First Look Studios

**First Look Studios** was a former American independent film distributor, that specialized in home video releases of films and television series.

## History

In 1980, Robert and Ellen Little founded **Overseas Filmgroup** as a film sales company for foreign markets. Overseas Filmgroup expanded towards film financing to give the company greater control over its output. From the beginnings, it competed with fellow, also-defunct film producers J&M Film Sales (later J&M Entertainment), Manson International and Producers Sales Organization as the most successful company with film sales.

Overseas Filmgroup decided to paid $3 million in order to set up operations for different areas such as Spain, Arizona, Texas, Taiwan, Italy, southern California and Colorado in the mid-1980s, and by 1986, the company became active, setting up a number of domestic theatrical, home video and television syndication sales with New World Pictures and other distributors.

In 1987, while other sales companies is gaining production outfits, the Littles told that they would avoid production, so Overseas Filmgroup had set up a company policy that they would acquire new films via distribution advances, and the three new movies, namely those directed by Roland Emmerich, will be offered to various Mifed buyers. The company is the original international home video distributor for the show *Tales from the Darkside*, until it was sold off to Lorimar-Telepictures in late November 1987 after Lorimar International president Jeff Schlesinger saw all episodes of the show that was well-suited and combined to become eight ninety-minute episodes from the show.

Films ranged from genre titles such as *Blue Tiger* (starring Virginia Madsen) and *No Way Back* (starring New Zealand actor Russell Crowe) to art house films, including *Antonia's Line*, *Mrs. Dalloway*, *The Secret of Roan Inish*, *Waking Ned Devine*, and *Titus*. In 1993, the company expanded towards North American distribution through its **First Look Pictures** subsidiary.

In 1998, Overseas Filmgroup went public. Two years later, EUE/Screen Gems acquired a minority interest in the company. In January 2001, as part of a restructuring, Overseas Filmgroup and First Look Pictures became subsidiaries of **First Look Media**. Overseas Filmgroup was eventually renamed **First Look International**. Robert and Ellen Little left First Look in 2003.

On July 29, 2005, after a merger with Canadian businessman Henry Winterstern's Capital Entertainment, the combined company became **First Look Studios**. Winterstern became CEO of First Look and shared the role as chairman with EUE/Screen Gems' Chris Cooney. In November 2005, First Look acquired DEJ Productions from Blockbuster.

In March 2006, First Look acquired Ventura Distribution, a home video distribution company, and acquired the domestic television syndication rights to fifty six films from Pinnacle Entertainment. By 2006, First Look had a seven hundred film library to its own name, and continued to add more with the financing of in house productions. Henry Winterstern resigned from First Look in March 2007. The organization started out First Look Television, a TV syndication company in 2006.

That March, Nu Image acquired the rights to First Look. In November 2010, Millennium Entertainment acquired First Look's assets. Currently, the company had been dissolved.

## Films

* *10 Items or Less* (released theatrically by ThinkFilm)
* *All About You*
* *American Adobo*
* *An American Crime*
* *Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters* (the only animated film by the company)
* *As Good as Dead*
* *August*
* *Back in the Day*
* *Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans*
* *The Breed*
* *A Brother's Kiss*
* *Chopper*
* *Chrystal*
* *Cool Dog*
* *The Contract*
* *Danika*
* *Day of the Dead*
* *Day Zero*
* *Dedication* (co distribution with The Weinstein Company)
* *Eat Your Heart Out*
* *Ernest Goes to Africa* (re released by Mill Creek Entertainment and Image Entertainment)
* *Ernest in the Army* (re released by Mill Creek Entertainment and Image Entertainment)
* *Evelyn* (co-distribution with United Artists)
* *Finding Rin Tin Tin*
* *Firecracker*
* *Flu Birds*
* *Forty Shades of Blue*
* *Four Sheets to the Wind*
* *Frank*
* *Freeze Frame*
* *A Gentleman's Game*
* *Glass Trap*
* *God's Gift*
* *A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints*
* *Hydra*
* *Immortal* (United States distributor)
* *In a Dark Place*
* *Infinity*
* *Journey to the End of the Night*
* *Kill Switch*
* *King of California*
* *King of the Avenue*
* *Labor Pains*
* *Leaves of Grass*
* *Leo*
* *A Little Trip to Heaven*
* *A Map of the World*
* *Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember*
* *Mayor of the Sunset Strip*
* *Meet Bill*
* *Minotaur* (co distribution with Lionsgate)
* *Miranda*
* *Monster* (co distribution with Newmarket Films, Media 8 Entertainment and DEJ Productions)
* *Mrs Dalloway*
* *My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?*
* *Nature Unleashed: Tornado*
* *Paris, je t'aime*
* *Party Girl*
* *The Prophecy* (co distribution with Dimension Films)
* *The Pumpkin Karver*
* *Relative Strangers*
* *The Secret of Roan Inish*
* *Sex and Breakfast*
* *Silence Becomes You*
* *Smiley Face*
* *Stiletto*
* *Sukiyaki Western Django*
* *Tara Road*
* *Target of Opportunity*
* *The Thing Below*
* *Thick as Thieves*
* *This Is The Sea*
* *Trading Mom* (co distribution with Trimark Pictures)
* *Transsiberian*
* *The Volcano Disaster* (also called *Volcano: Nature Unleashed*)
* *War, Inc.*

## Distributed lines

* Ultimate Fighting Championship
* Video Asia