Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., commonly referred to as Sony Pictures and abbreviated as SPE, is a Japanese-owned American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment company that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and recorded videos) through multiple platforms. It was founded on December 18, 1987 as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. from the spinoff of the Coca-Cola Company's entertainment business sector and merger with Tri-Star Pictures, Inc., with Coca-Cola initially retaining 80% in the resulting entity before reducing its stake to 49% in January 1988. The studio was wholly acquired by Sony in 1989 and renamed as SPE in 1991. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California, as one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, it encompasses Sony's motion picture, television production and distribution units. Sony Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).