A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio ) is a major entertainment company that makes films . Today, they are mostly financing and distribution entities. Additionally, they may also have their own privately owned studio facility or facilities; however, most firms in the entertainment industry have never owned their own studios, but have rented space from other companies. The day-to-day filming operations are generally handled by their production company subsidiary.
114-445: Canal+ Image International (formerly known as EMI Films , Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment , Lumiere Pictures and Television , and UGC DA ) was a British-French film , television , animation studio and distributor . A former subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but
228-492: A Poverty Row studio on Hollywood's famously low-rent Gower Street . Among Hollywood's elite, the studio's small-time reputation led some to joke that "CBC" stood for "Corned Beef and Cabbage". CBC was reorganized as Columbia Pictures Corporation by brothers Harry and Jack Cohn and best friend Joe Brandt on January 10, 1924. Harry Cohn became president in 1932 and remained head of production as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He would run Columbia for
342-404: A security guard . The sound stage is the central component of a studio lot. Most studios have several; small studios may have as few as one, and large studios have as many as 20 to 30. Movie studios also provide office space for studio executives and production companies, and makeup rooms and rehearsal rooms for talent. If space allows, a studio may have an outside backlot . Finally, there
456-402: A deal with French distributor AAA for a 30-month output of the entire British film library, serving 20 films, and did not want to cover all home video rights. On August 6, 1985, Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment agreed deals with various production outfits such as John Bradbourne and Richard Goodwin , Jeremy Thomas , Euan Lloyd and Chris Chrisafis, Verity Lambert and Simon Perry in order to gave
570-613: A faster recovery, contributing to the increasing dominance of Hollywood over New York City. The Big 5 By the mid-1920s, the evolution of a handful of American production companies into wealthy motion picture industry conglomerates that owned their own studios, distribution divisions , and theaters , and contracted with performers and other filmmaking personnel led to the sometimes confusing equation of studio with production company in industry slang. Five large companies: RKO Radio Pictures , 20th Century Fox , Paramount Pictures , Warner Bros. , and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer came to be known as
684-621: A film studio in which Nat Cohen had been a partner. EMI moved into film production with the foundation of a new company, EMI-Elstree. Bernard Delfont appointed writer-director Bryan Forbes as the head of production at Elstree in April 1969 for three years at £40,000 a year, plus a percentage of the profits. As part of the general shake up of EMI, Nat Cohen was appointed to the Board. EMI announced they would make 28 films for $ 36 million—13 of these would be from Cohen's unit for £7 million,
798-576: A financial stake in Columbia Pictures Industries and Alan Hirschfield was appointed CEO, succeeding Leo Jaffe who became chairman. Stanley Schneider, son of Abe Schneider (who became honorary chairman before leaving the board in 1975) was replaced as head of the Columbia Pictures studio by David Begelman , who reported to Hirschfield. Some years later Begelman was involved in a check-forging scandal that badly hurt
912-656: A growing proportion of Hollywood movie revenue, with approximately 70% of total movie revenue coming from international ticket sales; and the Chinese domestic box-office revenue is projected to outpace those of US in 2020. The growth of film studios and filmmaking outside of Hollywood and the US has produced popular international film studio locations such as Hollywood North ( Vancouver and Toronto in Canada ), Bollywood ( Mumbai , India ), and Nollywood ( Lagos , Nigeria ). As
1026-413: A healthier balance-sheet (due in large part to box office hits like Kramer vs. Kramer , Stir Crazy , The Blue Lagoon , and Stripes ) Columbia was bought by beverage company The Coca-Cola Company on June 22, 1982, for $ 750 million. Studio head Frank Price mixed big hits like Tootsie , Gandhi , The Karate Kid , The Big Chill , and Ghostbusters with many costly flops. To share
1140-521: A joint venture to be called MGM-EMI. and MGM began to finance some of EMI's productions. EMI's studio complex was renamed EMI-MGM Elstree Studios while a film distribution company MGM-EMI Distributors Ltd. was formed as part of the co-production agreement. This company, headed by Mike Havas would handle domestic distribution of MGM and EMI-produced films in the United Kingdom. It was originally announced that MGM-EMI would make six to eight films
1254-538: A live-action feature. Columbia was the last major studio to employ the expensive color process. Columbia's first Technicolor feature was the western The Desperadoes , starring Randolph Scott and Glenn Ford . Cohn quickly used Technicolor again for Cover Girl , a Hayworth vehicle that instantly was a smash hit, released in 1944, and for the fanciful biography of Frédéric Chopin , A Song to Remember , with Cornel Wilde , released in 1945. Another biopic, 1946's The Jolson Story with Larry Parks and Evelyn Keyes ,
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#17327976008091368-470: A member of CIC , which took over international distribution of MGM produced films. At this point the distribution company became EMI Film Distributors Ltd., and EMI-MGM Elstree Studios reverted to EMI-Elstree Studios. EMI's other filmmaking division, Anglo-EMI Film Distributors Ltd, which had come out of Anglo-Amalgamated, was run autonomously by Nat Cohen . This wing of the company had released films such as Percy (1971). They also financed and distributed
1482-597: A motion picture of their own because they are not entertainment companies or motion picture companies; they are companies who sell only studio space. In 1893, Thomas Edison built the first movie studio in the United States when he constructed the Black Maria , a tarpaper-covered structure near his laboratories in West Orange , New Jersey , and asked circus, vaudeville, and dramatic actors to perform for
1596-477: A new company, Associated Film Distribution , to distribute films of EMI and ITC , then controlled by Lew Grade , his brother. EMI's film division was renamed Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment , to reflect EMI's merger with Thorn Electrical Industries to become Thorn EMI in 1979. In March 1980, EMI were only making one film in Britain The Mirror Crack'd , which was released at the end of
1710-520: A new management team was brought in. In 1972, Columbia and Warner Bros. formed a partnership called The Burbank Studios, in which both companies shared the Warner studio lot in Burbank . In 1971, Columbia Pictures established sheet music publisher Columbia Pictures Publications, with vice president and general manager Frank J. Hackinson , who later became the president. In 1973, Allen & Co took
1824-435: A post-apocalyptic story from Richard Condon. He turned down Ned Kelly (1970) because its projected budget was too high. In April 1970, EMI struck up a co-production agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . The Hollywood studio announced they would sell their Borehamwood facility ("MGM-British Studios") and move their equipment to EMI's Elstree studio. MGM and EMI would then distribute and produce films in co-operation through
1938-667: A production fund worth $ 175 million to make around twenty films. Film Finance Director John Reiss said the fund would be used as loans for filmmakers or to invest in films budgeted around $ 13–14 million. Reiss said that the films would be made for international audiences. On 15 May 1985, Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment made an agreement with Gladden Entertainment whereas Thorn EMI would release Gladden's films for international theatrical distribution. Lambert resigned in July 1985. After this TESE wound down its in-house production arm and relied on films from independent outfits. That month, TESE signed
2052-685: A reorganization of the various Columbia Pictures legacy labels (Colpix, Colgems , and Bell), Davis introduced Columbia Pictures' new record division, Arista Records , in November 1974, with Davis himself owning 20% of the new venture. Columbia maintained control of the label until 1979, when it was sold to Ariola Records . In addition, Columbia sold its music publishing business (Columbia-Screen Gems) to EMI in August 1976 for $ 15 million. Both would later be reunited with Columbia Pictures under Sony ownership. In December 1976, Columbia Pictures acquired
2166-399: A series of films made by Hammer Film Productions , which partly came about through Bernard Delfont 's friendship with James Carreras . Nat Cohen took over Forbes' responsibilities as head of production after his resignation in 1971. Cohen backed productions intended for international success, and EMI had a more obviously commercial outlook. In October 1971, EMI's chairman John Read admitted
2280-552: A significant profit earner in the future." Cohen was responsible for overseeing about 70% of the films produced in the UK during 1973, following a significant decline in domestic projects overall. In particular, long-term duopoly rival Rank had by now greatly reduced its own investment in British film production to a token presence. Cohen was not unaware of the problems inherent in his dominant position. Meanwhile, dependent on support from
2394-420: A stake in the venture and contribute their own productions for video distribution. In December 1984, Thorn EMI offered investors the chance to invest in several films by issuing £36 million worth of shares. The films were A Passage to India (1984), Morons from Outer Space , Dreamchild , Wild Geese II and The Holcroft Covenant (all 1985). In March 1985, Thorn-EMI announced they would set up
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#17327976008092508-522: A total of 34 years, one of the longest tenures of any studio chief ( Warner Bros. ' Jack L. Warner was head of production or CEO longer but did not become CEO until 1956). Even in an industry rife with nepotism, Columbia was particularly notorious for having a number of Harry and Jack's relatives in high positions. Humorist Robert Benchley called it the Pine Tree Studio, "because it has so many Cohns". Brandt eventually tired of dealing with
2622-654: A tram tour of the backlot where films such as Psycho and Back to the Future were once shot. In fall 2019, movie mogul Tyler Perry opened Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta . The studio lot is claimed to be larger than any movie-studio lot in Hollywood. In the 1980s and 1990s, as the cost of professional 16mm film equipment decreased, along with the emergence of non-film innovations such as S-VHS and Mini-DV cameras, many young filmmakers began to make films outside
2736-468: A year ranging in budget from $ 5 to $ 10 million. On 1 March 1983, EMI Films filed a lawsuit against United Artists , whereas EMI would finance WarGames , and UA would receive North American rights, while EMI received international rights to the film and pay $ 4.5 million delivery. November 1984 saw Thorn EMI Video's US division form a partnership with pay television company HBO ; the company then became known as Thorn EMI/HBO Video . The deal saw HBO take
2850-416: A year, but they ended up producing far fewer. Forbes was given the title of managing director of MGM-EMI to add to his existing title of head of production. In July 1970 MGM-EMI announced they would make four co-productions: The Go-Between , Get Carter , The Boyfriend and The Last Run directed by John Boorman . Of these only the last was not made. MGM pulled out of the amalgamation in 1973, and became
2964-407: Is a secure compound enclosed by a tall perimeter wall. This is necessary to protect filmmaking operations from unwanted interference from paparazzi and crazed fans of leading movie stars . Movement in and out of the studio lot is normally limited to specific gates (often capped with grand decorative arches), where visitors must stop at a boom barrier and explain the purpose of their visit to
3078-608: Is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), under Sony Pictures Entertainment, and is currently one of six live-action labels of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, the others being TriStar Pictures , Affirm Films , Screen Gems , Sony Pictures Classics , and Stage 6 Films . Columbia's most commercially successful franchises include Spider-Man , Jumanji , Bad Boys , Men in Black , The Karate Kid , Robert Langdon , and Ghostbusters , and
3192-733: Is a studio "commissary", which is the traditional term in the movie industry for what other industries call a company cafeteria . In addition to these basic components, the largest film studios are full-service enterprises offering the entire range of production and post-production services necessary to create a motion picture, including costumes, props, cameras, sound recording, crafts, sets, lighting, special effects , cutting, editing, mixing, scoring, automated dialogue replacement (ADR), re-recording, and foley . Independent suppliers of all these services and more (e.g., photographic processing labs) are often found in clusters in close proximity to film studios. Nitrate film , manufactured until 1951,
