The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics, and remastered catalog releases". The original Anchor Bay Entertainment, formerly Video Treasures, Starmaker Entertainment, and Starz Home Entertainment, was an American home entertainment and production company owned by

Starz Distribution Starz Distribution, formerly IDT Entertainment from 2003 to 2006 and Starz Media from 2006 to 2013, is an American television production, distribution, and syndication company and the distribution arm of Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Starz Ente ...

, which is a subsidiary of

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and released feature films, television series, television specials and short films on DVD and Blu-ray. In 2004, Anchor Bay agreed to have its releases distributed by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

and renewed their deal in 2011. In 2017,

Lions Gate Entertainment Starz Entertainment Corp, formerly known officially as Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation and commonly as Lions Gate and/or Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment industry, entertainment company currently headquartered in Santa Monica ...

folded Anchor Bay Entertainment into

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lionsgate Studios Corp. (simply known as Lionsgate Studios) is a Canadian-American film and television production and distribution conglomerate, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, and primarily based in Santa Monica, California. It was f ...

History

Original company

The first incarnation of Anchor Bay Entertainment dates its origins back to two separate home video distributors: Video Treasures, formed in 1985,Executive Biography of George Port
from the MarVista Entertainment website and Starmaker Entertainment, founded in 1988. Both companies sold budget items, including reissues of previously released home video programming, at discount prices. Video Treasures started with

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

titles, and later made licensing deals with Color Systems Technology,

Vestron Video Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market. The name is now used for a collecto ...

Heron Communications Heron Communications was a production company, distributor and a subsidiary of Gerald Ronson's Heron International. It owned various home video companies, including Heron Home Entertainment (formerly Videoform Pictures), which had a joint ventu ...

(including

Media Home Entertainment Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band. Media Home Entertainment also distributed video product under additional labels — The N ...

and

Hi-Tops Video Hi-Tops Video was a children's home video sublabel of Media Home Entertainment (a division of Heron Communications), active from 1986 until 1991. Some of its releases include some Charlie Brown specials, ''Madeline'' and primarily some of the ori ...

Britt Allcroft Britt Allcroft (born Hilary Mary Allcroft Coote; 14 December 1943 - 25 December 2024) was an English screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actress. She adapted Wilbert Awdry's ''The Railway Series'' in the form of the children's television ...

(specifically the ''

Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional, anthropomorphised tank locomotive who originated from the British children's books ''The Railway Series'', created and written by Wilbert Awdry with his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, first publish ...

'' series, which was inherited from Strand Home Video when Video Treasures purchased that label from

Video Collection International 2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide and the Woolworths (United Kingd ...

in December 1993), Trans World Entertainment, Regal Video, Virgin Vision,

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and, through its TV production subsidiary, Hal Roach Television Corporation, television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and busin ...

, Video Communications Inc.,

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

, and

Orion Pictures Orion Releasing, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Orion Pictures) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon. It was founded in 1978 as Ori ...

, among others. Starmaker's major distributions were films from the then-recently out-of-business

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

and programs previously licensed to New World Pictures' video division. The rights to these titles were secured in 1990.

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...

programs and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' compilations were other notable Starmaker releases. Both companies competed with each other for years. In January 1989, Video Treasures was acquired by the Handleman Company. In August 1991, Video Treasures acquired MNTEX Entertainment, a Prior Lake, Minnesota-based discount VHS distributor. In June 1994, Starmaker Entertainment was acquired by Handleman as well. Eventually, both companies merged to form a new corporate umbrella: Anchor Bay Entertainment, in May 1995.''Billboard'' (May 20, 1995), page 84-85. Other budget home video and music labels became part of Anchor Bay, such as MNTEX Entertainment, Teal Entertainment, and Burbank Video, which were previously part of Video Treasures. Both the Video Treasures and Starmaker labels, alongside the MNTEX and Burbank Video labels, were phased out a few years later. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Anchor Bay specialized in the release of

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

s, particularly

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

s and slasher movies from the 1970s and 1980s. One of its first releases was '' Prom Night''. It also released ''

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

'' (as well as its 4th, and 5th sequels), ''

Hellraiser ''Hellraiser'' is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker in his directorial debut. Based on Barker's 1986 novella ''The Hellbound Heart'', the film's plot concerns a mystical puzzle box that summons the ...

