Redman Films

**Redman Films** (simply known as **Redman** on-screen) is an American animation studio based in Culver City, California. Founded on April 4, 2014 by Dane Martin, the studio has produced a total of 7 feature films, the first being *Miao: The Movie* (2017) and the most recent being *Farfetch* (2023), and is best known for the franchise *Miao*.

Films produced by Redman Films were originally distributed by Columbia Pictures under a four-film distribution deal until 2021, which was later taken over by Paramount Pictures the following year. The studio was acquired by Lionsgate in April 2023, resulting in all Redman films released after 2024 to be distributed by Lionsgate.

## History

Martin left DreamWorks Animation to start his own animation studio in late 2013. At DWA, Martin supervised production and did animation for some of its films.

On April 4, 2014, Redman Films was founded with a team of 500 employees headed by Martin, which aimed to produce CGI animated feature-length films at a rate of two films per year. In February 2015, Redman Films signed a distribution agreement with Columbia Pictures, enabling the studio to distribute the rights of Redman's films worldwide for four films between 2017 and 2021, beginning with *Miao: The Movie*.

Shortly before Columbia’s agreement with Redman Films ended after the release of *Ghost Hunters* (2021), Redman signed a deal with Paramount Pictures to distribute five films in June 2021, which did not include previous Columbia distributed films, although the deal eventually ended prematurely after the box-office bomb of *Farfetch* (2023) and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The first Redman film distributed by Paramount was *Athena* in 2022. The company’s first in-house animation studio was formed as Redman Animation Los Angeles in January 2022, located next to the studio’s main headquarters.

On November 26, 2022, Redman Films was reported to be in talks with Lionsgate for a potential acquisition after talks with Universal and Warner Bros. fell through. On April 1, 2023, Lionsgate and Redman Films confirmed the acquisition, which was completed on September 1 for $2.6 billion. The resulting acquisition placed Redman as Lionsgate’s first in-house animation studio to directly compete with Disney’s Pixar, Universal’s Illumination and DreamWorks Animation, while Splash Entertainment was retained for lower-budget animated productions for Lionsgate.

## Projects

The studio's first feature, *Miao: The Movie*, was released on June 9, 2017. The film received mixed reviews and was a box-office success, grossing over $170 million on a $40 million budget. Animation for *Miao: The Movie* was mostly done by Sony Pictures Imageworks, who would subsequently animate all four Redman films distributed by Columbia Pictures.

*Power Down*, Redman’s second film, was released on September 20, 2019 and grossed $152.2 million against a $45 million budget, but was less critically successful. Redman’s first film to serve as a sequel, *Miao 2* was released on February 14, 2020, earning $156.3 million, less than its predecessor. The studio’s final collaboration with Columbia Pictures, *Ghost Hunters*, was released on Netflix on September 17, 2021, to generally positive reviews.

*Athena*, the first Redman film released under Paramount Pictures, was released in the United States on March 2, 2022 and became its first box-office bomb with a gross of $105 million. *Miao 3: Merry Christmas*, the third installment in the *Miao* franchise, was released on November 16, 2022 and became the studio’s highest-grossing film by earning $259 million. *Farfetch*, the second original film directed by Dane Martin for Redman, was released on March 3, 2023 and became another box-office bomb with a gross of just $95 million, prompting Redman to end its partnership with Paramount prematurely.

### Upcoming releases

Redman Films have a number of films slated for future release, including a fantasy film titled *Reptile Universe* set for release on April 5, 2024, an adventure film titled *The Gold Crystal* on June 28, 2024, *Power Down 2: Earth Invasion*, the sequel to 2019’s *Power Down*, on November 20, 2024 and *Orca Bay* on April 25, 2025. Three untitled films are slated for release on December 24, 2025, April 3, 2026 and November 18, 2026 respectively.

Other films in development at the studio include an original Southeast Asian-themed animated film by Orawan Bunmi, *Miao 4* and an adaptation of *Phoebe and Her Unicorn*, which will be animated by DNEG Animation.