Vestron Video

Vestron Video
Industry Home video company
Fate Acquired by LIVE Entertainment; brand revived by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2016
Successor LIVE Home Video (1991–1998)
Artisan Entertainment (1998–2004)
Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2004–present)
Founded 1981
Defunct 1992
Headquarters Stamford, Connecticut
Key people
 Austin Owen Furst, Jr.
Parent Vestron, Inc. (1981–1991)
LIVE Entertainment (1991–1992)
Divisions Vestron Pictures

Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1981 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market.

History

Vestron Video logo, used from 1981 to 1986

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 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 and "Tron", which means "instrument" in Greek.[1]

The company held on to its Time-Life Video library, and was also responsible for releases on VHS videocassette as well as CED Videodisc of mostly B movies and films from Cannon Films' library. They also distributed films under The Movie Store banner. The most notable titles Vestron released were Dirty Dancing, 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 and PBS' 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 since 1983.[2] Starting in 1985, they handed these duties to their genre sub-label, Lightning Video.[3][4]

Vestron went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1985 with what was at the time a large market cap 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 basically a rights business, built by some insightful people who appreciated the video (VCR) rights to films before the major studios did. Eventually the major studios smartened up, and film product became increasingly harder for Vestron to acquire. Also, independent producers increased the price of those available.

Vestron Video logo, used from 1986 to 1992

The company started to make its own films (Dirty Dancing, Earth Girls Are Easy, Blue Steel), but when the market's preferences matured and shifted from watching almost any film to just watching "A" titles, for which the majors had a stronghold, the company was committed already with a pipeline of about 20 "B" to low "A" projects. Financing for the company fell through and it eventually filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, and was bought out on January 11, 1991 by Los Angeles-based LIVE Entertainment, a home video and music company, for $27.3 million. LIVE acquired Vestron's extensive (3,000 plus) film library; titles continued to be released under the Vestron name until 1992, with LIVE distributing the releases.

Their international divisions were the second largest just after Warner Bros. It had many direct theatrical, video and TV distribution offices all around the world in major markets and owned a video manufacturing plant in the Netherlands to supply European markets. Today, most of the holdings of Vestron Video are owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, which merged with LIVE's forerunner company, Artisan Entertainment, in 2003.

Subsidiaries

Vestron, Inc.'s subsidiaries included:

Vestron Video Collector's Series

Vestron Video Collector's Series
Division of Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Industry Home video
Founded August 1, 2016
Products DVD, Blu-ray Disc
Parent Lions Gate Entertainment

On August 1, 2016, it was announced that Lionsgate Home Entertainment resurrected the Vestron Video brand as a Blu-ray and DVD reissue label for Vestron and other Lionsgate-owned horror films, similar to the veins of boutique labels like Scream Factory and Blue Underground.[8] This line, dubbed the Vestron Video Collector's Series, is branded with an updated version of the first Vestron Video logo from 1982–1986 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.[9][10][11]

Releases

# Title Home Video Release Theatrical Release Original Distributor Format(s) Notes
01 Chopping Mall September 27, 2016 March 21, 1986 Concorde Pictures Blu-ray
02 Blood Diner July 10, 1987 Lightning Pictures Blu-ray
03 Waxwork October 18, 2016 June 17, 1988 Vestron Pictures Blu-ray Double Feature
Waxwork II: Lost in Time June 16, 1992 Electric Pictures
04 Return of the Living Dead 3 November 22, 2016 October 29, 1993 Trimark Pictures Blu-ray
05 C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud September 27, 1989 Vestron Pictures Blu-ray
06 The Lair of the White Worm January 31, 2017 September 14, 1988 Blu-ray
07 Parents January 27, 1989 Blu-ray
08 The Gate February 28, 2017 May 15, 1987 New Century Vista Film Company
Vista Organization		 Blu-ray
09 Wishmaster March 28, 2017 September 19, 1997 LIVE Entertainment Blu-ray 4-Film Set
Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies August 17, 1999 Artisan Entertainment
Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell October 23, 2001
Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled October 22, 2002
10 The Unholy June 27, 2017 April 22, 1988 Vestron Pictures Blu-ray
11 Warlock July 25, 2017 January 11, 1991 Trimark Pictures
New World Pictures		 Blu-ray 3-Film Set
Warlock: The Armageddon September 24, 1993 Trimark Pictures
Tapestry Films
Warlock III: The End of Innocence October 12, 1999 Trimark Pictures

References

  1. ↑ Wasser, Frederick (2001). Veni, Vidi, Video: The Hollywood Empire and the VCR (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 107–108. ISBN 9780292791466. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  2. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 25 December 1982. pp. 44–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc . 23 February 1985. pp. 25–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 13 July 1985. pp. 9–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  5. ↑ "Vestron hired 3 members of PSO's management.". Los Angeles Times. 1986-08-26. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  6. ↑ LA BRIEFLY. Daily News of Los Angeles (August 26, 1986).
  7. ↑ Billboard (November 1, 1986), p. 48
  8. ↑ Hutchinson, Sean (October 14, 2016). "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.". Inverse. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Alexander, Chris (August 1, 2016). "Exclusive: Vestron Video Returns with Blood Diner Blu-ray". Coming Soon. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  10. ↑ Hunt, Bill (August 1, 2016). "Lionsgate bows new Vestron BD series, plus BFI’s Napoleon, Peter Gabriel, Da Vinci Code 4K, Phantasm & more". The Digital Bits. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ Barton, Steve (August 4, 2016). "Lionsgate Unveils New Vestron Video Logo". Dread Central. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
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