'', and many others, leading the home video market for obscure and retro horror films. In October 2000, Anchor Bay Entertainment expanded to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 2003, Handleman sold Anchor Bay to

IDT Entertainment Starz Distribution, formerly IDT Entertainment from 2003 to 2006 and Starz Media from 2006 to 2013, is an American television production, distribution, and syndication company and the distribution arm of Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Starz Ente ...

, at the time a newly formed entertainment division of telecommunications company

IDT Corporation IDT Corporation (originally standing for International Discount Telecommunications) is a multinational provider of cloud communications, point of sale systems, unified communications, and financial services foreign exchange services for selecte ...

. On February 4, 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against two former employees of Anchor Bay Entertainment, formerly owned by Handleman. The SEC's complaint, which was filed in the

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...

for the Eastern District of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, alleges that the two employees caused the company to enter into a 2 million-dollar fraudulent transactions. The transactions involved the purported sale of slow-moving or obsolete inventory to business partners coupled with secret buy-back provisions. The inventory included worthless video boxes and sleeves and DVDs for films. Handleman subsequently restated its financial statements to correct these accounting errors. In 2004, it signed a licensing agreement with Stephen J. Cannell Productions to release its library on DVD. In 2005, it signed a deal with

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 ...

to release many television shows on DVD. In 2006, it attempted an agreement with Ember Entertainment Group to release ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

'' and ''

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction TV series starring Stefanie Powers that aired on NBC for one season from September 13, 1966, to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and used the same ...

'' on DVD, but it was prevented by a lawsuit from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, who said it owned both series. In 2006,

Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company founded by John C. Malone in 1991. The company has three divisions, reflecting its ownership stakes in the Formula One Group, S ...

, the owner of the

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

cable network, purchased IDT Entertainment from

and renamed it Starz Media. In May 2007, Anchor Bay was renamed as Starz Home Entertainment (SHE). A month later, it was announced on June 19, 2007, that Starz Home Entertainment would begin releasing high-definition versions of its films exclusively in the

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

format. In 2008, Starz Home Entertainment was changed back to Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

had a three-year deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment for worldwide DVD releases outside of North America, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. On January 4, 2011, Starz, LLC sold 25% of Starz Media to

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company, LLC (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein on March 10, 2005. TWC was one of the larg ...

, resulting in Anchor Bay becoming the video distributor of films made by TWC and

Dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coo ...

. Starz later bought back the Weinstein's stake in October 2015, with Anchor Bay continuing to release TWC and Dimension video releases. In early 2015, Anchor Bay UK (alongside Manga Entertainment UK) was bought from Starz by managing director Colin Lomax and renamed to Platform Entertainment. Kaleidoscope Film Distribution would acquire Platform in December 2016, with Manga Entertainment UK becoming a separate entity and operating on its own, which itself was eventually acquired by

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

in 2019. On June 30, 2016,

agreed to acquire Anchor Bay's parent company

Starz Inc. Starz Inc. is an American entertainment company and a subsidiary of Starz Entertainment. It is headquartered in Meridian, Colorado, but uses nearby Englewood as its location in corporate filings and press releases. The company owns and ope ...

for $4.4 billion in cash and stock. The Starz/Lionsgate merger was completed on December 8, 2016. On August 29, 2017, Anchor Bay was folded into

. From August 30, 2017 to 2021, Anchor Bay's website remained online, but with all the links broken.

Revival

On February 15, 2024, Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz, co-founders of Umbrelic Entertainment (founded in 2018), acquired the rights to the Anchor Bay Entertainment name. Zambeck and Katz plan to revive Anchor Bay; the new company will specialize in "genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics, and remastered catalog releases". Distribution is being handled by

MVD Entertainment Group MVD Entertainment Group, (previously Music Video Distributors, Inc.) is an American independent production company and film distributor based in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, consisting of three main departments: MVD Visual, MVD Audio, and MVD Distr ...

. The puppet horror film ''

Abruptio ''Abruptio'' is a 2023 American adult puppet horror film written, edited, and directed by Evan Marlowe. Produced by Kerry Marlowe, the film stars James Marsters, Hana Mae Lee, Christopher McDonald, Jordan Peele, Robert Englund, and Sid Haig i ...

'' and documentary ''Dinner with Leatherface'' will be some of the label's first releases. The library of the former Anchor Bay will be retained by Lionsgate.

