Act III Communications

Act III Communications is a diversified media and entertainment company owned by TV producer Norman Lear. It was started in 1985 following Lear's sale of Embassy Communications to The Coca-Cola Company. In a Wall St. Journal interview in 1988, Lear explained the name by noting that in a Shakespeare play there are always more than three acts and that he expects there to be an Act IV and V. Act III is Lear's business vehicle and is unconnected to his other activities as a political activist and philanthropist.

Among the many activities of Act III Communications are a minority interest in Village Roadshow Pictures(VRP); an ownership interest in Concord Music Group (later merged with VRP to create Village Roadshow Entertainment Group); Act III Broadcasting; Act III Theatres; Act III Publishing; and Act III Television, a joint venture formed with Columbia Pictures Television in February 1989; and Act III Merchandising which handles the merchandising for "The Princess Bride" among other properties. Act III Broadcasting was divested for approximately $500 million in 1994/95 to ABRY Partners; Act III Theatres was divested to KKR in 1997 for just under $700 million while Concord Music Group was divested in 2013 to Wood Creek Capital for $115 million. Act III/Lear continue to own the two Rob Reiner directed films it produced, Stand By Me and The Princess Bride. Act III/Lear continues to hold an interest in Village Roadshow Pictures/Village Roadshow Entertainment.

Through a group led by Act III Communications, in January 2006, Norman Lear and his partner Hal Gaba purchased 50% of Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP), the Los Angeles-based, U.S. film production arm of Village Roadshow Limited, one of Australia’s leading entertainment and media companies. Their entity, Crescent Film Group included longtime associate Michael Lambert through Lambert Media Group and Clarity Partners as investors. Crescent invested $115 million for the interest in VRP. The Australian parent, Village Roadshow Limited (VRL) also operates movie theaters; film production and distribution in Australia; TVand Video distribution; radio stations; and theme parks including "Warner Movie World." VRP co-produces and/or co-finances 6-8 movies per year. Historically a long-term partner with Warner Brothers, VRP moved its distribution to Sony Pictures in 2014. VRP's library includes films such as The Great Gatsby, Winter's Tale, The Lego Movie, the Matrix trilogy, Miss Congeniality, Training Day, Ocean’s Eleven and its sequels, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and others. This interest has been diluted with subsequent expansion and re-capitalizations of VRP but remains a significant interest for Act III. Village Roadshow Pictures used the $115 million invested by Crescent to repay an inter-company loan of $100 million owed to its parent company, as well as pay a $15 million dividend to the existing VRP shareholders and management.

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