Sony Pictures


Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., commonly referred to as Sony Pictures and abbreviated as SPE, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment company that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment through multiple platforms. It was founded on December 18, 1987 as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. from the spinoff of The Coca-Cola Company's Entertainment Business Sector and merger with Tri-Star Pictures, Inc., with Coca-Cola retaining a 49% stake in the resulting entity. The studio was wholly acquired by Sony in 1989 and renamed as SPE in 1991.
Based at the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California, as one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, it encompasses Sony's motion picture, television production and distribution units. Sony Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association.
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History

1987–1989

On September 1, 1987, the Coca-Cola Company announced plans to spin off Columbia Pictures, which it had owned since 1982. Under this arrangement, Coca-Cola would sell its entertainment assets to TriStar Pictures, of which it owned 39.6%. Tri-Star would be renamed Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc., with Coca-Cola owning 49%, its shareholders owning 31%, and Tri-Star's shareholders owning 20%. As part of a merger plan, the two television divisions Columbia/Embassy Television and Tri-Star Television, merged altogether to form a new incarnation of Columbia Pictures Television.
The merger enabled three top Tri-Star executives, namely Arnold Messner, who ran Tri-Star Telecommunications, Victor A. Kaufman, who ran the main Tri-Star Pictures studio, and Scott Siegler, who ran Tri-Star Television to stay on, while four of the Coca-Cola Entertainment Business Sector departed, namely Barbara Corday, who ran Columbia/Embassy Television as president, Herman Rush and Peter Seale, who ran Coca-Cola Telecommunications, and Brian McGrath, who was the president of the Coca-Cola Entertainment Business Sector. In early December 1987, former Coke EBS vice president Kenneth Lemberger exited the post to join Tri-Star Pictures, displacing Roger Faxon, who had joined Columbia Pictures as senior vice president of the studio.
The merger was approved by shareholders on December 15, 1987, and it was completed three days later. Columbia and Tri-Star brands would be used as separate and autonomous production entities, and would be part of CPE as a whole, along with the prior assets, units and commitments of the former Coca-Cola Entertainment Business Sector, which included all feature, television, home video, and pay cable operations as well as the Entertainment Sector's feature production deal with Nelson Entertainment and its investment in Castle Rock Entertainment, and TeleVentures; a company it continues to own, which was linked to three independent companies: Tri-Star Pictures, Stephen J. Cannell Productions and Witt/Thomas Productions. Merv Griffin Enterprises continues to function as a separate operation. A new company was formed in early 1988 with the Tri-Star name to take over the studio's operations.
In early January 1988, CPE announced that they would revive the Triumph branding for the new worldwide subsidiary, Triumph Releasing Corporation, which was functioned as a theatrical distributor, marketing and promotion for Columbia and Tri-Star films, and named Patrick N. Williamson as president of the unit and the company provided administrative services related to distribution of its films in North America, while internationally, would be responsible for the direction of each studio.
On September 28, 1989, Sony obtained an option to purchase all of The Coca-Cola Company's stock in CPE for $27 per share. The next day, Sony also announced that it reached an agreement with Guber-Peters Entertainment Company, Inc. to acquire GPEC for $200 million when Sony hired Peter Guber and Jon Peters to be its co-chairmen. This was all led by Norio Ohga, who was the president and CEO of Sony during that time.
The hiring of Guber and Peters by Sony to run Columbia was conflicted by a previous contract the producers had signed at Warner Bros. Time Warner's chairman, Steve Ross, threatened Sony with a lawsuit for breach of contract. The lawsuit would be subsequently dropped when Sony sold half-interest in Columbia House and cable distribution rights to Columbia's feature films, TV movies, and miniseries to Warner Bros. That same agreement also saw Columbia sell its 35% interest in the Burbank Studios and acquired Lorimar Studios, previously the MGM lot, from Warner Bros.
On October 31, 1989, Sony completed a friendly takeover bid for the rest of shares of CPE, which was a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and acquired 99.3% of the common stock of the company. On November 8, 1989, Sony completed the acquisition by a "short-form" merger of its wholly owned subsidiary Sony Columbia Acquisition Corporation into CPE under the Delaware General Corporation Law. Sony also completed a tender offer for shares of common stock of the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company on November 6, 1989, and acquired the company 3 days later. The acquisition cost Sony $4.9 billion and was backed by five major Japanese banks Mitsui, Tokyo, Fuji, Mitsubishi and Industrial Bank of Japan.