3306-465: Is one of the "Big Five" film studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation . On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded the studio as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation . It adopted the Columbia Pictures name on January 10, 1924 (operating as Columbia Pictures Corporation until December 23, 1968) went public two years later and eventually began to use
3420-457: Is our first program and it won't be our last." In November 1969 Nat Cohen and Bernard Delfont announced a slate of eight more films for EMI including: The first few films of Forbes' regime actually performed poorly commercially: Eyewitness , Hoffmann , And Soon the Darkness and The Man Who Haunted Himself (starring Moore). The Breaking of Bumbo (all 1970), and Mr. Forbush and
3534-583: The Matt Helm series with Dean Martin . Columbia also produced a James Bond spoof, Casino Royale (1967), in conjunction with Charles K. Feldman , which held the adaptation rights for that novel . By 1966, the studio was suffering from box-office failures, and takeover rumors began surfacing. Columbia was surviving solely on the profits made from Screen Gems, whose holdings also included radio and television stations. On December 23, 1968, Screen Gems merged with Columbia Pictures Corporation and became part of
Lumiere Pictures and Television - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-583: The United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Kerkorian to block him from holding a stake in Columbia while controlling MGM. On February 19, 1979, Columbia Pictures Television acquired TOY Productions; the production company founded by Bud Yorkin and writers Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein in 1976. In May, Kerkorian acquired an additional 214,000 shares in Columbia, raising his stake to 25%. On August 2,
3762-459: The patents relevant to movie production at the time. Early movie producers relocated to Southern California to escape patent enforcement, thanks to more lenient local courts and physical distance from company detectives and mob allies. (Edison's patents expired in 1913.) The first movie studio in the Hollywood area was Nestor Studios , opened in 1911 by Al Christie for David Horsley . In
3876-407: The vertically integrated structure of the movie industry constituted an illegal monopoly . This decision, reached after twelve years of litigation, hastened the end of the studio system and Hollywood's "Golden Age". By the 1950s, the physical components of a typical movie studio had become standardized. Since then, a movie studio has usually been housed on a "studio lot." Physically, a studio lot
3990-484: The 1930s, Columbia signed Jean Arthur to a long-term contract, and after The Whole Town's Talking (1935), Arthur became a major comedy star. Ann Sothern 's career was launched when Columbia signed her to a contract in 1936. Cary Grant signed a contract in 1937 and soon after it was altered to a non-exclusive contract shared with RKO . Many theaters relied on westerns to attract big weekend audiences, and Columbia always recognized this market. Its first cowboy star
4104-473: The 1930s, Columbia's major contract stars were Jean Arthur and Cary Grant . In the 1940s, Rita Hayworth became the studio's premier star and propelled their fortunes into the late 1950s. Rosalind Russell , Glenn Ford and William Holden also became major stars at the studio. It is one of the leading film studios in the world, and was one of the so-called " Little Three " among the eight major film studios of Hollywood 's Golden Age . Today, it has become
4218-487: The 1934 Oscars, put Columbia on the map. Until then, Columbia's business had depended on theater owners willing to take its films, since it did not have a theater network of its own. Other Capra-directed hits followed, including the original version of Lost Horizon (1937), with Ronald Colman , and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), which made James Stewart a major star. In 1933, Columbia hired Robert Kalloch to be its chief fashion and women's costume designer. He
4332-640: The Big Five, the majors, or the Studios in trade publications such as Variety , and their management structures and practices collectively came to be known as the studio system . The Little 3 Although they owned few or no theaters to guarantee sales of their films, Universal Pictures , Columbia Pictures , and United Artists also fell under these rubrics, making a total of eight generally recognized major studios. United Artists, although its controlling partners owned not one but two production studios during
4446-466: The British Lion name, which was divested to a former staffer of the company, Peter Snell , of Britannic Film & Television. In April 1986, Thorn EMI sold its film production and distribution arm (Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment), home video ( Thorn EMI Video ), and cinema ( ABC Cinemas ) operations to businessman Alan Bond . Bond, in turn, sold it to The Cannon Group a week later. A year after
4560-539: The Cohn brothers, and in 1932 sold his one-third stake to Jack and Harry Cohn, who took over from him as president. Columbia's product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and short subjects including comedies, sports films, various serials, and cartoons. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, eventually joining the second tier of Hollywood studios along with United Artists and Universal . Like United Artists and Universal, Columbia
4674-449: The EMI board, headed by Bernard Delfont. Deeley and Spikings's method was to only make a film if at least half the budget was put up by an American studio, reducing their financial risk although making the studio's product less obviously British. They focused on movies with international appeal – i.e. action films – and major stars. The initial Deeley-Spikings slate included three films shot in
Lumiere Pictures and Television - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-568: The Golden Age, had an often-tenuous hold on the title of major and operated mainly as a backer and distributor of independently produced films. Smaller studios operated simultaneously with the majors. These included operations such as Republic Pictures , active from 1935, which produced films that occasionally matched the scale and ambition of the larger studio, and Monogram Pictures , which specialized in series and genre releases. Together with smaller outfits such as PRC TKO and Grand National,
4902-595: The Magician (1939), The Shadow (1940), Terry and the Pirates (1940), Captain Midnight (1942), The Phantom (1943), Batman (1943), and the especially successful Superman (1948), among many others. Columbia also produced musical shorts, sports reels (usually narrated by sportscaster Bill Stern ), and travelogues. Its " Screen Snapshots " series, showing behind-the-scenes footage of Hollywood stars,
