2929 Entertainment

2929 Entertainment, LLC. is an American integrated media and entertainment company co-founded by billionaire entrepreneurs Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. 2929 maintains companies and interests across several industries including entertainment development and packaging, film and television production and distribution, digital and broadcast syndication, theatrical exhibition, and home entertainment.
2929 Entertainment has offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Dallas. Wagner and Cuban co-own 2929 with Sky Hansen serving as Managing Director.
== History[edit] ==
2929 Entertainment made several strategic acquisitions to assure that releases could be made available to any audience across a variety of platforms simultaneously. Wagner says that "ready availability of such infrastructure would be an operating advantage to both the circuit and the production company."[1] Some titles would even see DVD releases alongside theatrical openings as early as 2007, through an early partnership with Netflix.[2][needs update]
An extensive catalogue of television and film rights were acquired with Rysher Entertainment in 2001, and 2929 would co-produce a newer version of Star Search which premiered in January 2003 on CBS (the original Star Search aired from 1983 to 1995).
Variety praised 2929 as a "pioneer" for its simultaneous theatrical and cable television release of Steven Soderbergh's Bubble in 2006.[2] Bubble was the first of several films with concurrent releases in theaters and through 2929's cable channel HDNet. At the time, this move was controversial as most films are released in different formats on a staggered schedule, giving each channel an exclusive window. Exhibitors were especially timorous, as many feared that they would eventually lose their exclusive release windows for more mainstream films.[citation needed]
== Operations[edit] ==
=== Production companies[edit] ===
2929 Entertainment develops original feature and series through its production company 2929 Productions, and formerly through HDNet Films.
==== 2929 Productions, LLC[edit] ====
link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2929_Productions.png|thumb|The company's main logo.
2929 Productions, LLC. was co-founded by Wagner and Cuban in 2002. The film and television studio selectively finances and develops feature films and series, often through partnerships with industry creators or entertainment companies.[3]
2929 Productions is headed by Haley Jones.[4] Previous studio leadership has included Ben Cosgrove (formerly of Paramount and Section Eight)[5] and Marc Butan (MadRiver Pictures and formerly Lionsgate).
Godsend, Criminal and The Jacket were among of the studio's first projects, with the latter two being co-produced and co-financed with Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney's Section Eight Productions. After his work on Godsend, Marc Butan was offered studio head at 2929 leading him to exit an EVP role at Lionsgate.[6]
In 2005, 2929 Productions released Good Night, And Good Luck. with Warner Independent. The film uses a mix of archival footage and contemporary production to tell the story of the famed wartime reporter Edward Murrow (David Strathairn) and his historic "See it Now" broadcast criticizing Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare. To mitigate risks that could arise with a black-and-white feature film, Wagner engaged Jeff Skoll and his company Participant Media to produce Good Night, And Good Luck, which grossed over $30 million (USA) and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
2929 Productions
Year	Film 	Director 	Release date
2002	Searching for Debra Winger 	Rosanna Arquette 	July 13, 2002
2004	Godsend 	Nick Hamm 	April 30, 2004
2004	Criminal 	Gregory Jacobs 	September 10, 2004
2005	The Jacket 	John Maybury 	January 23, 2005 (Sundance)/March 4, 2005
2005	Good Night, and Good Luck 	George Clooney 	September 1, 2005 (VIFF)/October 7, 2005 (United States)
2006	Akeelah and the Bee 	Doug Atchison 	March 16, 2006 (CIFF)/April 28, 2006 (United States)
2006	Turistas 	John Stockwell 	December 1, 2006
2006	Black Christmas 	Glen Morgan 	December 15, 2006 (United Kingdom)/December 19, 2006 (TCL Chinese Theatre)/December 25, 2006 (United States)
2007	The Ex 	Jesse Peretz 	May 11, 2007
2007	We Own the Night 	James Gray 	May 25, 2007 (Cannes)/October 12, 2007 (United States)
2008	The Life Before Her Eyes 	Vadim Perelman 	September 8, 2007 (TIFF)/April 18, 2008
2008	What Just Happened 	Barry Levinson 	January 19, 2008 (Sundance)/May 25, 2008 (Cannes)/October 17, 2008 (United States)
2009	Two Lovers 	James Gray 	May 19, 2008 (Cannes Film Festival)/February 13, 2009 (United States)
2009	The Girlfriend Experience 	Steven Soderbergh 	January 20, 2009 (Sundance)/May 22, 2009 (United States)
2009	The Burning Plain 	Guillermo Arriaga 	August 29, 2008 (Venice International Film Festival)/September 18, 2009 (United States)
2009	The Road 	John Hillcoat 	September 3, 2009 (VIFF)/September 13, 2009 (TIFF)/November 25, 2009 (United States)
2012	Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie	Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim	January 20, 2012 (Sundance Film Festival)/March 2, 2012 (United States)
2012	Deadfall 	Stefan Ruzowitzky 	April 22, 2012 (Tribeca Film Festival)/December 7, 2012 (United States)
2015	Serena 	Susanne Bier 	October 13, 2014 (BFI London Film Festival)/November 12, 2014 (France)/March 27, 2015 (United States)
2017	2:22 	Paul Currie 	June 30, 2017
2017	Permanent 	Colette Burson 	September 30, 2017 (Edmonton)
2018	Please Stand By 	Ben Lewin 	October 27, 2017 (Austin)/January 26, 2018 (United States)
2018	The China Hustle 	Jed Rothstein 	March 20, 2018
==== HDNet Films[edit] ====
HDNet Films, the motion picture division of the HDNet network (now AXS TV), produced lower budget movies in high definition.
