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93-478: Universal City Studios LLC , doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios , or Universal ), is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Universal Studios , which is owned by NBCUniversal , a division of Comcast . Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle , Mark Dintenfass , Charles O. Baumann , Adam Kessel , Pat Powers , William Swanson, David Horsley , Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour , Universal

186-587: A 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism —at one time, 70 of Carl Sr.'s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl Sr. being known around the studios as "Uncle Carl". Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, "Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle". Among these relatives was future Academy Award-winning director/producer William Wyler . "Junior," Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted

279-420: A DBA must be registered with a local or state government, or both, depending on the jurisdiction. For example, California, Texas and Virginia require a DBA to be registered with each county (or independent city in the case of Virginia) where the owner does business. Maryland and Colorado have DBAs registered with a state agency. Virginia also requires corporations and LLCs to file a copy of their registration with

372-467: A DBA statement, though names including the first and last name of the owner may be accepted. This also reduces the possibility of two local businesses operating under the same name, although some jurisdictions do not provide exclusivity for a name, or may allow more than one party to register the same name. Note, though, that this is not a substitute for filing a trademark application. A DBA filing carries no legal weight in establishing trademark rights. In

465-507: A Time , The Jeffersons , The Facts of Life , and Silver Spoons which premiered on NBC that same fall. At this time, Hal B. Wallis , who had recently worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson 's Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Although neither could claim to be

558-465: A big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture , Best Actor ( Richard Burton ), Best Actress ( Geneviève Bujold ), and Best Supporting Actor ( Anthony Quayle ). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne , reprising his Oscar-winning role from

651-521: A box office for hours, counting patrons, and calculating the day's takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons . For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Patents Company (or the "Edison Trust") meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on

744-600: A co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang , lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal's core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters , and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean , Donald O'Connor , and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio's Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock

837-564: A contract with Universal ensuring three more years of Oswald cartoons. However, after Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the films, Mintz took most of Walt's animators to work at his own studio. Disney and Iwerks would create Mickey Mouse in secret while they finished the remaining Oswald films they were contractually obligated to finish. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz , which would later result in

930-534: A contract with Universal in the presence of its vice president, R. H. Cochrane. Mintz's company, Winkler Pictures, was to produce 26 " Oswald the Lucky Rabbit " cartoons for Universal. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created the character and the Walt Disney Studio provided the animation for the cartoons under Winkler's supervision. The films enjoyed a successful theatrical run, and Mintz would sign

1023-476: A contract, invoice, or cheque, they must also add the legal name of the business. Numbered companies will very often operate as something other than their legal name, which is unrecognizable to the public. In Chile , a trade name is known as a nombre de fantasía ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called a razón social (social name). In Ireland , businesses are legally required to register business names where these differ from

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1116-533: A hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal and eventually at other studios as well. In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France . In the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris , Universal Productions France S.A. , although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France . Except for

1209-683: A label within the Universal Music Group. The following year, G. P. Putnam's Sons was sold to the Penguin Group subsidiary of Pearson PLC . Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later, Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $ 5.7 billion. Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into

1302-498: A niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal horror . Among them are Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Tay Garnett 's Destination Unknown (1933), John M. Stahl 's Imitation of Life (1934) and William Wyler's The Good Fairy (1935). Universal's forays into high-quality production spelled

1395-595: A producer on Erich von Stroheim 's The Wedding March (1928), along with Jesse Lasky and Adolph Zukor . (The latter was a former partner of Mitchell Mark who, like Powers, was a native of Buffalo, New York .) Patrick Powers, at age 78, died on July 30, 1948, at the Doctors Hospital in New York City after a brief illness. His August 1 obituary in The New York Times notes that at

1488-497: A remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture . The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film, was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl Jr.'s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless

1581-430: A return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the mid-1910s, appearing steadily in dramas. However, Chaney left Universal in 1917 because of a salary dispute, and his two biggest hits for Universal were made as isolated returns to the studio: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of

1674-453: A rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic ), which agreed to acquire MCA for $ 6.6 billion in 1990. On December 9, 1996, the new owners dropped the MCA name; the company became Universal Studios, Inc. and MCA's music division, MCA Music Entertainment Group, was renamed Universal Music Group . MCA Records continued to live on as

1767-434: A simpler name rather than using their formal and often lengthier name. Trade names are also used when a preferred name cannot be registered, often because it may already be registered or is too similar to a name that is already registered. Using one or more fictitious business names does not create additional separate legal entities. The distinction between a registered legal name and a fictitious business name, or trade name,

1860-520: A spin-off of the studio's 1947 hit The Egg and I and the inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio's top-grossing productions. But at this point, Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil , whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello,

1953-413: A trade name is known as a nombre de fantasía ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called a razón social (social name). In Brazil , a trade name is known as a nome fantasia ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called razão social (social name). In some Canadian jurisdictions , such as Ontario , when a businessperson writes a trade name on

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2046-509: Is called a razón social . Powers Motion Picture Company Patrick Anthony Powers (October 8, 1869 – July 30, 1948) was an American producer who was involved in the movie and animation industry from the 1910s to 1930s. He established Powers' Cinephone Moving Picture Company , also known as Powers Picture Plays . His firm, Celebrity Productions, was the first distributor of Walt Disney 's Mickey Mouse cartoons (1928–1929). After one year, Disney split with Powers, who started

2139-498: Is important because fictitious business names do not always identify the entity that is legally responsible . Legal agreements (such as contracts ) are normally made using the registered legal name of the business. If a corporation fails to consistently adhere to such important legal formalities like using its registered legal name in contracts, it may be subject to piercing of the corporate veil . In English , trade names are generally treated as proper nouns . In Argentina ,

2232-481: Is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States and the fifth oldest in the world after Gaumont , Pathé , Titanus , and Nordisk Film , and is one of the "Big Five" film studios . Universal's most commercially successful film franchises include Fast & Furious , Jurassic Park , and Despicable Me . Additionally, the studio's library includes many individual films such as Jaws and E.T.

2325-437: Is used to designate a trade name. In the United States , the phrase " doing business as " (abbreviated to DBA , dba , d.b.a. , or d/b/a ) is used, among others, such as assumed business name or fictitious business name . In Canada , " operating as " (abbreviated to o/a ) and " trading as " are used, although " doing business as " is also sometimes used. A company typically uses a trade name to conduct business using

2418-611: The Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey , where many early films in America's first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century. Laemmle broke with Edison's custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of

2511-532: The Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater circuit to form RKO Radio Pictures . Powers invested in what remained of the sound film company DeForest Phonofilm in the spring of 1927. Lee De Forest was on the verge of bankruptcy, due to legal fees from a series of lawsuits against former associates Theodore Case and Freeman Harrison Owens . DeForest was by that time selling cut-price sound equipment to second-run movie theaters wanting to convert to sound on

2604-653: The Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution. Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with his brothers-in-law Abe Stern and Julius Stern . That company quickly evolved into

2697-466: The United Kingdom , there is no filing requirement for a "business name", defined as "any name under which someone carries on business" that, for a company or limited liability partnership, "is not its registered name", but there are requirements for disclosure of the owner's true name and some restrictions on the use of certain names. A minority of U.S. states, including Washington , still use

2790-526: The star system . In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence , formerly known as " The Biograph Girl ", and actor King Baggot , in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing. The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York City on April 30, 1912. Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. The company

2883-686: The Bandit (1977), Animal House (1978), The Jerk (1979), The Blues Brothers (1980), The Four Seasons (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Breakfast Club (1985), Back to the Future (also 1985), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), Jurassic Park (1993) and Casper (1995), but the film business was financially unpredictable with some films like The Thing (1982), Scarface (1983), Dune (1984), Howard

