Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and recorded videos) through multiple platforms.
Through an intermediate holding company called Sony Film Holding Inc., it is operated as a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., which is itself a subsidiary of the multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is a wholly owned fifth-tier subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It is directly owned by Sony Film Holding Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. (FY2015 Securities Report (in Japanese), Sony Corporation) Based at the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California as one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, it encompasses Sony's motion picture, television production and distribution units. Its sales in the fiscal year 2020 (April 2020 – March 2021) was reported to be $7.16 billion. All of SPE's divisions are members of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). Sony's film franchises include The Karate Kid, Ghostbusters, Spider-Man, Jumanji, Men in Black, and Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
==History==
On September 1, 1987, The Coca-Cola Company announced plans to spin-off its assets of Columbia Pictures, which they had owned since 1982. Under this arrangement, Coca-Cola would sell their entertainment assets to TriStar Pictures, of which they owned 39.6%. Tri-Star would be renamed to Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. (CPE), with Coca-Cola owning 49%, its shareholders owning 31%, and Tri-Star's shareholders owning 20%.Dick, Bernard F. (1992) "Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio" (p. 46). The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1769-0. A new company was formed in early 1988 with the Tri-Star name to take over the studio's production operations.
On September 28, 1989, Sony obtained an option to purchase all of The Coca-Cola Company's stock in CPE for $27 per share. The next day, Sony also announced that it reached an agreement with Guber-Peters Entertainment Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPEC; formerly Barris Industries, Inc.) to acquire CPE for $200 million when Sony hired Peter Guber and Jon Peters to be its co-chairmen. This was all led by Norio Ohga, who was the president and CEO of Sony during that time.
The hiring of Guber and Peters by Sony to run Columbia was conflicted by a previous contract the producers had signed at Warner Bros. Time Warner's chairman, Steve Ross, threatened Sony with a lawsuit for breach of contract. The lawsuit would be subsequently dropped when Sony sold half-interest in Columbia House and cable distribution rights to Columbia's feature films, TV movies, and miniseries to Warner Bros. Said agreement also saw Columbia sell its 35% interest in the Burbank Studios, and acquired Lorimar|Lorimar Studios, previously the MGM lot, from Warner Bros.Warner, Sony settle suit over producers (November 17, 1989). Los Angeles: Associated Press.Medavoy, Mike and Young, Josh (2002). You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot (p. 210). New York City: Atria Books
On October 31, 1989, Sony completed a friendly takeover bid for the rest of shares (51%) of CPE, which was a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KPE), and acquired 99.3% of the common stock of the company. On November 8, 1989, Sony completed the acquisition by a "short-form" merger of its wholly owned subsidiary Sony Columbia Acquisition Corporation into CPE under Delaware law. Sony also completed a tender offer for shares of common stock of the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company on November 6, 1989 and acquired the company on November 9, 1989. The acquisition cost Sony $4.9 billion ($3.55 billion for shares and $1.4 billion of long-term debt) and was backed (financed) by five major Japanese banks Mitsui, Tokyo, Fuji, Mitsubishi and Industrial Bank of Japan.Rudolph B (1994) So many dreams so many losses. Time vol. 144, no. 22 (November 28, 1994)Griffin N, Masters K (1996) Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood. (Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-684-83266-6)Nathan, J. (1999) Sony: The Private Life. (Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-89327-5, ISBN 0-618-12694-5) The company was renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment on August 7, 1991.She Holds Torch for Sony Pictures Entertainment, latimes.com
Sony has since created numerous other film production and distribution units, such as creating Sony Pictures Classics for art-house fare, by forming Columbia TriStar Pictures (also known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group) by merging Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures in 1998, revitalizing Columbia's former television division Screen Gems. It expanded its operations on April 8, 2005, when a Sony-led consortium acquired the legendary Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in a US$4.8 billion leveraged buyout, through the holding company MGM Holdings Inc.Sony will purchase MGM in a deal worth about $5 billion, CNN, September 14, 2004.
On June 4, 2008, SPE's wholly owned group 2JS Productions B.V. acquired Dutch production company 2waytraffic N.V., famous for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and You Are What You Eat for £114.3 million ($223.2 million in US dollars).
In 2011, the Sony Pictures computer network was breached and approximately one million user accounts associated with the SonyPictures.com website were leaked.
