Vestron Video
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Vestron Video was a company based in Stamford, CT that was active from the early 1980s to mid-1990s. The company was responsible for releases on VHS videocassette of mostly B-movies, and films from Cannon Films' library. In later years, the company began to shift towards mainstream films, including films released through their Vestron Pictures subsidiary, most notably Dirty Dancing. In addition, the company was the first company to release National Geographic videos in the late 1980s.
Vestron Video was the main subsidary of Vestron, Inc. that also had as subsidaries; Vestron Pictures, Vestron International Group and Vestron Video International. Vestron, originally owned by Mr. Austin Furst, is considered as the discoverer and first provider of the Home Video market.
Vestron went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1985 with what was at the time a large market cap IPO of $440MM, which was oversubscribed. The company enjoyed success for several years, at one point exceeding 10% of the US video movie market. At it's high point sales approximated $350MM annually, and the company sold video movies in over 30 countries either directly or through sub licensing agreements. This was basically a rights business, built by some insightful people who appreciated the video (VCR) rights to films before the major studios did. Eventually the major studios smartened up, and film product became increasingly harder for Vestron to acquire. Also, independent producers increased the price of those available. The company started to make its own films (Dirty Dancing, Earth Girls Are Easy, Blue Steel), but when the market's preferences matured and shifted from watching almost any film to just watching "A" titles, for which the majors had a stronghold, the company was committed already with a pipeline of about 20 "B" to low "A" projects. Financing for the company fell through and this one eventually filed for bankruptcy.
Some time in the 1990s Live Entertainment, later named Artisan Entertainment (now a part of Lions Gate Entertainment), acquired Vestron's extensive (3,000 plus) film library.
Their international divisions, got to be the second largest just after Warner's. It had many direct Theatrical, Video and TV distribution offices all around the world in the major markets and even owned a video manufacturing plant in Holland, to supply the Europeans Markets.
