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60-459: Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates ) was an American independent film production and distribution studio, active from 1942 to 1986. Embassy was responsible for films such as The Graduate , The Producers , The Fog , The Howling , Escape from New York , and This Is Spinal Tap , Swamp Thing , and television series such as The Jeffersons , One Day at

120-400: A record label with music industry executives Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore , Avco Embassy Records , later shortened to Avco Records . In 1969, the company bought out Mike Nichols' production company and signed him to make two movies. The company became less successful in the 1970s and only had hits with Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge (1971) and A Touch of Class (1973). In 1972,

180-773: A "one time hit" or an ongoing "entertainment franchise " that can be continued, remade, rebooted , or expanded into other sister industries; such as the video game industry (see Star Wars , Star Trek ). Entertainment projects can be either an original or an adaptation from another industry. In rare occasional cases, a few troubled major studios would also shed their distribution and/or marketing staffs, mainly due to reduced resources, and resort to co-investing and/or co-distributing film projects with larger studios, operating as virtual, production-only movie studios. Notable examples include legendary studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , which, after many years of box office flops (mostly with low budgets), bad management and distribution, and bankruptcy,

240-399: A Time and The Facts of Life . Embassy was founded in 1942 by Joseph E. Levine as a foreign film distributor, before branching out into film production in 1945. In 1967, Embassy was acquired by Avco . The company struggled in the 1970s before focusing on lower-budget genre films at the end of the decade. In 1982, television producer Norman Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio bought

300-405: A contract) or as a subsidiary for an entertainment company, motion picture company, television network, or all, and are generally smaller than the company they are partnered with. A book to film unit is a unit of a book publishing company for the purposes of getting books that they published adapted into film . Films have been using books as a prime source for films for years. In 2012, six out of

360-614: A development and co-finance plan. Macmillan Films was launched by Thomas Dunne Books in October 2010 under the packaging model similar to Alloy while also moving to get film rights from Dunne's published author. Also that year, Random House changed their strategy to film development and packaging only. Condé Nast Entertainment was started by Magazine publisher Conde Nast in October 2012. In 2013, Macmillan Films became Macmillan Entertainment with an expansion to look at other divisions' book for possible films. A production company

420-841: A novel by Harold Robbins was also released as part of three-picture deal with Robbins, Where Love Has Gone (1964). Embassy also released several films produced by or starring Stanley Baker including Zulu (1964), Dingaka (1965) and Robbery (1967). Later in the decade, Embassy functioned on its own with many Rankin/Bass Productions animated features, including The Daydreamer (1966) and Mad Monster Party? (1967), and successful live-action productions including The Graduate , by second-time film director Mike Nichols , The Producers , by first-time director Mel Brooks (both 1967), and The Lion in Winter (1968), which won an Academy Award for Katharine Hepburn . Embassy enjoyed its greatest success with The Graduate , which became

480-470: A novella written by Alberto Moravia , had been directed by Vittorio de Sica , and starred Sophia Loren (Ponti's wife) and Eleanora Brown , who acted out the respective roles of a mother and her young daughter whom World War II had displaced from their home. Levine's promotional campaign focused on one still photograph, which showed Loren, as the mother, wearing a torn dress, kneeling in the dirt, and weeping with rage and grief. Predicting that she would win

540-465: A private corporate investment entity (see Legendary Pictures ). Their only source of profit comes from the productions they produce. Because entertainment and media are currently in "high demand", a production company can profit if its management is capable of using its resources to supply good quality products and services to the public. Many entertainment production companies brand their entertainment projects. An entertainment project can either become

600-451: A production. The entertainment industry is centered on funding (investments from studios, investment firms, or individuals either from earnings from previous productions or personal wealth), projects (scripts and entertainment franchises), and talent ( actors , directors, screenwriters , and crew). Production companies are judged and ranked based on the amount of funding it has, as well the productions it has completed or been involved with in

660-445: A self-publishing vanity press which are paid services. Both large and small production studios have an editorial board or editor-in-chief , along with other forms of a command hierarchy . Entertainment companies operate as mini conglomerate , operating many divisions or subsidiaries in many different industries. Warner Bros. Entertainment and Lionsgate Entertainment are two companies with this corporate structure. It allows for

