Shout! Studios Acquires Gravitas Ventures

The two studios will operate as “two distinct brands” The post Shout! Studios Acquires Gravitas Ventures appeared first on TheWrap.

Apr 7, 2025 - 20:03

Shout! Studios has added a new company to its portfolio.

The multi-platform media company backed by Oaktree Capital Management, has acquired Gravitas Ventures from Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc.

According to the official release, the addition to Shout! Studios’ family of properties “is consistent with the company’s strategic vision to build a large-scale, world-class distributor of movies and TV series for multi-platform partners around the globe. Gravitas Ventures provides Shout! access to over 3,300 scripted, non-scripted and sports-related feature film, documentary and television titles, adding genre diversification and title depth to Shout’s already extensive catalogue.”

Gravitas Ventures was founded in Los Angeles by media exec Nolan Gallagher in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland in 2019. The company mostly distributed its titles through digital, although in 2022 the studio released “The King’s Daughter,” a bonkers period adventure that had been filmed many years before, in over 1,000 theaters.

Shout! Studios releases new films theatrically, has a dedicated streaming platform and also is one of the true titans of the home video market, releasing highly collectible and sought-after titles (both classic and contemporary) on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. Among the other partnerships they have forged, they recently signed a deal with the Jim Henson Company and have already put out amazing new editions of “The Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth,” with more titles on the way.

According to the official release, Shout! Studios and Gravitas Ventures will operate as two distinct brands “continuing each businesses’ long-standing tradition of serving and supporting independent filmmakers and studios alike. Each brand 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.”

“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,” Garson Foos, CEO of Shout! Studios, said in a statement.

“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” Jared Frandle, Managing Director for Oaktree’s Special Situations Strategy, added.

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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