The story
Founded by James Lassiter and Will Smith in 1998.1
On November 11, 1997, actor Will Smith (age 29) and manager James Lassiter signed an overall first-look term deal at Universal Pictures. Thus, Overbrook Entertainment was born. It was formally incorporated on February 2, 1998.
David Tochterman, formerly employee of The Carsey-Werner Company, joined the company on September 16, 1998, and decided to launch the television division. Tochterman produced shows for the broadcast and cable television networks.
The music division was restructured with John Dukakis, formerly an employee of Southpaw Entertainment, signed as executive vice president of its music division on February 11, 1999.
On May 10, 2000, it was announced that a merger with The Firm had been proposed, but it was later scrapped.
Overbrook Entertainment announced on December 10, 2000 that it was renewing its interest in the television division. Its plans were to include a 13-episode animated series commitment for Nickelodeon, as well as a slew of comedy, drama and telemovies on various broadcast networks. The studio was landing deals for three sitcoms, three dramas and one telefilm for various web networks.
The studio's contract with Universal Pictures ended on January 30, 2002. It then formally signed a contract with Sony Pictures Entertainment to develop feature films.
In the years of 2009, 2015 and 2017, the studio went on hiatus where the films from the company are not released yet for the next three years.
The studio announced that it wouldn't renew its deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment on January 3, 2018.
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On July 10, 2019, Smith and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, announced the formation of Westbrook Inc., with Overbrook Entertainment being as one of the subsidiaries of the company. It is reported that Westbrook Studios would sign a deal with National Geographic.
From Wikipedia’s article on Overbrook Entertainment, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4