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Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is an American
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
, consumer goods and media company based in Cos Cob, Connecticut. It is known for the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. The first book, like most subsequent titles in the series, consisted of inspirational true stories about ordinary people's lives. The books are widely varied, each with a different theme. Today Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC continues to publish about a dozen new books per year. The company has branched out into other categories such as food, pet food, and television programming.


History

Motivational speakers
Jack Canfield Jack Canfield (born August 19, 1944) is an American author, motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur. He is the co-author of the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' series, which has more than 250 titles and 500 million copies in prin ...
and
Mark Victor Hansen Mark Victor Hansen (born January 8, 1948) is an American inspirational and motivational speaker, trainer and author. He is best known as the founder and co-creator of the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. Early life Hansen was born to D ...
collaborated on the first ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book, compiling inspirational, true stories they had heard from their audience members. Many of the stories came from members of the audience of their inspirational talks. The book was rejected by major publishers in New York but accepted by a small, self-help publisher in Florida called HCI. After the success of the first book, Canfield and Hansen, with HCI, published additional, similar ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' titles. Later, they published ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' books for specific demographics, such as ''Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul'', which came out in 1997 and was a major best-seller. New ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' titles and sequels to existing books have been published on a regular basis since the first book came out in 1993. As of 2020, the series included more than 250 titles. In 2008, the founders, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, sold the company to a new ownership group led by William J. Rouhana and Robert D. Jacobs. Since then all new titles have been published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC and distributed by
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
. Under the new ownership group, Chicken Soup for the Soul has expanded into other products besides books. The company markets pet foods under the brand Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul and a line of soups, sauces and other prepared foods under the brand Chicken Soup for the Soul. In 2009, author Adeline Lee Zhia Ern was found to have plagiarized the story "Happiness" by Sarah Provençal from Jack Canfield's ''Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul IV''. In 2013, the company announced plans to produce a television series and movie with
Alcon Entertainment Alcon Entertainment, LLC is an American film production company, founded in 1997 by film producers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. Since its establishment, Alcon Entertainment has developed and financed films that are ultimately distribut ...
. Chicken Soup for the Soul has produced television programming with other partners, including
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
. In 2016, Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired a majority stake in the website A Plus. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment went public in 2017. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment now owns Screen Media Ventures, LLC, an independent television and film distribution company, and
Popcornflix Popcornflix LLC is a website and over-the-top (OTT) service offering free ad-supported streaming video of feature-length movies and webisodes and owned by the Screen Media Ventures subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Histor ...
, an ad-based online video service. On March 28, 2019, it was announced that
Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...
would sell a majority stake of
Sony Crackle Crackle, formerly called Grouper and Sony Crackle, is a free video streaming service supported by advertisements that was founded in 2004. The service was purchased by Sony Pictures in 2006 and renamed Crackle. In 2018 the name was changed to So ...
to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, with the service has reverted into the "Crackle" name. On November 5, 2019, it was announced that the Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment division would purchase foreign sales company Foresight Unlimited for the new Screen Media division. On December 15, 2020, Sony traded its remaining shares in Crackle for a yet to be disclosed preferential stake to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment effectively giving them control of the ad-supported streaming service. In April 2021, Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired the film and television catalogue of
Sonar Entertainment Halcyon Studios, LLC., formerly known as Sonar Entertainment, RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment, Qintex Entertainment, HRI Group and Robert Halmi Inc., is an American entertainment company specializing in the production and distribution ...
. In return, Sonar will hold a 5 percent stake in a new AVOD network featuring its library. On March 2, 2022, Chicken Soup for the Soul announced its acquisition of specialty film distributor, 1091 Pictures, for $15.55 million, in a mix of cash ($8 million) and stock (newly issued Series A preferred stock and Class A common stock). The deal included an estimated 4,000 movies and TV series from the 1091 catalog, as well as its portfolio of free, ad-supported networks and channels. On May 11, 2022, Chicken Soup for the Soul announced its intention to acquire
Redbox Redbox Automated Retail LLC (stylized as redbox.) is an American video rental company specializing in DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD rentals, and formerly video games via automated retail kiosks. Redbox kiosks feature the company's signature red color ...
for $357 million ($36 million in stock and $321 million in assumed debt). The acquisition closed on August 11, 2022.


Awards

The original series held a spot on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list continuously from 1994 to 1998. ''Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned From the Dog'' was named "Best Anthology" of 2010 by the Dog Writers Association of America.


See also

* List of ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' books


Notes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicken Soup For The Soul 1993 establishments in Connecticut American companies established in 1993 Publishing companies established in 1993 Mass media companies established in 1993 Companies based in Fairfield County, Connecticut Companies listed on the Nasdaq 2017 initial public offerings Greenwich, Connecticut