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720-426: A single company to maintain control over seemingly unrelated companies that fall within the ranges of entertainment, which increases and centralises the revenue into one company (example: a film production company, TV production company, video game company, and comic book company are all owned by a single entertainment company). A motion picture company, such as Paramount Pictures , specializing "only" in motion pictures

780-468: Is Spinal Tap (1984) and The Sure Thing (1985). His third film, Stand By Me (1986), started at Embassy, but it almost got cancelled because of the sale to Columbia days before filming was to begin. Norman Lear ended up putting up his own money for completion funds. Lear and Perenchio sold Embassy Communications (including Tandem Productions) to The Coca-Cola Company for $ 485 million on June 18, 1985. Coca-Cola, which also owned Columbia Pictures at

840-475: Is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's Best Actor winner. The Best Actress award has been presented 97 times, to 79 actresses. The first winner

900-402: Is considered to be a small production company. These companies often work with up and coming talent. Small production companies will either grow to become a major production company, a subsidiary completely owned by another company, remain small, or fail. The success of an entertainment production company is centered on the projects it produces, the talent it can acquire, and the performance of

960-547: Is now NBCUniversal Syndication Studios ). In late 1977, Avco Embassy announced its intention to resume production. In 1978, Robert Rehme was appointed president and chief operating officer and he convinced the company to give him $ 5 million for a production fund. Under his stewardship, Avco Embassy concentrated on lower budgeted genre films, six of which were successful: The Manitou (1978), Phantasm (1979), The Fog (1980), Scanners (1981), Time Bandits (1981) and The Howling (1981). They benefited in part from

1020-442: Is only connected with its other counterpart industries through its parent company. Instead of performing a corporate reorganization, many motion picture companies often have sister companies they collaborate with in other industries that are subsidiaries owned by their parent company and is often not involved in the making of products that are not motion picture related. A film production company can either operate as an affiliate (under

1080-410: Is owned by Paramount Global ). Alloy Entertainment while not a unit of a publisher started using a book packaging to film model of film and TV development by developing the property in-house, hire authors for the books and films, so as to own the property. Random House was the first big six book publisher to establish a book to film unit, Random House Films , in 2005 with a Focus Features deal under

1140-448: Is usually run by a producer or director, but can also be run by a career executive. In entertainment, a production company relies highly on talent or a well known entertainment franchise to raise the value of an entertainment project and draw out larger audiences. This gives the entertainment industry a democratized power structure to ensure that both the companies and talent receive their fair share of pay and recognition for work done on

1200-485: The 9th Academy Awards , held in 1937, the category was limited to a maximum five nominations per year. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County ; the ceremonies are always held the following year. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months, from August 1 to July 31. For

1260-963: The Academy Award for her performance, Levine brought Loren to the United States for interviews, bought space for, and placed, large advertisements in newspapers, and saw to it that Two Women appeared in the cities of residence of Academy Award jury members. Levine's efforts paid off when the film was a hit and Loren became the first cast member of a foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Actress . Embassy also acquired rights to and distributed Divorce Italian Style (1961); Salvatore Giuliano (1962); Federico Fellini 's film 8½ (1963), as well as Ponti's producing credits including Boccaccio '70 (1962), and de Sica's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) and Marriage Italian Style (1964). Embassy also produced an adaptation of The Thief of Baghdad (1961), also with Reeves in

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1320-599: The Epic catalog, which in turn incorporated the Nelson catalog, while Sony Pictures Television owns worldwide television syndication rights to the theatrical library as well as full ancillary and distribution rights to the Embassy Television library. Production company Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating a particular product, regardless of where in

1380-441: The highest-grossing film of the year . This enabled Levine to sell his company to Avco for a deal worth $ 40 million, although he stayed on as chief executive. In 1969, Embassy appointed Mike Nichols to the board of directors and acquired his film production company, Friwaftt. Levine also ended a four-year feud with Ponti and Loren and produced Loren's first film since she became a mother, Sunflower (1970). Levine also started

1440-455: The supply with talent and resources , the organization of staff, the production itself, post-production , distribution, and marketing . Production companies are often either owned or under contract with a media conglomerate , film studio , record label , video game publisher , or entertainment company, due to the concentration of media ownership , who act as the production company' s partner or parent company . This has become known as