On November 18, 2012, Sony Pictures announced it has passed $4 billion with the success of releases: Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, 21 Jump Street, Men in Black 3, Hotel Transylvania, Underworld: Awakening, The Vow, and Resident Evil: Retribution. On November 21, 2013, SPE and Sony Entertainment's CEO Michael Lynton announced that SPE will shift emphasis from movies to television by cutting its 2014 film slate.DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony Pictures Vows To Cut Costs $250M+ Through 2016 deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony Pictures To Shift Emphasis From Movies To TV, Will Cut Film Output For 2014 deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013NELLIE ANDREEVA "Deadline" From Pariah To Company MVP: The Quiet Rise Of Sony’s Television Division deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony TV Execs Talk Up Global Opportunities deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013 It was also announced on the same day, that there will be more Spider-Man sequels and spin-offs.DAVID LIEBERMAN "Deadline" Sony Pictures Plans More Spider-Man Sequels And Spinoffs – But Still No Marvel Reunion deadline.com, Retrieved on November 22, 2013
On January 22, 2014, SPE folded its technology unit into its various cores of its businesses."Deadline" Layoffs Hit Sony Pictures As SPE Absorbs Technology Unit deadline.com, Retrieved on January 24, 2014 In April, Sony Pictures arranged a film financing deal worth $200 million with LStar Capital, the credit venture of Lone Star Capital and CitiBank, half in debt and the other in equity to fund most of SPE's film slate for several years. SPE was originally considering a $300 million deal with Blue Anchor Entertainment, led by Bloom Hergott partner John LaViolette and former investment banker & producer Joseph M. Singer, and backed by Longhorn Capital Management and Deutsche Bank, which was held up by regulatory matters. On February 6, 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment, through their legal name "Columbia TriStar Warner Filmes de Portugal Ltda.", announced that they will close their offices in Portugal on March 31.Eurico de Barros "DN Artes"Columbia Tristar Warner closes offices in Portugal dn.pt, Retrieved on May 12, 2015
In November 2014, the Sony Pictures computer network was compromised by a group of hackers named Guardians of Peace, disabling many computers. Later the same week, five of Sony Pictures' movies were leaked, including some not yet released (such as Fury and Annie), as well as confidential data about 47,000 current and former Sony employees.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/12/19/lawsuits-against-sony-pictures-could-test-employer-responsibility-for-data-breaches/ Film historian Wheeler Winston Dixon suggested that the hack, which exposed the inner workings of the studio, was "not a pretty picture," and served as a "wake-up call to the entire industry."MEG JAMES, RYAN FAUGHNDER, December 13, 2014, Los Angeles Times, Fallout from Sony hack may alter how Hollywood conducts business, Retrieved December 14, 2014 The hack also revealed some other plans, like a partnership with Marvel Studios for the inclusion of the superhero Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War.Spider-Man may appear in 'Captain America 3' mashable.com On December 16, the hackers issued a warning to moviegoers, threatening to attack anyone who sees The Interview during the holidays and urging people to "remember the 11th of September 2001". On December 17, 2014 Sony cancelled the previously planned December 25 release of The Interview in response to hacker threats.
On February 24, 2015, Tom Rothman was named chairman of SPE's motion picture group to replace Amy Pascal."Deadline" Tom Rothman Replaces Amy Pascal At Sony Pictures; Michael Lynton Contract Extended deadline.com, Retrieved on 24 February 2015"Bloomberg" Sony Names Former Fox Film Chief Tom Rothman to Replace Pascal bloomberg.com, Retrieved on 24 February 2015
On April 16, 2015, WikiLeaks published over 30,287 documents, 173,132 e-mails, and 2,200 corporate e-mail addresses of Sony Pictures' employees. WikiLeaks said in a press release that the content of the leaks were "newsworthy and at the center of a geo-political conflict" and belonged "in the public domain". Sony Pictures later condemned the hack and subsequent leaks, calling it a "malicious criminal act", while also criticizing WikiLeaks for describing the leaked content as public domain."Los Angeles Times" latimes.com, Retrieved on April 16, 2015Anousha Sakoui "Yahoo! Finance" finance.yahoo.com, Retrieved on April 17, 2015