Nelson Entertainment

Nelson Entertainment (also known as Nelson Entertainment Group) was a Los Angeles-based film production and home video distribution company, a subsidiary of Nelson Holdings International Ltd., a Vancouver, Canada, holding company formed in 1985 by British film producer Barry Spikings and Richard Northcott, a British financier who amassed his fortune from a chain of hardware and furniture stores.

[1] The company acquired Galactic Films as well as Spikings Corporation in 1985, then later acquired distribution rights to a majority of Embassy titles after purchasing its home video division, which Nelson paid $85 million for, and then signed an agreement with Columbia Pictures which enabled Nelson to finance their films for Columbia.

[2] The company would buy out Autovend Technology Corp, which specialized in vending machines holding up to 400 videotapes for sale or rental, in September 1986, with John Lack, a former executive of Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, hired to run the Autovend technology.

[5] Throughout the summer of 1987, Embassy/Nelson announced more international distribution deals, including West German video distributor Neue Constantin Film and Nippon Herald in Japan.

[10] Nelson then financed a deal with Castle Rock Entertainment to co-produce their films, and in addition handle the international distribution rights.