Vidmark Entertainment was formed in August 1984 and began operating as a domestic home video distributor in early 1985. In April 1986, Vidmark Entertainment signed a deal with
ABC Video Enterprises, to distribute six ABC titles on videocassette. In 1987, Vidmark began distributing and sub-licensing motion pictures for international distribution. That year, the company entered theatrical distribution and production with the acquisition of four films and completion of its first in-house productions, namely
American Gothic, ''
That's Adequate, Silent Memory
and Born of Fire''. Vidmark Entertainment entered motion-picture production in 1988 with its R-rated feature film
Demonwarp. Trimark picked up its first film,
Warlock, a 1989 film starring
Julian Sands which was a major theatrical hit. Finally, Trimark made the sequel, titled
Warlock: The Armageddon, but officially released in 1993. Trimark also saw success in other intimate film series where the studio produced and distributed its horror film
Leprechaun, which released in 1993, starring future
Friends actress
Jennifer Aniston and
Warwick Davis as the sinister leprechaun. The film grossed over $10 million during its theatrical run. One
theatrical sequel and four direct-to-video
sequels eventually followed. Other Trimark productions included
The Dentist, a major hit on the Time Warner-owned, pay-TV channel
HBO,
Return of the Living Dead III and ''
Pinocchio's Revenge. Trimark also made the dramatic Eve's Bayou, starring Samuel L. Jackson and a young Jurnee Smollett, which received critical acclaim. Trimark also released the miniseries Storm of the Century'' on home video. On June 29, 1990, Vidmark Entertainment began trading on NASDAQ with the ticker symbol VDMK. At the end of 1991, Vidmark acquired International Broadcast Systems, Ltd. for $1.6 million and renamed the company as Trimark Television. In June 1992, Vidmark, Inc. changed its name to Trimark Holdings, Inc. to reflect Trimark's variegation of its distribution streams. In March 1993, the company formed its virtual division Trimark Interactive. The division expands into the emerging market for interactive software and multimedia. Trimark Interactive's assets were sold to Graphix Zone in March 1997. In June 2000, Trimark was acquired by Canadian/US film company
Lions Gate Entertainment for approximately $50 million in stock and cash including taking on $36 million in debt, with Amin becoming the single largest shareholder of Lions Gate. Trimark was folded into Lions Gate on March 12, 2001. In 2001,
Mark Amin founded
Sobini Films, and is its CEO. In late 2017, Lionsgate launched a channel for all of the
Roku streaming players using the Vidmark name and a modified variant of their late 1980s logo, with Lionsgate-owned films, including some from the original Vidmark and Trimark, amongst the selection. ==Filmography==