Geneon Universal Entertainment - History

History

Geneon Universal was originally formed under the name Pioneer LDC in 1981. In July 2003, the company was acquired by Japanese advertising and marketing company firm Dentsu and renamed to Geneon Entertainment, while its North American division, Pioneer Entertainment, was renamed to Geneon USA (however, the renaming to Geneon USA completely took effect in February 2004 since Geneon USA's DVDs released up to January 2004 still had the Pioneer logo. Even after that renaming, the DVDs still had the Pioneer logo alongside with the Geneon logo, which lasted to February 2005 when the Pioneer logo was removed.).

They also signed a deal with Viz Media (then known as Viz Communications) to release their properties to DVD such as Pokémon and Ranma ½ before Viz began producing their own DVDs. Geneon also signed a deal with Funimation Entertainment to manufacture & distribute the home video releases of episodes 53/67 and the first three movies of Dragon Ball Z until Funimation began to dub the series on their own with an in-house cast.

In November 2004, Geneon USA signed a deal with Toei Animation to distribute some of their titles into the North American market. Launching titles included Air Master, Interlude, and Slam Dunk. However, in late 2006, the deal ended and all of the released titles went out of print.

In March 2007, Geneon became the exclusive North American distributor for Bandai Visual USA. Four months later, it was announced that ADV Films would take over the distribution, marketing, and sales of Geneon USA's properties in the United States, starting October 1, 2007. According to the announcement, Geneon USA would continue to acquire, license, and produce English subs and dubs of anime for release in North America. However, the deal was canceled in September before it was ever implemented, with neither company giving details as to why beyond stating they were "unable to reach a mutual agreement." On December 3, the Geneon USA division closed its doors, with titles solicited through November 5 shipped. Titles that were in mid-release or licensed but unreleased were left in limbo. The Bandai Visual USA titles that were being distributed by Geneon were not affected by this closure, though some were delayed while Bandai Visual found a new distributor.

Another North American anime distributor, Funimation Entertainment, began negotiating with Geneon USA to acquire some of the company's licensed titles. In July 2008, a formal arrangement was announced and Funimation acquired the rights to "manufacture, sell, and distribute" various Geneon anime and live-action titles. On November 12, 2008, Dentsu announced that it was selling 80.1% of its ownership in the company to NBC Universal's Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPI), which plans to merge the company with its Universal Pictures Japan division to form a new company. The merger closed on February 1, 2009. The new company is named Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan.