The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection (or simply Criterion) is an American video-distribution company which specializes in licensing "important classic and contemporary films" and selling them to film aficionados. Criterion is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for widescreen films, bonus features, and special editions for home video.

History

The Criterion Collection company was founded in 1984 by Robert Stein, Aleen Stein, and Joe Medjuck, who later were joined by Roger Smith. In 1985, the Steins, William Becker, and Jonathan B. Turell founded the Voyager Company, to publish educational multimedia CD-ROMs (1989–2000), during which time The Criterion Collection became a subordinate division of the Voyager Company. In March 1994, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH bought 20 percent of Voyager for US$6.7 million; the 4 founders each retained a 20 percent owner’s share.

In 1997, the Voyager Company was dissolved (Aleen Stein founded the Organa LLC CD-ROM publishing company), and Holtzbrinck Publishers sold the “Voyager” brand name, 42 CD-ROM titles, the Voyager web site, and associated assets, to Learn Technologies Interactive, LLC (LTI). Robert Stein sold 42 Voyager titles to LTI from his Voyager–Criterion company share. The remaining 3 partners, Aleen Stein, William Becker (President) and Jonathan Turell (CEO) owned The Criterion Collection company, which has a business partnership with Janus Films, and had one with Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) until 2005, when Image Entertainment bought HVE. On November 4, 2013, it was announced that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will now handle distribution.

Michael Cera

Michael Austin Cera (/ˈsɛrə/; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, most notably portraying a young Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002). He is mostly known for his role as George Michael Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development and for his leading roles in the comedy films Superbad (2007), Juno (2007), Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) and Youth in Revolt (2010). In 2010, he portrayed Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and played an exaggerated version of himself in This Is the End (2013). Cera made his Broadway debut in the 2014 installement of Kenneth Lonergan's This is Our Youth.

Aside from acting, Cera is also a musician, having released his debut album True That in 2014.

Early life

Cera was born in Brampton, Ontario. He is the son of Linda (née Cockman) and Luigi Cera, a technician. His father is Sicilian, and his mother has Irish, Dutch, Scottish, and English ancestry. His parents both worked for Xerox. Cera has an older sister, Jordan, and a younger sister, Molly. He became interested in acting after viewing Ghostbusters repeatedly when sick with the chicken pox at the age of three. He memorized all the dialogue and idolized Bill Murray. He enrolled in The Second City Toronto and took improvization classes.