1990s

The company was renamed as Sony Pictures Entertainment on August 7, 1991. Also that year, Jon Peters left Columbia to start Peters Entertainment with a three-year exclusive production agreement at the studio at first, before transitioning to a non-exclusive deal at the studio. Longtime CPE employee Laurie MacDonald also left to start Aerial Pictures at the studio, first for a two-year deal, before going to 20th Century Fox in 1993, and being swallowed up by Amblin Entertainment later that year, eventually setting up DreamWorks.
Sony has since created numerous other film production and distribution units, such as creating Sony Pictures Classics for art-house fare, by forming Columbia TriStar Pictures by merging Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures in 1998, revitalizing Columbia's former television division Screen Gems.
This in effect re-united the MGM studio name, with the MGM main studio lot, although somewhat confusingly, the bulk of the pre-May 1986 original MGM library ended up at Time Warner via the Ted Turner-Kirk Kerkorian "Turner Entertainment Co." transactions. The post-April 1986 MGM library consists of acquisitions of various third-party libraries, such as the Orion Pictures catalogue, leading to MGM's 2014 remake of RoboCop.

2000s

In July 2000, a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation created a fictitious film critic, David Manning, who gave consistently good reviews for releases from Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures that generally received poor reviews amongst real critics. Sony later pulled the ads, suspended Manning's creator and his supervisor and paid fines to the state of Connecticut and to fans who saw the reviewed films in the US.
It expanded its operations on April 8, 2005, when a Sony-led consortium acquired the legendary Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in a US$4.8 billion leveraged buyout, through the holding company MGM Holdings Inc.
On June 4, 2008, SPE's wholly owned group 2JS Productions B.V. acquired Dutch production company 2waytraffic N.V., famous for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, acquired from the original production company Celador, and You Are What You Eat for £114.3 million.

2010s

In 2011, the Sony Pictures computer network was breached and approximately one million user accounts associated with the SonyPictures.com website were leaked.
On November 18, 2012, Sony Pictures announced it has passed $4 billion with the success of releases: Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, 21 Jump Street, Men in Black 3, Hotel Transylvania, Underworld: Awakening, The Vow, and Resident Evil: Retribution. On November 21, 2013, SPE and Sony Entertainment's CEO Michael Lynton announced that SPE will shift emphasis from movies to television by cutting its 2014 film slate. It was also announced on the same day, that there would be more Spider-Man sequels and spin-offs, though on February 10, 2015, Sony Pictures eventually signed a deal with [Walt Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Disney]'s Marvel Studios to allow Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Captain America: Civil War, before appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming which was released on July 7, 2017. The deal also allowed Sony to distribute and have creative control on any MCU film where Spider-Man is the main character, while Disney would distribute MCU films where Spider-Man appears without being the main character.
On January 22, 2014, SPE folded its technology unit into the various cores of its businesses. In April, Sony Pictures arranged a film financing deal worth $200 million with LStar Capital, the credit venture of Lone Star Capital and Citibank, half in debt and the other in equity to fund most of SPE's film slate for several years. SPE was originally considering a $300 million deal with Blue Anchor Entertainment, led by Bloom Hergott partner John LaViolette and former investment banker & producer Joseph M. Singer, and backed by Longhorn Capital Management and Deutsche Bank, which was held up by regulatory matters.
In November 2019, Sony purchased the remaining 42% stake in GSN from AT&T, placing it under the direction of its television division.