5016-606: The Nile , The Cruel Sea , The Day the Earth Caught Fire , The Best of Benny Hill , Scars of Dracula , Sophia Loren: Her Own Story , S.O.S. Titanic , The Royal Wedding , and Queen: Greatest Flix ). The division was primarily active in both the UK and the US, as well as in Australia. In addition to Thorn EMI's own material, the division licensed titles from other companies, mostly those who had no home video division at
5130-551: The Penguins (1971) flopped and A Fine and Private Place was abandoned. Forbes clashed with Bernard Delfont and their American backers, in this case Columbia , over the artistic and commercial value of director Joseph Losey 's film The Go-Between (1970). Forbes was also criticised within EMI for directing his own film, The Raging Moon (US: Long Ago, Tomorrow , 1971). The Railway Children (1970) and Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971) were Forbes' only hits. The company
5244-487: The President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1959, until his death a year later. Columbia could not afford to keep a huge roster of contract stars, so Jack Cohn usually borrowed them from other studios. At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , the industry's most prestigious studio, Columbia was nicknamed "Siberia", as Louis B. Mayer would use the loan-out to Columbia as a way to punish his less-obedient signings. In
5358-515: The Stooges, Keaton, Charley Chase , Shemp Howard , Joe Besser , and Joe DeRita subjects have been released to home video. Columbia incorporated animation into its studio in 1929, distributing Krazy Kat cartoons, taking over from Paramount . The following year, Columbia took over distribution of the Mickey Mouse series from Celebrity Productions until 1932. In 1933, The Mintz studio
5472-482: The Third Kind , The Deep and The Greatest (all 1977). Muhammad Ali played himself in the last of these. In July 1976, EMI bought Roger Gimbel 's production company, Tomorrow Enterprises, and formed EMI Television, headed by Gimbel. They made a large number of American TV movies like The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) and Deadman's Curve (1978). EMI backed out of funding Life of Brian (1979) at
5586-782: The UPA deal was terminated, Columbia distributed the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including Loopy De Loop from 1959 to 1965, which was Columbia's final theatrical cartoon series. In 1967, the Hanna-Barbera deal expired and was not renewed. According to Bob Thomas' book King Cohn , studio chief Harry Cohn always placed a high priority on serials. Beginning in 1937, Columbia entered the lucrative serial market and kept making these weekly episodic adventures until 1956, after other studios had discontinued them. The most famous Columbia serials are based on comic-strip or radio characters: Mandrake
5700-404: The US, with $ 18 million in all" The Deer Hunter , Convoy and The Driver (all 1978). They also made three British-based films, Death on the Nile (1978), Warlords of Atlantis (1978) and Sweeney 2 (1978). Films announced but not made include The Last Gun and Chinese Bandit . EMI also signed an agreement to invest $ 5 million in Columbia films. They picked Close Encounters of
5814-551: The arcade game company D. Gottlieb & Co. for $ 50 million. In 1978, Begelman was suspended for having embezzled money from Columbia. Hirschfield was forced out for his refusal to reinstate him. Begelman later resigned and was replaced by Daniel Melnick in June 1978. Fay Vincent was hired to replace Hirschfield. Frank Price became president of production in 1978. In March 1979, he would become president of Columbia Pictures, succeeding Melnick. During Price's tenure he
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#17327976008095928-423: The budgets of his films, and the studio got the maximum use out of costly sets, costumes, and props by reusing them in other films. Many of Columbia's low-budget "B" pictures and short subjects have an expensive look, thanks to Columbia's efficient recycling policy. Cohn was reluctant to spend lavish sums on even his most important pictures, and it was not until 1943 that he agreed to use three-strip Technicolor in
6042-629: The camera. He distributed these movies at vaudeville theaters, penny arcades, wax museums, and fairgrounds. The first film serial , What Happened to Mary , was released by the Edison company in 1912. The pioneering Thanhouser movie studio was founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1909 by American theatrical impresario Edwin Thanhouser . The company produced and released 1,086 movies between 1910 and 1917, successfully distributing them around
6156-550: The company as an office boy out of high school and become a director in 1929, rising through the financial side of the business. In 1963, Columbia acquired music publisher Aldon Music . By the late 1960s, Columbia had an ambiguous identity, offering old-fashioned fare such as A Man for All Seasons and Oliver! along with the more contemporary Easy Rider and The Monkees . After turning down releasing Albert R. Broccoli 's Eon Productions James Bond films, Columbia hired Broccoli's former partner Irving Allen to produce
6270-543: The company's brief connection with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Anglo-EMI, the division under Nat Cohen , and the later company as part of the Thorn EMI conglomerate (following the merger with Thorn) are outlined here. The library passed through the hands of several companies over the following years and is now owned by StudioCanal , a former sister company to Universal Music Group and parent company Canal+ Group 's acquisition of European cinema operator UGC who acquired
6384-770: The company's shows until 1967, when Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting . In 1960, the animation studio became a publicly traded company under the name Screen Gems, Inc., when Columbia spun off an 18% stake. By 1950, Columbia had discontinued most of its popular series films ( Boston Blackie , Blondie , The Lone Wolf , The Crime Doctor , Rusty , etc.) Only Jungle Jim , launched by producer Sam Katzman in 1949, kept going through 1955. Katzman contributed greatly to Columbia's success by producing dozens of topical feature films, including crime dramas , science-fiction stories, and rock'n'roll musicals. Columbia kept making serials until 1956 and two-reel comedies until 1957, after other studios had abandoned these mediums. As
6498-556: The company. Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. The studio's early productions were low-budget short subjects: Screen Snapshots , the Hallroom Boys (the vaudeville duo of Edward Flanagan and Neely Edwards ), and the Charlie Chaplin -imitator Billy West . The start-up CBC leased space in
