Origins (1982–1991) Arnon Milchan founded his company as
Embassy International Pictures N.V., which held the name for seven years until it was changed to
Regency International Pictures. This company originally had no distribution deal of producing films with various studios such as
The Ladd Company,
Columbia Pictures,
TriStar Pictures,
Warner Bros.,
Touchstone Pictures,
Vestron Pictures,
Universal Pictures and
20th Century Fox (now known as 20th Century Studios), with the latter ending up being the distributor of the majority of Regency's library. It produced films such as
Once Upon a Time in America and
Q&A, but was shut down in 1991.
New Regency (1991–present) On January 15, 1991, Milchan and Regency, as well as Scriba & Deyle of Germany and Canal+ of France, formed a $600 million joint venture to finance 20 films in five years, all of which were to be distributed by Warner Bros. Therefore, Regency International Pictures became the holding company for all Milchan’s investments and was legally renamed as
Regency Enterprises (doing business as
Arnon Milchan Enterprises) and two new companies (both 100% held by Regency Enterprises) were established to produce movies: one to do business in the United States and legally named
Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc., one to do business overseas and legally named
Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. and both known under the umbrella trade name of
Regency or
New Regency Productions. The offices of New Regency were located on the Warner Bros. lot. Founder Arnon Milchan's daughter Alexandra Milchan headed their offshoot "Regency Vision", originally intended as a competitor to companies like
New Line Cinema's
Fine Line Features, a "specialty features" division. On March 24, 1999, Regency executive David Matalon joined the supervisory board of
Puma AG, an international sports company. At the time, Regency Enterprises (the holding company) was the largest single shareholder in Puma, with more than a 25% stake. The stake was sold for $676 million in May 2003. On September 9, 1997, Milchan signed a 15-year distribution pact with
20th Century Fox worldwide in all media with the exception of foreign television rights, ending the previous association with
Warner Bros. (1991–1999). Fox also funneled $200 million in New Regency, in exchange for a 20% stake in the company. The company’s offices were moved to the Fox lot (where are still located). On January 17, 2011, Fox and New Regency extended the pact, to expire in 2022. On May 21, 2008, they hired Hutch Parker as co-chairman of the studio. He would eventually left the post on January 11, 2012. In July of that same year New Regency announced that they launched a film production joint venture with British-based entertainment production company
Shine Group to launch Shine Pictures with the former's Hutch Parker & Bob Harper joining the new subsidiary along with Shine Group's CEO Elizabeth Murdoch. In June 2012, New Regency announced that they formed a deal with EMJAG Digital Production and
Shine America to create and distribute digital content. Under the deal with EMJAG Digital Productions, New Regency along with Shine America will co-produce and co-finance select digital products under a first-look deal with EMJAG's previous deal with
Paramount being transferred to New Regency and Shine America. In May 2016, New Regency announced that Brad Weston had stepped of the company as CEO and president after five years as Yariv Milchan the son of New Regency's founder Arnon Milchan had joined the company and became their new chairman and CEO. Following the acquisition, 20th Century Fox and
Fox Searchlight Pictures became divisions of
Walt Disney Studios and were renamed 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, respectively, on January 17, 2020. On December 13, 2021, New Regency renewed their global distribution deal with Disney. This includes Disney's handling of global theatrical distribution, home entertainment, and first pay rights for New Regency. New Regency's sales team, led by Charlotte Thorp and primarily based out of
London,
United Kingdom will handle all other television and SVOD rights after the first pay window as well as other business development. In May 2022, New Regency joined forces with
Black Bear Pictures to launch a documentary production unit entitled Double Agent to produce and finance premium documentaries, with Dana O'Keefe appointed as its president. In June 2025, New Regency began a partnership with
Shamrock Capital. New Regency has at least 100 movies to its credit. The company produced 2013's
12 Years a Slave, 2014's
Birdman, and 2015's
The Revenant, which earned the company two
Academy Awards for Best Picture in a row, and three nominations. == New Regency Television International ==