Entertainment One
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | LSE: ETO |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Predecessor | Koch Entertainment |
| Founded | 1973 as Records on Wheels |
| Founder | Darren Throop |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Key people |
Allan Leighton (Non-Executive Director & Chairman) Darren Throop (CEO) |
| Products |
Music Film Television Distribution Music Publishing |
| Revenue | £802.7 million (2016)[1] |
| £47.9 million (2016)[2] | |
| £40.2 million (2016)[3] | |
| Owner |
CPP Investment Board (19.70%) Capital Research & Management (10.59%) M&G Investment Management (7.00%) Standard Life Investments (6.34%)[4] (remaining 56.37% publicly-traded) |
| Divisions | |
| Subsidiaries |
Subsidiaries
|
| Website |
entertainmentone |
Entertainment One (also known as simply eOne, stylized as entertainment One) is a Canadian multinational media distribution company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of entertainment content, including films, television series, and music. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Founded in 1973 as the music distributor Records on Wheels, by 2003 the company had begun to expand into home entertainment distribution, and international film and television acquisition and production through the acquisition of Alliance Films, along with other distributors and studios.
History
eOne began operations in 1973 in Ontario, Canada, as Records on Wheels (ROW) Limited, founded and operated by Vito Ierullo and Don Ierullo, focusing on retail sales of recorded music. In the late 1970s, ROW began to distribute recorded music for third-party retailers in Canada. For more than 20 years, entertainment content distribution became the company’s primary focus as the company expanded into video, purchasing one of Canada’s largest home entertainment distributors, Video One Canada, Ltd., from its then-parent, Standard Broadcasting Corporation. In November 2003, the company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ROW Entertainment Income Fund.[10]
In June 2005, ROW Entertainment Income Fund acquired the American independent music distributor and home entertainment publisher Koch Entertainment. In 2007, the company, now known as the Entertainment One Income Fund, accepted a $188 million public equity takeover by Marwyn Investment Management to fund its expansion; the company was listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market as Entertainment One Ltd.[11][12]
In 2007, Entertainment One acquired Montreal-based film distributor Seville Pictures and UK distributor Contender Entertainment.[13] The same year, the company secured its first film output agreement with Summit Entertainment, handling distribution in Canada and the United Kingdom.[14] Acquisitions continued in 2008 with the purchase of the Benelux distributor RCV Entertainment. The same year, eOne acquired the television studios Blueprint and Barna-Alper, and international television distributor Oasis International.[15]
Acquisitions continued in 2008 with the purchase of the Benelux distributor RCV Entertainment. The same year, eOne acquired the television studios Blueprint and Barna-Alper, and international television distributor Oasis International.[15]
On May 28, 2012, eOne placed a bid to purchase the Canadian film distributor Alliance Films from Goldman Sachs Group and Investissement Quebec.[16] The deal was completed on January 9, 2013, giving eOne Canadian distribution rights for titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, Lionsgate Films and Focus Features.[17] Also that same year, eOne had its first appearance on the LSE's FTSE 250, as well as completing an exclusive multi-year distribution agreement with AMC and SundanceTV to handle international distribution for all original scripted series.