Licensed content

Films

* Most of the libraries of

EMI Films Canal+ Image International (formerly known as EMI Films, Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, Lumiere Pictures and Television, and UGC DA) was a British-French film, television, animation studio and distributor. A former subsidiary of the EMI congl ...

, and

Alexander Salkind Alexander Salkind (; 2 June 1921 – 8 March 1997) was a French film producer, the second of three generations of successful international producers. Life and career Salkind was born in the Free City of Danzig to Russian Jewish parents, Maria ...

(via

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

) (now handled by

) * Select

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

titles under license from

* Some of the

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 ...

films under license from

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast. UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...

such as ''

Army of Darkness ''Army of Darkness'' is a 1992 American dark fantasy comedy film directed, co-written, and co-edited by Sam Raimi. The film is the third installment in the Evil Dead, ''Evil Dead'' film series and the sequel to ''Evil Dead II'' (1987). Starring ...

'', '' The Car'' and '' Repo Man'', although licensing on these have reverted to Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. * Davis-Panzer Productions ('' The Osterman Weekend'') *

Moustapha Akkad Moustapha al Akkad (; July 1, 1930 – November 11, 2005) was a Syrian Americans, Syrian-American film producer and Film director, director, best known for producing the original series of ''Halloween (franchise), Halloween'' films and dire ...

's Trancas International Pictures (production company behind the ''

'' series) *

('' The Boys Next Door'', ''

Children of the Corn "Children of the Corn" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1977 issue of '' Penthouse'', and later collected in King's 1978 collection ''Night Shift''. The story has been adapted into several films, spawning a horror ...

'', ''

Creepshow 2 ''Creepshow 2'' is a 1987 American comedy horror anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, and the sequel to '' Creepshow''. Gornick was previously the cinematographer of the first film, and the screenplay was written by George A. Romero who w ...

'', ''

Girls Just Want to Have Fun "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a single made famous in 1983 by the American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, written by Robert Hazard in 1979, with some of the lyrics changed by Lauper. It was released by Portrait Records as Lauper's debut s ...

'', ''

Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1988 American teen dark comedy crime film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, K ...

'', ''

Godzilla 1985 ''Godzilla 1985'' is a 1985 ''kaiju'' film directed by R. J. Kizer and Koji Hashimoto. The film is a heavily re-edited American localization of the Japanese film ''The Return of Godzilla'', which was produced and distributed by Toho Pictures in 1 ...

'', etc.) (now handled by

Image Entertainment 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 34 ...

through their deal with

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 ...

) * Most of the 1950s–1980s Walt Disney Productions/

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

live-action library, as well as the film library of

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

, under license from

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) is the home entertainment distribution arm of the Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, a ...

(''

The Black Hole A black hole is a region of extreme gravitational pull. Black hole or blackhole may also refer to: Computing *Black hole (networking), in computer networking, a place where traffic is silently discarded * Blackhole server, a DNS server that han ...

'', ''

The Cat from Outer Space ''The Cat from Outer Space'' is a 1978 American science fiction comedy film directed by Norman Tokar (his final film before his death the following year) starring Ken Berry, Sandy Duncan, Harry Morgan, Ronnie Schell, Roddy McDowall and McLe ...

'', ''

Condorman ''Condorman'' is a 1981 American superhero comedy film directed by Charles Jarrott, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and starring Michael Crawford, Barbara Carrera and Oliver Reed. The film follows comic book illustrator Woodrow Wilkins's a ...

'', ''

One Magic Christmas ''One Magic Christmas'' is a 1985 List of Christmas films, Christmas fantasy film directed by Phillip Borsos. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures and stars Mary Steenburgen and Harry Dean Stanton. It was shot in Meaford, Ontario with some scen ...

'', ''

The Devil and Max Devlin ''The Devil and Max Devlin'' is a 1981 American fantasy–comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Steven Hilliard Stern and starring Elliott Gould, Bill Cosby and Susan Anspach. The film was considered to be controversial ...

'', ''

The Happiest Millionaire ''The Happiest Millionaire'' is a 1967 American musical film starring Fred MacMurray, based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr., Anthony Drexel Biddle. The film, featuring music by the Sherman Brothe ...

'', ''

The Great Locomotive Chase ''The Great Locomotive Chase'' is a 1956 American adventure western film produced by Walt Disney Productions, based on the Great Locomotive Chase that occurred in 1862 during the American Civil War. Filmed in CinemaScope and in color, the film ...

