October Films was an American independent film

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 production company and distributor

Film distributor

A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...

 founded in 1991 by Bingham Ray and Jeff Lipsky

Jeff Lipsky

Jeff Lipsky is an American photographer specializing in celebrity and lifestyle photography. Lipsky has photographed many well-known actors and actresses for high-profile magazines, including Ellen Page for the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Mark Wahlberg for Men’s Journal, Dustin Hoffman for AARP...

 as a means of distributing the 1990 film Life Is Sweet

Life Is Sweet (film)

Life Is Sweet is a 1991 British film directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent, Alison Steadman, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks and Timothy Spall. Leigh's third cinematic film, it was his most commercially successful title at the time of its release...

. It is unrelated to the UK-based factual television production company October Films Limited, founded in 1989 and still trading successfully.

A series of mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...

 began when Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 (then a division of the Seagram Company) bought a majority stake in October Films in 1997. Universal then sold its shares to Barry Diller

Barry Diller

Barry Charles Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.-Early life:...

 in 1999, who renamed the company USA Films and merged it with Gramercy Pictures

Gramercy Pictures

Gramercy Pictures was a film distributor launched in 1992, a joint venture of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Gramercy, a so-called "mini-major," was the distributor of PolyGram movies in the United States and Canada...

. Vivendi

Vivendi

Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...

 then acquired USA Films, who in 2002 acquired Good Machine

Good Machine

Good Machine was an independent film production, film distribution, and foreign sales company started in the early 1990s by its co-founders and producers, Ted Hope and James Schamus. David Linde joined in the late 90s to start the international sales company...

 and merged it with USA Films, forming Focus Features

Focus Features

Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....

.