1500-421: The "studio system". Independent studios usually prefer production house (see Lionsgate ), production studio (see Amazon Studios ), or production team (see Rooster Teeth ). In the case of television, a production company would serve under a television network . Production companies can work together in co-productions . In music, the term production team typically refers to a group of individuals filling

1560-513: The 1960s, Levine had transformed Embassy into a production company. In 1963, Levine was offered a $ 30 million deal with Paramount Pictures to produce films in the vein of his previous successes. Paramount would finance the films and Embassy would receive part of its profits. Under the deal, Levine produced Harold Robbins 's The Carpetbaggers (1964) and its prequel Nevada Smith (1966), which were successes, along with flops such as Harlow (1965), starring Carroll Baker . A third film based on

1620-465: The 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31. The following individuals received two or more Best Actress awards: The following individuals received three or more Best Actress nominations: Winners are in bold . The following were nominated for their portrayals of

1680-553: The Blay Video catalog. In 1984, Embassy Pictures was renamed to Embassy Films Associates. That same year, Fanny and Alexander , which it distributed in the United States, received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . During this period, Rob Reiner , who up to that point had been most famous for playing Mike "Meathead" Stivic on All in the Family , began his directorial career with two Embassy releases, This

1740-539: The Boss? , It's Your Move and Gloria . They also expanded into making made-for-TV movies, including Eleanor, First Lady of the World (1982) and Grace Kelly (1983). In late 1982, Embassy bought out Andre Blay Corporation and renamed the company to Embassy Home Entertainment ; prior releases from its film catalog (as Avco Embassy Picture Corporation) had been handled through Magnetic Video , as well as reissues of

1800-471: The award twice. Meryl Streep has received the most nominations in this category—seventeen—and has won twice. Deborah Kerr holds the record in this category for most nominations (six) without a win —albeit in 1993, she was an Honorary Oscar recipient . At the 41st Academy Awards , Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn received the same number of votes and thus tied for Best Actress (the only time this has occurred). Italian actress Sophia Loren became

1860-608: The company had begun cutting back on production and in 1973 recorded a loss of $ 8.1 million. Levine resigned as president on May 28, 1974, to re-enter independent production and was replaced by Bill Chaikin. By 1975, Avco Embassy stopped making movies altogether. In 1968, Avco Embassy launched Avco Embassy Television, to syndicate films from the Avco Embassy library on television. In 1976, Avco Embassy sold their broadcasting division and Avco Program Sales to Multimedia, Inc. , becoming Multimedia Entertainment (since folded into what

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1920-455: The company's daily activities. In some cases, a production company can be run by only a handful of people. The company's funds are mainly committed towards employing talent, crew, and acquiring new updated production equipment on a regular basis. Many productions often require at least one to two cameras and lighting equipment for on location shooting. Production equipment is either leased or purchased from another production company or directly from

1980-516: The early 1990s, key rights to the Embassy library transferred from company to company due to the bankruptcies of the companies that separately owned them (De Laurentiis for theatrical, Nelson for home video). Dino De Laurentiis's assets went to Parafrance International, in conjunction with Village Roadshow , while Nelson's assets were acquired by Crédit Lyonnais Bank and later sold to PolyGram . Nelson's parent company, NHI continued to exist well into

2040-440: The exposure, when shooting in public locations, major productions often employ security to ensure the protection of the talent and crew working on a specific production. After filming is completed, the production enters into post production, which is handled by a post production company and overseen by the production company. The editing, musical score, visual effects, re-recording of the dialog, and sound effects are "mixed" to create

2100-411: The fact that American International Pictures recently left the exploitation field, lessening competition in this area. Rehme left the company in 1981, having seen it increase its revenue from $ 20 million to $ 90 million. In 1981, Tom Laughlin offered to buy the company for $ 24 million but withdrew his offer. In January 1982, television producer Norman Lear and his partner Jerry Perenchio bought

2160-716: The film. It was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, with rentals of $ 4.7 million, starting a growth in the sword-and-sandal genre. After releasing the Hercules sequel, Hercules Unchained (1960), Embassy expanded to add 13 offices nationally as well as offices in Rome, London and Paris and signed deals with Italian production company Titanus and producer Carlo Ponti and began distributing art films , often European ones. In 1961, Embassy bought North American distribution rights for Two Women after Levine seeing no more than three minutes of its "rushes". The film, based on