6612-482: The early 1980s, Columbia and Tri-Star Pictures set up a film partnership with Delphi Film Associates and acquired an interest in various film releases. In 1984, Delphi Film Associates III acquired an interest in the Tri-Star and Columbia film slate of 1984, which would make a $ 60 million offering in the financing of film production. Also that year, Columbia Pictures had bought out the rights to Hardbodies , which
6726-453: The film division had performed disappointingly. "Profits were negligible last year and we felt it was desirable to make one or two provisions to write off some of the costs." However films like On the Buses and Up Pompeii (both 1971) performed well in relation to their budgets. "The experts say you're doing well if you make money out of one in three films", said Read. "We see filmmaking as
6840-729: The film industry had once hoped—movie studios were increasingly being used to produce programming for the burgeoning medium. Some midsize film companies, such as Republic Pictures , eventually sold their studios to TV production concerns , which were eventually bought by larger studios, such as the American Broadcasting Company which was purchased by Disney in 1996. With the growing diversification of studios into such fields as video games , television stations , broadcast syndication , television , theme parks , home video and publishing , they have become multi-national corporations. International markets account for
6954-570: The five Oscars that EMI films had earned. In particular, Can't Stop the Music , Honky Tonk Freeway , and Raise the Titanic had been box-office failures. Also in 1981, Thorn EMI entered the fast-growing home video market as Thorn EMI Video , featuring an initial line-up of 14 titles ( The Tubes Video , April Wine Live in London , I Am a Dancer , Can't Stop the Music , Times Square , Death on
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#17327976008097068-418: The image of Columbia , the female personification of the United States, as its logo. In its early years, Columbia was a minor player in Hollywood, but began to grow in the late 1920s, spurred by a successful association with director Frank Capra . With Capra and others such as the most successful two reel comedy series, The Three Stooges , Columbia became one of the primary homes of the screwball comedy . In
7182-426: The increasing cost of film production, Coke brought in two outside investors whose earlier efforts in Hollywood had come to nothing. In 1982, Columbia, Time Inc. 's HBO and CBS announced, as a joint venture, "Nova Pictures"; this enterprise was to be renamed Tri-Star Pictures . In 1983, Price left Columbia Pictures after a dispute with Coca-Cola and went back to Universal. He was replaced by Guy McElwaine . In
7296-442: The independent outfits "complete freedom" to develop motion pictures. The last films made under Lambert's watch were Clockwise and Link . On 20 August 1985, Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment and Universal Pictures , which was distributing EMI's films ever since 1981 after acquiring Associated Film Distribution elected to dissolve the U.S. partnership by mutual consent. Lambert recalled in 1997: "the person who hired me left, and
7410-437: The intransigent mediocrity of the people in key positions. Thus, what was probably the last chance of saving the British film industry was lost. Editor Teddy Darvas later observed: It was a great tragedy that Bryan failed. Part of the reason I think was that he got himself very much involved in little things instead of letting John Hargreaves, who was his number two, to run the studio like Korda would allow Lew Thornburn to run
7524-446: The larger studios declined in the 1950s, Columbia's position improved. This was largely because it did not suffer from the massive loss of income that the other major studios suffered from the loss of their theaters (well over 90 percent, in some cases). Columbia continued to produce 40-plus pictures a year, offering productions that often broke ground and kept audiences coming to theaters. Some of its significant films from this era include
7638-541: The largest studios. The studio soon replaced RKO on the list of the "Big Five" studios. In 1946, Columbia dropped the Screen Gems brand from its cartoon line, but retained the Screen Gems name for various ancillary activities, including a 16 mm film-rental agency and a TV-commercial production company. On November 8, 1948, Columbia adopted the Screen Gems name for its television production subsidiary when
7752-647: The last moment, after Bernard Delfont read the script and objected to its treatment of religion. In April 1978, EMI announced they would make films with the newly formed Orion Pictures , including Arabian Adventure (1979) and other projects. Michael Deeley left EMI in 1979 but Barry Spikings remained in charge of film production. Spikings announced a slate of films under his auspices: The Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond , The Elephant Man (both 1980), Honky Tonk Freeway (1981) Franco Zeffirelli 's biopic of Maria Callas , Discoland , The Awakening , and The Knight directed by Ridley Scott . Delfont created
7866-653: The library's then-owner, the United Kingdom-based Lumiere Pictures and Television in 1996, via Cannon Films . EMI Films also owned Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England; in turn, Cannon ended up purchasing the studio as well, but later sold it to Brent Walker in 1988, who in turn ended up selling half of the EMI Elstree Studios site to Tesco for a supermarket, before Hertsmere Council eventually acquired what
7980-475: The minor studios filled the demand for B movies and are sometimes collectively referred to as Poverty Row . The Big Five's ownership of movie theaters was eventually opposed by eight independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn , David O. Selznick , Walt Disney , Hal Roach , and Walter Wanger . In 1948, the federal government won a case against Paramount in the Supreme Court , which ruled that
8094-498: The money to bring exports back to this country." In February 1981, Barry Spikings announced a slate of films worth £70 million, including Honky Tonk Freeway , Memoirs of a Survivor , Comrades and The Knight (a Walter Hill film). The latter was not made. In March 1981, Spikings admitted AFD has not "gotten off to a flying start" and would be wound up, with Universal taking over distribution of EMI Films. He argued that "production and distribution are not linked" and pointed to
