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Line 11: \| defunct = {{Start date and age\|1993}} (Original) \| location = [[Stamford, Connecticut]] \| ~~industry~~type = [[~~Home~~Privately ~~video]]~~held company\|Private]] \| industry = [[Home video]] \| key_people = Austin Owen Furst Jr. \| products = Line 25 ⟶ 26: == History == [[Image:VestronVideo.png\|thumbnail\|250px\|Vestron Video logo, used from 1981 to 1986. The current Vestron Video logo used by Lionsgate is similar to this one.]] Vestron was founded in 1981 by Austin Owen Furst Jr. (born 1943), an executive at [[HBO]], who was hired to dismantle the assets of [[Time-Life Films]]. Furst bought the video rights of the film library, which also included several productions for [[HBO]] (then-owned by Time-Life) as well as films HBO had invested seed money in, for himself and decided to form a home entertainment company with these assets. Furst's daughter suggested the moniker "Vestron," a portmanteau combining the name of [[Roman goddess]] [[Vesta (mythology)\|Vesta]] and "Tron", which means "instrument" in [[Greek language\|Greek]].<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Wasser\|first1=Frederick\|title=Veni, Vidi, Video: The Hollywood Empire and the VCR\|date=2001\|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]\|location=Austin\|isbn=9780292791466\|pages=[https://archive.org/details/venividivideohol0000wass/page/107 107]–108\|edition=1st\|url=https://archive.org/details/venividivideohol0000wass\|url-access=registration\|quote=Vestron 1981 founded.\|access-date=November 17, 2009\|language=en}}</ref> The company held on to its Time-Life Video library, and was also responsible for releases on videocassette and [[Capacitance Electronic Disc\|CED Videodisc]] (CED) of mostly [[B movie]]s and films from the [[Cannon Films]]' library~~. They also distributed films under The Movie Store banner~~. The most notable titles Vestron released in its early days were ''[[The Monster Squad\|Monster Squad]]'' and ''[[An American Werewolf in London]]''. In later years, the company began to shift towards mainstream films, including films released through their [[Vestron Pictures]] subsidiary, most notably ''[[Dirty Dancing]]''. Vestron was the first company to release [[National Geographic Society\|National Geographic]] and [[PBS]]' ''[[Nova (American TV series)\|Nova]]'' videos in the late 1980s, mostly distributed by [[Image Entertainment]], and was the first to market with a pro wrestling video, ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated Presents Lords of the Ring''. They also released a 3-volume series called ''How to Beat Home Video Games'', which contains strategies for video games of the time. They also handled exclusive US distribution, marketing and sales of [[VidAmerica]] releases beginning in 1983.<ref>{{cite book \|title=Billboard \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YyQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT44 \|date=25 December 1982 \|pages=44– \|issn=0006-2510 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205155930/https://books.google.com/books?id=YyQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT44 \|archive-date=5 December 2017 }}</ref> Starting in 1985, they handed these duties to their genre sub-label, Lightning Video.<ref>{{cite book \|title=Billboard \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT25 \|date=23 February 1985 \|pages=25– \|issn=0006-2510 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205155930/https://books.google.com/books?id=dCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT25 \|archive-date=5 December 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book \|title=Billboard \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fyQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT9 \|date=13 July 1985 \|pages=9– \|issn=0006-2510 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205155926/https://books.google.com/books?id=fyQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT9 \|archive-date=5 December 2017 }}</ref> In 1987, VidAmerica split away from Vestron and launched its own distribution business.<ref>{{Cite magazine \|last1=McCallugh \|first1=Jim \|last2=Stewart \|first2=Al \|date=June 27, 1987 \|title=newsline \|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1987/1987-06-27-Billboard-Page-0078.pdf \|access-date=April 4, 2024 \|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)\|Billboard]] \|pages=58}}</ref> Vestron went public on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] in 1985 with what was, at the time, a large market cap [[initial public offering]] (IPO) of $440 million, which was oversubscribed. The company enjoyed success for several years, at one point exceeding 10% of the US video movie market. At its high point sales approximated $350 million annually, and the company sold video movies in over 30 countries either directly or through sub-licensing agreements. This was a rights business, built by people who saw the value in video ([[VCR]]) rights to films before the major studios did.{{Citation needed\|date=May 2007}} Eventually they recognized the market potential and film products became increasingly harder for Vestron to acquire. Also, independent producers increased the price of what was available. Line 38 ⟶ 39: In 1983, Vestron signed an agreement to license several of the films from [[David Begelman\|Sherwood Productions]] for U.S. and Canadian video distribution.