First Look Studios
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry |
Film Home video |
| Successor |
Millennium Entertainment (2010-2014) Alchemy (2014-2016) |
| Founded | 1980 (as Overseas Filmgroup) |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Century City, California |
| Products | DVD, Blu-ray disc |
First Look Studios was an independent American film distributor that specialized in home video releases of films and TV series.
In 1980, Robert and Ellen Little founded Overseas Filmgroup as a film sales company for foreign markets. Overseas Filmgroup expanded towards film financing to give the company greater control over its output. Films ranged from genre titles such as Blue Tiger (starring Virginia Madsen) and No Way Back (starring Russell Crowe) to art-house films including Antonia's Line, Mrs. Dalloway, The Secret of Roan Inish, Waking Ned Devine, and Titus. In 1993, the company expanded towards North American distribution through its First Look Pictures subsidiary.
In 1998, Overseas Filmgroup went public. Two years later, EUE/Screen Gems acquired a minority interest in the company. In January 2001, as part of a restructuring, Overseas Filmgroup and First Look Pictures became subsidiaries of First Look Media. Overseas Filmgroup was eventually renamed First Look International. Robert and Ellen Little left First Look in 2003.
On July 29, 2005, after a merger with Canadian businessman Henry Winterstern's Capital Entertainment, the combined company became First Look Studios. Winterstern became CEO of First Look and shared the role as Chairman with EUE/Screen Gems' Chris Cooney. That year, First Look acquired DEJ Productions from Blockbuster. In 2006, First Look acquired Ventura Distribution, a home video distribution company, and acquired the domestic TV syndication rights to 56 films from Pinnacle Entertainment. By 2006, First Look had a 700-film library to its name, and continued to add more with the financing of in-house productions.
Henry Winterstern resigned from First Look in 2007. That March, Nu Image acquired controlling interest in First Look. In 2010, Millennium Entertainment acquired First Look's assets.
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