FilmRise & Shout! Studios Merge

Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management have acquired FilmRise and merged it with Shout! Studios to create Radial Entertainment.

With the combination, Radial is positioned as a leading distribution platform, housing a library of 70,000 movies and episodes. It brings together FilmRise’s digital streaming and monetization expertise with Shout! Studios’ distribution heft across streaming, transactional, theatrical and physical channels.

Radial will be led by Garson Foos, Shout! Studios’ CEO and co-founder, as CEO, with FilmRise’s CEO and co-founder Danny Fisher named as executive chairman.

Jared Frandle, managing director for Oaktree’s Special Situations strategy, said, “Oaktree is excited to bring together two incredible film and TV content distribution companies in FilmRise and Shout! We believe combining these companies under the Radial umbrella creates a world-class film and 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 and 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.”

Foos added: “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.”

Fisher added: “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.”