Shout! Studios, the multi-platform media company backed by Oaktree Capital Management, has acquired Gravitas Ventures from Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc.
The deal was finalized over the weekend, we hear, with employees at Shout! being notified this morning. It came following rumblings of multiple layoffs at boutique distributor Gravitas. When Deadline reached out to various staff members at the distributor, we were met with bounce-backs, seemingly confirming sudden departures.
The ambition on Shout!’s part is to grow its content portfolio with the acquisition of entertainment companies and their content libraries, while continuing to partner with independent rights owners to monetize content and launch new streaming channels.
Going forward, Shout! Studios and Gravitas Ventures will operate as two distinct brands. Each will continue to actively distribute content from its respective catalogue, leveraging a scaled combined distribution organization to better monetize content across traditional and digital channels. The deal gives Shout! access to more than 3,300 scripted, non-scripted, and sports-related feature, documentary, and television titles.
Said Shout! Studios CEO Garson Foos, “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.”
Commented Jared Frandle, Managing Director for Oaktree’s Special Situations Strategy, “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.”
Indie distributor Shout! Studios operates the imprints Scream Factory (for genre film & TV) and Shout! Kids (for family animation and live-action entertainment), along with streaming service Shout! TV and its family of FAST channels. Other high-profile partners of the company include Aardman Animations, The Carol Burnett Show, Gkids, Studio Ghibli, Laika Studios, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the Golden Princess movie library, to name just a few. Notable titles from the company include its original Western Old Henry, Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt, Linoleum starring Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn, Shekhar Kapur’s What‘s Love Got To Do With It, family comedy A Sudden Case of Christmas, and the upcoming Western thriller Killing Faith.
Founded by Nolan Gallagher in 2006, Gravitas’ recent films include Mack & Rita starring Diane Keaton, The King‘s Daughter starring Pierce Brosnan and Kaya Scodelario, Queen Bees starring Ellen Burstyn and James Caan, Our Friend starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel, Vanguard starring Jackie Chan, and The Secret: Dare to Dream, starring Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas.
Salem Partners acted as the exclusive financial and investment banking advisor to Anthem and Gravitas. Sheppard Mullin acted as exclusive legal advisors to Anthem, with Greenberg Traurig acting as exclusive legal advisors to Shout! Studios.
