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Curated category

Entertainment companies based in California

  • The Walt Disney CompanyOn the 16th of October 1923, two brothers named Walt and Roy Disney signed a contract in Kansas City to start a business called Disney Brothers Cartoon…
  • Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentJune 1978 marked the birth of Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, a new division created to manage home video releases.
  • Universal PicturesOn the 30th of April 1912, Carl Laemmle and eight partners incorporated the Universal Film Manufacturing Company in New York City.
  • Paramount PicturesOn the 8th of May 1912, a film producer named Adolph Zukor established the Famous Players Film Company in New York. He believed that feature-length films…
  • Universal Music GroupThe American branch of Decca Records opened its doors in September 1934. This date marks the true beginning of what would become Universal Music Group.
  • DirecTVOn the 17th of June 1994, the first direct broadcast satellite service went live in the United States. Hughes Electronics had spent years developing the…
  • Walt Disney Studios (division)On the 16th of October 1923, a small animation company named Walt Disney Productions opened its doors in Hollywood. The studio began as a modest operation…
  • Touchstone PicturesRon W. Miller signed the papers to establish Touchstone Films on the 15th of February 1984. The new label emerged from a desperate need to separate adult…
  • Warner Bros. PicturesOn the 4th of April 1923, four brothers named Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner officially established Warner Bros. Pictures in Burbank, California.
  • Skydance MediaDavid Ellison stood at the helm of a new venture on the 4th of April 2006. He was the son of Larry Ellison, the co-founder and then-CEO of Oracle Corporation.
  • Twitch (service)In June 2011, a new website called TwitchTV launched in public beta as a dedicated spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv.
  • Sony Pictures TelevisionRalph Cohn founded Pioneer Telefilms in 1947, launching a lineage that would eventually become Sony Pictures Television.
  • Viz MediaSeiji Horibuchi arrived in California from Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, in 1975. He spent two years living in the suburbs before moving to San Francisco to…
  • United ArtistsOn the 5th of February 1919, four Hollywood legends signed a contract to build United Artists. Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Douglas…
  • LucasfilmGeorge Lucas established Lucasfilm on the 10th of December 1971 in San Rafael, California. The company began with just five employees working out of a small…
  • Critical Role ProductionsThe year 2015 marked the beginning of a new era for tabletop role-playing games when eight actors formed Critical Role Productions.
  • Anonymous ContentIn 1999, Steve Golin left Propaganda Films to establish a new company with partners Dave Morrison and Gore Verbinski. They named the entity Anonymous Content…
  • Electronic ArtsTrip Hawkins left Apple Inc. in February 1982 to launch a new venture called Amazin' Software. He met with Don Valentine of Sequoia Capital just months…
  • Urban VisionMataichiro Yamamoto stood in Los Angeles, California during July 1996 to establish Urban Vision Entertainment Inc. His goal was simple yet ambitious…