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Fifth Season (company)
Fifth Season (formerly Endeavor Content) is an American multinational film and television production and distribution company. Fifth Season has financed, produced and distributed TV series and films such as Severance, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and The Lost Daughter.[1] Fifth Season is headquartered in West Los Angeles, California,[2] with offices in Los Angeles,[3] New York, London, Miami, Stockholm, Hong Kong, and Colombia. The company was originally formed by Endeavor Group Holdings. In January 2022, an 80% majority stake was sold to CJ ENM, part of the South Korean conglomerate CJ Group. In December 2023, CJ ENM sold 25% of its ownership stake to Japanese studio Toho. HistoryEndeavor ContentEndeavor Content was formed in October 2017 from the Endeavor Group's film financing and scripted TV sales units, WME's advisory group for film financiers and content producers,[4] and international sales company Bloom, which continued to operate autonomously until 2018, when it was fully integrated into Endeavor Content.[5] Sale to CJ ENM and rebranding to Fifth SeasonIn 2021, Endeavor announced its intent to divest Endeavor Content, due to a new franchising deal with the Writers Guild of America that prohibits talent agencies from holding more than a 20% stake in a production company. Implemented as part of a new code of conduct also targeting movie packaging agreements, the WGA had deemed studio ownership by a talent agency to be a conflict of interest.[6] In November 2021, Endeavor announced an agreement to sell an 80% controlling stake in Endeavor Content's scripted content business to CJ ENM for US$775 million, marking the South Korean conglomerate's largest purchase to-date. Endeavor would keep the company's non-scripted production assets, and Graham Taylor and Chris Rice would remain co-CEOs of the company.[7] The acquisition closed in January 2022.[8][9] In September 2022, CJ ENM renamed the studio to Fifth Season, introducing a new mosaic-themed logo. The name is derived from a term in Asian medicine referring to the harvest season.[10] In December 2023, Japanese studio Toho announced it would acquire a 25% stake in Fifth Season through its U.S. subsidiary Toho International for $225 million. The deal valued the company at $900 million. Taylor and Rice stated that this deal would allow the company to continue expanding its offerings and create opportunities to work with Toho and CJ ENM on both Japanese and global content.[11] ProductionsFilms
Television series
DistributionFifth Season globally distributes series including Killing Eve, The Morning Show, Normal People and The Night Manager. References
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