'', ''

Return to Oz ''Return to Oz'' is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is ...

'', ''

Tex Tex, TeX, TEX, may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Tex Earnhardt (1930–2020), U.S. businessman * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer ...

'', ''

The North Avenue Irregulars ''The North Avenue Irregulars'' is a 1979 American comedy crime film produced by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company, and starring Edward Herrmann, Barbara Harris, Cloris Leachman, Karen Valentine and Susa ...

'', '' The Watcher in the Woods'', etc.), although licensing has reverted to Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, while the ABC library has been distributed by

MGM Home Entertainment MGM Home Entertainment LLC (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of the American med ...

and

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...

at different points. *

Overture Films Overture Films was an American film production and distribution company and a subsidiary of Starz (then subsidiary of Liberty Media). It was founded in November 2006 by Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett. Through its affiliated companies Anchor Bay ...

, also owned by Starz Distribution *

(now

Lantern Entertainment Lantern Entertainment, LLC is an American independent film and television production company founded by Lantern Capital Partners on July 16, 2018. The studio was formed from the acquired assets of The Weinstein Company (TWC) in a bankruptcy au ...

) and

Dimension Films Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...

from March 2011 until Anchor Bay went defunct in 2017 (now handled by Lionsgate) * The libraries of

, Prism Entertainment,

Wizard Video Wizard Video was a home video distribution company formed by B movie producer Charles Band in the early 1980s. It was well-known for its detailed (and often lurid) box art, especially during the time that it sold videocassettes in larger individ ...

and Regal Video * Worked alongside

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production company, production and film distributor, distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz (producer), Michael Herz in 1974. They are the longest running independent film ...

in re-releasing some of their older films on Blu-ray as well as distributing ''Return to Nuke 'Em High''. * ''

Against the Wild Against may refer to: * ''Against'' (album), 1998 album by Brazilian metal band Sepultura ** "Against" (song) the title track song from the Sepultura album *Against (American band) Against (styled as AgainST) were an American crossover thras ...

'' 1 & 2, from writer/director,

Richard Boddington Richard Boddington (born February 6, 1968) is a British-Canadian film director, writer, editor, cinematographer and television producer, with dual citizenship from the United Kingdom and Canada. Born in Yorkshire, England, he now resides in Ontari ...

Horror

During its original incarnation in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Anchor Bay specialized in the release of

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

and

s, particularly those of the 1970s and 1980s. The company's first-ever DVD release was '' The Car'' in April 1997, followed by '' Elvira, Mistress of the Dark'' that August, and an extended cut (erroneously titled as a director's cut) of '' Dawn of the Dead'' in November 1997. The company's next release was '' Prom Night'' in February 1998.Catalogue listings state that ''Prom Night'' was released by Anchor Bay on February 18, 1998. It also released ''Halloween'' (as well as its

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

and fourth sequels), ''

Sleepaway Camp ''Sleepaway Camp'' is a 1983 American slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik, and starring Mike Kellin (in his last on-screen appearance), Katherine Kamhi, and Paul DeAngelo alongside Jonathan Tiersten, Felissa Rose, Christoph ...

'', ''

Alice, Sweet Alice ''Alice, Sweet Alice'', originally titled ''Communion'', is a 1976 American Psychological horror (film and television), psychological horror slasher film directed by Alfred Sole, written by Sole and Rosemary Ritvo, and starring Linda Miller (act ...

'', '' The Hills Have Eyes'', ''

Suspiria ''Suspiria'' is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, partially based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay '' Suspiria de Profundis''. The film stars Jessica Harper ...

'', ''

Maniac __NOTOC__ The MANIAC I (Mathematical Analyzer Numerical Integrator and Automatic Computer Model I) was an early computer built under the direction of Nicholas Metropolis at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. It was based on the von Neumann arc ...

'', the first three ''

'' films, ''

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy (film director), Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Christopher Lee. The screenplay is by Anthony Shaffer (writer ...

'', ''

Silent Night, Deadly Night ''Silent Night, Deadly Night'' is a 1984 American slasher film directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr., and starring Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, and Linnea Quigley. The story concerns a young man named Billy ...

