RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, Image has exclusive audio and broadcast rights as well as digital download rights to approximately 2,100 video programs and over 400 audio programs containing more than 6,000 tracks. The company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California.

History

Founded in 1981 as a public company known as Image Entertainment, Image began as a distributor of LaserDiscs, whose sound and picture quality surpassed that of VHS and

Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...

, the dominant tape formats of the time. Image successfully secured exclusive output deals with major studios such as

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...

, and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

, and grew to become the dominant distributor of the format. In August 1994, Image entered the

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...

market, releasing movies on the CD-ROM format. As the 1990s came to a close and Laserdiscs gave way to DVDs, Image re-focused on the fledgling format that quickly came to dominate the home video marketplace. While studios were busy managing the transition from VHS to DVD, Image began to acquire DVD rights to long-form music concert programs, television programming, foreign films and a broad array of special interest programming from GRB Entertainment, 20th Television/ Foxstar Productions,

, Playboy Home Entertainment and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, all of which were being ignored by the major studios and music labels. In 2005, Image signed a distribution deal with Bandai Visual to distribute select

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

titles under the Honneamise label. The deal ended in March 2007, when Bandai Visual switched over to Geneon USA. Image continued to work with its long-term partner,

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...

, as well as hundreds of independent content producers and rights holders to bring products to the marketplace. By the 10th anniversary of the DVD, Image has once again established itself as a dominant distributor of independently produced programs. In 2008, Image began to expand its release schedule to include feature films. On August 31, 2010, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment partnered with Image Entertainment in a multi-year agreement, marketing and distributing some DVDs and Blu-rays by Image. Image retains its own sales and marketing. The deal was expired in April 2012, when Mill Creek Entertainment agreed to release the most of

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...

libraries. On April 27, 2011, Image Entertainment made a long-term agreement with Lakeshore Entertainment to distribute their film library on home media. This also gave them access to the

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...

library which Lakeshore acquired in 1996, with many of the titles not issued on Blu-ray at the time. On April 2, 2012, it was announced that RLJ Acquisition, Inc. had entered into an agreement to acquire Image Entertainment as well as Acorn Media and plan to merge the two companies. The two companies operate under the banner "RLJ Entertainment". The company was then renamed RLJ Entertainment. In 2014, RLJ acquired British media distributor Acorn Media UK, this deal also included 64% in Agatha Christie Limited. On July 30, 2018,

AMC Networks AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York. AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC ...

reached a definitive agreement to acquire RLJ Entertainment where AMC would pay $59 million for the remaining RLJE shares not owned by AMC or

Robert L. Johnson Robert Louis Johnson (born April 8, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, media magnate, executive, philanthropist, and investor. He is the co-founder of BET, which was acquired by Viacom in 2001. He also founded RLJ Companies, a holding compa ...

. The transaction was approved by RLJ Entertainment's stockholders on October 31, and AMC Networks completed the acquisition on November 1. RLJ Entertainment became a privately owned subsidiary of AMC Networks, with Johnson and his affiliates owning a 17% stake.

Selected releases

Feature films

2010s

2020s

Other releases

Sony Pictures/20th Television releases

Special interest

* The Criterion Collection * IMAX programming

Television series

Stand-up comedy

Music programs

Notes

External links

* {{AMC Networks Home video companies established in 1981 Home video companies of the United States Film production companies of the United States Film distributors of the United States Companies based in Calabasas, California AMC Networks 1981 establishments in California Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Entertainment companies based in California 2018 mergers and acquisitions