Spyglass Media Group, LLC is an American independent

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

and finance company based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 ...

. The company was founded by

Gary Barber Gary Barber (born 1957) is a South African and American film producer. Barber was the chairman and CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is also co-founder of Spyglass Media Group. Biography Barber was born to a Jewish family in Johannesburg, South ...

and Roger Birnbaum on August 21, 1998 as Spyglass Entertainment and became dormant in 2012. In the wake of the sexual abuse allegations that involved former

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 ...

chairman

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...

, Spyglass was relaunched in 2019 in conjunction with

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 ...

History

Spyglass Entertainment

On August 21, 1998,

, former vice chairman and COO of

Morgan Creek Productions Morgan Creek Entertainment, LLC is an American film production company, former sales agent and investor, that has released box-office hits including ''Young Guns (film), Young Guns'', ''Dead Ringers (film), Dead Ringers'', ''Major League (film), ...

, together with Roger Birnbaum, co-founder and former head of

Caravan Pictures Caravan Pictures, Inc. was an American film production company at Walt Disney Studios, formed by Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth. Caravan Pictures' films were distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (now known as Walt Disney Studios Mot ...

, founded Spyglass Entertainment. The startup company signed a five-year distribution agreement with the Walt Disney Studios, which took an equity stake. Birnbaum previously left Caravan at the prompting of then Disney studio chief

Joe Roth Joseph Emanuel Roth (born June 13, 1948) is an American film executive, producer and director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Entertainment in 1988 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox (1989–1993), Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and Walt Dis ...

; with Disney cutting its yearly production output, Roth recommended forming a self-financing production firm similar to New Regency Productions. After Caravan's remaining three films were released, Caravan went inactive. Its slate of film projects and an initial financial advance of $10 million to $20 million against future overages were also contributed by Disney. Spyglass's operations were formed and based at the Disney lot in Burbank. On October 29, 1998, European media conglomerates Kirch Group and

Mediaset Mediaset S.p.A. is an Italian mass media and television production and distribution company that is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE – MediaForEurope (the original ...

invested in theatrical, video and television distribution rights to between 15 and 25 films in Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the former Soviet Union for over five years.

M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an American filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally. Shyamalan has received vario ...

's ''

The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient ( Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released ...

'' (released 1999), Spyglass's second film after ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

'', grossed $661 million at the global box office. By May 23, 2000, Disney took a 10% equity stake in Spyglass, along with

Svensk Filmindustri SF Studios is Sweden’s largest film studio. It is involved in production, distribution, and movie theater market chains (both Swedish and international, including American) with headquarters in Stockholm and local offices in Oslo, Copenhagen ...

of Scandinavia and Lusomundo of Portugal. On March 7, 2003, Spyglass Entertainment agreed to a four-year distribution output deal with

Village Roadshow Village Roadshow is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange a ...

for Australia, New Zealand and Greece. On August 6, 2002, Spyglass Entertainment launched a television division, and it was focused on small screen projects. One of its projects was the short-lived series '' Miracles''. That same year, it attempted to merge with smaller independent distributor

Intermedia Intermedia is an art theory term coined in the mid-1960s by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the strategies of interdisciplinarity that occur within artworks existing between artistic genres. It was also used by John Brockman to refer to ...

, but it failed. In December 2003, Spyglass ended its deal with Disney and agreed to a four-year first-look non-exclusive co-financing and production deal with DreamWorks. This deal was never finalized and the relationship was not working well. Thus on September 23, 2003, Spyglass instead made a similar deal with

Sony Pictures 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 ...

. Spyglass did not move to the Sony lot, but to Murdoch Plaza in

Westwood, Los Angeles Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCL ...

. By March 25, 2010, Spyglass was acquired by

Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American global alternative investment firm with assets across credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Qua ...

. On December 20, 2010,

and Roger Birnbaum became co-chairmen and CEOs of the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

(MGM), which had at that time recently emerged from bankruptcy. The original plan had the Spyglass library being added to MGM, but it was later removed from the plan.

