Lionsgate Canada facts for kids
Logo used since 2024
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Trade name
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Lionsgate Canada |
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Formerly
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Entertainment |
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| Founded | June 1, 1973 |
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Canada
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Area served
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Canada |
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Key people
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| Revenue | £941.2 million (2019) |
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Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian company that works in the entertainment world. It is part of Lionsgate Studios. The company is based in Toronto, Canada. Its main job is to get and make movies and TV shows.
The company started on June 1, 1973. Back then, it was called Records on Wheels Limited. It was a Canadian company that distributed music. Later, a music store called CD Plus bought it. The company then became ROW Entertainment. Darren Throop, who was a vice president, became the new president and CEO. ROW later bought an American music and home entertainment company called Koch Entertainment.
By 2007, the company was known as Entertainment One. It started buying other film and TV companies. These included Canadian companies like Les Films Séville and Alliance Films. By 2015, eOne grew its business in the United States. It invested in Amblin Partners and bought a part of The Mark Gordon Company.
On December 30, 2019, a toy and entertainment company called Hasbro bought eOne for US$4 billion. Under Hasbro, eOne made some changes. It sold its music business in 2021. It also closed its movie distribution offices in some countries in 2022 and 2023. These changes were part of Hasbro's plan. Hasbro wanted to focus on its children's brands like Peppa Pig.
On August 3, 2023, Hasbro announced it would sell eOne's assets to Lionsgate for $500 million. Lionsgate is another company that started in Canada. The deal was completed on December 27, 2023. After this, the company's parts were reorganized. The main division first became eOne Canada. Then, it changed to its current name, Lionsgate Canada. Its movie division, eOne Films, joined Lionsgate Films. Its TV division merged with other parts into Lionsgate Television.
In May 2024, Lionsgate created a new company called Lionsgate Studios. This new company now includes Lionsgate Canada's film and television business.
Contents
Company History
How it Started
The company began as Records on Wheels Limited on June 1, 1973. Brothers Vito and Don Ierullo started it. It was a music distributor. Later, a music store chain called CD Plus bought Records on Wheels on June 11, 2001. CD Plus wanted to make its wholesale music and video business stronger.
Darren Throop joined the company after CD Plus bought his record store chain. He became the vice president of operations. The combined company was later called ROW Entertainment. Throop became its president and CEO. The company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. This meant its shareholders paid taxes, not the company itself.
On June 1, 2005, ROW Entertainment bought Koch Entertainment. This was a U.S. music and home entertainment company. After this, it became Entertainment One Income Fund. On March 29, 2007, the company accepted $188 million to help it grow. It was then listed on London's Alternative Investment Market as Entertainment One Ltd.
Growing Bigger
On June 14, 2007, Entertainment One bought Seville Pictures from Montreal. It also bought British company Contender Entertainment Group. Contender Entertainment Group had a short-lived book publishing part. In the same year, the company made a deal with Summit Entertainment. This deal allowed eOne to distribute Summit's films in Canada and the United Kingdom.
More acquisitions happened on January 9, 2008. eOne bought RCV Entertainment, a distributor in Europe. In the same year, Entertainment One bought TV studios Blueprint and Barna-Alper. It also bought international TV distributor Oasis International. On July 4, 2008, the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange.
On January 22, 2009, Entertainment One Income Fund briefly changed its name to E1 Entertainment. During this time, E1 combined Rubber Duck Entertainment into E1 Kids. This later became the "eOne Family & Brands" division. E1 went back to the Entertainment One name on July 16, 2010. It dropped "Income Fund" and started using the shorter name eOne.
On April 12, 2011, eOne bought Australian company Hopscotch for £12.9 million. On May 28, 2012, eOne offered to buy Canadian film distributor Alliance Films. This deal was completed on January 9, 2013. It gave eOne the rights to distribute films from many studios in Canada. These included The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate.
