Artisan Entertainment

History

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

1980s

Artisan Entertainment was founded in 1981 by Noel C. Bloom as Family Home Entertainment, Inc.. 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, 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, Thriller Video and later Celebrity Home Entertainment), and then a year later in 1985, 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 FHE name was used for family releases In the late 1980s, the company branched into film distribution for television.

In 1987, IVE was acquired by Carolco Pictures from NCB Entertainment after Carolco had a short-lived minority interest in the latter a year earlier. The unrated release of Angel Heart was the first Carolco film released by IVE on video. The studio hired Jose Menendez 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.

In 1988, IVE and FHE consolidated into LIVE Entertainment after a merger with Lieberman. LIVE formed new ventures outside the home video business, including an ownership of retail music and video chains across the East Coast, after the acquisitions of such stores as Strawberries and Waxie Maxie.

1990–1997

In 1990, IVE became LIVE Home Video. Carolco formed its own home video division under 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 branched 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.

In 1991, the company took over Vestron 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. 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 was 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. In 1993, Carolco restructured itself and was forced to sell its shares in LIVE Entertainment to a group of investors led by Pioneer Electric Corporation. In August 1994, Carolco and LIVE plotted another merger attempt, but the plans fell apart once again that October. In 1996, when Carolco ceased to exist as a company, StudioCanal got full rights to their film library and thus LIVE (under a new deal with the French-based production company) continued to distribute Carolco's films for video.

Other ex-video distributors that had been owned by and folded into LIVE Entertainment included Tenth Avenue Video (And Platinum Productions), and Magnum Entertainment.

1997–2003

In 1997, LIVE was acquired by Bain Capital and was taken private. As part of a restructuring process, in April 1998, the company became Artisan Entertainment.

Artisan's video unit began to expand to include the Hallmark Entertainment and Hallmark Hall of Fame movies on VHS and DVD and Discovery Communications releases.

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, 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.

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 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.