Shout! Factory

Shout! Factory

Type	Private
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	June 19, 2003 (June 19, 2003)
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Key people	Richard Foos, CEO (Founder) Bob Emmer, COO (Founder) Garson Foos, President (Founder)
Products	Home video, music
Subsidiaries	Timeless Media Group Scream Factory
Website	www.shoutfactory.com

Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2003. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary TV series, animation, live music, and comedy specials. Shout! Factory also owns and operates Timeless Media Group, Biograph Records, Majordomo Records, HighTone Records, and Video Time Machine.

History

Shout! Factory was founded in 2003 by Bob Emmer, Garson Foos, and Richard Foos, three principals from Rhino Records. After selling Rhino to Warner Bros., the three set out to launch a new retro pop culture label. Their first releases included blues and jazz CDs from the Biograph label, a Fats Domino CD and DVD and several documentaries (Superstar: The Life And Times of Andy Warhol, What Happened To Kerouac?). With the release of Freaks & Geeks in 2004, Shout! hit its stride and shifted towards a reputable and celebrated TV on DVD company. That same year, they released a brand-new CD with actor William Shatner (produced by Ben Folds) and started releasing classic SCTV box sets.

In 2005, Shout! Factory obtained the rights to Herb Alpert's catalog, launching the Herb Alpert Signature Series of CDs. These included The Lonely Bull, South of the Border, Lost Treasures, Whipped Cream & Other Delights and others. They also got the rights to talk show host Dick Cavett's library and started releasing theme sets focused on rock icons, Ray Charles (including all his visits to the show), John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and others. They also jumped into children's animation with a deal with DiC Entertainment. C.O.P.S. The Animated Series and Heathcliff And the Catillac Cats were the first releases from that deal. On the sports side, they entered into a licensing deal with Major League Baseball, releasing themed and World Series DVDs through 2010.

In 2006, Shout! got the rights to Cartoon Network staple Home Movies and released each season set, and ultimately a complete series box. Other pop culture releases ensued, including a pair of The Electric Company multidisc sets, the re-envisioned Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped, a series of Elvira's Movie Macabre DVDs and the first of what would be three cover CDs with Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, called Under The Covers Vol. 1; Sweet himself was also added as a featured solo artist.^[1] Still earning a reputation for classic TV, Shout! acquired the rights to America's Funniest Home Videos, That Girl, Punky Brewster, and The Weird Al Show, all of which debuted in 2006.

By 2007, classic TV on DVD was a major focus, with season sets of McHale's Navy, Ironside, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and themed and actor-specific editions of Inside the Actor's Studio. Meanwhile, they also started releasing Mickey Hart's catalogs.

In 2008, Shout! bought the Hightone Records catalog and added artists Tom Russell, Joe Ely, and Rosie Flores to its brand. At the same time, the company was ramping up its place as a children's animation destination and continuing with a TV on DVD schedule. It took over the Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVD series and released a 20th Anniversary set and have continued to put out box sets of episodes never before released on DVD.

In 2009, Shout! reached another milestone when it struck a deal with children's TV producers Hasbro, releasing the original Transformers and G.I. Joe animated-series box sets. That same year, it released the first My Little Pony DVD, My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Collection. Shout! continues to release several Hasbro properties, including the series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

In 2012, Shout! started releasing titles by both Saban (Power Rangers, Mutant Turtles) and Marvel (Super Hero Squad Show, Marvel Knights). At the end of 2012, Shout! also launched a sublabel called Scream Factory, in which horror films, both new and old, were licensed from major studios such as MGM, Fox, and Universal.

For 2014, Shout! continued to release complete-series sets of classic TV - both Bob Newhart: The Complete Series and Hill Street Blues: The Complete Series. They join complete releases such as All In The Family, Route 66, and Barney Miller.^[2] On May 8, 2014, Shout! announced^[3] their acquisition of the rights to WKRP in Cincinnati,^[4] with the intention of restoring all four seasons of the show "complete" with their original musical scores.^[5] The 2014 release was a monumental event for fans of the show since the original DVD release in 2007 had been mired in squabbles regarding music rights.^[6]

On June 9, 2014, Shout! Factory announced that it had acquired the rights to the My Little Pony series and it released My Little Pony - The Complete Series on DVD on September 30, 2014.^[7] The four-disc set contains all 65 episodes of the series.

In October 2014, Shout! acquired Westchester Films, an independent film company whose library includes the films of John Cassavetes, Elia Kazan, and Orson Welles, as well as some early United Artists films that were previously owned by the films' producers.

In November 2015, Shout! licensed Sequart Organization's documentary film The Image Revolution.^[8]

On November 10, 2015, Shout! announced that it had acquired the rights to Mystery Science Theater 3000 from Best Brains Inc. and launched a "Bring Back MST3K" Kickstarter with the goal of producing up to 12 new feature-length episodes of the series, with series creator Joel Hodgson serving as executive producer.^[9]

The following year, Shout! (via its Westchester Films division) acquired the domestic rights to the entire library of Morgan Creek Productions (with the exception of the original Young Guns, which are still owned by Lionsgate, successor to the film's international distributor, Vestron Pictures).

Licensing deals

Shout! Factory has agreements with, among others, Marvel Entertainment, Hasbro Studios, Nickelodeon/Paramount Home Media Distribution, Classic Media, Universal Pictures, MGM, and Saban Capital Group. Releases under these agreements have included the complete Joss Whedon/John Cassaday series of Astonishing X-Men, plus Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers and Iron Man: Extremis on DVD and Blu-ray;^[10] the original Transformers, G.I. Joe, Jem and My Little Pony cartoons, Power Rangers, and VR Troopers.^[11]

In mid-2012, Shout! Factory announced a horror sub-label called Scream Factory, specializing in classic and cult horror films such as Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, They Live, The Howling, Lifeforce, Deadly Eyes, and others being released to DVD and Blu-ray.^[12]

Related companies

In 2012, Shout! Factory acquired Oregon-based home entertainment company Timeless Media Group, adding programs to its ever-expanding catalog: The Red Skelton Show, Peter Gunn, The Gene Autry Show, The Virginian, Wagon Train, Laramie, and The Roy Rogers Show, among others.^[13]

Shout! Factory also acquired blues/roots label HighTone Records and continues to oversee its back catalog.^[14]

See also

• Majordomo Records – an indie record label formed as an imprint and partnership with Shout! Factory^[15]

References

External links

• Official website