Shout! Studios (formerly known as Shout! Factory) is an American
home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued in
DVD or
Blu-ray format, include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy specials. Considered a
boutique Blu-ray label,[1][2] Shout! Studios, in addition to its mainline home video releases, also releases films under the sublabels Scream Factory (for
horror film releases), Shout! Select, and Shout! Kids.
Shout! Studios owns and operates Westchester Films, Timeless Media Group,
Biograph Records,
Majordomo Records, and Video Time Machine.
History
Retropolis Entertainment was founded in April 2002 by Bob Emmer, Garson Foos, and Richard Foos, three principals from
Rhino Records,[3] as the company was negotiating with the five majors for distribution. After selling Rhino to
Warner Bros., the three set out to launch a new retro pop culture label.[4] The company's first product was Red, White & Rock, a joint release with
PBS station
WQED-TV that was produced with
Warner Strategic Marketing.[5] In August 2002, Retropolis acquired
Biograph Records.[6] Other early 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?).[citation needed] Retropolis was renamed Shout! Factory in April 2003. At that time, Shout had signed a press and distribution agreement with
Sony Music Entertainment.[7] In 2004, Shout! released Freaks and Geeks on DVD, the first television series released on DVD for the company. With 18 episodes, it became one of the most expensive DVDs to produce, costing over a million dollars in music licensing.[8] That same year, they released William Shatner's album Has Been and SCTV box sets.[9]
In March 2008, Shout! bought the
Hightone Records catalog and added artists
Tom Russell,
Joe Ely, and
Rosie Flores to its brand.[30] 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.[citation needed] 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.[31]
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.[32] Shout! continued to release several Hasbro properties, including the series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, until January 1, 2019, when it released its last DVD for that series, Hearts and Hooves.
In 2014, the success Shout! was having with complete-series box sets of such series as All in the Family, Route 66,[48] and Barney Miller[49] extended to such properties as The Bob Newhart Show,[50]Hill Street Blues,[51] and a Blu-Ray release of Pee-Wee's Playhouse[52] and The Jeffersons.[53] On May 8, 2014, Shout! announced[54] their acquisition of the rights to WKRP in Cincinnati, with the intention of restoring all four seasons of the show "complete" (i.e. complete as legally possible) with their original musical scores.[55] 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.[56] That same year, Shout! became the distributor of
Super Sentai in North America.[citation needed] Beginning the following year, Shout! released Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger under the name "Super Sentai Zyuranger: The Complete Series" with English subtitles.[citation needed]. In October, 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.[57]
IFC Midnight signed with Scream Factory by February 2015 for home distribution.[58] On February 5, 2015, Shout! Factory launched its flagship TV ad-supported streaming services online and via Roku. Available shows and movies included 16
Werner Herzog films,
Roger Corman cult films and TV shows including Father Knows Best and It's Garry Shandling's Show.[59] In June, a minority stake in the company was taken by
Cinedigm, while extending their home entertainment platform distribution agreement. Cinedigm and Shout would then relaunch the Factory's streaming service and cross market each other streaming services.[60]
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.[61] In January 2016,
Concord Bicycle Music bought the Hightone from the company.[62] The same year, Shout! Factory had released The Crush of 1993 under subsidiary brand Scream Factory[63] and Long Way North.[64]
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 is still owned by
Lionsgate, successor to the film's international distributor,
Vestron Pictures).[citation needed]
On January 10, 2017, Shout Factory acquired the worldwide television format and ancillary rights to Starcade with plans to reboot the series.[65] On January 17, Shout! Factory announced their acquisition of the broadcast and home media distribution rights for the first three Digimon Adventure tri. films with plans for a dual-language release on DVD and Blu-ray.[66] On May 18, Shout! Factory acquired the North American distribution rights to In This Corner of the World, with a
U.S. theatrical release to take place on August 11, 2017, co-released by
Funimation Films.[67] In October 2017, it was revealed that Shout! Factory would be the distributor for
GKIDS' re-releases of
Studio Ghibli films formerly owned by Disney in the US (although Disney has the Asian (including Japan/China/Taiwan) distribution rights themselves, thus replacing the titles' original Japanese theatrical distributors such as
Toho,
Toei and
Shochiku);[68][69] afterwards, Shout! began distributing other GKIDS films.
On November 13, 2017, Shout! Factory announced the formation of
Shout! Studios, a production and distribution arm that specializes in content development.[70] The first films to be distributed under the new banner include Humor Me, Big Fish & Begonia (partnering with Funimation Films again for theatrical distribution[71]) The House of Tomorrow, and Basmati Blues, all slated for a 2018 premiere. In addition to film projects, Shout! Studios will also develop original television productions.
In March 2018, Shout! Factory acquired the
New Horizons film library from its founder
Roger Corman; Shout! will distribute this catalogue in North America, Europe, Russia and Australia.[72] Shout! also expanded its U.S. and Canadian distribution deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment to cover over 135 films and TV series from ITV's library.[73] In August, Shout! struck a deal with
Sesame Workshop to distribute the Sesame Street home video library, taking over from
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.[74]
In February 2021, Shout! Factory made a deal with animation studio
Laika to release their films on home entertainment in the US. This deal includes Laika's first four films, originally released by
Focus Features, as well as brand new bonus material and packaging for each release.[75]
In February 2022, Shout! Factory acquired the US distribution rights to the TV series ALF.[76]
On August 9, 2022, Shout! Factory signed a worldwide distribution deal with
The Jim Henson Company to bring thirteen of Henson's programs and specials to home entertainment and streaming platforms in all territories.[77] A similar worldwide distribution agreement went into effect on January 1, 2024 for streaming, video on demand, broadcast, digital download, packaged media and certain non-theatrical rights for the films Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, as well as behind the scenes specials Inside the Labyrinth and The World of the Dark Crystal.[78]
In July 2020, Shout! Factory announced to have struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek Entertainment that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the
Ultra series, 1,100 episodes and 20 films acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. Shout! Factory will stream the catalogue in the United States and Canada through their services, Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu.[86]
Shout! Factory also acquired blues/roots label
HighTone Records and continued to oversee its back catalog until 2016 when
Concord Bicycle Music bought the label.[88]
Units
Majordomo Records – an indie record label formed as an imprint and partnership with Shout! Factory[89]
Roger Corman's Cult Classics – sub-label started in 2010
Timeless Media Group – sub-label acquired in 2012
Scream Factory – sub-label started in 2012
Shout! Select – sub-label started in 2016
Shout! Factory TV – streaming service
Scream Factory TV - horror movie streaming service
Shout! Cult - cult movie streaming service
Shout! Studios – film and TV production and distribution arm started in November 2017
^Latchem, John (April 10, 2009).
"Shout! Factory inks Hasbro deal". The Hollywood Reporter. The Associated Press.
Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
^McCutcheon, David (August 10, 2011).
"Nickelodeon Shows to DVD". IGN. News Corporation.
Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.