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1983-05-18\|title=Sherwood Licenses Pix\|page=34\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> Also that year, Vestron signed a deal to pick up several feature films from Artists Releasing Corporation, namely ''[[Vigilante (1982 film)\|Vigilante]]'' and ''[[The House on Sorority Row]]''.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1983-05-18\|title='Vigilante', 'Sorority' Vid Rights To Vestron In U.S.\|page=34\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> In 1984, Vestron Video and [[Empire International Pictures\|Empire Pictures]] entered into a five-title agreement in which Vestron would handle worldwide distribution of five of the motion pictures produced by Empire.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1984-03-14\|title=Vestron Video Grabs Worldwide Rights to 5 Empire Pics\|page=16\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> On June 11, 1985, Vestron Video ~~inked~~signed an agreement with New Century Entertainment and financer SLM Inc., in which SLM's titles would be distributed on video by Vestron and theatrically by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer\|MGM/UA Entertainment Co.]]<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1985-06-12\|title=Vestron In Pre-Pix Buy With SLM: $10-Mil Advance Involves 4 Titles\|page=33\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> On February 11, 1986, Vestron Video and [[American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres\|ABC Video Enterprises]] set up a joint venture ABC/Vestron, for the home video releases of the Capital Cities/ABC television archives. All home video releases from the pact were compilation releases, and not entire programs originally aired by the network.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1986-02-12\|title=Vestron, Cap/ABC Set Video Venture\|page=39\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> On June 18, 1986, the company ~~inked~~signed an agreement with Zupnik Enterprises to release five titles on videocassette; the company's predecessor, Zupnik/Curtis Enterprises, once had an agreement with [[Home Box Office, Inc.\|Thorn EMI/HBO Video]] to distribute films.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1986-06-18\|title=Vestron Lands 5 Zupnik Pics\|page=42\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> On June 25, 1986, the company also ~~inked~~signed an agreement with film producer and distributor Hemdale Film Corporation, in which Vestron would obtain home video rights to ~~the Hemdale~~their film library, for the North American region, such as ''[[Platoon (film)\|Platoon]]''. This was an extension of the previous licensing agreement that saw the company to release videocassettes of films ~~like~~such as ''[[Hoosiers (film)\|Hoosiers]]'' and ''[[At Close Range]]''.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1986-06-25\|title=Hemdale Deals Pix\|page=42\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> In 1986, Vestron was rumored to buy independent film distributor [[Producers Sales Organization]], but the deal collapsed, and PSO was shut down outright, forced into bankruptcy,<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1986-08-13\|title=Vestron Acquisition of PSO Is Not Firm\|page=3\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> and subsequently renamed Producers Distribution International, then Interaccess Film Distribution, which, on October 8, 1986, became a studio-controlled ~~the~~ foreign sales firm ~~that was controlled by the studio~~, reflecting the company's commitment to provide an international network of distributors, with access ofto quality, independently produced product.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1986-10-08\|title=Interaccess New Name Of Vestron's PDO Arm\|pages=4, 35\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> The company ~~would~~soon ~~then drop~~dropped its PDO tag~~, forcing the company to make several deals~~, and ~~the predecessor Producers Sales Organization, would have~~announced output deals with Zupnik Enterprises, [[Keith Barish\|Taft-Barish Productions]], and a picture-by-picture agreement with [[RKO Pictures]]. Films from these agreements would not all flow into Interaccess that easily; the staff decided that the rights to those films would revert to the film's producers, and the company would be free to renegotiate the output deals or producers in order to take their business elsewhere. The deal ~~represents~~represented the first three titles delivered by PSO after the agreement was signed, such as ''[[The Princess Bride (film)\|The Princess Bride]]'', and two RKO productions ''[[Hamburger Hill]]'' and [[Hot Pursuit (1987 film)\|''Hot Pursuit'']], and a remake of the 1956 film ''[[And God Created Woman (1956 film)\|And God Created Woman]]''.<ref>{{Cite news\|last=Greenberg\|first=James\|date=1986-10-22\|title=Interaccess Film, Dropping PDO Tag, Prepared to Deal\|pages=124, 214\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> On October 15, 1986, Vestron Video International signed independent deals with [[Italy\|Italian]] video distributor Domovideo and [[Korea]]n video distributor Oasis Video Productions. These deals covered 35 titles originating from the Vestron catalog, including upcoming theatrical features.