On May 28, 2014, eOne announced a strategic investment in interactive agency Secret Location; the firm would continue to operate independently under the leadership of James Milward (President, Executive Producer and Founder), and partners Pietro Gagliano (Creative Director and SVP) and Ryan Andal (Technical Director and SVP).[18]
On June 2, 2014, eOne acquired Phase 4 Films; its CEO Berry Meyerowitz was named as head of eOne's U.S. film distribution business and North American family entertainment business.[19] On July 17, the company acquired Paperny Entertainment.[20][21] On August 28, 2014, eOne acquired Force Four Entertainment.[22]
On January 5, 2015, eOne acquired a 51% stake in The Mark Gordon Co.; Gordon was named CEO of the studio, which planned to produce and finance future film and television projects by Gordon and others in an effort by eOne to increase its prominence in the United States. eOne will have an option to acquire the remainder of the studio beginning in 2022.[23] On September 9, 2015, eOne revived the Momentum Pictures brand (which was previously used by Alliance UK) and announced that it had entered into a multi-picture deal with Orion Pictures to jointly acquire films for "specialized theatrical releases" in the U.S., and targeted international releases, focusing on ancillary and digital distribution.[24]
On September 30, 2015, eOne acquired a 70% stake in British animation studio Astley Baker Davies—producers of the animated children's series Peppa Pig.[25]
On December 16, 2015, eOne, Steven Spielberg, Reliance Entertainment, and Participant Media officially announced a joint venture known as Amblin Partners. eOne serves as an investor, while the majority of its films will be distributed by Universal Pictures.[26]
On January 7, 2016, eOne made a strategic investment in Sierra Pictures[27] and on January 20, 2016, the company acquired Dualtone Music Group.[28]
On March 8, 2016, eOne acquired music recording, publishing and artist management company Last Gang, and announced Chris Taylor would join the company in the new role of President, Entertainment One Music.[29]
On March 24, 2016, eOne acquired a 65% interest in David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe’s unscripted production company Renegade 83.[30]
On August 10, 2016, eOne rejected an offer to be acquired by British television broadcaster ITV plc for £1 billion ($1.3 billion US). eOne considered the offer to be "fundamentally undervalued".[31]
On August 17, 2016, eOne announced it completed its investment in digital studio Secret Location.[32]
On September 12, 2016, eOne announced its acquisition of UK-based music management company Hardlivings.[33]
eOne Films
eOne Films acquires film content rights and distributes these across multiple territories including Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Benelux, Austalia, New Zealand and the United States. Distribution channels include theatrical distribution, home entertainment through DVD/Blu-ray rental and retail, television, and digital downloading service.
eOne’s Global Film Group is led by President Steve Bertram, who is based in Los Angeles.
In May 2015, Entertainment One consolidated its feature film creative development, production, and international sales activities under the new banner Entertainment One Features (eOne Features). The division aims to produce and fully finance six to eight films annually, in addition to its existing territorial acquisitions. The division also includes a boutique sales outfit, Seville International, which is based in Montreal. eOne Features is led by President Xavier Marchand, who reports to Steve Bertram.
On January 7, 2016, eOne made a strategic investment in Sierra Pictures.[34]
On September 9, 2016, eOne announced it entered into a first look co-financing and international distribution deal for feature films with Tucker Tooley under his film and production company Tooley Productions.[35] The first project under the deal will be a film adaptation of Harlan Coben’s novel Fool Me Once, starring and produced by Julia Roberts under her Red Om Films banner.[36]
On September 23, 2016, Xavier Dolan’s film Juste la fin du monde was announced as Canada’s entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 2017 Academy Awards. The film has been sold worldwide by eOne’s Seville International sales arm, and is distributed in Canada by eOne/Les Films Seville.[37]
eOne Television
Notable Entertainment One television productions include: Hung for HBO,[38] Mary Mary on WeTV, Call Me Fitz on DirecTV, The Bridge on CTV,[39] Rookie Blue on ABC and Global,[40] Haven on Syfy,[41] and Hell on Wheels on AMC, David Spade’s Fameless on TruTV, Nellyville on BET, Rogue on DirecTV, The Book of Negroes miniseries on CBC and BET, Saving Hope on CTV and Ion Television, and Bitten on Space and SyFy.
Entertainment One’s sales catalogue includes such series as: David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef; Sky Living’s The Enfield Haunting; and AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead, due to a 2013 multi-year international output deal agreement between the firm and AMC Networks and Sundance Channel.[42]
eOne’s Television division is led by Chief Executive Officer John Morayniss, based in Los Angeles.
