StudioCanal UK
StudioCanal Limited is the official branch of StudioCanal in the British Isles.[2] The company releases many films, including foreign, anime (mostly Studio Ghibli), independent, art, British, Irish and American films in the United Kingdom and sometimes Ireland.
Formerly
Canal+ Image (as a label in the UK)
9 October 1998 (As Tidalgate 2000 Limited)[1]
Elevation Sales (joint venture with Lionsgate UK)
History[edit]
Optimum Releasing (1999–2011)[edit]
The company was founded in October 1998, and began operation as Optimum Releasing in May 1999. The company, at the time, was exclusively a theatrical distributor, holding distribution of new releases and UK rights to the back catalogues of other companies. Optimum's first theatrical release was a restored version of The Third Man, licensed from Le Studio Canal+, and was released in July of that year, on the same weekend as the anticipated UK release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[3]
The company launched a Home Entertainment division in 2004,[4] and released material under several banners:
