Freestyle Releasing, a recognized leader in the distribution of lower-budgeted indie fare and faith based films, has been purchased by Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios (ES).

“We could not be more excited to have Byron Allen add Freestyle Releasing to his ever-growing media empire,” Freestyle co-founder Mark Borde said in a statement. “We’ve had numerous offers over the years, but now we’ve finally found the perfect buyer who shares our vision for distribution expansion on all platforms: theatrical motion pictures, broadcast syndication, cable television, VOD and digital content. Our future just got much brighter.”

Sammy Davis Jr.’s life story, based on Mark Birkbeck’s biography “Deconstructing Sammy”, is slated to begin filming in 2016.

Last year, Freestyle released God’s Not Dead to great success, grossing over $60.7M domestically. Another faith-based pic, Woodlawn, was just released last week and became one of only three the films to earn an A+ CinemaScore rating in the past two years. The inspirational high school football drama has grabbed $5M to date. Plans to distribute 15 to 20 films per year remain in effect, including a movie, television series and documentary on the life of legendary singer Sammy Davis Jr..

“Mark Borde and Susan Jackson have done a phenomenal job creating and building Freestyle, and we are 110 percent committed to enhancing their excellent legacy,” said Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Entertainment Studios. “Freestyle has a great management team, and with their unique output deal with Netflix, the company is very valuable and well-positioned to grab greater theatrical box office market share, and we will maximize this opportunity.”

Entertainment Studios CEO Byron Allen (center) with his television court show judges Cristina Perez, Gloria Allred and Kevin Ross

Entertainment Studios produces, distributes and sells advertising for 38 television programs worldwide. With shows including America’s Court with Judge Ross, ES is one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations.

“This is an historic moment in the film industry,” said music icon Quincy Jones. “One of the best ways to address diversity in our industry is through finance and distribution, and Byron Allen has now taken that first major step, which is long overdue. I am very proud of Byron, and I hope he adopts me.”

Story from Deadline.com