Overbrook Entertainment
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment/Film Industry |
| Founded | February 2, 1998 |
| Founder | Will Smith James Lassiter |
| Headquarters | Culver City, California |
Key people | Will Smith (partner) James Lassiter (partner) Jada Pinkett Smith (partner) |
| Products | Motion pictures, music, home entertainment, talent management, television production |
| Website | www |
Overbrook Entertainment is an American production company and record label based in Culver City, California.[1] It was founded by partners Will Smith and James Lassiter in 1998,[2] around the same time production for Wild Wild West (1999) was started.
The name "Overbrook" is derived from Will Smith's neighborhood in West Philadelphia. The company produces music, films and television shows. Smith claimed to have started the company in order to serve as producer and find roles. He uses his role in the company to help unknown artists record music and also records music for some of his films in Overbrook.
History[]
On November 11, 1997, actor Will Smith and manager James Lassiter signed an overall first-look term deal at Universal Pictures.[3] Thus, Overbrook Entertainment was born. It was formally incorporated on February 2, 1998.
On September 16, 1998, David Tochterman, formerly employee of The Carsey-Werner Company, joined the company and decided to launch the television division. Tochterman will supervise its division, who will produce shows for the broadcast and cable TV networks.[4]
On February 11, 1999, the music division is restructured with John Dukakis, formerly employee of Southpaw Entertainment, signed on as executive vice president of its music division.[5]
On May 10, 2000, it was announced that a merger with The Firm was proposed, but it was scrapped.[6]
On December 10, 2000, Overbrook Entertainment is renewing its interest in the television division. Its plans was to include a 13-episode animated series commitment for Nickelodeon, as well as a slew of comedy, drama, and telemovies on the broadcast networks. The studio is landing deals for three sitcoms, three dramas and one telefilm for the webnetworks.[7]
On January 30, 2002, the studio's contract with Universal Pictures ended. It formally signed a contract with Sony Pictures Entertainment to develop feature films.[8]
On January 3, 2018, it will be announced that the studio will not renew its deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.[9]
On July 10, 2019, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith announced the formation of Westbrook, Inc., with Overbrook Entertainment being as one of the subsidiaries of the company.[10] It is reported that the Westbrook Studios company would sign a deal with National Geographic.[11]
Filmography[]
Films[]
2000s[]
| Year | Title | Director | Distributor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Ali | Michael Mann | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures, Initial Entertainment Group, Peters Entertainment and Forward Pass |
| 2004 | I, Robot | Alex Proyas | 20th Century Fox | co-production with Laurence Mark Productions, Davis Entertainment and Mediastream IV |
| Saving Face | Alice Wu | Sony Pictures Classics | co-production with Destination Films | |
| 2005 | Hitch | Andy Tennant | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
| 2006 | ATL | Chris Robinson | Warner Bros. Pictures | |
| The Pursuit of Happyness | Gabriele Muccino | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media and Escape Artists | |
| 2007 | I Am Legend | Francis Lawrence | Warner Bros. Pictures | co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures, Weed Road Pictures, Heyday Films and Original Film |
| 2008 | Hancock | Peter Berg | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Weed Road Pictures, Forward Pass and Blue Light |
| The Human Contract | Jada Pinkett Smith | Self-distributed | co-production with Tycoon Entertainment and 100% Womon Productions | |
| Lakeview Terrace | Neil LaBute | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Screen Gems | |
| The Secret Life of Bees | Gina Prince-Bythewood | Fox Searchlight Pictures | co-production with The Donners' Company | |
| Seven Pounds | Gabriele Muccino | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media and Escape Artists |
2010s[]
| Year | Title | Director | Distributor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Karate Kid | Harald Zwart | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures, China Film Group Corporation and JW Productions |
| 2012 | This Means War | McG | 20th Century Fox | co-production with Robert Simonds Productions and Genre Films |
