Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment, commonly called Sony Pictures or SPE, is a Japanese-owned American multinational mass media and entertainment company that produces, acquires and distributes filmed entertainment, including theatrical motion pictures, television programs and recorded videos, across multiple platforms. It was founded on December 18, 1987 as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, formed from the spinoff of the Coca-Cola Company entertainment business and a merger with Tri-Star Pictures, with Coca-Cola first keeping 80 percent before cutting its stake to 49 percent in January 1988. Sony wholly acquired the studio in 1989 and renamed it Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1991. Based on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California, it is one of the Big Four major American film studios and encompasses Sony motion picture, television production and distribution units. It is a member of the Motion Picture Association.