Alcon Entertainment was established on January 23, 1997,
[1]
being founded by film producers
Broderick Johnson
and
Andrew Kosove
, who are the co-CEOs of the company. The company is headquartered on
Santa Monica Boulevard
in
Los Angeles
,
California
.
[2]
Both Johnson and Kosove presented FedEx founder and chairman
Frederick W. Smith
with a proposal suggesting that an independent film company, backed by a capitalized individual or company, and aligned with a major studio for an exclusive distribution arrangement would reap profits on copyrighted assets over a set period of time.
[3]
On February 18, 1998, Alcon Entertainment set up two greenlight projects, with
Warner Bros.
distributing a single project.
[4]
On May 15, 1998, Alcon signed a second deal with Warner in which WB was allowed to distribute the film
Lost & Found
.
[5]
Alcon's first major feature film was the 1999 comedy
Lost & Found
. In March 2000, following the success of its second film
My Dog Skip
, Alcon entered into a long-term distribution agreement with Warner Bros. The agreement had WB in charge of worldwide distribution of a minimum of 10 films produced and financed by Alcon over the next five years. The agreement also allowed Warner to co-finance certain pictures with Alcon.
[6]
Alcon and Warner signed a new agreement in February 2006, continuing their eight-year relationship, under which Warner Bros. would continue to distribute feature films developed and financed by Alcon.
[7]
Alcon has the option to distribute its pictures internationally through Warner Bros., but also has the flexibility instead to
pre-sell
rights through
Lionsgate
. WB and Alcon extended the deal in 2015 which ended in 2019.
[8]
On September 28, 2003, Alcon Entertainment had launched its television arm, with an exclusive co-production agreement at television studio
Warner Bros. Television
.
[9]
In 2011, Alcon Entertainment acquired the entire brand and rights to the
Blade Runner
franchise, which encompasses
movies
,
series
,
games
and other franchise media such as
books
.
[10]
[11]
On March 8, 2012, Alcon had signed an affiliate production company headed by 2S Films executive
Molly Smith
, Belle Pictures, to develop film projects.
[12]
On October 6, 2016, Alcon opens up a new division titled Alcon Interactive Group which continues Alcon’s diversification beyond its core business of financing and producing feature films, having also established in the past years.
[13]