What Sonar Entertainment does

Sonar Entertainment is a Los Angeles-headquartered media company founded in 1979, historically operating in television and film production under the legacy RHI Entertainment banner (former NASDAQ: RHIE, now delisted). The company completed a $121M debt financing with MidCap Financial in December 2018 and acquired the assets of Tricon Films & Television in May 2017, both signaling a period of consolidation in the independent production space during the mid-to-late 2010s. Earlier leadership under Robert A. Halmi, Jr. gave way to Thomas Lesinski as CEO, with a full executive team spanning business and legal affairs, marketing, finance, and operations. Headcount is reported at 51–100 employees.

The current operating product surface, as documented in source material, is the Sonarent review platform (sonarent.com) — a free, consumer-facing editorial website publishing long-form, analytically structured film reviews organized by genre (Westerns, Heists & High Stakes, Romance). Content is single-author (Michael Donovan), ad-free, and accessible globally without registration. The website carries no disclosed pricing, no enterprise tier, no API, and no integrations, making the business model implicitly advertising/affiliate-dependent or brand-driven rather than transactional. No revenue figures, ownership structure, or current strategic direction are disclosed beyond the publication activity recorded through June 2026.

The relationship between the legacy production business and the current Sonarent editorial property is not clarified in the source data; the analysis treats the firm as a single entity with both a dormant or scaled-back production heritage and a small, active consumer content publication.

Name

Sonar Entertainment

Legal name

Sonarent

Website

https://sonarent.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sonar Entertainment is a Los Angeles-based media company founded in 1979, historically a television and film producer (former NASDAQ: RHIE). It currently operates the Sonarent editorial platform, a free consumer-facing website publishing long-form film reviews.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Sonar Entertainment develops, produces, and distributes premium scripted television series, miniseries, and feature films for sale and license to global broadcasters, cable networks, and streaming platforms. The company operates an owned content library, engages in international co-productions, and pursues selective acquisitions to expand its content portfolio.

Product overview

Sonarent is a movie review website (sonarent.com) that publishes analytical reviews of films. The single unified product is the Sonarent review platform, which publishes long-form analytical reviews organized into categories: Westerns, Heists & High Stakes, and Romance. Reviews covered include Unforgiven (1992), Coin Heist (2017), Dear John (2010), and Three Kings (1999).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Premium Scripted Television Series and Miniseries

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• RogerEbert.com: Long-form film criticism publication. Directly comparable to Sonarent as a website that publishes in-depth analytical movie reviews across genres, organized by editorial categories.
• Rotten Tomatoes: Film review aggregation and criticism platform. Comparable target audience (film enthusiasts and casual viewers) and overlapping value proposition of helping readers discover and assess movies.
• IndieWire: Film-focused editorial publication covering criticism, industry news, and analysis. Directly comparable editorial model of genre- and topic-organized long-form film content for enthusiast audiences.
• Metacritic: Film (and broader media) review aggregation site. Comparable audience of film viewers seeking critic guidance and review context, though differentiated by aggregation rather than original long-form criticism.

Emerging players

• Letterboxd: Social film-review and discovery platform. Comparable in serving film enthusiasts who write and consume reviews, though differentiated by its social community and user-generated review model rather than single-author criticism.

Broad incumbents

• Variety: Major entertainment industry publication covering film, TV, and broader media. Comparable coverage of film criticism and industry analysis, but at significantly larger scale and broader editorial scope.
• The Hollywood Reporter: Established entertainment-industry publication with extensive film review and analysis coverage. Overlaps with Sonarent's audience of film enthusiasts but operates at much broader scale and scope.
• IMDb: Largest film database and review platform globally. Comparable in serving viewers seeking information and opinions on films, but vastly larger scale and broader feature set than a small editorial review blog.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DiscoverSonar
• Facebookfacebook.com/sonarentertainment
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sonar-entertainment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sonar Entertainment