 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Genre | Anime |
| Predecessor | A.D. Vision |
| Founded | June 4, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-06-04)[1] |
| Founder | John Ledford |
| Headquarters | 10114 West Sam Houston Parkway Alief,Houston, Texas 77099, U.S. |
Area served | North America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark |
Key people | John Ledford (CEO) |
| Products | |
| Services | |
| Parent | AMC Networks |
| Divisions | Sentai Studios |
| Website | sentaifilmworks.com |
Sentai Filmworks, LLC (or simplySentai) is an American entertainment company. Located inHouston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution ofJapanese animation andAsian cinema. Its post-production arm isSentai Studios.
The company has its origins inA.D. Vision, which was founded in 1992 by video game fanJohn Ledford andMatt Greenfield. ADV collapsed due to low sales and eventually liquidated their assets in 2009. Ledford founded Sentai in 2008 and acquired the majority of ADV's titles. Sentai was then acquired by New York City-based AMC Networks in 2022 and became its subsidiary. Its offices are in theInternational District inSouthwest Houston.[2][3]
In 1990,John Ledford, a native of Houston, started a Japanese video game and video console import business. He was introduced to anime when he watchedMy Neighbor Totoro at his friend's suggestion. His friend,Matt Greenfield, born inSacramento, California, ran a local anime club called Anime NASA.[4] Both men establishedA.D. Vision, which officially opened for business on August 17, 1992.[4] Ledford contactedToho about optioning the rights to licenseDevil Hunter Yohko, which became the first title to be released by ADV.[4][5]
In June 2006, the JapaneseSojitz Corporation acquired a 20% stake in ADV Films. This was done as a means for ADV Films to acquire more titles in the Japanese market.[6] From this point on, virtually all titles that ADV acquired were with Sojitz's help. The following year, Sojitz announced that Japan Content Investments (JCI),Development Bank of Japan, and film distribution company KlockWorx, planned to contribute money to ADV, in return for equity in the company. Ledford was to remain the majority shareholder and CEO. JCI subsidiary ARM also planned to contribute money for ADV to use in acquiring new distribution licenses. The investment was to ADV Films to raise its output of new anime titles, which had dropped in 2006, back to previous levels or above. In return, ADV planned to assist Sojitz with the acquisition of North American and European content for importation into Japan. According to ADV, they also reportedly had "big plans" for its manga line.[7]
However, in January 2008, ADV mysteriously removed a large number of titles from their website.[8] Among the titles which were subsequently removed wasGurren Lagann, which had test disks sent out with dubbed episodes. As a result, ADVsued ARM Corporation and its parent Sojitz for abreach in a contract made previously. In the suit, the exact amount ADV paid to license twenty-nine titles was disclosed. The lawsuit was withdrawn and no ruling was made.[9] That July,Funimation announced the acquisition of thirty of these titles licensed by Sojitz from ADV.[10]
Ledford established Sentai Filmworks in October 2008.[11] Among its first titles to be released wereClannad,Princess Resurrection,Indian Summer,Appleseed andMahoromatic (formerly licensed byGeneon).[12][13] On September 1, 2009, ADV had closed its doors and sold off its assets, which included transferring distribution rights toSection23 Films.[14]
On July 4, 2013, during its industry panel atAnime Expo, Sentai Filmworks announced its plans to release a number of classic titles fromTatsunoko Production.[15] The current list of released titles from the partnership include the originalGatchaman series andmovie,Time Bokan: Royal Revival, andCasshan, and more titles followed.
