Shout! Factory

Retropolis Entertainment was founded in April 2002 by Bob Emmer, Garson Foos, and Richard Foos, three principals from Rhino Records,[1] as the company was negotiating with the five majors for distribution. After selling Rhino to Warner Bros., the three set out to launch a new retro pop culture label.[2] The company's first product was Red, White & Rock, a joint release with PBS station WQED-TV that was produced with Warner Strategic Marketing.[3] In August 2002, Retropolis acquired Biograph Records.[4] Other early releases included blues and jazz CDs from the Biograph label, a Fats Domino CD and DVD, and several documentaries (Superstar: The Life And Times of Andy Warhol, What Happened To Kerouac?). Retropolis was renamed Shout! Factory in April 2003. At that time, Shout had signed a press and distribution agreement with Sony Music Entertainment.[5] In 2004, Shout! released Freaks and Geeks on DVD, the first television series released on DVD for the company. With 18 episodes, it became one of the most expensive DVDs to produce, costing over a million dollars in music licensing.[6] That same year, they released William Shatner's album Has Been and SCTV box sets.[7]

In 2004, Shout! Factory released an expanded two-disc version of Jim Croce's first record, the Facets album.[8] In 2004, Shout! purchased the rights to the animated series Home Movies and released each season set, and ultimately a complete series box.[9] Other notable releases included a pair of The Electric Company multidisc sets,[10] the re-envisioned Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped, a series of Elvira's Movie Macabre DVDs[11] and the first of what would be three cover CDs with Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, called Under The Covers Vol. 1; Sweet himself was also added as a featured solo artist.[12] Shout! acquired the rights to several other television series like Punky Brewster,[13] The Weird Al Show,[14] and America's Funniest Home Videos.[15]

In 2005, Shout! Factory obtained the rights to Herb Alpert's catalog, launching the Herb Alpert Signature Series of CDs. These included The Lonely Bull, South of the Border, Lost Treasures, Whipped Cream & Other Delights and others.[16] They also got the rights to talk show host Dick Cavett's library and started releasing theme sets focused on rock icons, Ray Charles (including all his visits to the show),[17] John Lennon and Yoko Ono,[18] and others.[19] They also jumped into children's animation with a deal with DIC Entertainment. C.O.P.S. The Animated Series and Heathcliff And the Catillac Cats were the first releases from that deal.[20] On the sports side, they entered into a licensing deal with Major League Baseball, releasing themed and World Series DVDs through 2010 and then again from 2016 till present.[21]

By 2007, classic TV on DVD was a major focus, with season sets of Blossom[22] McHale's Navy[23] and Ironside,[24] an authorized collection of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,[25] and themed and actor-specific editions of Inside the Actors Studio hitting shelves.[26] Meanwhile, they also started releasing Mickey Hart's catalogs.[27]

In March 2008, Shout! bought the Hightone Records catalog and added artists Tom Russell, Joe Ely, and Rosie Flores to its brand.[28] At the same time, the company was ramping up its place as a children's animation destination and continuing with a TV on DVD schedule. It took over the Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVD series and released a 20th Anniversary set and have continued to put out box sets of episodes never before released on DVD.[29]

In 2009, Shout! reached another milestone when it struck a deal with children's TV producers Hasbro, releasing the original Transformers and G.I. Joe animated-series box sets. That same year, it released the first My Little Pony DVD, My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Collection.[30] Shout! continued to release several Hasbro properties, including the series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, until January 1, 2019, when it released its last DVD for that series, Hearts and Hooves.

In 2011, Shout! Factory made another landmark deal when they struck a deal with Nickelodeon to release the live action sitcom Hey Dude[31] and the animated Nicktoons Rocko's Modern Life,[32] Aaahh!!! Real Monsters,[33] Hey Arnold!,[34] The Angry Beavers,[35] CatDog,[36] The Wild Thornberrys,[37] The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius,[38] and Danny Phantom.[39]

In May 2012, Shout! Factory signed an agreement with Saban Capital Group to distribute the Beetleborgs, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Power Rangers and VR Troopers catalogs.[40] It also started releasing titles by Marvel (Super Hero Squad Show, Marvel Knights). In the same month, the company acquired Oregon-based home entertainment company Timeless Media Group, adding more programs to its expanding catalog, such as The Red Skelton Show, Peter Gunn, The Gene Autry Show, The Virginian, Wagon Train, Laramie, and The Roy Rogers Show, among others.[41]

In June 2012, Shout! Factory announced a horror label called Scream Factory, specializing in classic and cult horror films on discs such as Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, They Live, The Howling, Lifeforce, Deadly Eyes, and others.[42] The horror titles, both new and old, were licensed from major studios such as MGM, Fox, and Universal. In mid-June 2012, Shout! and Fred Seibert acquired Video Time Machine, a year and genre media-based iOS app, from Original Victories Inc.[43]

In July 2013, Shout! Factory acquired the U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to the ITC Entertainment library as part of a deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment.[44][45]

As of 2023, Shout! Factory has agreements with Paramount Home Entertainment, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, MGM, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Hasbro (and its subsidiary Entertainment One), GKIDS, Eleven Arts, Sesame Workshop, IFC Films, ITV Studios, Major League Baseball, Motion Picture Corporation of America, the estate of Stephen J. Cannell, and StudioCanal.[76]

Releases under these agreements have included the complete Joss Whedon/John Cassaday series of Astonishing X-Men, plus Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers and Iron Man: Extremis on DVD and Blu-ray;[77] the original Transformers, G.I. Joe, Jem and My Little Pony cartoons, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Power Rangers, VR Troopers, Sesame Street, Super Sentai, some Nickelodeon series like Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, The Wild Thornberrys, CatDog, Danny Phantom, Hey Dude, The Angry Beavers, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (under license from Paramount Home Entertainment), and Gravity Falls (under a one-time agreement with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment).

In mid-2012, Shout! Factory announced a horror sub-label called Scream Factory, specializing in classic and cult horror films such as Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, They Live, The Howling, Lifeforce, The Return of the Living Dead, and others being released to DVD and Blu-ray.[78]

In July 2020, Shout! Factory announced to have struck a multi-year deal with Alliance Entertainment and Mill Creek Entertainment that granted them the exclusive SVOD and AVOD digital rights to the Ultra series, 1,100 episodes and 20 films acquired by Mill Creek the previous year. Shout! Factory will stream the catalogue in the United States and Canada through their services, Shout! Factory TV and Tokushoutsu.[79]

In 2012, Shout! Factory acquired Oregon-based home entertainment company Timeless Media Group, adding programs to its ever-expanding catalog: The Red Skelton Show, Peter Gunn, The Gene Autry Show, The Virginian, Wagon Train, Laramie, and The Roy Rogers Show, among others.[80]

Shout! Factory also acquired blues/roots label HighTone Records and continued to oversee its back catalog until 2016 when Concord Bicycle Music bought the label.[81]