2020s

In April 2021, Sony signed a first-look deal with Netflix, allowing the streaming service to host their films following their theatrical runs and home media releases. That same month, the company also entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with The Walt Disney Company for its films to stream across Disney's streaming and linear platforms, including Disney+ and Hulu.
In February 2022, Sony signed a deal with WarnerMedia Europe to stream its theatrical films on HBO Max for Central and Eastern Europe countries.
On November 28, 2022, it was announced that Legendary Entertainment reached a distribution deal with Sony to distribute its future slate of films. However, this deal does not include the Dune and MonsterVerse films as they will remain at Warner Bros. The deal came after the negative impact of the merger of Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery.
On November 14, 2023, Sony Pictures unveiled a special centennial anniversary logo for its Columbia Pictures unit ahead of its 100th anniversary of its founding on January 10, 2024.
On April 18, 2024, it was reported that Sony was interested in acquiring Paramount Global through a joint buyout with Apollo Global Management. Sony and Apollo submitted a $26 billion all-cash offer to acquire Paramount Global on May 2, 2024. A special committee of Paramount's board of directors met on May 5, 2024, and signed off on beginning deal talks with Sony and Apollo. Sony would drop the deal when Paramount announced a merger with Skydance Media in July of that year.
On June 12, 2024, Sony Pictures acquired Alamo Drafthouse Cinema for an undisclosed sum. This marked the first time in more than 75 years that a major Hollywood studio would own a theater chain, as the 1948 federal ruling from United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. prevented them from owning exhibition companies until 2020. Alamo Drafthouse will continue to operate their film festival Fantastic Fest, which is included in the acquisition.
In September 2024, Sony Group announced the appointment of SPE president and COO Ravi Ahuja as CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment effective January 2, 2025, succeeding Tony Vinciquerra, who remained chairman until December 31, 2025.
On December 19, 2025, Sony announced their intent to purchase a 41% stake in Peanuts Holdings, LLC. from WildBrain, with the stake being combined with sister company Sony Music Entertainment Japan's existing 39% stake in Peanuts Holdings to an controlling 80% stake, with 20% of the holding company retained by the family of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz.

2014 hack

In November 2014, the Sony Pictures computer network was compromised by a group of hackers named Guardians of Peace, disabling many computers. Later the same week, five of Sony Pictures' movies were leaked, including some not yet released, as well as confidential data about 47,000 current and former Sony employees. Film historian Wheeler Winston Dixon suggested that the hack, which exposed the inner workings of the studio, was "not a pretty picture," and served as a "wake-up call to the entire industry." The hack also revealed some other documents, emails between Hollywood moguls referring to Barack Obama's cinematic tastes, a possible partnership with Marvel Studios for the inclusion of the superhero Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, which was later confirmed in February 2015, amongst others. On December 16, the hackers issued a warning to moviegoers, threatening to attack anyone who sees The Interview during the holidays and urging people to "remember the 11th of September 2001". On December 17, 2014, Sony cancelled the previously planned December 25 release of The Interview in response to hacker threats.
On February 24, 2015, Tom Rothman was named chairman of SPE's motion picture group to replace Amy Pascal.
On April 16, 2015, WikiLeaks published over 30,287 documents, 173 e-mails, and 2,200 corporate e-mail addresses of Sony Pictures' employees. WikiLeaks said in a press release that the content of the leaks were "newsworthy and at the center of a geo-political conflict" and belonged "in the public domain". Sony Pictures later condemned the hack and subsequent leaks, calling it a "malicious criminal act", while also criticizing WikiLeaks for describing the leaked content as public domain.
Seth Rogen has expressed doubts about North Korea being responsible for the 2014 Sony hack. Based on the timeline of events and the amount of information hacked, he believes the hack may have been conducted by a Sony employee.

Sale of headquarters

In 2014, the eight-story, 260,000sq ft building originally designed by architect Maxwell Starkman and known as Sony Pictures Plaza, which was originally the headquarters of MGM Studios and later Sony Pictures Studios, was sold to Runyon Group and fellow developer LBA Realty for $159 million.

