American entertainment company
Overbrook Entertainment, Inc.
is an American
production company
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) began.
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
[
edit
]
On November 11, 1997, actor
Will Smith
(age 29) 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.
David Tochterman, formerly employee of
The Carsey-Werner Company
, joined the company on September 16, 1998, and decided to launch the television division. Tochterman produced shows for the broadcast and cable TV networks.
[4]
The music division was restructured with
John Dukakis
, formerly an employee of Southpaw Entertainment, signed as executive vice president of its music division on February 11, 1999.
[5]
On May 10, 2000, it was announced that a merger with
The Firm
had been proposed, but it was later scrapped.
[6]
Overbrook Entertainment announced on December 10, 2000 that it was renewing its interest in the television division. Its plans were to include a 13-episode animated series commitment for
Nickelodeon
, as well as a slew of comedy, drama and telemovies on various broadcast networks. The studio was landing deals for three sitcoms, three dramas and one telefilm for various web networks.
[7]
The studio's contract with
Universal Pictures
ended on January 30, 2002. It then formally signed a contract with
Sony Pictures Entertainment
to develop feature films.
[8]
The studio announced that it wouldn't renew its deal with
Sony Pictures Entertainment
on January 3, 2018.
[9]
On July 10, 2019, Smith and his wife, actress
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 Westbrook Studios would sign a deal with
National Geographic
.
[11]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Films
[
edit
]
2000s
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
2000s
[
edit
]
2010s
[
edit
]
2020s
[
edit
]
Years
|
Title
|
Creator
|
Network
|
Notes
|
2021?present
|
Bel?Air
|
Andy Borowitz
and
Susan Borowitz
|
Peacock
|
Dramatic version of
Fresh Prince of Bel-air
with the same basic story and characters. Co-Produced with Arbolada Roads, Ra Shines Inc., Cooper Films, The 51, and Universal Television.
|
Soundtrack
[
edit
]
Distribution
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Director
|
Notes
|
2005
|
The 7th Commandment
|
Theron Alford
|
DVD distribution; co-production with 25Eight Productions and A Free World Productions
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"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
.
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Studio albums
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Compilation albums
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Singles
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Featured singles
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Other songs
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Screenplays
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Family
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Related
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Majors
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Mini-majors
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Horizontal
production/
distribution
companies
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Slate
partners
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Production/
distribution
companies
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Defunct/former
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Lionsgate
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MGM
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Universal
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Paramount
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Sony
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Warner Bros.
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Others
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International
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National
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Other
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