Danny Fisher and Garson Foos
Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management have acquired FilmRise and merged it with existing portfolio company Shout! Studios, creating Radial Entertainment, a premier, global content distribution platform boasting a diverse library of 70,000 movies and episodes, one of the largest independent catalogs in the industry.
Garson Foos, CEO and Co-founder of Shout! Studios, will become CEO of Radial Entertainment and Danny Fisher, CEO and Co-founder of FilmRise, will become Executive Chairman.
Garson Foos, CEO of Radial, says, “We have long admired the FilmRise business and its executives, and have held a steadfast belief that a strategic transaction between FilmRise and Shout! would create an entertainment business of exciting scale. This is a highly additive merger between two very complementary organizations, and we have strong conviction in the incremental value that Radial will bring to our partners and dedicated consumer fan base. We will ensure that the spirit and soul of Shout! will flourish in this new organization and are thrilled to collaborate with the FilmRise team in taking the combined business to the next level.”
Danny Fisher, Executive Chairman of Radial, states, “I believe that by bringing together FilmRise, a leader in ad-supported digital distribution, with Shout! Studios, renowned for their enduring legacy and successful adaptability in an ever-evolving industry, Radial is destined to become a media powerhouse. With an incredible leadership team and steadfast support from Oaktree Capital Management, we have exciting new opportunities to leverage our extensive content libraries and combined operational resources to drive future growth.”
MERGING CAPABILITIES
Radial Entertainment has been created through a merger of strong industrial logic, where each business brings unique and complementary capabilities, assets, and expertise that interlock to create a complete, end-to-end production, distribution, and streaming business. FilmRise, a pioneer in digital streaming, has distinct monetization capabilities across paid, hybrid, and free ad-supported streaming tiers. FilmRise brings one of the largest independent catalogs of television and non-scripted content, with particular strength in true crime, reality, classics, medical, food, and UK genres.
Shout! is one of the longest-standing independent distributors in the business, with deep industry expertise across streaming, transactional, theatrical, and physical channels. Shout!’s library of predominantly scripted films brings further genre diversification with premier titles across cult-classic, animation, action, award-winning, western, and horror categories. By combining libraries, capabilities, and best-in-class leadership teams from Shout! and FilmRise, Oaktree believes Radial Entertainment is primed to become the independent distributor of choice, better serving content owners and platforms. Additionally, Radial will uphold each company’s strong commitment and established track record of delivering outstanding entertainment to audiences.
Jared Frandle, Managing Director for Oaktree’s Special Situations strategy, comments, “Oaktree is excited to bring together two incredible Film & TV content distribution companies in FilmRise and Shout!. We believe combining these companies under the Radial umbrella creates a world-class Film & TV media business. It’s an extraordinary combination that we believe brings the unique scale needed to compete and win in the rapidly evolving landscape of digital entertainment and streaming media. Based on our extensive work in the space, we continue to seek opportunities to invest and grow our catalog of Film & TV titles. To that end, Oaktree is committed to working with Radial’s best-in-class management team to drive significant organic and M&A-driven growth going forward as we build Radial into a premium brand name in the media & entertainment space.”