8208-508: The most profitable parts of EMI, the company's financial position meant that they had to avoid backing any risky productions. In May 1973, Cohen announced a £3 million production slate of movies including an adaptation of Swallows and Amazons (1974) and a sequel to Alfie (1966) released as Alfie Darling (1975). The greatest success of Cohen's regime was Murder on the Orient Express (1974), which Cohen later claimed
8322-637: The newly formed Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. for $ 24.5 million. Schneider was chairman of the holding company and Leo Jaffe president. Following the merger, in March 1969, CPI purchased Bell Records for $ 3.5 million (mainly in CPI stock), retaining Larry Uttal as label president. Nearly bankrupt by the early 1970s, the studio was saved via a radical overhaul: the Gower Street Studios (now called " Sunset Gower Studios ") were sold and
8436-417: The person who came in didn't want to produce films and didn't want me. While I managed to make some films I was proud of... Dreamchild , and Clockwise ... it was terribly tough and not a very happy experience. But I was determined to see out my three-year contract. By the end I'd had enough of corporate life and wanted to see what I could do as an independent." In November 1985, Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment
8550-644: The productions of the English studio Warwick Films (by producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli ), as well as many films by producer Carl Foreman , who resided in England. Columbia distributed some films made by Hammer , which was also based in England. In December 1956, Jack Cohn, co-founder and executive vice-president, died. In 1958, Columbia established its own record label, Colpix Records , initially run by Jonie Taps, who headed Columbia's music department, and later Paul Wexler and Lester Sill . Colpix
8664-464: The purchase, a cash-strapped Cannon sold most of the film library to Weintraub Entertainment Group . They also sold their stake in the video venture inherited from Thorn EMI (which had been renamed as HBO/Cannon Video in the meantime), resulting in HBO running the video label alone from that point forward. Film studio There are also independently owned studio facilities, who have never produced
8778-481: The reincarnation of Rastar Pictures, which was acquired by Columbia Pictures in February 1980. Columbia Pictures also reorganized its music and record divisions. Clive Davis was hired as a record and music consultant by Columbia Pictures in 1974 and later became temporary president of Bell Records . Davis's real goal was to revitalize Columbia Pictures' music division. With a $ 10 million investment by CPI, and
8892-541: The remaining 19% in 1985. Around this time, Columbia put Steven Spielberg 's proposed follow-up to Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Night Skies , into turnaround . The project eventually became the highest-grossing film of the time, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . Columbia received a share of the profits for its involvement in the development. On May 17, 1982, Columbia Pictures acquired Spelling-Goldberg Productions for over $ 40 million. With
9006-417: The rest from Forbes'. Bernard Delfont called it "probably the most ambitious program ever undertaken by a British film company." Forbes announced his intention to make a variety of films at Elstree, steering away from what he called the "pornography of violence." He claimed EMI would make 14 films in 18 months with such stars as Peter Sellers and Roger Moore at a cost of £5–10 million in total. His aim
9120-555: The same year, another 15 independents settled in Hollywood. Other production companies eventually settled in the Los Angeles area in places such as Culver City , Burbank , and what would soon become known as Studio City in the San Fernando Valley . The stronger early public health response to the 1918 flu epidemic by Los Angeles compared to other American cities reduced the number of cases there and resulted in
9234-1086: The studio acquired Pioneer Telefilms, a television commercial company founded by Jack Cohn's son, Ralph. Pioneer had been founded in 1947, and was later reorganized as Screen Gems. The studio opened its doors for business in New York on April 15, 1949. By 1951, Screen Gems became a full-fledged television studio and became a major producer of sitcoms for TV, beginning with Father Knows Best and followed by The Donna Reed Show , The Partridge Family , Bewitched , I Dream of Jeannie , and The Monkees . On July 1, 1956, studio veteran Irving Briskin stepped down as manager of Columbia Pictures and formed his own production company Briskin Productions, Inc. to release series through Screen Gems and supervise all of its productions. On December 10, Screen Gems expanded into television syndication by acquiring Hygo Television Films (a.k.a. "Serials Inc.") and its affiliated company United Television Films, Inc. Hygo Television Films
9348-409: The studio and would only go in on major matters. Also, because he, as a director... had been interfered with so much by front office he felt that, when he gave people the money to make a film, it shouldn't interfere and because of that he gave young people a chance and brought in, sometimes inexperienced technicians. And because he didn't interfere, a lot of those films under his reign were flops, also he
9462-531: The studio signed the Three Stooges in 1934. Rejected by MGM (which kept straight-man Ted Healy but let the Stooges go), the Stooges made 190 shorts for Columbia between 1934 and 1957. Columbia's short-subject department employed many famous comedians, including Buster Keaton , Charley Chase , Harry Langdon , Andy Clyde , and Hugh Herbert . Almost 400 of Columbia's 529 two-reel comedies were released to television between 1958 and 1961; to date, all of
9576-578: The studio system. Filmmakers and producers such as Mike Judge , Adam Sandler , Jim Jarmusch , Robert Rodriguez , Steven Soderbergh , Quentin Tarantino , Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater made films that pushed boundaries in ways the studios were then reluctant to do. In response to these films, many distributed by mini-studios like Miramax , the majors created their own in-house mini-studios meant to focus on edgier, independent content. Focus Features
9690-442: The studio's highest-grossing film worldwide is Spider-Man: No Way Home with box-office of $ 1.92 billion. The studio was founded on June 19, 1918, as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Jack's best friend Joe Brandt , and released its first feature film More to Be Pitied Than Scorned on August 20, 1922. The film, with a budget of $ 20,000, was a success, bringing in $ 130,000 in revenue for
9804-604: The studio's adaptation of the controversial James Jones novel From Here to Eternity (1953), On the Waterfront (1954), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) with William Holden and Alec Guinness , all of which won the Best Picture Oscar . Another significant film of the studio was the free adaptation of George Orwell 's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1956). Columbia also released
