Shout! Factory Acquires Westchester Films

30 Sep, 2014 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Shout! Factory Sept. 30 announced that it has acquired New York-based film and entertainment distribution company Westchester Films, including rights to a library of acclaimed classic and first-run movies.

Financial terms of the deal made by Shout! Factory’s founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos were not disclosed.

Westchester Films, which acquires and distributes cult-classic and first-run movies for digital, pay-TV, VOD, satellite and broadcast distribution, will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shout! Factory.

Key Westchester executives will continue to be based in New York. Co-founder Mark Balsam will handle broadcast and VOD distribution for Shout! Factory’s classic film library titles and will be involved in theatrical distribution endeavors for Shout’s newly acquired films. He reports to Shout! Factory’s founders.

Shout! Factory also distributes feature films, classic and contemporary TV series, animation, live music and comedy specials in acclaimed packaged-media boxed sets, in addition to Grammy-nominated sets, Broadway cast albums, album reissues and “best of” compilations.

Westchester’s library includes James Ivory’s A Room With a View (Maggie Smith, Helena Boham-Carter); Orson Welles’ Othello; Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent (Joel McCrae), The Marx’s Brothers’ A Night in Casablanca; Marek Kanievska’s Another Country (Rupert Everett, Colin Firth); Richard Rush’s Hell’s Angels on Wheels (Jack Nicholson) and The Stunt Man (Peter O’Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey); John Ford’s Stagecoach and The Long Voyage Home (John Wayne); Jan Egleson’s Shock to the System (Michael Caine, Elizabeth McGovern); Joseph Losey's The Romantic Englishwoman (Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson, Helmet Berger); Thomas Schlamme’s Miss Firecracker (Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen); Josh Logan’s Fanny (Leslie Caron, Maurice Chavalier); Bruce Beresford’s Breaker Morant (Jack Thompson); Ronald Neame’s Hopscotch (Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston); and eight Godzilla films, including the 1956 original Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and the monster classic Rodan, as well as numerous popular cult hits.

“Balsam and Julian Schlossberg have built a great company with a rich history. We want to continue their strong tradition and gain from their expertise,” the Shout! Factory co-owners said in a statement.
 

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