entertainment, with CTHV distributing; at the time, Columbia Pictures and Henson were also allied theatrically for theJim Henson Pictures venture.[19]
On February 28, 1999, CTHV andUniversal Studios Home Video signed a multi-year deal to allow CTHV to distribute Universal's products on DVD outside North America.[20] For a short time, titles from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment also distributed by Universal on VHS between 2002 and 2003.
It was renamed as Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (CTHE) from April 2001 until a name change to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) in November 2004.[21]
SPHE had a three-year deal withStarz'sAnchor Bay Entertainment for worldwide DVD releases, with the exceptions of North America, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.[22]
On February 21, 2010,The Weinstein Company (TWC) struck a home video distribution deal with SPHE throughSony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions.[23] On August 31, 2010, SPHE partnered withRLJ Entertainment in a multi-year agreement, marketing and distributing DVDs and Blu-rays by RLJ. RLJ retained their own sales and marketing.[24]
In September 2011, the Australian division of SPHE announced they would merge their video operations with the local operations ofUniversal Pictures International Entertainment to form a joint-venture called Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.[25]
On April 23, 2012, Mill Creek announced that they had signed a home video distribution deal with SPHE, acquiring the rights to distribute 250 films from the Sony Pictures catalog on DVD and Blu-ray.[26] On August 27, 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment signed a deal with SPHE to distribute 665 SPE films and 54 television series on DVD.[27]
Anime News Network reported in February 2013 that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Australian joint venture withUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment licensedanime television series fromNBCUniversal Entertainment Japan for distribution in Australia, with its initial titles,A Certain Magical Index,Shakugan no Shana andArmitage III, scheduled for release on April 24, 2013.[28] From 2017 to 2018,Funimation began directly distributing a select number of its anime titles in Australia and New Zealand through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Australian joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. In September 2018, Funimation transferred distribution toMadman Entertainment, with Madman handling distribution and classification within the region.[29][30]
On December 18, 2013, SPHE president David Bishop, who had served since 2006, announced he would leave when his contract expired in March 2014.[31] It was announced that Man Jit Singh would replace Bishop.[32]
On July 22, 2015, SPHE and Transmission Films reached a multi-year distribution pact to release Transmission's library in Australia (through Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia Pty Limited) and in New Zealand.[33] On November 20, 2015, SPHE announced that it would release Ultra HDBlu-ray releases.[34]
On March 15, 2016, SPHE partnered witheOne to distribute films byMomentum Pictures across the globe except for Canada on physical and digital home entertainment platforms.[35] In January 2017, SPHE expanded its distribution deal withGenius Brands to include all properties and acquired an equity stake in the company.[36]
On February 6, 2018, Man Jit Singh stepped down as president of SPHE and was replaced by Keith LeGoy.[37]
In February 2021, Sony announced it would distribute releases byLionsgate Home Entertainment in North America beginning in July 2021, when Lionsgate's distribution deal with20th Century Home Entertainment expired.[38]
In 2005, when Sony and four partners acquiredMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) fromKirk Kerkorian, SPHE held the domestic home entertainment rights to MGM's 4,000 film and 10,400 television episode library, though the releases used the MGM DVD label. However, thanks to a cooling DVD market, sales did not meet projections; this was one of several factors that led to MGM splitting off from Sony Pictures' control. On May 31, 2006, MGM ended its distribution deal with SPHE and transferred most of its output to20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[39][40] The MGM fiasco directly led to long time SPHE president Ben Feingold's departure in the fall of 2006, and was replaced by, ironically,MGM Home Entertainment executive Dave Bishop, who brought along numerous MGM employees to replace Sony staffers.[41]
In February 2011, Sony was in negotiations with MGM for a co-financing deal that would've included full distribution rights to the MGM Home Entertainment library; this deal, however, ultimately did not include home media rights to MGM's catalog (which instead remained with Fox), though Sony would distribute some of the films they co-financed on video as part of the deal.[42][43][44]
In February 2024, it was reported that SPHE had reached an agreement to distribute all physical releases fromWalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in North America, who has begun to discontinue physical distribution entirely.[45][46]
On June 24, 2024, it was reported that SPHE had entered into a distribution deal withStudio Distribution Services, a joint venture betweenUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment andWarner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. The deal would allow SDS to handle the physical distribution of titles from Sony Pictures as well asDisney,Lionsgate, andThe Criterion Collection through their existing distribution deals with SPHE.[47]
During this time, the company also has and had some sub-labels, including:
During the time thatConsolidated Press Holdings, and laterPublishing and Broadcasting Limited andWest Australian Newspapers owned Hoyts, they re-established the Hoyts Distribution arm of the company. SPHE Australia releases Hoyts titles, including the recent box-office hit,Twilight. They also released the handful of films from theNine Network's film arm,Nine Films and Television.
SPHE also handles the Australian DVD distribution ofLionsgate titles (via Hoyts), after that company was unsuccessful in purchasingMagna Pacific, and the subsequent collapse of the successful bidder, Destra Entertainment.
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