'', ''

'', '' The Beyond'' and several

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including Commedia all'italiana, comedies and spagh ...

films. Some of these were given numbered limited edition releases which included multiple discs, information booklets and collectible tin cases. Many of these releases have since gone

out of print An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book that is ...

and became sought-after collectibles. Anchor Bay is also noted for the release of the ''Evil Dead'' film trilogy on DVD, in numerous editions. ''

'' for example, had been released in both a regular and limited edition set that featured the director's cut. Since then, the director's cut has been re-released on two occasions in addition to a 2-disc "Boomstick Edition" of the film as well. Until Anchor Bay released ''

The Evil Dead ''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American independent film, independent supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker ...

'' on VHS and DVD, it was previously unavailable on video from a major label. Also among its more profitable releases has been George A. Romero's ''

Living Dead ''Living Dead'', also informally known as ''Of the Dead'' is a blanket term for the loosely connected horror franchise that originated from the 1968 film ''Night of the Living Dead''. The film, written by George A. Romero and John A. Russo, ...

'' series. Anchor Bay has distribution rights for the middle two films in the

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

: ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'' and ''

Day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

'', however, it has also distributed DVDs of the original, ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American Independent film, independent zombie horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John A. Russo, John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Har ...

'', which is in the

. Like the ''Evil Dead'' trilogy, the ''Living Dead'' series has seen many editions on DVD. ''Dawn'' has itself seen several releases on DVD, the most extra feature-laden being the Ultimate Edition in late 2004. An ''Evil Dead'' 3-disc Ultimate Edition DVD was released in December 2007.

Special interest

In addition to feature films, Anchor Bay distributed special interest titles, including children's series, such as ''

Bobby's World ''Bobby's World'' (originally known as ''The World According to Bobby'') is an American animated comedy children's television series that aired on Fox Kids from September 8, 1990, to February 23, 1998. The show was created by Canadian actor/come ...

'' and ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001. It was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Its original incarnation, the se ...

''. Until 2008, they distributed ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, the series was developed for ...

'' videos (Original series only, New series titles are self-released by

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turn ...

). ''Thomas'' has reached platinum-selling status and, in 2004, ranked consistently on the VideoScan ranking top 50 chart of children's weekly video sales. Lionsgate acquired the ''Thomas'' DVD titles after HIT Entertainment bought out the rights to ''Thomas''. Rights to the ''Thomas'' DVDs now belong to Universal (through their deal with

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

, HIT's current parent company). The company also has a top market share for fitness videos such as the '' Crunch'' and ''

For Dummies ''For Dummies'' is an extensive series of instructional reference books that strive to present non-intimidating guides for readers new to the various topics covered. The series has been a worldwide success, with editions in numerous languages. ...

'' series. The company also distributed

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

events on DVD and Blu-ray.

Production company

As a full-fledged production company, it handled TV syndication of ''Halloween'', '' Halloween 4'' and '' Halloween 5'' (to which it also held the video rights) and also ventured into in-house production and distribution of theatrical films.

Recognition

Anchor Bay Entertainment received a Special Achievement Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films in June 2002. Anchor Bay was recognized as one of the "pioneers in DVD releases and home video entertainment" and "successful in releasing dramas, comedies, foreign films, children's programming, and most prominently genre films." Cited as highlights of Anchor Bay's releases were "the films of

Hammer Studios Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

, the works of

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and ...

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

John Woo John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...

Monte Hellman Monte Hellman (; born Monte Jay Himmelbaum; July 12, 1929 – April 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer, writer, and editor. Hellman began his career as an editor's apprentice at ABC TV, and made his directorial debut with the ho ...

and

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

Past names

* Video Treasures * Starmaker Entertainment * MNTEX Entertainment * Teal Entertainment * Burbank Video * Troy Gold * Viking Video Classics * Drive Entertainment * GTS Records * Media Home Entertainment * Strand Home Video

References

External links

Official U.S. website

Official U.K. website

Official Australian website
{{Lionsgate Home video companies of the United States Film production companies of the United States Film distributors of the United States Former Liberty Media subsidiaries Companies based in Troy, Michigan Mass media companies established in 1985 Mass media companies disestablished in 2017 1995 establishments in Michigan Starz Entertainment Lionsgate Studios The Weinstein Company 2017 disestablishments in California

History

Original company

Revival

Licensed content

Films

Horror

Special interest

Production company

Recognition

Past names

See also

References

External links