9918-448: The studio's image. On May 6, 1974, Columbia retired the Screen Gems name from television, renaming its television division to the name of Columbia Pictures Television . The name was suggested by David Gerber , who was then president of Columbia's television division. The same year, Columbia Pictures acquired Rastar Pictures , which included Rastar Productions, Rastar Features, and Rastar Television. Ray Stark then founded Rastar Films,
10032-601: The studios increased in size they began to rely on production companies like J. J. Abrams ' Bad Robot to handle many of the creative and physical production details of their feature films. Instead, the studios transformed into financing and distribution entities for their films (generally made by their affiliated production companies). With the decreasing cost of CGI and visual effects , many studios sold large chunks of their once-massive studio spaces or backlots to private real-estate developers. Century City in Los Angeles
10146-438: The time, including New Line Cinema , Orion Pictures , Carolco Pictures and Hemdale Film Corporation . In January 1983, Barry Spikings left the company and Verity Lambert was appointed head of production. Gary Dartnall became executive chairman. Lambert's first slate was Slayground , Comfort and Joy , Illegal Aliens (which became Morons from Outer Space ) and Dreamchild . Lambert said they aimed to make five films
10260-567: The trial began; on August 14, the court ruled in favor for Kerkorian. In 1979, Columbia agreed with Time-Life Video to release 20 titles on videocassette . On September 30, 1980, Kerkorian sued Columbia for ignoring shareholders' interest and violating an agreement with him. Columbia later accused him on October 2, of scheming with Nelson Bunker Hunt to gain control of Columbia. In 1981, Kerkorian sold his 25% stake in Columbia back to CPI. Columbia Pictures later acquired 81% of The Walter Reade Organization , which owned 11 theaters; it purchased
10374-702: The world's third largest major film studio. The company was also primarily responsible for distributing Disney 's Silly Symphony film series as well as the Mickey Mouse cartoon series from 1929 to 1932. The studio is presently headquartered at the Irving Thalberg Building on the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (currently known as the Sony Pictures Studios ) lot in Culver City, California since 1990. Columbia Pictures
10488-584: The world. In the early 1900s, companies started moving to Los Angeles, California . Although electric lights were by then widely available, none were yet powerful enough to adequately expose film; the best source of illumination for motion picture production was natural sunlight. Some movies were shot on the roofs of buildings in Downtown Los Angeles . Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company , based in New York City, controlled almost all
10602-523: The year, but was a box-office failure. Lord Delfont announced that the company had purchased two British scripts, The Defense by John Mortimer and Off the Record by Frederick Forsyth . He admitted that sixty percent of the company's film budget would be spent in America the following year but "100% of the profits would come to this country... We have got to make films we believe are international, to get
10716-493: Was Buck Jones , who signed with Columbia in 1930 for a fraction of his former big-studio salary. Over the next two decades Columbia released scores of outdoor adventures with Jones, Tim McCoy , Ken Maynard , Jack Luden , Bob Allen ( Robert (Tex) Allen ), Russell Hayden , Tex Ritter , Ken Curtis , and Gene Autry . Columbia's most popular cowboy was Charles Starrett , who signed with Columbia in 1935 and starred in 131 western features over 17 years. At Harry Cohn's insistence,
10830-760: Was a Columbia perennial that the studio had been releasing since the silent-movie days; producer-director Ralph Staub kept this series going through 1958. In the 1940s, propelled in part by the surge in audiences for their films during World War II , the studio also benefited from the popularity of its biggest star, Rita Hayworth . Columbia maintained a long list of contractees well into the 1950s; Glenn Ford , Penny Singleton , William Holden , Judy Holliday , The Three Stooges , Ann Miller , Evelyn Keyes , Ann Doran , Jack Lemmon , Cleo Moore , Barbara Hale , Adele Jergens , Larry Parks , Arthur Lake , Lucille Ball , Kerwin Mathews and Kim Novak . Harry Cohn monitored
10944-451: Was a horizontally integrated company. It controlled production and distribution; it did not own any theaters. Helping Columbia's climb was the arrival of an ambitious director, Frank Capra . Between 1927 and 1939, Capra constantly pushed Cohn for better material and bigger budgets. A string of hits he directed in the early and mid 1930s solidified Columbia's status as a major studio. In particular, It Happened One Night , which nearly swept
11058-435: Was active until 1966 when Columbia entered into a joint agreement with RCA Victor and discontinued Colpix in favor of its new label, Colgems Records . Shortly after closing their short subjects department, Columbia president Harry Cohn died of a heart attack in February 1958. His nephew Ralph Cohn died in 1959, ending almost four decades of family management. The new management was headed by Abe Schneider, who had joined
11172-419: Was affected with labour problems. Forbes felt as though he did not have the support of the EMI board, arguing that he never had the funds to market his films, in contrast with those available to Anglo-EMI, which was headed by Nat Cohen . Forbes resigned in March 1971, after committing himself to a no-redundancy policy. He had made eleven films in total for an estimated cost of £4 million. Although Forbes' regime
11286-499: Was created by Universal Pictures and Fox Searchlight was created by 20th Century Fox for this purpose. Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. , commonly known as Columbia Pictures , is an American film production and distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group , a division of Sony Entertainment 's Sony Pictures , which
11400-508: Was founded in 1951 by Jerome Hyams, who also acquired United Television Films in 1955 that was founded by Archie Mayers. In 1957, two years before its parent company Columbia dropped UPA, Screen Gems entered a distribution deal with Hanna-Barbera Productions , which produced classic animated series such as The Flintstones , The Quick Draw McGraw Show , The Huckleberry Hound Show , The Yogi Bear Show , Jonny Quest , The Jetsons and Top Cat among others. Screen Gems distributed
