Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group

The Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group is an American film production company and the result of a merger between Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and TriStar Pictures, Inc. in 1998. The company is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

History

The Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group was launched in 1998, as a current division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, owned by Sony. It also has many of Sony Pictures' current motion picture subsidiaries as part of it. Its subsidiaries were Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Triumph Films, Sony Pictures Classics, and Sony Pictures Releasing.

In 1999, Columbia TriStar launches Screen Gems as a film studio, an American film production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation.

In 2002, Columbia TriStar Television was shut down, and folded into Sony Pictures Television. The last two remaining companies, with the "Columbia TriStar" brand in its name, were Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, and the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment became Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2004 and Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group became the only subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment that has the "Columbia TriStar" brand name in its name.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation.

Background

SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library for home entertainment, mainly releases from the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, and Screen Gems) as well as releases from Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (Triumph Films, Destination Films, Stage 6 Films, and Affirm Films). SPHE also releases product from Revolution Studios. Since June 20, 2007, SPHE now handles its former Sony BMG kids label, Sony Wonder.

They are also responsible for their television shows from the Sony Pictures Television library from Screen Gems, Columbia Pictures Television, TriStar Television, Tandem Productions, TOY Productions, ELP Communications (shows include from T.A.T. Communications to ELP Communications), Four D Productions, Columbia TriStar Television and Sony Pictures Television. On some occasions, they have distributed television titles not owned by Sony, such as the Animorphs series from Scholastic Productions, and Rovio Entertainment's Angry Birds Toons, Angry Birds Stella and Piggy Tales.

Columbia

Columbia may refer to:

Places

In North America

Home video

Home video is pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented or streamed for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotape, but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital distribution such as Netflix.

The home video business distributes films, telemovies and television series in the form of videos in various formats to the public. These are either bought or rented, then watched privately from the comfort of home by consumers. Most theatrically released films are now released on digital media, both optical (DVD or Blu-ray) and download-based, replacing the largely obsolete VHS (Video Home System) medium. The VCD format remains popular in Asia, though DVDs are gradually gaining popularity.

History

Prior to the arrival of home video as a popular medium in the late 1970s, most feature films were essentially inaccessible to the public after their original theatrical runs were over. Some very popular films were given occasional theatrical re-releases, some could be seen in urban revival houses and the screening rooms of a handful of archives and museums, and beginning in the 1950s most could be expected to turn up on television eventually, but interrupted by commercials and very possibly at an inconvenient or impossible viewing time. During this era, it was also the norm that television programs could only be viewed at the time of broadcast. Viewers were accustomed to the fact that there was no normal way to record TV shows at home and watch them whenever desired. Many observed that such a capability would be desirable.