eOne Music
With staff in New York, LA, Toronto and Nashville, eOne Music US, formerly E1 Music/Koch Records, is generally regarded as the largest independent music label in North America.[43] Since its inception as Koch Records, eOne Music US has charted over 100 albums on Billboard's Independent Chart, surpassing the number of titles charted by all other U.S. independent label and was the number one independent label according to Billboard for four consecutive years. The music division covers all musical genres from rap, adult-contemporary, rock, urban, country, children's and classical. eOne owns the catalog for seminal rap label, Death Row as well as indie rock label, Dualtone (Lumineers, Shakey Graves).[44] The music business has recently expanded into management and music publishing.[45]
eOne Music Canada is a full service record label and distribution company, with its own in-house marketing and publicity team and a sales staff across the country. Artist roster includes Emilie-Claire Barlow, Jason Blaine, Dan Talevski, Die Mannequin, Matt Dusk, Diemonds, The Standstills, Rival Sons, Devin Townsend, Jesse Cook and 2015 Polaris Music Prize winner Buffy Sainte-Marie. Director of Media Relations for Canada, Eric Alper, is also a CTV Music Correspondent and host of the music-based interview program @ThatEricAlper on SiriusXM.
On March 8, 2016, Entertainment One announced the appointment of leading music industry attorney and music industry entrepreneur, Chris Taylor, to the role of President, Entertainment One Music. The company also shared that Taylor will bring his independent recording, publishing and artist management company Last Gang to eOne, whose impressive roster includes record label clients Death From Above 1979, Chromeo and Ryan Hemsworth, and management clients Lights and Arkells. The announcement was made by Darren Throop, President & Chief Executive Officer, Entertainment One.
eOne Family & Licensing
Based in the United Kingdom and Canada, eOne Family (formerly E1 Kids) creates, produces and distributes children’s entertainment with partners including Nick Jr and Channel 5, in 190 territories including the United States, Scandinavia, France and Germany. eOne Family’s Peppa Pig franchise is one of the most popular pre-school brands in the UK, surpassing over £100 million in retail sales in the 2009 financial period.[46]
On September 18, 2015, eOne Family’s newest preschool series, PJ Masks, premiered on Disney Channel and Disney Junior in the U.S.[47]
eOne’s Licensing division, based in the United Kingdom and Los Angeles and extending to New York and Hong Kong, promotes brands across multiple platforms, reaching all demographics. eOne Licensing manages a full spectrum of branded opportunities at every stage, from product development to launch, through continual brand innovation. eOne’s Family and Licensing divisions are led by Managing Director Olivier Dumont, based in London.
eOne Distribution
eOne's Distribution division delivers, through both physical and digital channels, eOne’s own and third party content to over 3,000 retail partners through its networks across Canada and the United States.[48] The division provides distribution services to a wide range of content producers, including some major Hollywood studios.
The division manufactures and distributes home media releases in the United States, Canada, and Quebec, operating as eOne Distribution US, eOne Distribution Canada, and Videoglobe1, respectively.
Partners
Through various deals and terms, eOne has a distribution deal with the following companies, whether in full or in part:
Film
- AutoMatik
- CBS Films
- DreamWorks Pictures (via Mister Smith Entertainment and Focus Features)
- Exclusive Media
(all titles except End of Watch, released by VVS Films) - FilmNation Entertainment
(most titles, limited released by VVS Films) - Universal Pictures (some releases)
- Focus Features
- FilmDistrict (now known as Focus World)
- IM Global
(most titles, limited released by VVS Films) - Lakeshore Entertainment
- Lionsgate
- Miramax
- Rhombus
- StudioCanal
- The Weinstein Company
- SinemArt
- Wrekin Hill Entertainment
Television
- A&E Networks
- AMC Networks
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- APTN
- AXN
- BBC
- Bell Media
- Blue Ant Media
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- CBS Corporation
- Channel 4
- Corus Entertainment
- Discovery Communications
- Disney Media Networks
- El Rey Network
- Epix
- Fox Entertainment Group
- Hallmark Channel
- Hoodwink Entertainment
- Time Warner
- Knightscove Entertainment
- MAVTV
- NBCUniversal
- Out of Africa Entertainment
- Rogers Media
- Scripps Networks Interactive
- Starz
- Super Channel
- TM International
- TVOntario
- Up TV
- Viacom
Music
- EMP Label Group
- EMP Underground