11514-435: Was highly flammable, and sets and backlots were and still are very flammable, which is why film studios built in the early-to-mid 20th century have water towers to facilitate firefighting . Water towers "somewhat inexplicably" evolved into "a most potent symbol ... of movie studios in general." Halfway through the 1950s, with television proving to be a lucrative enterprise not destined to disappear any time soon—as many in
11628-456: Was just as bad. The £4,000,000 ‘revolving production fund’ was never forthcoming. Worst of all was the ‘respectable’ taste which dictated the choice of projects. However urgent the pressure, the new Elstree should not have kicked off with duds like The Man Who Haunted Himself (Roger Moore) or Hoffman (Peter Sellers). Most horribly significant was the grudging, purblind treatment of Bryan’s own excellent The Raging Moon , which made only too clear
11742-650: Was left of the Elstree Studios, and, as of 2018, continues to operate it as a film and television studios centre. The company was formed after the takeover of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) in 1969 by EMI , following the acquisition of Warner Bros. ' shares in ABPC the previous year. At the time ABPC owned 270 ABC Cinemas , a half share in the ITV contractor Thames Television , Elstree Studios at Shenley Road, and had recently bought Anglo-Amalgamated ,
11856-399: Was once part of the 20th Century Fox backlot, which was among the largest and most famous of the studio lots. In most cases, portions of the backlots were retained and are available for rental by various film and television productions. Some studios offer tours of their backlots , while Universal Pictures allows visitors to its adjacent Universal Studios Hollywood theme park to take
11970-634: Was once premiered on The Playboy Channel . Columbia Pictures expanded its music publishing operations in the 1980s, acquiring Big 3 Publishing (the former sheet music operations of Robbins, Feist , and Miller ) from MGM/UA Communications Co. in 1983, Belwin-Mills Publishing from Simon & Schuster in 1985, and Al Gallico Music in 1987. On June 18, 1985, Columbia's parent acquired Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio 's Embassy Communications, Inc. (including Embassy Pictures , Embassy Television, Tandem Productions , and Embassy Home Entertainment), mostly for its library of television series such as All in
12084-500: Was placed up for sale with interested buyers including Rank , Cannon , Robert Maxwell , Heron Communications , and a management buyout led by Gary Dartnall. The following month, in December 1985, it accepted a £110 million ($ 161.7 million) management offer to place the entire Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment division up for sale. The company's division, British Lion Film Productions Ltd. , which EMI bought in 1976, and all trademarks of
12198-688: Was re-established under the Screen Gems brand; Columbia's leading cartoon series were Krazy Kat , Scrappy , The Fox and the Crow , and (very briefly) Li'l Abner . Screen Gems was the last major cartoon studio to produce black-and-white cartoons, producing them until 1946. That same year, Screen Gems shut down but had completed enough cartoons for the studio to release until 1949. In 1948, Columbia agreed to release animated shorts from United Productions of America ; these new shorts were more sophisticated than Columbia's older cartoons, and many won critical praise and industry awards. In 1957, two years before
12312-520: Was responsible for turning out 9 of the top 10 grossing films in Columbia's history. In the fall of 1978, Kirk Kerkorian , a Vegas casino mogul who also controlled Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , acquired a 5.5% stake in Columbia Pictures. He then announced on November 20, that he intended to launch a tender offer to acquire another 20% for the studio. On December 14, a standstill agreement was reached with Columbia by promising not to go beyond 25% or seeking control for at least three years. On January 15, 1979,
12426-417: Was seen at the time to have been a commercial failure, he later claimed that by 1993 his £4 million program of films had eventually brought EMI a profit of £16 million. (In 1994 he said the profit was £18 million from 18 films.) Linsday Anderson later wrote: Bryan Forbes was a fighter, and he did his best to discipline the oldfashioned, small-minded labour force. But the penny-pinching, unimaginative management
12540-528: Was started in black-and-white, but when Cohn saw how well the project was proceeding, he scrapped the footage and insisted on filming in Technicolor. In 1948, the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. anti-trust decision forced Hollywood motion picture companies to divest themselves of the theater chains that they owned. Since Columbia did not own any theaters, it was now on equal terms with
12654-565: Was the first British movie fully financed by a British company to reach the top of the American box office charts. In July 1975, Cohen announced a £6 million programme of eleven new films: Cohen resigned as chairman on 31 December 1977. In May 1976, the company purchased British Lion Films and the two men who ran British Lion, Michael Deeley and Barry Spikings , became joint managing directors of EMI Distributors, with Nat Cohen remaining as chairman and chief executive. They also joined
12768-538: Was the first contract costume designer hired by the studio, and he established the studio's wardrobe department. Kalloch's employment, in turn, convinced leading actresses that Columbia Pictures intended to invest in their careers. In 1938, the addition of B. B. Kahane as vice president would produce Charles Vidor 's Those High Grey Walls (1939), and The Lady in Question (1940), the first joint film of Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford . Kahane would later become
12882-431: Was to keep budgets down and create a varied slate which would increase the chances of appealing to audiences and making a sufficient return to continue productions. In August 1969 Forbes announced his slate of fifteen projects, including: "This is the first serious effort to revitalize the British film industry in 20 years", said Forbes. He added, "We intend to give youth a chance and not merely pay lip service to it. This
12996-506: Was told to make so many films instead of being told you have got money to make a number of films when you get the right story. A lot of films, I think, were made for the sake of being made. Among the films Forbes wished to make but was unable to during his time at Elstree were adaptations of The Living Room , the play by Graham Greene to be directed by Michael Powell ; a musical about the Barnardo Boys ; and The Loud, Loud Silence
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