Overbrook Entertainment, Inc. is an American

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

based in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It was founded by partners

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

and

James Lassiter James Lassiter is an American film producer and talent agent. He served as the manager of American rapper and actor Will Smith before the two co-founded the production company Overbrook Entertainment in 1998. Also Smith's business partner, Lass ...

in 1998, around the same time production for ''

Wild Wild West ''Wild Wild West'' is a 1999 American steampunk Western film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock alongside Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on a story conceived by Jim and John Thomas. Loosely ...

'' (1999) began. The name "Overbrook" is derived from Will Smith's neighborhood in

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the n ...

. The on-screen logo consists of a spinning record with the company name. The company produces music, films and television shows. Smith claimed to have started the company in order to serve as producer and find roles. He uses his role in the company to help unknown artists record music, and also records music for some of his films in Overbrook.

History

On November 11, 1997, actor

(age 29) and manager

signed an overall first-look term deal at

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. Thus, Overbrook Entertainment was born. It was formally incorporated on February 2, 1998. David Tochterman, formerly employee of

The Carsey-Werner Company The Carsey-Werner Company (previously known as Carsey-Werner Productions and Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, before that, Carsey Productions and also known as Carsey-Werner Television) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by ...

, joined the company on September 16, 1998, and decided to launch the television division. Tochterman produced shows for the broadcast and cable TV networks. The music division was restructured with John Dukakis, formerly an employee of Southpaw Entertainment, signed as executive vice president of its music division on February 11, 1999. On May 10, 2000, it was announced that a merger with

The Firm The FIRM is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. First released in 1986, the video series is best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Benson founded th ...

had been proposed, but it was later scrapped. Overbrook Entertainment announced on December 10, 2000 that it was renewing its interest in the television division. Its plans were to include a 13-episode animated series commitment for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, as well as a slew of comedy, drama and telemovies on various broadcast networks. The studio was landing deals for three sitcoms, three dramas and one telefilm for various web networks. The studio's contract with

ended on January 30, 2002. It then formally signed a contract with

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

to develop feature films. In the years of 2009, 2015 and 2017, the studio went on hiatus where the films from the company are not released yet for the next three years. The studio announced that it wouldn't renew its deal with

on January 3, 2018. On July 10, 2019, Smith and his wife, actress

Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress, businesswoman, and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show ''Red Table Talk'', for which she has won a Daytime Emmy Awards, Daytim ...

, announced the formation of Westbrook Inc., with Overbrook Entertainment being as one of the subsidiaries of the company. It is reported that Westbrook Studios would sign a deal with

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

Filmography

Films

2000s

2010s

2020s

Television

2000s

2010s

2020s

Soundtrack

Distribution

References

{{Authority control Film production companies of the United States 1998 establishments in California Record labels based in California Record labels established in 1998 Hip-hop record labels Will Smith Companies based in Culver City, California Television production companies of the United States