Fireworks Entertainment (originally Skyvision Entertainment and Skyvision Partners), known simply as Fireworks, was a Canadian-British-American independent film and television studio and production company originally founded in 1991 by Brian K. Ross, and later bought out by Jay Firestone in 1996 to produce, distribute and finance television shows and feature films.

History

Skyvision Entertainment was originally operating as a division of John Labatt Entertainment Group, the parent company of

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE ...

(TSN), then part of the

Labatt Brewing Company Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...

. In 1993,

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 ...

inked an agreement with Skyvision Entertainment to handle series rights to the ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

'' franchise. Also that year, it entered into an agreement with Rigel Entertainment for international distribution rights to '' RoboCop: The Series''. The company, known as Skyvision Partners by then, teamed up with Disney subsidiary Buena Vista Television to produce the first-run syndicated action hour ''

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

''. Following Labatt's acquisition by

Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons Brewery, Boddi ...

in 1995, the renamed NetStar Communications divested Skyvision Entertainment to Jay Firestone, former employee of Alliance Communications, in 1996 and rebranded it to Fireworks Entertainment. The first show under the new name was '' F/X: The Series'', which they acquired from Orion Pictures in 1994. Fireworks was acquired by

Canwest Global Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, ...

in May 1998, and was later sold to ContentFilm (production company of '' The Cooler''), a British company, in April 2005. Over the years, Fireworks amassed a significant catalogue of television shows and movies (under the Fireworks Pictures label). In 2000, Canwest Global had bought out Endemol Entertainment's international distribution arm and its film library and had it placed into Fireworks Entertainment. Also that year, Canwest had acquired the assets of Western International Communications, and its WIC Entertainment unit, along with its library, would later be folded into Fireworks. In 1998, Peter Hoffman's Seven Arts Pictures formed an alliance with Fireworks to start out the Seven Arts International branding. In 2000, CanWest Films merged with Seven Arts International, another Canwest subsidiary to start the Fireworks Pictures branding to produce theatrical motion pictures. On October 2, 2001, Pliny Porter was hired as head of production and development for the Fireworks Pictures subsidiary, in order to make an effort to continue producing their own feature films. In 2005, after ContentFilm had bought out Fireworks, the television library, through its subsidiary Fireworks Distributing Corp. to rival firm

Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Los ...

. On March 14, 2011, Fireworks International was renamed as Content Television and its parent company, ContentFilm was also renamed as Content Media Corporation, which was later acquired by Canadian-based Kew Media Group in 2017 and after Kew Media's liquidation and collapse in 2020, its library was later acquired by Quiver Distribution via its Quiver Entertainment division and in 2023, the underlying rights to the Kew Media library was later acquired by West Side Pictures, with Abacus Media Rights and Magnolia Pictures both handling distribution .

Court cases

The original company was sued by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

regarding '' Queen of Swords'' and by

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 ...

regarding '' Mutant X''.{{cite web, url=http://openjurist.org/277/f3d/253/twentieth-v-marvel , title=Retrieved February 21, 2010 , publisher=Openjurist.org , access-date=2012-12-29

Television shows (as Fireworks Entertainment)

TV shows filmed in widescreen 16:9 from 1998 but generally broadcast in 4:3 pan and scan. The widescreen versions are available on DVD. * '' 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd'' (co-produced by

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 ...

) * '' 18 Wheels of Justice'' (co-produced by King World) * '' Adventure Inc.'' (co-produced by

Tribune Entertainment Tribune Entertainment (formerly Mid-America Video Tape Productions, WGN Continental Productions, Tribune Productions and Tribune Entertainment Company) was a television production and broadcast syndication company owned and operated by Tribune Br ...

) * '' Andromeda'' (

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...

; co-produced by

) * '' Black Hole High'' * '' Caitlin's Way'' (co-produced by

) * ''

Even Stevens ''Even Stevens'' is an American comedy television series produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 17, 2000, to June 2, 2003, airing a total of 65 episodes spanning three seasons. It follows ...

'' (co-produced by

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

) * '' F/X: The Series'' (co-produced by

Rysher Entertainment Rysher Entertainment, Inc. was an American film and television production company and distributor. It was founded in 1991. In 1993, Rysher was acquired by Cox Enterprises, and was subsequently closed in 1999. That same year, Viacom entered an ag ...

) * '' Highlander: The Raven'' (co-produced by

) * '' La Femme Nikita'' (co-produced by Warner Bros. Television) * ''

'' (co-produced by Buena Vista Television) * '' Mutant X'' (co-produced by

and

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

) * '' Queen of Swords'' (co-produced by

Paramount Television The first incarnation of Paramount Television was operated as the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, until it changed its name to CBS Paramount Television on January 17, 2006. History Desilu Pro ...

) * ''Real Kids, Real Adventures'' * ''

Relic Hunter ''Relic Hunter'' is a Canadian adventure television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt. It centres on Sydney Fox, a professor who is also a globe-trotting "relic hunter" who looks for ancient artifacts to return to museums and ...

'' (co-produced by

) *'' RoboCop: The Series'' (co-produced by

) * '' RoboCop: Prime Directives'' (TV miniseries) *'' SCTV'' (distribution only; inherited from WIC during CanWest era) * '' Zoe Busiek: Wild Card'' * '' Young Dracula''

Films (as Fireworks Pictures)

* ''

A Wrinkle in Time ''A Wrinkle in Time'' is a young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-u ...

'' * '' An American Rhapsody'' * '' Better Than Sex'' * ''

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...

'' * ''

Faithless Faithless are an English dance music Band (rock and pop), band that formed in 1995, with its core original members being Rollo Armstrong, Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. During the band's initial period of success, Sister Bliss and Maxi Ja ...

'' * '' Greenfingers'' * '' Hardball'' * '' Innocence'' * '' Interstate 60'' * '' Me Without You'' * ''

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship. ...

'' * '' Passionada'' * '' Raising Victor Vargas'' * ''

Rat Race A rat race is a metaphor used to describe an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase is sometimes used to relate the human life to that of rats attempting to earn an ultimately pointless reward when Mortality salience, death ...

'' * ''

Simon Magus Simon Magus (Greek Σίμων ὁ μάγος, Latin: Simon Magus), also known as Simon the Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, was a religious figure whose confrontation with Peter is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The act of simony, or payi ...

'' * '' Solas'' * '' The Believer'' * '' The Man from Elysian Fields'' * '' Who Is Cletis Tout?''

References

Mass media companies established in 1991 Mass media companies disestablished in 2011 Film production companies of Canada Film production companies of the United Kingdom Film production companies of the United States Television production companies of Canada Television production companies of the United States Television production companies of the United Kingdom Former Corus Entertainment subsidiaries