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2976-531: The Duck (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) or Waterworld (1995), which turned out to be big box office disappointments despite their high budget, however, fortunately, these films became cult films in later years. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997 due to the founders' connections with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of

3069-560: The Extra-Terrestrial , both of which became the highest-grossing films of all time during their initial releases. Universal Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and was one of the "Little Three" majors during Hollywood's golden age . Universal was founded by Carl Laemmle , Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann , Adam Kessel, Pat Powers , William Swanson, David Horsley , Robert H. Cochrane and Jules Brulatour . One story has Laemmle watching

3162-582: The Jackal (1973). It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm. By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain breakup and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA),

3255-704: The Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $ 750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family's controlling interest in Universal as collateral . It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $ 300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, and Standard foreclosed and seized control of

3348-547: The Opera (1925). During the early 1920s Laemmle entrusted most of Universal's production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg . Thalberg had been Laemmle's personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief in 1919, Thalberg made distinct improvements of quality and prestige in Universal's output in addition to dealing with star director Erich von Stroheim 's increasing inability to control

3441-506: The Powers Cinephone so that Disney could make sound cartoons such as Mickey Mouse 's Steamboat Willie (1928). Unable to find a distributor for the sound cartoons, Disney began releasing his cartoons through Powers' company Celebrity Productions (also known as Celebrity Pictures). After one year of successful Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons, Walt Disney confronted Powers in 1930 about money due to Disney from

3534-771: The Powers Moving Picture Company, also frequently billed in advertisements and credited in his films as "Powers Picture Plays". Early examples of his studio's releases include The Woman Hater (1910) with Violet Heming , Pearl White , and Stuart Holmes ; the comedy Lost in a Hotel (1911); the children's fantasy film An Old-Time Nightmare (1911); and the Western Red Star's Honor (1911). In 1912, Powers's company merged with Carl Laemmle 's Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) film company and others to create what eventually would become Universal Pictures . He served as treasurer of

3627-418: The U.S., trademark rights are acquired by use in commerce, but there can be substantial benefits to filing a trademark application. Sole proprietors are the most common users of DBAs. Sole proprietors are individual business owners who run their businesses themselves. Since most people in these circumstances use a business name other than their own name, it is often necessary for them to get DBAs. Generally,

3720-525: The UIP venture and went with 20th Century Fox 's international arm to handle the distribution of their titles, an ongoing arrangement. UIP nearly lost its connection with Universal Pictures in 1999 when Universal started Universal Pictures International to take over the assets of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and wanted UPI to distribute their films starting in 2001. Only a small handful of films were released theatrically by Universal Pictures International, up until

3813-530: The Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Later, in 1916 and 1917, Powers introduced a cartoon series titled Fuller Pep , which was similar to Paul Terry's Farmer Al Falfa series. Nine cartoons were produced. In 1912, Powers had led his own filmmaking company, part of multiple mergers that created Universal Pictures . Between the 1922 reorganization of Film Booking Office of America and October 1923, Powers, as one of

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3906-455: The advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary's films. Still, some of them were exhibited through other independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York City without the benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for

3999-815: The animation studio Iwerks Studio with Disney's lead animator, Ub Iwerks . Powers was born in Waterford, Ireland . According to the Buffalo Courier-Express obituary dated August 1, 1948, his sister, Mary Ellen Powers, lived in Buffalo for her entire life. Powers partnered with Joseph A. Schubert Sr. and sold phonographs from 1900 to 1907, when they formed the Buffalo Film Exchange, 13 Genesee St. which purchased films from producers and rented them to nickelodeons . In 1910, Powers left Buffalo for New York City , where he founded

4092-523: The cheap. In June 1927, Powers made an unsuccessful takeover bid for De Forest's company. In the aftermath of the failed takeover, Powers hired a former DeForest technician, William Garity , to produce a cloned version of the Phonofilm sound recording system, which became Powers Cinephone . By this time, De Forest was in too weak a financial position to mount a legal challenge against Powers for patent infringement. In 1928, Powers sold Walt Disney

