Image Entertainment
Encyclopedia
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD
titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, Image has exclusive audio and broadcast rights and, through its subsidiary Egami Media, Inc., has digital download rights to approximately 2,000 video programs and over 300 audio programs containing more than 4,500 tracks. The company is headquartered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
.
and Beta
, the dominant tape formats of the time. Image successfully secured exclusive output deals with major studios such as Universal Studios
, 20th Century Fox
, and The Walt Disney Company
and grew to become the dominant distributor of the format.
As the 1990s came to a close and Laserdiscs gave way to DVD, Image re-focused on the fledgling format that would quickly come to dominate the home video marketplace. While studios were busy managing the transition from VHS to DVD, Image began to acquire DVD rights to long-form music concert programs, television programming, foreign films and a broad array of special interest programming, all of which were being ignored by the major studios and music labels.
Image continued to work with its long term partner, The Criterion Collection
, as well as hundreds of independent content producers and rights holders to bring products to the marketplace. By the 10th anniversary of the DVD, Image has once again established itself as a dominant distributor of independently produced programs. In 2008 Image began to expand its release schedule to include feature films.
On November 20, 2008 Image entered into a merger agreement with Nyx Acquisitions, Inc. to sell Image in a transaction valued at approximately $100 million, including the assumption of the company’s outstanding debt under its credit facility, replication advance obligation and convertible note. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Image stockholders will receive $2.75 per share in cash.
Most recently, Image has entered into in-house film and television production. Its latest theatrical film is 44 Inch Chest
. It has also entered an agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment
to re-release some of their titles, such as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
.
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, Image has exclusive audio and broadcast rights and, through its subsidiary Egami Media, Inc., has digital download rights to approximately 2,000 video programs and over 300 audio programs containing more than 4,500 tracks. The company is headquartered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
History
Founded in 1981 as a public company, Image trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol DISK. Image began as a distributor of Laserdiscs, whose sound and picture quality surpassed that of VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Beta
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
, the dominant tape formats of the time. Image successfully secured exclusive output deals with major studios such as Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, and The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
and grew to become the dominant distributor of the format.
As the 1990s came to a close and Laserdiscs gave way to DVD, Image re-focused on the fledgling format that would quickly come to dominate the home video marketplace. While studios were busy managing the transition from VHS to DVD, Image began to acquire DVD rights to long-form music concert programs, television programming, foreign films and a broad array of special interest programming, all of which were being ignored by the major studios and music labels.
Image continued to work with its long term partner, The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
, as well as hundreds of independent content producers and rights holders to bring products to the marketplace. By the 10th anniversary of the DVD, Image has once again established itself as a dominant distributor of independently produced programs. In 2008 Image began to expand its release schedule to include feature films.
On November 20, 2008 Image entered into a merger agreement with Nyx Acquisitions, Inc. to sell Image in a transaction valued at approximately $100 million, including the assumption of the company’s outstanding debt under its credit facility, replication advance obligation and convertible note. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Image stockholders will receive $2.75 per share in cash.
Most recently, Image has entered into in-house film and television production. Its latest theatrical film is 44 Inch Chest
44 Inch Chest
44 Inch Chest is a 2009 British film starring Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson and Ian McShane. The script was written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, who wrote another British gangster drama Sexy Beast, and produced by Richard Brown and Steve Golin...
. It has also entered an agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
to re-release some of their titles, such as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
, known internationally as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, is a 2001 animated film directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. The screenplay was written by Keiko Nobumoto, based on the Cowboy Bebop television series created by Sunrise. The plot centers on Spike Spiegel and his crew as they find a criminal who is...
.
External links
- Image Entertainment at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....