Artisan Entertainment was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2003. At the time of its acquisition Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and distribution agreements.
The company owned the home video rights to the film libraries of Republic Pictures, Vestron, and Carolco Pictures. They also owned Family Home Entertainment (FHE), and its motion picture subdivision, FHE Pictures for a first-feature film "Jonah".
Artisan's releases included Requiem for a Dream, Pi, Grizzly Falls, Killing Zoe, National Lampoon's Van Wilder, The Blair Witch Project, Novocaine, and Startup.com.
