Fifth Season (company)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film and television production and distribution |
| Founded | October 2017 |
| Founder | Endeavor Group Holdings |
| Headquarters | West Los Angeles, California , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Graham Taylor (co-CEO), Chris Rice (co-CEO) |
| Products | Films, television series |
| Owner | CJ ENM (80% controlling interest), Toho (25% share as of December 2023) |
| Parent | CJ ENM (majority owner) |
Fifth Season (previously known as Endeavor Content) is a global American company specializing in the production and distribution of films and television content. The firm has provided funding, produced, and distributed various acclaimed series and movies such as Severance, Killing Eve, The Night Manager, Tokyo Vice, Flora and Son, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and The Lost Daughter. Its main headquarters are located in West Los Angeles, California, with additional offices situated in Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Stockholm, Hong Kong, and Colombia.
Established in 2017 by Endeavor Group Holdings, the company experienced a major shift in ownership in January 2022 when CJ ENM, a division of the South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, acquired an 80% controlling interest. Later, in December 2023, CJ ENM divested 25% of its shares to the Japanese film studio Toho.
Endeavor Content
Endeavor Content was launched in October 2017 through the consolidation of Endeavor Group's film financing and scripted television sales divisions, WME's advisory services for film financiers and content creators, along with the international sales firm Bloom. Initially, Bloom operated independently but was fully merged into Endeavor Content by 2018.
Acquisition by CJ ENM and transition to Fifth Season
In 2021, Endeavor declared its intent to sell Endeavor Content following a new agreement with the Writers Guild of America that restricted talent agencies from owning more than 20% of production entities to mitigate conflicts arising from studio ownership.
By November 2021, Endeavor reached an agreement to transfer an 80% majority stake in Endeavor Content's scripted content division to South Korea’s CJ ENM for $775 million, marking CJ ENM’s largest purchase to date. Endeavor retained control over the non-scripted production units, while Graham Taylor and Chris Rice remained as co-CEOs. The transaction was finalized in January 2022.
In September 2022, CJ ENM rebranded the entity as Fifth Season, introducing a new logo featuring a mosaic design inspired by an Asian medicinal concept representing the harvest season.
In December 2023, Japanese studio Toho acquired a 25% share in Fifth Season through its American subsidiary Toho International for $225 million, valuing the company at $900 million. This alliance is intended to broaden content portfolios and encourage cooperative projects between Toho, CJ ENM, and Fifth Season on both Japanese and international productions.