Vestron
 |
|
| Industry | Home video company |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by LIVE Entertainment; brand revived by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2016 |
| Successor | LIVE Home Video (1991–1998) Artisan Entertainment (1998–2004) Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2004–present) |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Defunct | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Stamford, Connecticut |
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Key people
|
Austin Owen Furst, Jr. |
| Parent | Vestron, Inc. (1981–1991) LIVE Entertainment (1991–1992) |
| Divisions | Vestron Pictures |
| Division of Lionsgate Home Entertainment | |
| Industry | Home video |
| Founded | August 1, 2016 |
| Products | DVD, Blu-ray Disc |
| Parent | Lions Gate Entertainment |
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1981 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market.
Vestron was founded in 1981 by Austin Owen Furst, Jr. (born 1943), an executive at HBO, who was hired to dismantle the assets of Time-Life Films. Furst bought the video rights of the film library for himself and decided to form a home entertainment company with these assets. Furst's daughter suggested the moniker "Vestron", a portmanteau combining the name of Roman goddess Vesta and "Tron", which means "instrument" in Greek.
The company held on to its Time-Life Video library, and was also responsible for releases on VHS videocassette as well as CED Videodisc of mostly B movies and films from Cannon Films' library. They also distributed films under The Movie Store banner. The most notable titles Vestron released were Dirty Dancing, Monster Squad, and An American Werewolf in London. In later years, the company began to shift towards mainstream films, including films released through their Vestron Pictures subsidiary, most notably Dirty Dancing. Vestron was the first company to release National Geographic and PBS' Nova videos in the late 1980s, mostly distributed by Image Entertainment, and was the first to market with a pro wrestling video, "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Presents Lords of the Ring". They also released a 3-volume series called "How to Beat Home Video Games", which contains strategies for video games of the time.
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