Content Club (formerly Sony Pickers Productions and Release)

History

2022

Company name change in Russia

On October 7, 2022, Sony Pickers Productions and Releases (SPPR; legal entity of the Russian business studio Sony Pictures) changed its name to "Content Club." The newspaper Vedomosti wrote about this with reference to the data of the SPARK-Interfax system.

According to the publication, Anton Sirenko retained the post of CEO, and the owner, SPPR Holdings Russia, which is registered in Delaware, has not changed. It is noted that the name change occurred in connection with the transfer of SPPR Holdings Russia under the control of Russian top management. According to Sirenko to the newspaper, the co-owners of the company by November 2022 are himself and his partner, whom he did not name. In addition, Sirenko did not disclose the value of the transaction.

Sony Pictures is going to localize its business in the Russian Federation

Content Club intends to develop distribution activities and invest in Russian film production. Previously, the company has already acted as a co-investor and distributor of Fyodor Bondarchuk's films "Stalingrad," "Attraction" and "Invasion," as well as the film franchises "Ice." She also became the exclusive distributor of projects by producer Sergei Selyanov, including the comedy The Little Humpbacked Horse. The company was a distributor of films "Vysotsky. Thank you for being alive "by Peter Buslov, paintings by Kirill Serebrennikov" Summer "and" Petrov in the Flu, "films" Devyataev "by Timur Bekmambetov and" Dislike "by Andrei Zvyagintsev.

Oleg Ivanov, head of research at the HSE Film Institute, believes that the Content Club can act as a link for business if Sony Pictures "wants to return its new films to Russia."

What happens next, what the package will be for Sony, with whom cooperation will be carried out - a big question, but a very positive sign that one of the largest players in the market, from the point of view of the team and brand, declares that it is returning to the market. This is a very good sign of a possible further revival, the next step, an attempt to return the film industry to a normal course of work, "said Roman Isaev, head of the Russian representative office of comScore corporation, a member of the Association of Cinema Owners.[1]

Suspension of business in Russia

Sony Pictures has suspended business development in Russia. This became known on March 12, 2022.

Because of this, the Russian Federation will not release the third "Spider-Man" with Tom Holland in the "digital" in the near future.

The company has limited access to the Crunchyroll anime service, froze transactions to transfer rights to television shows, and postponed the release of its films in Russia. The page of the film comic has already been removed from the Russian iTunes, the release date of "No Way Home" in "digital" has disappeared on "Kinopoisk."

In Russia, Disney and WarnerMedia were also previously suspended.

Sony previously limited access to the PlayStation Store in Russia and temporarily stopped supplying games and devices for them to Russia^[2].

Notes