[2] They expanded into film production in the early 1980s, investing in the short, A Shocking Accident (1982) with Jenny Seagrove and Rupert Everett.
This film wound up winning an Oscar and encouraged Richard Branson to expand into filmmaking, appointing Al Clark head of production.
[6][7][8] An investment in the notorious flop Absolute Beginners (1986) discouraged them from further involvement in the film world at the time.
[9] In July 1989, Jonathan D. Krane's Management Company Entertainment Group bought the division, which in the meantime had been renamed Virgin Vision, for $83 million, using loans from General Electric Capital Corporation, Standard Chartered and the Virgin Group itself.
Virgin Vision was at the time a full-fledged theatrical and video distributor, with operations in the United Kingdom and some other European territories, the Middle East and Australia.