Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
 | |
| Predecessor | Alliance Atlantis (television distribution assets) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 (as Platinum Disc Corporation) 2005 (as Echo Bridge Home Entertainment) |
| Defunct | 2021 |
| Fate | Folded into SP Distribution |
| Successor | SP Distribution WildBrain |
| Headquarters | La Crosse, Wisconsin (home entertainment) White Plains, New York (international sales) Needham, Massachusetts (headquarters) Beverly Hills, California (acquisitions) |
Area served | International |
Key people | Michael Rosenblatt, CEO; Nathan Hart, President (home entertainment); Emilia Nuccio, President (international) |
| Services | Video, digital, television distribution |
| Subsidiaries | Alliance Atlantis International Distribution PM Entertainment |
| Website | www |
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1968 | FilmFair London is founded |
| 1971 | DIC Audiovisuel is founded |
| 1972 | Strawberry Shortcake brand is first developed |
| 1974 | CPLG is founded |
| 1976 | CINAR and Colossal Pictures are founded |
| 1982 | DIC Enterprises is founded |
| 1984–1985 | Ragdoll Productions is founded |
| 1986–1987 | Andy Heyward takes over DIC Enterprises and renames it DIC Animation City with help from both Bear Stearns & Co and Prudential Insurance Co Jean Chalopin retains DIC Audiovisuel and establishes Créativité et Développement |
| 1988 | Studio B Productions is founded |
| 1992 | Epitome Pictures is founded |
| 1993 | Capital Cities/ABC purchases DIC Animation City, renaming it DIC Entertainment |
| 1994 | Both Wild Brain and Red Rover Studios were founded |
| 1995 | Platinum Disc Corporation is founded |
| 1996 | The Walt Disney Company purchases Capital Cities/ABC, which included DIC Entertainment as well CINAR buys FilmFair's library |
| 1997 | Decode Entertainment is founded |
| 1999 | Wild Brain acquires Colossal Pictures' employee base |
| 2000 | Andy Heyward re-acquires DIC Entertainment from The Walt Disney Company with help this time around from both Bain Capital and Chase Capital Partners |
| 2001–2002 | Nerd Corps Entertainment and Kidrobot are founded FilmFair London closes DIC Entertainment rebrands themselves onscreen as The Incredible World of DIC |
| 2004 | Halifax Film Company is founded Michael Hirsh takes over CINAR and renames it as Cookie Jar Group |
| 2005 | Platinum Disc Corporation merge as Echo Bridge Home Entertainment |
| 2006 | Decode and Halifax Film merge as DHX Media DIC Entertainment acquires CPLG Ragdoll Productions forms a joint-venture with BBC Worldwide called Ragdoll Worldwide Wild Brain acquires stake in Kidrobot |
| 2007 | DHX Media buys Studio B Productions Wild Brain becomes Wildbrain Entertainment |
| 2008 | Cookie Jar Group purchases and folds DIC Entertainment House of Cool absorbs Red Rover Studios |
| 2010 | DHX Media buys Wildbrain Entertainment Peanuts Worldwide is founded Decode Entertainment rebrands as DHX Media Toronto Hailfax Film becomes DHX Media Hailfax |
| 2011 | DHX Media Toronto, Studio B Productions and Red Rover Studios close |
| 2012 | DHX Media buys Cookie Jar Group Wildbrain Entertainment acquires Kidrobot as a whole |
| 2013 | DHX Media acquires Ragdoll Worldwide from Ragdoll Productions and BBC Worldwide; despite that though, Ragdoll Productions themselves remain independent |
| 2014 | DHX Media buys Epitome Pictures, Nerd Corps, and Echo Bridge Home Entertainment's family content library, as well as Family, the Canadian English and French Disney Junior channels, and the Canadian version of Disney XD Cookie Jar Group shuts down National Entertainment Collectibles Association acquires Kidrobot from Wildbrain Entertainment |
| 2016 | The WildBrain multi-channel network launches Studio B and Nerd Corps merge as DHX Studios Wildbrain Entertainment closes |
| 2017 | DHX Media buys Peanuts Worldwide and Strawberry Shortcake |
| 2018 | DHX Media Hailfax becomes Island of Misfits |
| 2019 | DHX Media rebrands as WildBrain Epitome Pictures closes the WildBrain MCN becomes WildBrain Spark |
| 2020 | CPLG becomes WildBrain CPLG |
| 2021 | Echo Bridge folds into SP Distribution |
| 2023 | WildBrain acquires House of Cool |
| 2024 | WildBrain Spark merged into its parent company as WildBrain London |
| 2025 | WildBrain announces closures of its television channels |
Echo Bridge Entertainment was an American independent distribution company. It acquired and distributed feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children's programming for home video, digital and television in the United States and throughout the world. Since its acquisition of Alliance Atlantis International Distribution and recent distribution partnerships with Miramax[1] and ABC Disney/Buena Vista, Echo Bridge Entertainment had a combined portfolio of over 11,000 titles, including Degrassi: The Next Generation (a co-production with DHX Media's Epitome Pictures), until DHX Media acquired the family library in November 2014.