HDNet Films
Year	Film 	Director 	Release date
2005	Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room 	Alex Gibney 	April 22, 2005
2005	The War Within 	Joseph Castelo 	September 30, 2005
2006	Bubble 	Steven Soderbergh 	September 3, 2005 (Venice Film Festival)/January 27, 2006 (United States)
2006	S&Man 	J. T. Petty 	March 10, 2006 (SXSW Film Festival)
2006	Herbie Hancock: Possibilities 	Doug Biro & Jon Fine 	April 4, 2006
2006	One Last Thing... 	Alex Steyermark 	September 12, 2005 (TIFF)/May 5, 2006 (United States)
2006	The Architect 	Matt Tauber 	April 26, 2006
2007	Diggers 	Katherine Dieckmann 	March 30, 2007 (USA)
2007	Fay Grim 	Hal Hartley 	September 11, 2006 (TIFF)/May 18, 2007 (United States)
2007	Broken English 	Zoe Cassavetes 	January 20, 2007 (Sundance)/June 22, 2007 (United States)
2007	Mr. Untouchable 	Marc Levin 	October 26, 2007
2007	Redacted 	Brian De Palma 	August 31, 2007 (Venice Film Festival)/November 16, 2007 (United States)
2008	Surfwise 	Doug Pray 	September 11, 2007 (TIFF)/May 9, 2008 (USA)
2008	Quid Pro Quo 	Carlos Brooks 	June 13, 2008
2008	Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson	Alex Gibney 	January 20, 2008 (Sundance)
2009	American Swing 	Jon Hart & Mathew Kaufman	September 5, 2008 (TIFF)/March 27, 2009 (USA)
2010	And Everything Is Going Fine 	Steven Soderbergh 	January 23, 2010 (Slamdance)
2011	Rejoice and Shout (Documentary) 	Don McGlynn 	June 3, 2011
=== Distribution[edit] ===
Originally formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, Magnolia Pictures is the home entertainment and theatrical distribution subsidiary of 2929. In November 2005 the company created Magnolia Home Entertainment to release its films over home video, with its first release being Alex Gibney's acclaimed doc, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.[7] It is headed by entertainment industry vet and former head of home entertainment for Miramax, Randy Wells. Magnolia Pictures also provides its content through a curated streaming service, Magnolia Selects.
2929 also launched Truly Indie, an "innovative distribution program" for independent filmmakers.
=== Television[edit] ===
2929 holds a significant interest in AXS TV, which Cuban originally co-founded in 2001 as the all-high definition cable channel HDNet (through AXS TV LLC, formerly HDNet, LLC). HDNet Movies, a companion channel, shows movies in high definition. 2929 also owned Rysher Entertainment, a television syndication distributor with an extensive library of titles and syndication rights to TV shows like Hogan's Heroes, Sex and the City and Star Search.[6] Rysher was later acquired by an investment company through Lakeshore Entertainment.
Category:Film distributors of the United States
Category:2929 Entertainment holdings
Category:Mass media companies established in 2001
Category:2001 establishments in New York City
Category:Mass media companies based in New York City
Category:Film production companies of the United States