Spyglass Media Group

On March 13, 2019, Barber and

revived the company as Spyglass Media Group, bringing in Eagle Pictures and

Cineworld Regal Cineworld Group (trading as Cineworld) is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,139 screens across 747 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czec ...

as investors. Lantern made a majority investment and also transferred its film library and rights to

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

film sequels to the Spyglass. Barber owns the Spyglass trademark and the sequel and remake rights to the old Spyglass library, which he has contributed. The company plans to produce content for all platforms. Spyglass closed the former Lantern Entertainment/ TWC office in New York City while laying off 15 staff members across divisions. Unlike Spyglass Entertainment, Birnbaum is not the co-founder of Spyglass Media Group (though Birnbaum served as the producer of

Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, namely splatter films, having directed the films ''Cabin Fev ...

's ''

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

'' (released 2023)). On April 1, 2019, Lauren Whitney, the president of television for Miramax, took on the same position for Spyglass. Damien Marin followed Barber from MGM to be appointed Spyglass president of worldwide distribution and acquisitions on September 3, 2019. On April 16, 2019,

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 ...

bought an equity stake in Spyglass, which signed a

first-look deal A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...

with the studio. Spyglass was involved on August 1, 2019, in a potential purchase of part of Miramax but dropped out in two weeks. Spyglass's first greenlit film since its revival is a revival of the ''

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 ...

'' franchise announced on May 6, 2019. With the company winning the rights to

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's '' The Institute'' book in November 2019,

Jack Bender Jack Bender (born September 25, 1949) is an American television and film director, television producer and actor best known for his work as a director on '' Lost'', ''The Sopranos'', ''Game of Thrones'', and '' From''. Biography Bender grew up ...

and David E. Kelley were paired to development and produce the book as a mini-series. Also, Bender was signed by Spyglass to a television first-look deal. MGM President of Physical Production Peter Oillataguerre was appointed President of Production for Spyglass Media Group reporting to Barber. He left in September 2023 for

Amazon MGM Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

. On October 28, 2020, Spyglass teamed up with Propagate Content, Artists First and Off-Road Productions to form a new comedy joint-venture Artists Road, and it focuses on financing and producing mid-budgeted commercial comedy movies. On July 15, 2021,

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 ...

acquired 200 films from

(TWC)'s film library for $191.4 million, which until then had been owned by Spyglass, with Lionsgate getting an 18.9% equity stake in Spyglass and Spyglass getting a first look television deal with

Lionsgate Television Lionsgate Television is the television division of the American production company Lionsgate Studios. History The company was established in July 1997 as Lions Gate Television, Inc. with the establishment of Lionsgate Films. In June 1998, it ...

. In November 2023, Spyglass fired Melissa Barrera from '' Scream 7'', as she showed support to

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

caught in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, and their allegations that posts she made in support were antisemitic. Her co-star Jenna Ortega departed the film shortly after due to what was claimed at the time to be scheduling conflicts with ''

Wednesday Wednesday is the day of the week between Tuesday and Thursday. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. In English, the name is derived from Old English and Middle English , 'day of Woden', reflecting ...

''. Ortega refuted that in an April 2025 interview with '' The Cut'', stating the departure of Barrera, along with directors

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (born February 19, 1978) is an American director, writer, actor, and musician. He is a founding member of the punk band Link 80 and co-creator of the filmmaking collectives Chad, Matt & Rob and Radio Silence Productions, Rad ...

and Tyler Gillett, then new director Christopher Landon due to conflicts with Spyglass's retooling of ''Scream 7'', made her return untenable. The film was then completely overhauled and recast with Neve Campbell returning as that film's lead.

Filmography

As Spyglass Entertainment

1990s

2000s

2010s

As Spyglass Media Group

2020s

Upcoming

In development

References

External links

* {{Authority control American companies established in 1998 Mass media companies established in 1998 1998 establishments in California American companies disestablished in 2012 Mass media companies disestablished in 2012 2012 disestablishments in California American companies established in 2019 Mass media companies established in 2019 2010 mergers and acquisitions 2019 establishments in California Film production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Warner Bros. Lantern Entertainment Lionsgate Studios Re-established companies American independent film studios International sales agents The Weinstein Company