Sunrise announced a licensing deal with Sentai Filmworks that included a number of titles from Sunrise's library that were formerly licensed byBandai Entertainment during itsOtakon panel on August 8, 2013.[16]
In 2014, Sentai opened its in-house localization and recording facility,Sentai Studios.[17]
On June 1, 2015, Sentai made an announcement on its website thatAkame ga Kill! had been picked up byAdult Swim for broadcast on itsToonami programming block, almost one week after its announcement atMomoCon 2015.[18][19] The show began airing on the broadcast night of August 8, 2015, and its premiere night was one of the most watched programs in the block's history with over 1.8 million viewers.[20] Later that year,Parasyte -the maxim-, premiered on October 3.[21] Sentai has promoted the time that the two shows air as "#SentaiHour" on social media. On July 6, 2019,Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma began airing on Toonami.[22]
In March 2017, Sentai signed a deal withAmazon to stream the majority of its new licensees exclusively on itsAnime Strike channel onAmazon Prime Video in the United States, starting with the Spring 2017 season.[23] After Anime Strike was shuttered in early 2018, all titles previously exclusive to the service were made available to Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. at no extra charge.[24]
The company launched its own streaming serviceHIDIVE in June 2017.[25]
On July 18, 2019, Sentai Filmworks launched aGoFundMe appeal in the wake of thearson attack at Kyoto Animation.[26] With a target of US$750,000, it surpassed the $1 million donation mark within the first 24 hours, and reached $2,370,910 at closing.[27][28]
On August 1, 2019, Sentai Filmworks' parent company Sentai Holdings, LLC announced that theCool Japan Fund investedUS$30 million for shares of the company, stating that "Sentai's independent status makes it a rarity in North America as a licensor of Japanese anime".[29] On September 30, 2020, the Cool Japan Fund made an additionalUS$3.6 million available, stating that Sentai had achieved better financial results in 2019 compared to 2018, with plans for medium and long-term growth, and strategic changes following theCOVID-19 pandemic.[30]
On September 5, 2020,Crunchyroll announced that they had entered in a partnership with Sentai Filmworks to distribute Crunchyroll licensed titles onto home video and electronic sell-through, withGranbelm,Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma: The Fourth Plate,Ascendance of a Bookworm, andWorld Trigger being the first titles distributed through the partnership.[31]
On January 5, 2022,AMC Networks acquired Sentai Filmworks and its parent company Sentai Holdings, LLC, including theHidive streaming service, and theAnime Network.[32][33][34][35] Prior to the sale, in August 2021,Sony'sFunimation Global Group (a joint venture betweenSony Pictures Entertainment andSony Music Entertainment Japan'sAniplex) acquired Ellation, the parent company of Crunchyroll, fromAT&T'sWarnerMedia (later spun out by AT&T and merged withDiscovery, Inc. to formWarner Bros. Discovery), and later on, in March 2022, Funimation would be rebranded asCrunchyroll, LLC. This would eventually lead to several Sentai titles departing from the Crunchyroll streaming service on March 31, 2022.[36]
AfterRight Stuf was acquired by Sony in August 2022, Sentai announced on March 7, 2023, that all future home releases from them along withSection23 Films would be distributed by Distribution Solutions (DS), the releasing unit of wholesaler Alliance Entertainment, on April 3.[37]
On March 2, 2023, Sentai announced that they had entered in a partnership and distribution agreement withMainichi Broadcasting System.[38]
Sentai Filmworks does not directly release its properties outside of America but instead sub-licenses to other companies. In 2011,MVM Entertainment licensedMahoromatic: Something More Beautiful after Sentai's re-release of the series, and has done the same withBroken Blade.[39]
In March 2018, it was revealed that Sentai held the distribution rights to the filmNo Game No Life: Zero that the company gave to the Mexican distributor Madness Entertainment. It was revealed that they directly commissioned a Spanish dubbed version for the film.[40] On March 15, Sentai announced the acquisition ofAlice or Alice to Spain and Portugal.[41]
Copyright Agentc/o SENTAI FILMWORKS 10114 W Sam Houston Pkwy S Houston, Texas 77099-5109andPrivacy PolicyArchived November 14, 2021, at theWayback Machine states: "Attn: SENTAI FILMWORKS Privacy Administration, 10114 W. Sam Houston Parkway South, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77099-5109"
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