Sony Pictures Home Entertainment facts for kids
Logo used since 2004
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Formerly
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| Division | |
| Industry | Home entertainment |
| Founded | June 1978, in Burbank, California, United States |
| Headquarters | 10202 West Washington Boulevard,
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United States
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Keith LeGoy (president) |
| Products | DVD, Blu-ray, EST, VOD |
| Services | Physical and digital distribution |
| Parent | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
| Subsidiaries | Sony Pictures Kids Zone Kartoon Studios (equity stake) Big Picture Productions (Iberia) |
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (or SPHE for short) is a company that helps bring movies and TV shows from Sony Pictures Entertainment right into your home. They are a part of the bigger Sony company. SPHE makes sure you can watch your favorite films and series on DVD, Blu-ray, or through digital services like buying movies online and streaming.
Contents
What Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Does
SPHE is in charge of sharing all the movies and TV shows from the Sony Pictures collection. This includes films from well-known studios like Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, and Screen Gems. They also handle releases from other Sony groups, such as Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions.
They even distribute content from other companies! For example, they distribute shows from Crunchyroll, which is famous for anime. Since 2021, they've also worked with Lionsgate Home Entertainment. In 2024, they started helping The Walt Disney Company distribute their physical movies in North America. SPHE also works with The Criterion Collection, known for classic and important films. Since 2007, SPHE has also handled children's content that used to be released by Sony Wonder.
In Canada, Columbia TriStar Home Video helped distribute tapes from Astral Video in the 1990s. They also have a long-standing agreement with Hoyts in Australia.
How Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Started
The Early Years: 1978-1990
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment began in June 1978. It was first called Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment. In November 1979, they released their first 20 movies. At first, another company called Time-Life Video helped them, but Columbia soon decided to handle distribution on its own.
In March 1981, Columbia Pictures teamed up with RCA to create RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video. This partnership was for distributing movies outside of North America. The next year, they expanded to North America, forming RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video. This helped RCA's videodisc format get more movies. They also distributed movies from NBC, which was owned by RCA at the time.
When Tri-Star Pictures started in 1984, RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video became one of the main companies distributing Tri-Star movies for home viewing. By the early 1990s, they were the only ones distributing Tri-Star titles. In Australia, they also made a deal with Hoyts Distribution in 1983, starting a long partnership.
They also distributed movies from other film companies. This included many films from New Line Cinema. Even after New Line Cinema started its own video label in 1990, RCA/Columbia Pictures continued to distribute their movies until 1994. Other companies they worked with included Weintraub Entertainment and 21st Century Distribution.
In 1987, Tri-Star Pictures announced it would start its own home video unit, called Tri-Star Video. But in 1988, Tri-Star Video joined with RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video.
Becoming Columbia TriStar and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
In 1991, General Electric (the company that owned NBC and RCA) sold its part of RCA/Columbia. After this, Sony renamed the company Columbia TriStar Home Video. In 1998, they made a deal with The Jim Henson Company to distribute movies for their new video label, Jim Henson Home Entertainment.
On February 28, 1999, Columbia TriStar Home Video and Universal Studios Home Video made a deal. This allowed Columbia TriStar to distribute Universal's DVDs outside of North America.
The company changed its name to Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment in April 2001. Then, in November 2004, it became Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, the name it uses today.
Working with Other Companies
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
In 2005, Sony and some partners bought Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). SPHE then handled the home video rights for MGM's huge library of films and TV shows. However, movie sales on DVD started to slow down. Because of this, MGM ended its distribution deal with SPHE in May 2006. Most of MGM's movies then went to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Recent Partnerships
On February 21, 2010, SPHE made a deal to distribute home videos for The Weinstein Company. On August 31, 2010, SPHE also partnered with RLJ Entertainment to market and distribute their DVDs and Blu-rays.
In September 2011, SPHE's Australian branch joined with Universal Pictures International Entertainment to form a new company called Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This company distributes movies for both Sony and Universal in Australia.
In 2012 and 2013, SPHE made deals with Mill Creek Entertainment. This allowed Mill Creek to distribute hundreds of films and TV shows from the Sony Pictures collection on DVD and Blu-ray.
From 2017 to 2018, Funimation (an anime company) started distributing some of its anime titles in Australia and New Zealand through the Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment joint venture. Later, in September 2018, Funimation moved its distribution to Madman Entertainment.
In March 2016, SPHE partnered with eOne to distribute films from Momentum Pictures around the world, except in Canada. In January 2017, SPHE also expanded its deal with Genius Brands and even bought a part of the company.
In February 2021, Sony announced that it would start distributing movies for Lionsgate Home Entertainment in North America. This began in July 2021.
In February 2024, SPHE also reached an agreement to distribute physical movies for The Walt Disney Company in North America. This happened as Disney started to stop distributing physical movies themselves.
Special Labels and Brands
Over the years, SPHE has used different labels for specific types of content:
- Magic Window – This label was for children's titles, like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and The Real Ghostbusters.
- SVS-Triumph – This label released some lower-profile movies from various companies, including Triumph Films.
- Musicvision – A short-lived label in the mid-1980s that released music videos, often from artists linked to RCA Records.
- Columbia Classics – This label is used for releasing classic films from Columbia Pictures on DVD, and it was also used for VHS and LaserDisc.
- Screen Classics by Request – A special service where you can order classic films directly from Sony, similar to Warner Bros.' "Warner Archive" brand.
- Superbit – A special format for DVDs that offered higher quality video and audio.
International Labels
- RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video – Used for videos distributed outside the US and Canada.
- 20/20 Vision – A British label that rented out films from various companies like TriStar Pictures and New Line Cinema.
- Cinema Club – A British partnership with Video Collection International for budget-priced movies.
- First Independent Films – A British film distributor that Sony bought in 1997. Columbia TriStar Home Video continued to use this label for some years.
- First Release Home Entertainment – This label released a mix of movies, children's shows, and music videos in Australia and The Netherlands.
- Gaumont-Columbia-RCA Video – A joint company with Gaumont in France that released movies from Gaumont, Columbia, and TriStar.
- RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts Video Pty. Ltd. – An Australian joint company with Hoyts Distribution that released movies from Hoyts, Cannon Films, Columbia Pictures, and TriStar.
- Video Box Office – A label in Australia that released a mix of movies.
- VideoServis – A Russian home video label created in 1994 with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. It released films from Columbia Pictures and other studios.
SPHE Australia also releases titles from Hoyts Distribution, including popular movies like Twilight. They also handle the Australian DVD distribution for Lionsgate titles.
Images for kids
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A robot friend
See also
In Spanish: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment para niños
