Aviron Pictures was an American

film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

company founded by William Sadleir, founder of Clarius Entertainment (which, as the company went inactive shortly after his departure, Aviron can be considered a successor of) and David Dinerstein, a founder of Paramount Classics and formerly of

Lakeshore Entertainment Lakeshore Village Entertainment, LLC was an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Bev ...

and LD Entertainment, in 2017.

History

In May 2017, it was announced David Dinerstein had launched a

and

company that would release up to eight

wide release In the motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across a country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical release in ...

films, per year, starting off to distribute ''

Kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

'', '' Drunk Parents'', and '' The Strangers: Prey at Night''. In February 2018, it was announced the company had acquired '' Serenity'', and '' A Private War''. In 2019, a lawsuit was filed by investor

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

against Aviron and its founder William Sadleir, citing fraud and financial impropriety in the company structure. Sadleir subsequently exited from his role as the operating manager of Aviron Pictures, a subsidiary of Aviron Group, in January 2020; he had already had a history of sketchy financial health, even further proven from the short history of money-losing features from his previous company Clarius Entertainment, directly resulting in said company silently ending most operations shortly after his departure in 2015. On May 22, 2020, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, announced multiple fraud charges against William Sadleir. He was charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft to convince BlackRock to invest $75 million in his Aviron Group, he then allegedly siphoned off more than $20 million from his production company and diverted more than $14 million of it into his mansion. Sadleir also allegedly redirected nearly $1 million of the Coronavirus

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the First presidency of Donald Trump, Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and ...

loans he applied, meant to keep Aviron staff on payroll, for his personal debts. On January 19, 2022, Sadleir pled guilty and was sentenced on September 9, 2022, to 72 months in prison.

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
{{Film Studio Film distributors of the United States Mass media companies established in 2017 Mass media companies disestablished in 2020

History

Filmography

See also

References

External links