Shout! Studios, which has been behind films like Viggo Mortensen’s “The Dead Don’t Hurt” and the Tim Blake Nelson film “Old Henry,” has acquired fellow indie distributor Gravitas Ventures, the Cleveland-based company known for movies like the Diane Keaton film “Mack & Rita” and the Jackie Chan movie “Vanguard.”
The acquisition gives Shout! access to Gravitas Ventures’ library of 3,300 scripted, non-scripted, and sports-related feature film, documentary, and TV titles, and it means that Shout! will have the luxury to continue making partnerships with brands like Aardman Animations, The Carol Burnett Show, GKIDS and Studio Ghibli, LAIKA Studios, Mystery Science Theater 3000, the Golden Princess movie library, and more.
But both brands are staying intact, meaning they will continue acquiring content individually and will continue to operate as separate brands. The added scale will let both companies better monetize its content across linear and streaming channels, with Gravitas especially being a big player in the AVOD and TVOD space.
It was specifically Gravitas’ film library that made it such an attractive acquisition target for Shout! Studios. CEO Garson Foos told IndieWire that the focus with Gravitas moving forward will be on “new releases in the pipeline and maximizing the existing library.” Shout! also operates two different genre labels, including Scream Factory for horror content and Shout! Kids.
“Gravitas represents the next step in our continued expansion of the catalogue at Shout. We are excited to join forces with the Gravitas team and see several opportunities to expand distribution of the combined library,” Foos said in a statement.
Shout! Studios is backed by asset management firm Oaktree Capital Management, and it acquired Gravitas from Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Gravitas has been around for 18 years and was acquired by Anthem in November 2021. Not long after that acquisition, founding CEO of Gravitas Nolan Gallagher stepped down to focus on the ownership of his newly launched Cleveland-based soccer team.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Gravitas to the Shout! family and believe it represents another successful example of Shout’s ability to identify and execute upon attractive library acquisitions in the space. We are excited to continue to support the entire Shout team as we pursue other organic growth and M&A opportunities going forward” said Jared Frandle, Managing Director for Oaktree’s Special Situations Strategy.
Salem Partners acted as the exclusive financial and investment banking advisor to Anthem Sports & Entertainment and Gravitas Ventures, led by Ivar Combrinck. Sheppard Mullin acted as exclusive legal advisors to Anthem Sports & Entertainment, led by Shaun Clark and Aerin Snow. Greenberg Traurig acted as exclusive legal advisors to Shout Studios, led by Ben Einbinder and Daniel Black.
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