subsidiary of starz distribution industry home video television syndication motion pictures founded 1985 ; 31 years ago 1985 as video treasures headquarters beverly hills california products dvd blu ray owners starz inc. parent starz distribution website www.anchorbayentertainment.com anchor bay entertainment is an american home entertainment and production company . it is a division of starz distribution which is a unit of starz inc. . it was owned by idt entertainment until 2006 when idt was purchased by starz media . 1 anchor bay markets and sells feature films series television specials and short films to consumers worldwide . in 2004 anchor bay agreed to have its movies distributed by 20th century fox home entertainment and renewed their deal in 2011 . 2 anchor bay also has a film studio known as anchor bay films which mainly distributes direct to video or independent films . contents 1 history 2 licensed content 2.1 films 2.2 horror films 2.3 tv series 2.4 special interest 2.5 production company 3 award 4 past names 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit anchor bay entertainment can date its origins back to two separate home video distributors video treasures formed in 1985 3 and starmaker entertainment founded in 1988 . both companies sold budget items reissues of previously released home video programming at discount prices . video treasures started with public domain titles and later made licensing deals with vestron video heron communications including media home entertainment and hi tops video britt allcroft the thomas the tank engine series trans world entertainment regal video virgin vision hal roach studios jerry lewis and orion pictures among others . starmaker s major distributions were films from the then recently out of business new world pictures and programs previously licensed to their video division . viacom programs and saturday night live compilations were other notable starmaker releases . the companies competed with each other for years until they were sold to the handleman company and formed a new corporate umbrella anchor bay entertainment in may 1995 . 4 the company also bought out other budget home video distributors such as mntex entertainment teal entertainment burbank video drive entertainment and gts records . 4 both the video treasures and starmaker labels were phased out a few years later . original company logo from 1995 4 until 2008 . in the late 1990s and early 2000s anchor bay specialized in the release of horror films particularly cult films and slasher movies from the 1970s and 1980s . one of its first releases was prom night in 1980 ; it also released halloween as well as its third fourth and fifth sequels hellraiser and many others leading the home video market for obscure and retro horror films . anchor bay remained part of handleman until 2003 when it was acquired by idt entertainment . 5 on february 4 2005 the securities and exchange commission filed civil charges against two former employees of anchor bay entertainment a former subsidiary of handleman company . the sec s complaint which was filed in the united states district court for the eastern district of michigan alleges that the two employees caused the company to enter into two million dollar sham transactions . the transactions involved the purported sale of slow moving or obsolete inventory to business partners coupled with secret buy back provisions . the inventory included worthless video boxes and sleeves and dvds for films . handleman subsequently restated its financial statements to correct these accounting errors . liberty media the owner of the starz cable network purchased idt entertainment from idt corporation in 2006 and renamed it starz media . 1 in may 2007 anchor bay became known as starz home entertainment she . she announced on june 19 2007 that it will be releasing high definition versions of its films exclusively in the blu ray format . in 2008 starz media re instated the anchor bay entertainment brand and all current releases bear this name . many of the company s past cult titles have gone out of print although some have been reissued by blue underground . on january 4 2011 starz llc sold 25 % of starz media to the weinstein company which meant twc and dimension video releases are distributed by anchor bay . 6 starz later bought back the weinstein s stake in october 2015 7 anchor bay will continue releasing twc and dimension video releases . on june 30 2015 lionsgate agreed to acquire anchor bay s parent company starz inc. for 4.4 billion in cash and stock . 8 licensed content edit films edit most of the libraries of embassy pictures emi films hbo films and alexander salkind via studiocanal now handled by lionsgate select 20th century fox titles under license from 20th century fox home entertainment some of the universal studios films under license from universal studios home entertainment such as army of darkness the car and repo man although licensing on these films have returned to universal studios home entertainment davis panzer productions the osterman weekend moustapha akkad s trancas international pictures production company behind the halloween movie series new world pictures the boys next door children of the corn creepshow 2 girls just want to have fun heathers godzilla 1985 etc. now handled by image entertainment through their deal with lakeshore entertainment most of the 1960s 1980s walt disney productions walt disney pictures live action library as well as the film library of american broadcasting company under license from walt disney studios home entertainment the black hole the cat from outer space condorman one magic christmas the devil and max devlin the happiest millionaire return to oz tex the north avenue irregulars the watcher in the woods etc. although licensing on these films have returned to walt disney studios home entertainment while the abc library is currently distributed by mgm home entertainment