Corporate structure

Headquartered in Culver City, California, U.S., SPE comprises various studios and entertainment brands, including Affirm Films, Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics, TriStar Pictures, Crunchyroll, Game Show Network and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

Senior management team

Motion Picture Group

Home Entertainment

Television Group

  • Sony Pictures Television : Formerly Sony Television Entertainment and the Columbia TriStar Television Group. The successor-in-interest to Columbia's television division founded in 2002, as of 2004 the unit was producing 60 titles for various television outlets globally. Contains a library that includes more than 35,000 episodes of more than 270 television series and 22,000 game show episodes under the Sony Pictures Television brand, and the television rights to the Embassy Pictures library and also the owner of the television division "Embassy Television"—among other notable shows in this library are Party of Five, The Shield, Seinfeld, The King of Queens, Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless.
  • * Affirm Television: The television division of Affirm Films founded in 2019 as a partnership with SPT.
  • * Embassy Row: A television and digital production company founded by Michael Davies in 2005. SPT acquired the company on January 14, 2009.
  • * Sony Pictures Television Formats
  • * Sony Pictures Television Game Shows : The game show production division of SPT formed in 2022.
  • ** Califon Productions: The production company responsible for Wheel of Fortune.
  • ** Jeopardy Productions: The production company responsible for Jeopardy!.
  • * Sony Pictures Television International Production : Formerly Columbia TriStar International Television and Sony Pictures Television International. It is the international television production division of SPT operating several wholly owned and joint-venture companies in 12 countries.
  • ** Bad Wolf: A British television production company founded in 2021 by Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter in 2015. SPT acquired the company in 2021.
  • *** Wolf Studios Wales
  • *** Bad Wolf America: An American production established in 2019 of which sister company Bad Wolf owns 30%.
  • ** Blueprint Television: The television division of the British production company Blueprint Pictures. SPT acquired a minority stake in 2016.
  • ** Curio Pictures: Formerly Playmaker Media. An Australian production company founded in 2009 by David Taylor and David Maher. SPT acquired the company in 2014.
  • ** Eleven: A British production company founded by Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson in 2006. SPT acquired the company in 2020.
  • ** Eleventh Hour Films: A British production company founded by Jill Green in 2010. SPT acquired a minority stake in the company in 2018, then a majority stake in 2024.
  • ** Fable Pictures: A British production company founded by Faye Ward in 2016. SPT acquired a minority stake in 2016.
  • ** Floresta: A Brazilian production company founded in 2010.
  • ** Hot Sauce Pictures: A Northern Irish production company founded in 2024 by Declan Law and Adam Patterson as a joint venture with SPT.
  • ** Left Bank Pictures: A British production company founded in 2007 by Andy Harries, Francis Hopkinson, and Marigo Kehoe. SPT acquired a majority stake in 2012.
  • ** Satisfaction Group: A French production company founded in 2010 by Jacques Essebag. SPT acquired a 20% stake in 2020.
  • *** Satisfaction – The Television Agency
  • *** Satisfy
  • *** Starling
  • *** AH! Production
  • *** Enibas Productions
  • *** Elimac Productions
  • *** La Grosse Equipe
  • *** Alef One
  • *** Satisfaction Iberia
  • ** Stolen Picture: A British production company founded in 2016 by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. SPT acquired a minority stake in the company in 2017.
  • ** Stellify Media: A Northern Irish production company founded in 2014 by Kieran Doherty and Matthew Worthy as a joint venture with SPT.
  • ** Teleset: A television production company founded in 1995. SPT acquired the company in 2009.
  • ** The Whisper Group: A British sports production company founded in 2010 by Sunil Patel, Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard. SPT acquired a minority stake in the company in 2020.
  • *** Chapter 5 Graphics
  • *** East Media
  • *** Whisper Cymru
  • *** Whisper North
  • *** Whisper West
  • * Sony Pictures Television Kids : Formerly Silvergate Media. A production company founded in 2011 by Waheed Alli and William Astor. The company is best known for the animated series Hilda and Octonauts. SPT acquired the company in 2019.
  • * Sony Pictures Television Music Development : The music development division of SPT formed in 2023.
  • * Sony Pictures Television Nonfiction : Formerly CKX, Inc., CORE Media Group and Industrial Media. A television production company founded in 2005 by Robert F. X. Sillerman. With a library of more than 100 series broadcast in over 35 countries as of 2023, this unit produces nonfiction and documentary programming. SPT acquired the company in 2022.
  • ** 19 Entertainment: A television production company founded in 1985 by Simon Fuller known for producing the So You Think You Can Dance and Idol franchises.
  • *** 19 Recordings: The music division of 19 Entertainment founded in 1999 by Simon Fuller.
  • ** B17 Entertainment: A television production company founded in 2013 by Rhett Bachner and Brien Meagher.
  • ** Sharp Entertainment: A television production company founded in 2003 by Matt Sharp.
  • ** The Intellectual Property Corporation: A television production company founded in 2016 by Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman.
  • ** This Machine Filmworks: A film and television production company founded in 2020 by R. J. Cutler.
  • * Sony Pictures Television Studios : A production name launched on July 25, 2017, to carry out the SPT library, starting on January 7, 2020.

