Cinedigm Corp. is an American entertainment company headquartered in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. Cinedigm's businesses encompass
digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be sh ...
, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution.
History
Early years
Cinedigm Corp was founded in 2000 under the name Access IT Digital Media, Inc., through a group led by Bud Mayo. Mayo directed Cinedigm until his retirement in 2010, and subsequently founded Digital Cinema Destinations Corp. In September 2013, the company changed its name to Cinedigm Corp. In January 2011, Chris McGurk became the new chairman and CEO.
In July 2011, Cinedigm sold its physical and electronic distribution business to
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
. The following month,
Screenvision acquired UniqueScreen Media, Inc. (USM), the cinema advertising division of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. The companies entered into a long-term agreement, with Cinedigm providing distribution and promotion for Screenvision.
In April 2012, Cinedigm acquired distributor company
New Video
New Video (stylized as NEWVIDEO) is an American entertainment distributor and collector of independent digital content. The company works with independent producers, filmmakers and television networks to curate content for many types of distrib ...
.
In October 2013, the company acquired
Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment
Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment (formerly known as Vivendi Entertainment, Vivendi Visual Entertainment and Visual Entertainment) is an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. It is ...
.
In May 2014, Cinedigm established Docurama, an OTT documentary channel, focused on documentaries and film festival coverage.
Later that year,
Jeffrey Edell would join as CFO, and the company began trading on the
NASDAQ under the ticker symbol.
Expansion into Video on Demand
In February 2015, Cinedigm and
Wizard World
Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to:
* Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic
* Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic
Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters
* Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book sup ...
launched
CONtv
CONtv is an Over-the-top content, OTT streaming service launched in March 2015 as a joint venture between Cinedigm and Wizard World.
The service is catered towards fans of geek and nerd culture, featuring cult classic films and television serie ...
. In June of that year, Cinedigm would acquire a minority stake in
Shout! Factory.
Finally, in September, Cinedigm partnered with
The Dove Foundation
The Dove Foundation is an American non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon, that issues film reviews, ratings and endorsements of movies that it considers suitable for family audiences, and that bases said reviews on Christian values.
D ...
to create
The Dove Channel
Dove Channel is a direct-to-consumer, over-the-top digital streaming subscription service. Dove Channel offers a library of family-friendly and Christian-based programming. The channel is a partnership between Cinedigm and The Dove Foundation
Th ...
, an online streaming service focusing on faith-based programming.
In December 2017, control of Cinedigm was given to Bison Capital of Hong Kong to start one of the first China-U.S Studios.
On February 5, 2019, Cinedigm acquired streaming service
Viewster
Viewster was a video on demand service that was founded in 2007 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Viewster offered a wide range of ad-supported free TV shows and movies.
History
Viewster AG was founded in 2007 by Kai Henniges and Jörg ...
and its Viewster
Anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
subsidiary. Viewster would eventually merge with CONtv and rebrand as CONtv Anime on June 13, 2020.
In April of that year, Cinedigm licensed content from Chinese firms CCTV, China Lion, Starrise Media and Youku, in order to launch an entertainment and film service called Bambu; the service would launch on October 22, 2019.
In 2020, Cinedigm acquired
The Film Detective
The Film Detective is an American classic film restoration, distribution, and streaming company based in Rockport, Massachusetts, and is a division of the American entertainment company, Cinedigm. Launched in 2013, The Film Detective offers an ext ...
.
In February 2021, Cinedigm acquired the
horror-genre streaming service, Screambox. Later that year, on September 21, 2021, Cinedigm acquired
Bloody Disgusting. As part of the acquisition, Screambox would be relaunched under the curation and management of Bloody Disgusting.
In August 2021, Cinedigm announced a partnership with
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
to relaunch the former cable and satellite-based
El Rey Network
El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures.
Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...
as a streaming channel.
In December 2021, Cinedigm signed a deal with SideStream, a live video streaming service.
In March 2022, Cinedigm acquired streaming, advertising and distribution company, Digital Media Rights; including the ad-supported streaming services Cinehouse, AsianCrush, RetroCrush, Midnight Pulp, Cocoro, and KMTV.
On September 15, 2022, Cinedigm launched Cineverse, marketed as the company's flagship streaming service, featuring programming from across its AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) and FAST (free, ad-supported, television) brands.
Television and streaming
Cinedigm owns or distributes programming from the following brands as of 2022.
Networks -
/ref>
*AsianCrush
* Bloody Disgusting TV
**Screambox
*The Bob Ross
Robert Norman Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter, art instructor, and television host. He was the creator and host of '' The Joy of Painting'', an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on ...
Channel
*Cinehouse
*Cocoro
*Comedy Dynamics (The Nacelle Company)
*CONtv
CONtv is an Over-the-top content, OTT streaming service launched in March 2015 as a joint venture between Cinedigm and Wizard World.
The service is catered towards fans of geek and nerd culture, featuring cult classic films and television serie ...
**CONtv Anime
*The Country Network
The Country Network is an American cable, streaming and broadcast television network that specializes in broadcasting country music videos and exclusive original music-based content; its playlist of videos extends from the 1990s through the pres ...
(TCN Country, LLC)
*Docurama
Docurama is an over-the-top video streaming service in May 2014 by US entertainment company Cineverse that serves documentary films to proprietary software
Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source softw ...
*The Dove Channel
Dove Channel is a direct-to-consumer, over-the-top digital streaming subscription service. Dove Channel offers a library of family-friendly and Christian-based programming. The channel is a partnership between Cinedigm and The Dove Foundation
Th ...
*El Rey Network
El Rey Network (Spanish for ''The King'') is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures.
Until December 31, 2020, El Rey was a cable and satellite network ...
(Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
/ FactoryMade Ventures)
* Fandor
*FashionBox HD
*The Film Detective
The Film Detective is an American classic film restoration, distribution, and streaming company based in Rockport, Massachusetts, and is a division of the American entertainment company, Cinedigm. Launched in 2013, The Film Detective offers an ext ...
*Gametoon
*KMTV
*The Lone Star Channel
*Midnight Pulp
*My Time Movie Network
*Real Madrid TV
Real Madrid TV is a free digital television channel, operated by Real Madrid specialising in the Spanish football club. The channel is available in Spanish and English. It is located at Ciudad Real Madrid in Valdebebas (Madrid), Real Madrid's tra ...
(Real Madrid Club de Fútbol
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
)
*RetroCrush
*So...Real
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://cinedigm.com/
2000 establishments in California
American companies established in 2000
Entertainment companies established in 2000
Mass media companies established in 2000
Digital media organizations
Entertainment companies based in California
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies based in Los Angeles
Film distributors of the United States
Home video companies of the United States
Mass media companies of the United States