| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film |
| Predecessor | Metro Tartan Distribution Tartan Films |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Hamish McAlpine John Beasley |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom United States |
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Parent | Palisades Media Group |
| Divisions | Palisades Tartan Films USA Palisades Tartan Films Spotlight Palisades Tartan Video (Labels: Palisades Tartan Asia Extreme, Palisades Tartan Terror, Palisades Tartan Grindhouse) |
| Website | Official website |
Palisades Tartan is a film distribution company with headquarters in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It was established by the Palisades Media Group following the collapse of Tartan Films in the summer of 2008. The primary objective of Palisades Tartan is to acquire and distribute films from Tartan Films' library, ensuring that the titles remain accessible to viewers.[1]
Founded in 1984, Tartan Films was a UK-based film distributor known for introducing "Asia Extreme" films to the masses. The company operated under the name Metro-Tartan Distribution from 1992-2003 before reverting to Tartan Films. It also owned Tartan USA and Tartan Video, releasing acclaimed films in the US market. In June 2008, Tartan went into administration and ceased operations. The US branch's film library was sold to Palisades Media Group, which later released films under the Palisades Tartan label .
History
Tartan Films, established in 1984,[2] was a UK-based film distributor. Founder Hamish McAlpine is credited with creating the term "Asia Extreme" and making such films accessible to the masses. It also owned the US-based Tartan USA and Tartan Video. It has distributed East Asian films under the brand Tartan Asia Extreme. Between 1992-2003 Tartan Films operated under the name Metro-Tartan Distribution before reverting to Tartan Films. More recently, it has released similar films of other origins, under its Tartan Terror brand. Such films include Battle Royale, the Whispering Corridors series, A Tale of Two Sisters, The Last Horror Movie and Oldboy.[3]
Tartan Films USA released various internationally acclaimed films for the US market, including Oldboy, Triad Election, The Page Turner, 12:08 East of Bucharest, Red Road, 9 Songs, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, The Cave of the Yellow Dog, and Battle in Heaven. Tartan USA's DVD catalogue was released through Genius Products, which was 70% owned by The Weinstein Company.[4]
In June 2008, Tartan went into administration, laid off its employees, and ceased operations.[5] The US branch was shuttered a month earlier and its library of films was sold to the Palisades Media Group. Shortly after the sale, a representative of the Bryanston Distributing Company made a seven-figure cash offer to buy the company’s film library, but the offer was rejected by Palisades Media.
Releases
Palisades Tartan
On September 28, 2008, the newly named Palisades Tartan label released its first UK DVD title (cat. no. PAL001DVD), the film P2, directed by Franck Khalfoun.[6] On January 7, 2009, Palisades Tartan released Silent Light in the United States theatrically; it was the first US theatrical release for the company.
Tartan Films
Prior to the take-over, Tartan had originally released all of its films, including its Asia Extreme and Tartan Terror labels on VHS. As DVD became more popular, the company chose to release solely on this format and deleted the VHS back catalogue. The Metro Tartan branch of the company dealt with theatrical distribution.
References
- ↑ "Meet Dread Central's Horror Starlets at Dark Delicacies on September 30th! - Dread Central". www.dreadcentral.com. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ↑ Geoffrey McNab "Death of a salesman", The Guardian 4 July 2009
- ↑ Interview with Tartan Video president Tony Borg, Ohmynews.com.
- ↑ Videostoremag.com
- ↑ "Tartan Films goes into administration". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ↑ "P2". 29 September 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2018 – via Amazon.