Sony Pictures Television Networks">Sony Pictures Television">Sony Pictures Television Networks

United States

Other Sony Pictures operations

  • Columbia TriStar Marketing Group
  • Crunchyroll, LLC: Formerly Funimation, Inc., Funimation Productions, Ltd., Funimation Entertainment and Funimation Global Group, LLC. A distributor of anime series and films founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga and Cindy Brennan managed as a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.
  • * Crunchyroll: The eponymous streaming service launched in 2006. It was acquired by Sony in 2021 from Otter Media.
  • * Crunchyroll UK and Ireland: Formerly Golden Square Music, Island World Communications, Manga Entertainment and Funimation UK and Ireland. Legally Crunchyroll Ltd., is the British division of Crunchyroll, LLC founded in 1987.
  • * Crunchyroll Store Australia: Formerly Madman Anime. Legally Crunchyroll Pty Ltd, is the Australian division of Crunchyroll, LLC founded in 2016 by Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard.
  • * Crunchyroll EMEA: Formerly Viz Media Europe. The division of Crunchyroll, LLC founded in 2007 that serves Africa, the Middle East and non-English speaking Europe. It was acquired by Crunchyroll in 2019 from Viz Media.
  • ** Crunchyroll SAS: The French division of Crunchyroll EMEA.
  • ** Crunchyroll SA: The Swiss division of Crunchyroll EMEA.
  • ** Crunchyroll GmbH: The German division of Crunchyroll EMEA.
  • * Crunchyroll Games: The gaming division of Crunchyroll, LLC.
  • * Crunchyroll Store: An anime distributor and online shop.
  • * Crunchyroll Channel: A free ad-supported streaming television network launched in 2023 broadcasting anime managed as a joint venture with Sony Pictures Television Networks' Game Show Network, LLC.
  • * Hayate: An animation studio launched in 2025 which is a joint venture between Crunchyroll and Aniplex.
  • Madison Gate Records: A music record label of SPE founded in 2010 specializing in soundtracks and other recordings derived from feature films, television series and other media.
  • Pixomondo : An international visual effects and virtual production studio founded in 2001 by Thilo Kuther. SPE acquired the company in 2022.
  • Sony Pictures Consumer Products: The consumer products division of SPE.
  • Sony Pictures Cable Ventures, Inc.
  • Columbia Pictures Corporation Limited: Offices located at The Brunel Building, 2 Canalside Walk, London, England
  • Sony Pictures Interactive
  • Sony Pictures Studios: The actual physical buildings, land and movie-making equipment properties in Culver City, California. Includes 22 sound stages, ranging in size from 7,600 to 43,000 square feet
  • Sony Pictures Studios Post Production Facilities
  • Worldwide Product Fulfillment
  • Sony Pictures Experiences
  • * Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Related Sony Pictures divisions

The following are other Sony Pictures divisions that are not subsidiaries of the California-based Sony Pictures Entertainment, but are instead subsidiaries of the main Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation.
  • Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan : Formerly RCA Columbia Pictures Co., Ltd.. The company plans, produces, manufactures, sells, imports, exports, leases, broadcasts and distributes movies, TV programs, videos and audio-visual software in Japan. The company website says it was established on February 10, 1984, predating Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures Entertainment by 5 years. SPEJ was formed in 1991 through the merger of Columbia TriStar Japan, RCA-Columbia Pictures Video Japan, and Japan International Enterprises. Based in Tokyo, Japan. The California-based Sony Pictures Entertainment holds a majority share of SPEJ.
  • * Madhouse
  • * Music On! TV
  • Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc. : Formerly Columbia TriStar Interactive, Sony Pictures Interactive Network and Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment. A subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation based in Japan founded in 1994 known for designing the Sony Pictures website.