<ref>{{Cite news\|date=1986-10-15\|title=Vestron Video inks Italy, Korea pacts\|page=49\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> In March 1987, Vestron Video and [[ITV Granada\|Granada Television]], the UK [[ITV (TV network)\|ITV]] franchisee holder, ~~inked~~signed an agreement to release titles from its back catalog in an exclusive licensing deal for the burgeoning UK sell-through market. This deal included serials ''[[The Jewel in the Crown (TV series)\|The Jewel in the Crown]]'' and ''[[Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)\|Brideshead Revisited]]'', together with special compilations from Granada's own ITV franchisee programme ''[[Coronation Street]]''. The company thus had the world's largest recorded video catalog of the time with a single license covering 26 titles plus 12 further titles.<ref>{{Cite news\|last=Coopman\|first=Jeremy\|date=1987-03-04\|title=Vestron Intl. Gets U.K. License For Granada's Back Catalog\|page=80\|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> On June 3, 1987, the Vestron Video-[[Hemdale Film Corporation]] lawsuit was challenged by a rival home video distributor [[Nelson Entertainment]]. Nelson filed the countersuit because it also held video rights to the 12 Hemdale pictures under almost identical terms as the arrangement Vestron attempted to enforce, adding ''[[High Tide (1987 film)\|High Tide]]'' in that deal by extension.<ref>{{Cite news \|date=1987-06-03 \|title=Nelson Steps Into Vestron-Hemdale Suit \|page=59 \|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> In July 1987, Vestron Inc. exercised an option to purchase a [[Cincinnati]]-area video store chain called The Video Store, which consisted of 10 stores, with owner Jack Messer giving the company another 14 during the July–October period.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bierbaum \|first=Tom \|date=1987-07-08 \|title=Vestron Has Option On Cincy Vidchain \|page=52 \|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> That year, in August 1987, Vestron promoted Michael Karaffa to sales vice president and Adam Platnick to business affairs vice president, while the company also saw more layoffs, including those of former executives, namely Raymond Bernstein and Gordon Bossin, who both had layoffs in May.<ref>{{Cite news \|date=1987-08-12 \|title=Vestron Promotes 2; More Layoffs Seen \|page=41 \|work=[[Variety (magazine)\|Variety]]}}</ref> Line 83 ⟶ 84: == Vestron Video Collector's Series == On August 1, 2016, [[Lionsgate Studios#Home Entertainment\|Lionsgate Home Entertainment]] announced its revival of the Vestron Video brand as a [[Blu-ray]] and [[DVD]] reissue label for Vestron and other Lionsgate-owned horror films, similar to [[Boutique Blu-ray label\|boutique labels]] like Scream Factory and [[Blue Underground]].<ref>{{cite web \|url= https://www.inverse.com/article/22215-vestron-video-lionsgate-horror-chopping-mall-blood-diner \|date= October 14, 2016 \|first1= Sean \|last1= Hutchinson \|access-date= December 10, 2016 \|title= Making Horror Schlock Into Collector's Items with Vestron Video: Why Lionsgate is giving movies like 'Chopping Mall' and 'Blood Diner' the VIP Blu-ray treatment. \|website= Inverse \|url-status= live \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220072733/https://www.inverse.com/article/22215-vestron-video-lionsgate-horror-chopping-mall-blood-diner \|archive-date= December 20, 2016 }}</ref> This line, dubbed the '''Vestron Video Collector's Series''', is branded with an updated version of the first Vestron Video logo from 1982 to 1986 and began with Blu-ray releases of the cult films ''[[Chopping Mall]]'' (an outside theatrical release) and ''[[Blood Diner]]'' (released by Lightning Pictures) on September 27, 2016.<ref>{{cite news\|last=Alexander\|first=Chris\|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/751825-exclusive-vestron-video-returns-with-blood-diner-blu-ray\|title=Exclusive: Vestron Video Returns with Blood Diner Blu-ray\|access-date=August 6, 2016\|work=Coming Soon\|date=August 1, 2016\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805153905/http://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/751825-exclusive-vestron-video-returns-with-blood-diner-blu-ray\|archive-date=August 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|last=Hunt\|first=Bill\|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/181347/lionsgate-unveils-new-vestron-video-logo/\|title=Lionsgate bows new Vestron BD series, plus BFI's Napoleon, Peter Gabriel, Da Vinci Code 4K, Phantasm & more\|access-date=August 6, 2016\|work=The Digital Bits\|date=August 1, 2016\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810152356/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/181347/lionsgate-unveils-new-vestron-video-logo/\|archive-date=August 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|last=Barton\|first=Steve\|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/181347/lionsgate-unveils-new-vestron-video-logo/\|title=Lionsgate Unveils New Vestron Video Logo\|access-date=August 6, 2016\|work=Dread Central\|date=August 4, 2016\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810152356/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/181347/lionsgate-unveils-new-vestron-video-logo/\|archive-date=August 10, 2016}}</ref> === Releases === Line 377 ⟶ 378: [[Category:Defunct companies based in Connecticut]] [[Category:Home video companies of the United States]] [[Category:Lionsgate ~~subsidiaries~~Studios]] [[Category:Mass media companies established in 1981]] [[Category:Home video companies established in 1981]]