Searchlight Pictures

Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios sub-division of Disney Entertainment, a business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures for 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), the studio focuses primarily on producing, distributing, and acquiring specialty films.

Searchlight is known for distributing the films ''Slumdog Millionaire'', ''12 Years a Slave'', ''Birdman'', ''The Shape of Water'', and ''Nomadland'', all of which have won an Academy Award for Best Picture. The studio has grossed over $5.3 billion worldwide and amassed 51 Academy Awards, 30 Golden Globe Awards, and 56 BAFTA awards. ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is the studio's largest commercial success, with over $377 million (US) of box office receipts, against a production budget of only $15 million.

Searchlight Pictures was one of the 21st Century Fox film production units that was acquired by Disney in 2019. The studio's current name was adopted in order to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation. Searchlight is currently one of five live-action film studios within the Walt Disney Studios, alongside Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and its larger sister unit 20th Century Studios. Compared to 20th Century, whose distribution operations have folded into Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Searchlight retains its autonomous distribution unit. Provided by Wikipedia