and 20th century fox home entertainment under license from disney . overture films also owned by starz media the weinstein company and dimension films since march 2011 some releases go to sentai filmworks and sony pictures the libraries of media home entertainment prism entertainment wizard video and regal video currently working alongside troma entertainment in re releasing some of their older films on blu ray as well as distributing their newest production return to nuke em high . against the wild 1 & 2 from writer director richard boddington 9 horror films edit during its original incarnation in the late 1990s and early 2000s anchor bay specialized in the release of horror and cult films particularly those from the 1970s and 1980s . the company s first ever release on dvd was the car in april 1997 10 followed by elvira mistress of the dark that august and a director s cut of dawn of the dead in november 1997 . the company s next release was prom night in february 1998 . 11 it also released halloween as well as its third and fourth sequels sleepaway camp alice sweet alice the hills have eyes suspiria maniac the first three hellraiser films the wicker man silent night deadly night children of the corn the beyond and several other lucio fulci films . some of these titles were given numbered limited edition releases which included multiple discs information booklets and collectible tin cases . many of these releases went out of print and became sought after collectibles . anchor bay entertainment is also noted for the release of the evil dead film trilogy on dvd in numerous editions . army of darkness for example had been released in both a regular and limited edition set that featured the director s cut of the film . since then the director s cut has been re released on two separate occasions in addition to a two disc boomstick edition of the film as well . until anchor bay released the evil dead on vhs and dvd it was previously unavailable on video from a major label . also among its more profitable releases has been george a. romero s living dead series . anchor bay entertainment has distribution rights for the middle two films in the romero tetralogy dawn of the dead and day of the dead however it has also distributed dvds of the original film night of the living dead which is in the public domain . like the evil dead trilogy the living dead series has seen many editions of the films on dvd . dawn of the dead has itself seen several releases on dvd the most extra feature laden being the ultimate edition in late 2004 . an evil dead 3 disc ultimate edition dvd was released in december 2007 . anchor bay has also released most of dario argento s films including the card player the cat o nine tails deep red inferno opera phenomena suspiria tenebre trauma tv series edit comedy bang bang crash dan vs. head case masters of horror party down three s company the walking dead the following series were distributed by anchor bay but as of 2010 they have been discontinued and are now either out of print or are being re issued by other distributors 21 jump street 3rd rock from the sun the commish crime story doogie howser m.d. the greatest american hero grounded for life hercules the legendary journeys highlander the series hunter profit renegade roseanne silk stalkings sledge hammer titus xena warrior princess special interest edit in addition to feature films anchor bay entertainment distributes special interest titles including children s video series like bobby s world . until 2008 they distributed thomas & friends videos . thomas has reached platinum selling status and in 2004 ranks consistently on the videoscan ranking top 50 chart of children s weekly video sales . lionsgate acquired the thomas dvd titles after hit entertainment bought out the rights to thomas . rights to the thomas dvd s now belong to universal pictures home entertainment through their deal with mattel hit s current parent company . the company also has a top market share for fitness videos such as the crunch and for dummies series . the company also distributes ultimate fighting championship events on dvd and blu ray . production company edit as a full fledged production company they handle television syndication of halloween halloween iv the return of michael myers and halloween v the revenge of michael myers which they also hold the video rights to and have recently entered in house production and distribution of theatrical films . award edit anchor bay entertainment received a special achievement award from the academy of science fiction fantasy & horror films in june 2002 . anchor bay was recognized as one of the pioneers in dvd releases and home video entertainment and successful in releasing dramas comedies foreign films children s programming and most prominently genre films . cited as highlights of anchor bay s releases were the films of hammer studios the works of werner herzog paul verhoeven wim wenders john woo monte hellman and sam raimi . 12 past names edit video treasures starmaker entertainment mntex entertainment teal entertainment burbank video drive entertainment gts records starz home entertainment see also edit list of films released by anchor bay entertainment references edit a b merger of starz entertainment group idt entertainment creates fully integrated media company an august 2006 press release from pr newswire video business anchor bay fox finalize deal executive biography of george port archived july 8 2008 at the wayback machine . from the marvista entertainment website a b c billboard may 20 1995 page 84 85 . idt entertainment completes acquisition of anchor bay entertainment group from business wire via ecnext weinsteins buy 25 % stake in starz media . deadline hollywood . retrieved march 28 2016 . http ir.starz.com secfiling.cfm filingid 1507934 16 127 & cik 1507934 lieberman david june 30 2016 . lionsgate agrees to buy starz for 4.4 billion in cash and stock .