26 Facts About Relativity Media

Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh.

Relativity Media brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures.

In 2015, Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after lawsuits and missing loan payments.

Relativity Media reorganized and emerged from bankruptcy in March 2016, but in May 2018 it filed for bankruptcy again.

Relativity Media was founded by Ryan Kavanaugh and Lynwood Spinks in 2004.

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Relativity Media began operations as a middleman brokering deals between film studios and banks, private equity firms, and hedge funds to finance multi-film slates.

In 2005, the funding needs of Hollywood studios became more critical when a German tax shelter that had supported them for 25 years was eliminated, and Relativity Media met that need with Wall Street's plentiful funds in the early 2000s.

For each film, Relativity Media received equity and brokerage fees of $500, 000 to $1 million, and Kavanaugh arranged an executive producer credit for himself.

The increased funds allowed Relativity Media to expand involvement with film production companies.

In 2009, Relativity Media reached an output deal with Lionsgate, and bought Rogue Pictures from Universal Studios for $150 million.

In 2010, a deal with Netflix allowed Relativity Media-owned films to be streamed on the platform, and Relativity purchased Overture Films' distribution and marketing operations.

Elliott Management's funding eventually allowed Relativity Media to begin operating its own studio, producing and distributing its own films.

Relativity Media was scheduling their own movies opposite Universal's, including competing Snow White adaptations, which Universal executives saw as Relativity Media using "Beverly 2" funds to gain a competitive advantage.

Relativity Media took out a $200 million loan from Ron Burkle, who had other entertainment investments including with Bob and Harvey Weinstein through his associated firm Colbeck Capital.

In January 2012, as Relativity Media continued to struggle financially, Kavanaugh sought a new major investor, and Burkle, and his invested between $600 million and $800 million and became a shareholder.

In May 2012, Relativity Media announced that Colbeck structured $350 million in debt financing for the company, with Elliott departing from its investment in the company.

In July 2012, Relativity Media merged its Rogue Sports, a Maximum Sports Management basketball agency, a football agency, and SFX Baseball into Relativity Media Sports.

Relativity Media Sports represented more than 400 clients including Amar'e Stoudemire.

In 2013, hedge fund investor Carey Metz made a $10 million investment in Relativity Media based on what he later described as Ryan Kavanaugh's lies.

The movie slate financing Relativity Media brokered for Wall Street investors faired poorly for equity holders.

Greg Zipes, the attorney for the U S trustee's office in New York wrote "the Debtors [Relativity Media] have apparently been unable to pay even the administrative claims owed under the confirmed plan" of 2016.

In June 2018, Netflix sued Relativity Media for breaching an exclusivity agreement after five films that were to be exclusively featured on Netflix were provided to Amazon and Starz.

Netflix alleged Relativity Media failed to provide their contracted number of films.

Relativity Media promised to provide Netflix with 22 films between 2016 and 2018, including eight in 2017, but allegedly delivered only three.

In 2020, Lex Miron, CEO of Relativity Media, announced that Come Away would be the first commercial release of the "new Relativity Media" under Ultra V Holdings.

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Miron gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter about taking two years after the 2018 bankruptcy to "quietly and deliberately rebuild the studio and its industry relationships" and said Relativity Media's strategy going forward would be to focus on smaller to mid-budget films.