Media company Anthem Sports & Entertainment said it acquired film distributor Gravitas Ventures from ProSiebenSat 1 Group’s Red Arrow Studios for $73 million in cash plus additional stock consideration.

The deal adds to Anthem’s stockpile of multiplatform content. Adding Gravitas to properties including AXS TV, HDNet Movies, Impact Wrestling, Invicta Fighting Championships, Fight Networks, Game Plus and Game TV gives Anthem a library of more than 8,000 hours of sports and entertainment content.

Gravitas releases more than 300 titles a year, including the recent films The Secret Dare to Dream starring Katie Holmes and Queen Bees starring Ellen Burstyn and James Cann.

Gravitas founder and CEO Nolan Gallagher, president Michael Murphy, executive VP and general counsel Brendan Gallagher and chief financial officer Brian Kenyon will be joining Anthem. The Gravitas Ventures organization is expected to remain intact.

“This is a significant step forward for Anthem in its mission to build a next-generation media company that is primed for the digital future, keeping Anthem ahead of the curve with the current trajectory of the fast-paced streaming-first entertainment ecosystem,” said Leonard Asper, founder and CEO of Anthem.

“Gravitas is a world leader in film and documentary distribution and provides Anthem with a major presence across the top digital platforms,“ Asper said. ”We are happy to welcome Nolan, Michael, Brendan, Brian and the Gravitas team on board, and to broaden our shareholder base to include Gravitas Ventures’ management and Red Arrow Studios. We are excited to build upon the incredible success that they have already achieved.”

The deal makes Anthem a player in the digital content distribution business and will provide Gravitas with opportunities to take advantage of Anthem’s expertise in launching free ad-supported streaming TV channels by creating new themed channels base around its content.

Gravitas launched a streaming service, Gravitas Movies in 2019.

“Anthem perfectly complements Gravitas Ventures’ mindset and mission, presenting several major platforms where our films can thrive while opening up dynamic new areas and opportunities that will be vital in helping our company grow,” Gallagher said. “They have had tremendous success with all of their acquired properties, taking a hands-on approach that shows a great understanding for their unique products and what it takes to keep them on top in this highly competitive industry. We feel confident being a part of a talented Anthem team that is more than equipped to lead the charge for our filmmakers on this journey, and we could not be more excited to begin this new era in the legacy of Gravitas Ventures.”

Progress Partners acted as M&A financial adviser to Anthem.

Independent film distributor Gravitas Ventures has launched a $4.99 subscription video on demand platform, GravitasMovies.com.

The platform is up live as of Tuesday, offering users the requisite seven-day free trial.

Gravitas is streaming more than 1,000 titles from its library, commercial-free. The company said it already has an integration deal with Comcast’s X1 platform. The service is app-supported within Apple TV and iOs devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Android devices.

Gravitas is getting into the subscription video game as other SVOD niche platforms catering to film enthusiasts exit—notably, WarnerMedia’s FilmStruck and Fandor.

"We have assessed the landscape of SVOD offerings for independent films and we believe the volume of selection set us apart. Other companies have hundreds and we have thousands," Gravitas president Michael Murphy told MCN. 

"We release approximately 400 new films every year so the refreshing of the offering is something we are uniquely set up to do well to continue to provide value to subscribers," he added. "VOD and its many models are ever-changing and we are still in the 3rd inning of a decades long evolution."

Notably, Gravitas already distributes its movies on AVOD platforms including the Roku Channel and Pluto TV. 

"Certain films in our library will continued to be made available with our AVOD partners. We aspire to find audience for our filmmakers and their films and wherever we can," Murphy said. "AVOD continues to be part of our plans via Tubi, Pluto Roku, Amazon and other partners. We are also always on the look out for new opportunities and partners in AVOD.

"Long term the largest representation of our library will be via Gravitas Movies (SVOD)," Murphy added. "Offering consumers a thousand or in time thousands of recent films and documentaries is a tremendous value for consumers wanting something new, thought provoking and oftentimes exclusive soon after a film festival debut."

News of GravitasMovies.com was first reported in Variety. 

Pluto TV, the free, ad-based OTT TV service, is adding a catalog of more than 2,000 features and documentaries through a partnership with Gravitas Ventures.

As a result, Pluto TV is launching a new exclusive channel (No. 721 on Pluto TV’s digital dial), called Gravitas Movies, that is available on the Web at Pluto.tv, as well as its apps for iOS and Android mobile devices and TV-connected platforms such as Roku players, Apple TV boxes, Android TV devices and PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Films coming to Pluto TV via the deal include music documentary Sound City with Dave Grohl, Tom Petty, Mick Fleetwood, Rivers Cuomo and Trent Reznor, Cassie Jaye’s The Red Pill about the men's rights movement, Hell Baby with Rob Codry and Leslie Bibb, and crime drama Perfect Sisters starring Abigail Breslin and Mira Sorvino.

“We are always looking for ways to bring unique and diverse content to our viewers,” Tom Ryan, CEO of Pluto TV, said in a statement. "Gravitas Movies will satisfy viewers seeking cutting-edge documentaries, indie films making the film festival circuits, and feature-length movies you want to see in theaters."

Pluto, which counts Lionsgate, MGM and Warner Bros. among its content partners, recently announced a free VOD component that complements its primary, linear-style service. 

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