On May 28, 2014, eOne invested in Secret Location, an interactive agency. On June 2, 2014, eOne bought Phase 4 Films. Its CEO, Berry Meyerowitz, became head of eOne's U.S. film distribution. On July 17, eOne bought Paperny Entertainment. On August 28, 2014, eOne bought Force Four Entertainment.
On January 5, 2015, eOne bought 51% of Mark Gordon's studio, The Mark Gordon Company. This was part of eOne's plan to grow in the U.S. On September 9, 2015, eOne brought back the Momentum Pictures brand. It also made a deal with Orion Pictures to get films for special releases. Marwyn Investment Management sold its share in eOne to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on September 16, 2015.
On September 30, 2015, eOne bought 70% of British animation studio Astley Baker Davies. This studio is famous for Peppa Pig. On December 16, 2015, eOne, Steven Spielberg, and others started a company called Amblin Partners. eOne was an investor in this new company.
On January 7, 2016, eOne invested in Sierra Pictures. On January 20, 2016, it bought Dualtone Music Group. On March 8, 2016, eOne bought Last Gang, a music company. Its founder, Chris Taylor, became president of music at eOne. In 2016, eOne also bought a part of Renegade 83, a production company.
On February 24, 2016, Entertainment One made a deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. This deal was for releasing eOne's movies on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK. On August 10, 2016, eOne said no to an offer from ITV plc to buy the company for £1 billion. eOne felt the offer was too low.
On August 17, 2016, eOne announced it would fully buy Secret Location. On September 12, 2016, eOne bought Hardlivings, a music management company in the UK. That same year, eOne bought Nerve, another music management company. In 2016, eOne also made a deal with Ole (now Anthem Entertainment) for its music.
2017–2019
In 2017, eOne combined its film and TV studios. This was to focus more on making content instead of just buying it. On May 17, 2017, eOne partnered with Brad Weston on his new studio, Makeready. eOne was a main investor. On January 29, 2018, eOne bought the rest of The Mark Gordon Company. Gordon became eOne's new president for film and TV.
On April 9, 2018, eOne bought Whizz Kid Entertainment, a UK production company. Later that year, eOne invested in Jeffrey Katzenberg's short video company, "NewTV" (later Quibi). On January 8, 2019, eOne's Australia division made a deal with Universal Pictures. This led to the closure of eOne's distribution in Australia on March 19, 2019.
On March 5, 2019, eOne's Benelux division changed its name to WW Entertainment. Later that month, eOne ended its home media deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. This happened after the Walt Disney Company bought Fox. eOne then made a deal with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. This deal was for distributing its films and TV shows in many countries.
In 2019, eOne bought Daisybeck Studios, a British company. It also bought Blackfin, a U.S. company. In 2019, eOne Music bought Audio Network, a British company that makes music for films and TV.
Sale to Hasbro
On August 22, 2019, Hasbro, a toy and media company, announced it would buy Entertainment One for US$4 billion. The CEO, Darren Throop, said this would help eOne grow. eOne's Canadian operations were set up to keep their "Canadian content" status. The deal was approved by a court in Ontario. On November 21, 2019, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority looked into the purchase. The sale was completed on December 30, 2019. eOne became a part of Hasbro. The UK authority approved the deal the next month.
After the purchase, eOne started making and distributing content based on Hasbro's toys. For example, My Little Pony: Pony Life. On February 10, 2021, eOne announced it would lay off 10% of its film and TV staff. On April 26, 2021, eOne sold its music division for $385 million. This division was later renamed MNRK Music Group.
On June 29, 2022, Entertainment One closed its movie distribution in Canada and Spain. On August 22, 2022, Hasbro said it wanted to sell or change its media businesses. CEO Darren Throop stepped down at the end of that year.
Sale to Lionsgate
On November 17, 2022, Hasbro announced it planned to sell most of eOne's film and TV parts. This was to focus on its main toy brands. The parts of eOne that dealt with family brands were kept by Hasbro. In March 2023, it was reported that Lionsgate, Fremantle, and Legendary Entertainment were interested in buying eOne. Lionsgate, another film studio, had worked with Hasbro before.
