Private company

Newmarket Films

Logo: TallonLeeBritt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

American privately owned independent film company

Newmarket Films, LLC was an American privately owned independent film production and distribution company and a former film distribution subsidiary of Newmarket Capital Group. Newmarket distributed, in North America, such films as Memento,The Passion of the Christ, Whale Rider, Monster, Donnie Darko, and God Grew Tired of Us.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1994Founded1

Newmarket Films, LLC was an American privately owned independent film production and distribution company and a former film distribution subsidiary of Newmarket Capital Group. Newmarket distributed, in North America, such films as Memento,The Passion of the Christ, Whale Rider, Monster, Donnie Darko, and God Grew Tired of Us.2

The story

Newmarket Capital Group was founded in 1994 by William Tyrer and Chris Ball, with the company's executive team made up of Chris Calhoon, Rene Cogan, John Crye and Robert Fyvolent. The company was originally launched as a film financing company. Newmarket financed and produced films that had "break-out potential" and finance as small as $2 million and as large as $20 million. Newmarket had output deals with Summit Entertainment, Original Film and Escape Artists.

While financing and producing Memento, the company had trouble trying to find a distribution deal. Memento was a critical and commercial success, thus leading Newmarket Films to become a full theatrical distribution company. In 2005, members of the company left to start its own distribution wing, Picturehouse.

Newmarket Films was acquired by Exclusive Media Group (which eventually became Exclusive Media) in 2009. In 2010, Newmarket made a deal with Lionsgate Home Entertainment to become the exclusive home entertainment distributor for Newmarket's film library. Later that year, Chris Ball left the company to form the distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment; Rene Cogan and John Crye joined him. Exclusive Media then sold its own film library, including the Newmarket library, to AMBI Group in 2015.

From Wikipedia’s article on Newmarket Films, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1994Founded Founded1

Sources

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