October Films, Inc. was an American independent film production company[1] and distributor founded in 1991 by Bingham Ray and Jeff Lipsky as a means of distributing the 1990 film Life Is Sweet in the United States.
A series of mergers and acquisitions began when Universal Studios (then a division of the Seagram Company) bought a majority stake in October Films in 1997.[2] In 1999, Universal sold October, Interscope Communications, and Gramercy Pictures to Barry Diller, who merged the three companies to form USA Films.[3] Vivendi then acquired USA Films, which acquired Good Machine in 2002 and merged it with USA Films and Universal Focus, forming Focus Features.