The next month, Fremantle dropped out. Other companies like CVC Capital Partners and GoDigital Media Group became interested. On April 20, 2023, Hasbro was talking with Darren Throop, who wanted to buy the company back. In July 2023, Lionsgate was a top choice to buy Entertainment One. It was also reported that Entertainment One was closing its distribution in the UK.
On August 3, 2023, Hasbro announced it would sell eOne's entertainment parts to Lionsgate for $500 million. The deal closed on December 27, 2023. After this, eOne was renamed eOne Canada. eOne Films became part of Lionsgate Films. eOne Television merged into Lionsgate Alternative Television.
On June 7, 2024, it was announced that eOne Canada was renamed Lionsgate Canada. Jocelyn Hamilton, the president of television, said it made sense because Lionsgate is based in Canada. The "eOne" brand is still used outside of Canada.
eOne Films
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Trade name
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eOne Films |
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| Division | |
| Industry | Film production |
| Predecessor | Atlantis Films Alliance Atlantis Momentum Pictures Christal Films |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | , |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | Motion pictures |
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Entertainment One Films Ltd., also known as eOne Films, started in 2007. At first, it mainly bought films to distribute around the world. Now, eOne Films focuses more on making and funding its own movies.
After Lionsgate bought it and then spun it off into Lionsgate Studios, eOne Films is the only part that still uses the "Entertainment One" name.
Film History
In 2012, the company announced it would buy Alliance Films for CDN$225 million. This added films from Maple Pictures and Momentum Pictures to its collection. eOne also handled the Canadian distribution rights for films from Miramax and Dimension Films for many years.
On May 8, 2015, eOne combined its film production and sales teams into a new group called eOne Features. The goal was to make and fund six to eight films each year. On December 16, 2015, eOne became an investor in Amblin Partners. On September 23, 2016, the eOne-distributed film Juste la fin du monde was chosen to represent Canada at the 89th Academy Awards.
On January 8, 2019, Universal Pictures bought eOne's distribution business in Australia and New Zealand. eOne distributed Universal's Oscar-winning film Green Book in 2019. eOne also distributed other award-winning films like Spotlight and 1917. In 2020, eOne was a top film distributor in the UK.
Productions
Films
- Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
- Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
- Snowtime! (2015; English language version)
- Just Getting Started (2017)
- Stan & Ollie (2018)
- Racetime (2018; English language version)
- Wild Rose (2019)
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
- Official Secrets (2019)
- Jexi (2019)
- Mary (2019)
- Midway (2019)
- Queen & Slim (2019)
- A Million Little Pieces (2019)
- Love and Monsters (2020)
- Happiest Season (2020)
- Awake (2021)
- Snake Eyes (2021)
- Blue Bayou (2021)
- Come from Away (2021)
- The Starling (2021)
- My Little Pony: A New Generation (2021)
- Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021)
- Deep Water (2022)
- All the Old Knives (2022)
- Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
- Orphan: First Kill (2022)
- The Woman King (2022)
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
- The Creator (2023)
- Arthur the King (2024)
- Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)
- Dust Bunny (TBA)
- Untitled Clifford the Big Red Dog sequel (TBA)
TV series
Brands
Virtual Reality Games
Here is a list of virtual reality games made by Secret Location:
- The Great C
- Transpose
- Welcome to Wacken
- Blasters of the Universe
- Blasters of the Universe Infinity Forever
- Paranormal Pest Patrol
- NERF Ultimate Championship
Company Acquisitions
Since being listed on the London Stock Exchange, eOne has bought many companies:
- On June 14, 2007, eOne bought Contender Entertainment Group. This company was a large TV content distributor in the UK.
- On August 17, 2007, eOne bought Seville Entertainment Inc.
