The Lyons Group (alternatively known through copyright and trademark as Lyons Partnership, L.P.) was a video production group founded in 1986. Currently retaining ownership through copyright, it produced Barney & the Backyard Gang alongside its successor Barney & Friends.
History
Beginnings
The company traces its origins back to 1986, where it was founded as a B2B video production and corporate training video service. In the late 1980s, Sheryl Leach proposed a preschool video series, which eventually would be Barney & the Backyard Gang, to DLM, Inc (Developmental Learning Materials). At the time Leach was working at DLM, Inc. as a writer. The board she proposed to turned her down. Owner of DLM, Inc., Richard C. Leach, who was Sheryl's father-in-law, agreed to back her with the project with $700,000 of his own money,[8] but $1 million in total was provided for the video project.[9] The Lyons Group was formed by Leach under DLM, Inc., to help market Barney.[9]