History
[edit]Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, a division of Echo Bridge Entertainment, was founded in 1995 as Platinum Disc Corporation, initially distributed DVDs of low-budget and public domain films. It was named and had its logo inspired from the real Echo Bridge in Newton, Massachusetts. In February 2004, Echo Bridge Entertainment was founded at the American Film Market, with the acquisition of the libraries of CineTel Films and PM Entertainment.[2][3] In September 2004, Echo Bridge announced that it would acquire the Green Communications library.[4] In July 2005, Platinum Disc Corporation and Echo Bridge Entertainment merged to form Echo Bridge Home Entertainment.[5] In April 2008, Echo Bridge acquired the international operations, including television distribution rights to Alliance Atlantis library from Goldman Sachs, with the exception of the CSI franchise, which was retained by CBS.[6] In 2011, Echo Bridge Entertainment and Miramax owner Filmyard Holdings made a distribution deal in which Echo Bridge would release 251 films from the Miramax catalog. The other 550 films from Miramax's catalog went to Lionsgate and StudioCanal as Filmyard had a similar distribution deal with them.[7][8] On March 17, 2014, after Echo Bridge lost the distribution rights to the Miramax titles, the Miramax releases all went out of print and any mention of them was removed from their website. Lionsgate later expanded their deal with Miramax to include the 251 films previously released by Echo Bridge until 2020, when Paramount Home Entertainment (which parent company acquired a 49% stake of Miramax in 2019) extended their own deal with Miramax to include those 251 films. In 2014, Echo Bridge sold its family library to DHX Media (now known as WildBrain).[9]
In January 2017, filmmaker and producer Steven Paul purchased the non-family assets of Echo Bridge, which in turn renamed as Echo Bridge Acquisition Corp, later becoming dormant and then folded into SP Distribution in 2021, with the distribution rights to the Echo Bridge/PM/Alliance Atlantis library in turn acquired by the New York City-based distributor and streaming service FilmRise for digital distribution.[10]
Filmography
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Echo Bridge And Miramax Enter Into Distribution Partnership". Miramax. February 17, 2011. Archived from the original on June 19, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
- ^ "AFM set to her an echo". Variety. February 11, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ "Echo Bridge to launch at AFM, armed with PM library and 94 CineTel titles". Screen Daily. February 12, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ "Echo Bridge buys Green Communications library". Screen Daily. September 29, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ "Echo Bridge Entertainment Merges With Leading Home Entertainment Distributor, Platinum Disc Corporation". Echo Bridge Entertainment. July 5, 2005. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- ^ "Echo Bridge to acquire Alliance Atlantis International Distribution". April 7, 2008. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- ^ "Miramax, Echo Bridge team for DVD distrib". Variety. February 17, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ "Echo Bridge takes on Miramax DVD titles". Deadline Hollywood. February 17, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ DHX Media acquires library of children's and family TV content
- ^ "Producer Steven Paul Buys Distributor Echo Bridge".
External links
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