2220-425: The final film, which is then screened at the final screening. Marketing is also launched during this phase, such as the release of trailers and posters. Once a final film has been approved, the film is taken over by the distributors, who then release the film. For legal reasons, it is common within the entertainment industry for production companies not to accept unsolicited materials from any other company, talent, or

2280-578: The first actor, in any category, to win for a foreign language performance in Two Women (1960). Nominees are currently determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. In the first three years of the awards, actors and actresses were nominated as the best individuals in their categories. At that time, all of their work during

2340-435: The general public. It is also common for filmmakers or producers to become entrepreneurs and open their own production companies so that they can have more control over their careers and pay, while acting as an "in-house" creative and business driving force for their company but continuing to freelance as an artist for other companies, if desired. Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress

2400-426: The guild. Productions with smaller budgets are allowed to use both guild talent and talent from the public. The majority of the talent and crew working in the entertainment industry are members of their professions guild. Most productions in the entertainment industry are guild productions. A production company is responsible for the development and filming of a specific production or media broadcast. In entertainment,

2460-821: The lead, and Rick Carrier's Strangers in the City (1962). On the back of the success of Ingmar Bergman , Embassy released some of his earlier films in the United States, his film The Devil's Wanton (1949) in 1962 and his film Night Is My Future (1948) in 1963. Embassy also released two 1961 films produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman - What a Carve Up! (released in 1962) and The Hellfire Club (released in 1963). Other Ponti-produced films released by Embassy include Landru (1963), directed by Claude Chabrol ; Contempt (1963), directed by Jean-Luc Godard ; The Empty Canvas starring Bette Davis ; The Ape Woman (1964); Casanova 70 (1965); The 10th Victim (1965); and de Sica's Sunflower (1970). By

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2520-440: The manufacturer. In the entertainment industry, in order to secure experienced professional talent and crew, production companies often become a signatory company to that talent or crew members "guild". By becoming a signatory company, it agrees to abide by the guild regulations. All big budget guild productions are exclusive to guild members and non guild members are not allowed to participate in these productions unless authorized by

2580-481: The mid-1990s. In 1994, Parafrance's assets were acquired by the French production company StudioCanal which today owns ancillary rights to the majority of the Embassy theatrical library. However, North American video rights to the majority of Embassy's film library are owned by Amazon MGM Studios via its Orion Pictures subsidiary due to them acquiring most of PolyGram 's pre-March 31, 1996 film library which included

2640-485: The nine best picture Oscar nominees were originally books. Previously, publishers did not develop their books into movie nor receive any of the profits. Neither Scholastic or Little Brown, get any box office revenue from the Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga movies just through book sales. As the publishers faced decreasing revenue due to increased competition from self-published e-books, or Amazon.com moving into

2700-424: The past. If a production company has major funding either through earnings, studio investors, or private investors, and has done or been involved with big budget productions in the past, it is considered to be a major production company. These companies often work with well-known and expensive talent. If a production company does not have much funding and has not done or been involved with any big budget productions, it

2760-469: The process their expertise is required, or how long they are involved in the project. For example, in a theatrical performance, the production team has not only the running crew , but also the theatrical producer , designers , and theatrical direction . The production company may be directly responsible for fundraising the production or may accomplish this through a parent company , partner, or private investor. It handles budgeting, scheduling, scripting,

2820-416: The production process begins with the development of a specific project. Once a final script has been produced by the screenwriters, the production enters into the pre-production phase, most productions never reach this phase for financing or talent reasons. In pre-production, the actors are signed on and prepared for their roles, crew is signed on, shooting locations are found, sets are built or acquired, and

2880-486: The production's shooting locations for both privacy and safety reasons. In many cases, the director, producers, and the leading actors are often the only people with access to a full or majority of a single script. Supporting actors, background actors, and crew often never receive a full copy of a specific script to prevent leaks. Productions are often shot in secured studios, with limited to no public access, but they are also shot on location on secured sets or locations. Due to

2940-552: The proper shooting permits are acquired for on location shooting. Actors and crew are hand picked by the producer, director, and casting director, who often use collaborators or referenced personnel to prevent untrusted or unwelcomed people from gaining access to a specific production and compromising the entire production through leaks. Once a production enters into principal photography, it begins filming. Productions are almost never cancelled once they reach this phase. Codenames are often used on bigger productions during filming to conceal

