IM Global, LLC was an American independent film and TV production company, The company was founded by Stuart Ford in April 2007[2] and operating in international film, television and music production, as well as sales and international distribution.[3] The company financed or produced over 30 Hollywood feature films and controlled a library of over 300 films.
IM Global was the 2015 recipient of the Variety Award for Achievement in International Film.[4][5]
From April 2010, the company's two shareholders were Reliance Entertainment, a subsidiary of Indian billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance ADA group, and Ford himself.[6][7] Reliance Entertainment is also one of the main investors in Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Pictures.[8] Due to Reliance's investment in IM Global, with Ford and his Indian partners, the company expanded internationally with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Beijing, Mexico City and Mumbai.[9]
IM Global acts as producer, financier and international sales agent for films such as Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister and A Haunted House. IM Global's Anthem subsidiary specialises in the global distribution of Latin American cinema via Latino film sales joint venture Mundial, Chinese cinema via an exclusive output arrangement with Chinese studio Huayi Bros and Bollywood cinema via the pipeline from shareholder Reliance Entertainment.[13] Overall, IM Global controls a library of more than 300 films.[14] IM Global's titles secured number one international box office shares in the global film sector outside of the major Hollywood studios in both 2013 and 2014.[15][16]
The company's Apsara Distribution subsidiary is a film rights acquisitions and distribution label covering fourteen South-East Asian distribution markets, in many of which it partners with Disney's Buena Vista International.[18][19]
IM Global Television
In mid 2014, the company launched IM Global Television, with Mark Stern, former president and partner of Syfy Channel, as president of original content.[20][21] The division focuses on developing, producing, financing and distribution of scripted content for network, cable and SVOD platforms.
In 2015, Eli Shibley became president of international distribution and co-productions. In addition to managing sales of the scripted slate, Shibley oversees the acquisitions of third party scripted and unscripted projects.[22][23]
In 2016, IM Global Television launched an unscripted and alternative division led by Emmy award winner Phil Gurin.[24]
IM Global Music
In December 2014 the company launched IM Global Music.[25][26]