| 2013 | After Earth | M. Night Shyamalan | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media and Blinding Edge Pictures |
| 2014 | Annie | Will Gluck | co-production with Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Village Roadshow Pictures and Olive Bridge Entertainment | |
| 2015 | Focus | Glenn Ficarra John Requa |
Warner Bros. Pictures | co-production with RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Di Novi Pictures, Kramer & Sigman Films and Zaftig Films |
| 2016 | Collateral Beauty | David Frankel | co-production with New Line Cinema, Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Anonymous Content, PalmStar Media and Likely Story | |
| 2017 | Bright | David Ayer | Netflix | co-production with Trigger Warning Entertainment and Grand Electric |
| 2018 | To All the Boys I've Loved Before | Susan Johnson | co-production with Awesomeness Films | |
| 2019 | Hala | Minhal Baig | Apple TV+ | co-production with Endeavor Content |
2020s[]
| Year | Title | Director | Distributor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Bad Boys for Life | Adil & Bilall | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures, 2.0 Entertainment and Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films |
| Charm City Kings | Angel Manuel Soto | HBO Max | co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Max | |
| Life in a Year | Mitja Okorn | Sony Pictures Releasing | co-production with Columbia Pictures | |
| 2021 | King Richard | Reinaldo Marcus Green | Warner Bros. Pictures | co-production with Star Thrower Entertainment |
Television[]
2000s[]
| Years | Title | Creator | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-2007 | All of Us | Will Smith Jada Pinkett Smith Betsy Borns |
UPN (seasons 1–3) The CW (season 4) |
co-production with Warner Bros. Television |
2010s[]
| Years | Title | Creator | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-2011 | Hawthorne | John Masius | TNT | continued from 100% Womon Productions; co-production with FanFare Productions, John Masius Productions and Sony Pictures Television |
| 2013-2015 | The Queen Latifah Show | Queen Latifah | Syndication | revival of the 1999 series; co-production with Flavor Unit Entertainment, Curly One Productions and Sony Pictures Television |
| 2018–present | Cobra Kai | Josh Heald Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg based on the Karate Kid film series by: Robert Mark Kamen |
YouTube Premium (season 1–2) Netflix (season 3 – present) |
Under Westbrook Studios; co-production with Heald Productions, Hurwitz & Schlossberg Productions, Counterbalance Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television Studios |
Soundtrack[]
| Year | Title | Artist | Distributor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Wild Wild West | Various artists | Interscope Records | |
| 2000 | Love & Basketball | |||
| 2002 | Men in Black II | Danny Elfman | Columbia Records | |
| 2014 | Annie | Various artists | RCA Records |
Distribution[]
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | The 7th Commandment | Theron Alford | DVD distribution; co-production with 25Eight Productions and A Free World Productions |
References[]
- ^ "Overbrook Entertainment". Kftv.com.
- ^ "Overbrook Entertainment company information, funding & investors". uktest1.dealroom.co. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- ^ Cox, Dan (1997-11-12). "Smith talks shingle at U". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Hontz, Jenny (1998-09-16). "Tochterman over to Overbrook". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Petrikin, Chris; Cox, Dan (1999-02-12). "Overbrook is ready". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (2000-05-10). "Overbrook, the Firm join forces". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Adalian, Josef; Schneider, Michael (2000-12-11). "Overbrook turns on TV". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Harris, Dana (2002-01-31). "Sony, Overbrook ink". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Lang, Brent; Kroll, Justin (2018-01-03). "Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment Not Re-Upping Sony First Look Deal (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (2019-07-10). "Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith Launch Multimedia Cross-Platform Venture Westbrook Inc". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ "Will Smith's Westbrook Studios Signs First-Look Deal With Nat Geo". TheWrap. 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
| show Authority control  |
|---|
- American record labels
- Film production companies of the United States
- 1998 establishments in California
- Record labels based in California
- Record labels established in 1998
- Hip hop record labels
- Will Smith