3000-517: The publishing field, publishers have started to enter the film and TV production business to boost their net income with Amazon attempting to compete there too. More screenwriters are turning to book publishers to get their screenplay published as a book, so as to have a boost in their attempt to have the screenplay turned into a movie, given that it is a known product after the book. Publisher Simon & Schuster , though not involved with film and TV, shares possible film and TV deals with CBS (S&S

3060-434: The qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award. Despite this, at the 3rd Academy Awards , held in 1930, only one film was cited in each winner's award regardless of how many they were eligible to be considered for during that span. The current system, in which an actress is nominated for a specific performance in a single film, was introduced for the 4th Academy Awards . Starting with

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3120-684: The rights for $ 12,000 and spending $ 400,000 promoting it under the title Godzilla, King of the Monsters! , and earning $ 1 million in theatrical rentals . They then made a $ 100,000 deal to bring the French-Italian film Attila (1954) to the United States in 1958 and spent $ 600,000 promoting it, which returned $ 2 million in rentals. Their breakthrough came the following year with Hercules , starring Steve Reeves and released by Warner Bros. Levine invested $ 120,000 on dubbing , sound effects and new titles and spent $ 1.25 million on promoting

3180-539: The role of " record producer " usually reserved for one individual. Some examples of musical production teams include Matmos and D-Influence . The aforementioned publishing conglomerates distribute said creative works, but it is not uncommon for production companies to act as a publication . For example, The Walt Disney Company and Nintendo act as publisher for Walt Disney Animation Studios and Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development respectively. Self-publishing , in this case, should not be confused with

3240-481: The studio for $ 25 million, reverted the name to the previous Embassy Pictures by dropping off "Avco", and renamed T.A.T. Communications to Embassy Television and T.A.T. Communications Company to Embassy Communications, Inc. The company was producing such hits as The Jeffersons , One Day at a Time and The Facts of Life , and by Tandem, Diff'rent Strokes and Archie Bunker's Place . During this period, they launched Silver Spoons , Square Pegs , Who's

3300-413: The studio, and it became involved in television production. In 1985, Embassy was sold to The Coca-Cola Company , which sold the studio to Dino De Laurentiis in October of that same year. Today, StudioCanal owns ancillary rights to the majority of Embassy's theatrical library, while Sony Pictures Television owns worldwide television syndication rights to the studio's films and TV shows. The company

3360-415: The talent. Marketing is also a major factor. All films, as a tradition, are often marketed around the image and the performance of the actors; with an option of marketing the behind the scenes crew such as the directors and screenwriters. Unlike many other businesses, a production company does not rely on an ongoing revenue stream , they operate on ongoing investments; this often requires a parent company or

3420-634: The time, sold Embassy Pictures to Dino De Laurentiis on November 1, 1985, but kept Embassy's television division active. De Laurentiis folded the company into his De Laurentiis Entertainment Group , and the home video division became Nelson Entertainment , run by executives who had previously worked at DEG before it went bankrupt. Although De Laurentiis was now owner of Embassy, he was not given rights to then-upcoming films such as Crimewave and Saving Grace (both 1986), and an adaptation of Stephen King 's The Body , which became Stand by Me (1986), which became properties of Lear and Perenchio. By

3480-515: Was Janet Gaynor for her roles in 7th Heaven , Street Angel , and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans . The most recent winner is Emma Stone for her role in Poor Things (2023); she had previously won the award for her role in La La Land (2016). The record for most wins is four, held by Katharine Hepburn . Frances McDormand has won thrice, while thirteen other actresses have won

3540-526: Was founded in 1942 by Joseph E. Levine , initially to distribute foreign films in the United States. The company entered film production in 1945, co-producing with Maxwell Finn the documentary Gaslight Follies , a compilation of silent film clips narrated by Ben Grauer . Embassy found success in 1956 bringing the Japanese film Godzilla to the American general public (in a re-edited version), acquiring

3600-649: Was restructured at the end of 2010 under new management and currently struck deals with some of the Big Six studios (most notably the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group and Warner Bros. ); Miramax , which was downsized by former owner Disney into a smaller division. Because a production company is only operational when a production is being produced and most of the talent and crew are freelancers , many production companies are only required to hire management staff that helps to oversee

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