A.D. Vision (simply known as
ADV and also referred to as
ADV Films) is an American
multimedia entertainment studio that served as the largest American and British anime distributor in the late 20th to early 21st centuries. Headquartered in
Houston, Texas, ADV Films was formed in 1992 by video game fan
John Ledford and anime fans
Matt Greenfield and
David Williams. The company spent the next 17 years in the fields of
home video production and distribution, broadcast television, theatrical film distribution, merchandising, original productions, magazine and comic book publishing. In 2002, most of ADV Films' back catalog were used to program its new channel, the
Anime Network.