Formerly called
|
Classic Media (2000–2012) |
---|---|
Subsidiary | |
Industry | Intellectual property |
Founded | May 2000 |
Founders |
Eric Ellenbogen John Engelman |
Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
Key people
|
|
Revenue | US$ 82 million (2012) |
US$ 19 million (2012) | |
Owner | DreamWorks Animation (NBCUniversal) |
Number of employees
|
80 (2012) |
Parent | Independent (2000-2006) Entertainment Rights (2006–2009) Boomerang Media (2009–2012) DreamWorks Animation (2012–present) |
Subsidiaries | |
Website | classics |
DreamWorks Classics is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media in May 2000 by Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman. The studio's library consists of acquired intellectual property catalogs and character brands as well as the licensing rights for various third-party properties. In 2012, DreamWorks Animation acquired Classic Media from its then-owner, Boomerang Media.
Classic Media was founded by Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman in May 2000 and acquired the UPA catalog from Henry Saperstein's estate.Frank Biondi, the former head of Universal Studios, and movie producer Steve Tisch invested in the company. Classic Media then bought the Harvey Entertainment catalog on March 11, 2001. On August 16, 2001, Classic Media and Random House won a joint bid for the assets of Golden Books, with Classic Media acquiring Golden Book's entertainment division (along with the Dell Comics and Gold Key libraries) and the production, licensing and merchandising rights for the Golden Books characters while Random House acquired Golden Books's book publishing properties. On October 31, 2003, Classic Media purchased the assets of the bankrupt Big Idea Entertainment. By 2007, Classic had formed Bullwinkle Studios, a joint venture with Jay Ward Productions, to manage the Jay Ward characters.
On April 7, 2005, the company was recapitalized by a group of investors consisting of Spectrum Equity Investors plus existing investors led by Pegasus Capital Advisors. A $100 million senior debt facility was also arranged from JP Morgan Chase Bank led bank group. With the deal Spectrum became majority owner over existing investor (like Random House Ventures) with a representative on the company board of directors.