- On January 9, 2008, eOne bought RCV Entertainment, a distributor in the Netherlands.
- On July 4, 2008, eOne bought TV producers Blueprint Entertainment and Barna-Alper Productions. It also bought distributors Oasis International and Maximum Films.
- On April 12, 2011, eOne bought Australian distribution company Hopscotch.
- On January 22, 2013, eOne bought Alliance Films.
- On June 2, 2014, eOne bought Phase 4 Films.
- On July 17, 2014, eOne bought Paperny Entertainment.
- On August 28, 2014, eOne bought Force Four Entertainment.
- In May 2014, eOne invested in Secret Location, an interactive agency. It later took full control.
- In January 2015, eOne bought 51% of The Mark Gordon Company. It bought the rest on January 30, 2018.
- On September 30, 2015, eOne took control of the animation studio Astley Baker Davies.
- On March 26, 2018, eOne bought Round Room Entertainment, a live entertainment company.
- On April 9, 2018, eOne bought 70% of Whizz Kid Entertainment, a UK production company.
- On April 11, 2019, eOne bought Audio Network, a British company that creates music for films and TV.
- On July 11, 2019, eOne bought British production company Daisybeck Studios.
- On September 12, 2019, eOne bought Blackfin, a US-based content producer.
Past Divisions
Television Division
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Formerly
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| Industry | Television production |
| Fate | Ongoing shows and upcoming projects in development shifted and folded into Lionsgate Television |
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| Successor | Lionsgate Television |
| Founded | June 9, 1980 |
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| Defunct | January 9, 2024 |
| Headquarters | , |
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Key people
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| Divisions | Barna-Alper Releasing |
eOne Television was a TV production company. It started in 1980 in Toronto, Ontario. Entertainment One bought Barna-Alper Productions Inc., Blueprint Entertainment, and Oasis International on July 4, 2008. This was to grow its TV business. These companies were combined into E1 Television on January 22, 2009.
Some well-known TV series distributed or produced by eOne include Burden of Truth, Rookie Blue, Saving Hope, Bitten, The Book of Negroes, Border Security: Canada's Front Line, Call Me Fitz, Cardinal, Criminal Minds, Designated Survivor, Haven, Mary Kills People, Private Eyes, The Rookie, Siesta Key, and The Walking Dead.
Entertainment One's TV parts joined Lionsgate Television on January 9, 2024. Lionsgate Canada and Lionsgate Alternative Television now handle TV show production.
Family & Brands Division
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Rubber Duck Entertainment (2005–2009) E1 Kids (2009–2010) Entertainment One Family (2010–2015) |
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| Industry | Television production |
| Fate | Folded into Hasbro Entertainment |
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| Successor | Hasbro Entertainment |
| Founded | July 1, 2005 |
| Defunct | August 16, 2023 |
| Headquarters | London, England, United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Olivier Dumont (president) |
| Owner | Entertainment One (2009–2023) |
eOne's Family & Brands division focused on family-friendly content. This included making, distributing, and marketing it. This division grew a lot from sales and deals. Peppa Pig and PJ Masks were very popular. When Hasbro bought eOne, this division became part of Hasbro's main business.
Virtual Reality Division
After investing in 2014, eOne bought Secret Location in 2016. This Toronto-based studio makes virtual and augmented reality experiences. In 2015, Secret Location won an Emmy Award for its work on a tie-in to the TV series Sleepy Hollow.
In 2020, the studio's first VR film, The Great C, won an award at the Cannes XR Film Festival. That same year, Secret Location won an award for media innovation in Canada.
Company Names and Logos
The company logo introduced on July 16, 2010, was designed by Parcel Design. On September 8, 2015, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Entertainment One announced its logo had been updated.
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Entertainment One (2010–2015)
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Entertainment One (2015–2024, still used on eOne Films)
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Alternative variant (2015–2024, still used on eOne Films)
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Lionsgate Canada (2024–2025)
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Lionsgate Canada (2025–present)
