Embassy Home Entertainment

In 1982, television producer Norman Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio bought the studio for $25 million[3], dropping off the name "Avco" and changed the name of their own TV company T.A.T. Communications to Embassy Television. The company was already producing such network hits as The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life; during this period they launched Silver Spoons, Square Pegs, and Who's the Boss?. In 1983 it set up its own home video division, prior releases from its film catalog had been handled through Magnetic Video. In 1984, Embassy Pictures was renamed to Embassy Films Associates. In 1985, Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio sold Embassy to The Coca-Cola Company, which also owned Columbia Pictures at the time. Coca-Cola kept Embassy's television division alive; under Coke's ownership the hit series 227 and Married... with Children began. Embassy Television was renamed Embassy Communications in 1986, then ELP (Embassy Limited Partnership) Communications in 1988. Coca-Cola sold the theatrical division to Dino De Laurentiis, who folded the company into De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, and the home video division to another entity known as Nelson Entertainment, run by Barry Spikings. Nelson Entertainment was the American subsidiary owned by Nelson Holdings International (NHI), a company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.