4185-614: The comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige , Jane Frazee , The Andrews Sisters , and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47). Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars and often borrowed talent from other studios or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan and Bing Crosby were two of

4278-509: The company's new American investors, was effectively in command. Powers apparently(? ) changed the name of Robertson-Cole/FBO to the Powers Studio for a brief period, though there is no record of the company ever having produced or released a film under that banner. In 1925, he moved briefly to take over at the distribution outfit Associated Exhibitors . In 1928, Joseph P. Kennedy and RCA head David Sarnoff merged FBO and

4371-534: The county or city to be registered with the State Corporation Commission. DBA statements are often used in conjunction with a franchise . The franchisee will have a legal name under which it may sue and be sued, but will conduct business under the franchiser's brand name (which the public would recognize). A typical real-world example can be found in a well-known pricing mistake case, Donovan v. RRL Corp. , 26 Cal. 4th 261 (2001), where

4464-576: The creation of Woody Woodpecker in 1940. In February 2006, NBCUniversal sold all the Disney-animated Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, to The Walt Disney Company . In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC's recently acquired Sunday night NFL football package . Universal retained ownership of the remaining Oswald cartoons. In 1928, Laemmle Sr. made his son, Carl Jr. , head of Universal Pictures,

4557-583: The decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA's international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures . There would be other film hits like Smokey and

4650-830: The distribution deal. Powers responded by signing Disney's head animator Ub Iwerks to an exclusive deal to create his own animation studio. The Iwerks Studio was only mildly successful, with cartoon series such as Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper , released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , and the ComiColor cartoons, released by Celebrity Pictures. The Iwerks studio closed in 1936 and Iwerks subsequently returned to Disney. As for Disney, he would go on to distribute his cartoons without Powers to Columbia Pictures . In his lifetime, Powers produced nearly 300 movies, most of them early silent films produced at Universal before 1913 or one-reel animated shorts. He is, however, also credited as

4743-434: The earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn , their only film together. The film was only a moderate success. In 1983, Universal Pictures launched an independent film arm designed to release specialty films, Universal Classics, and the division has sights on separation. In 1987, Universal Pictures, MGM/UA Communications Co. , and Paramount Pictures teamed up to market feature film and television products to China. Consumer reach

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4836-487: The early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount to form Cinema International Corporation , which distributed films by Paramount and Universal outside of the US and Canada. Although Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company's fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during

4929-469: The end of the Laemmle era at the studio. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the Great Depression was risky, and for a time, Universal slipped into receivership . The theater chain was scrapped , but Carl Jr. held fast to distribution, studio, and production operations. The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936),

5022-477: The entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram from Philips in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont. Trade name In a number of countries, the phrase " trading as " (abbreviated to t/a )

5115-419: The expense and length of his films, eventually firing Stroheim on October 6, 1922, six weeks into the production of Merry-Go-Round (1923) and replacing him with Rupert Julian . Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal in late 1922 to his own growing studio, Louis B. Mayer Productions , as vice-president in charge of production, and when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was formed in 1924 Thalberg continued in

5208-542: The few women directing films in Hollywood. Starting in the mid-1920s, Universal branded its most expensive and heavily promoted feature films as "Super-Jewel" productions. These included films such as Erich von Stroheim 's Foolish Wives (1922), Clarence Brown 's The Acquittal (1923), Hobart Henley 's A Lady of Quality (1924), Harry A. Pollard 's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927), and Edward Sloman 's Surrender (1928). Despite Laemmle's role as an innovator, he

5301-414: The independent company International Pictures , and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. However, Rank and International remained interested in Universal, culminating in the studio's reorganization as Universal-International; the merger was announced on July 30, 1946. William Goetz , a founder of International along with Leo Spitz ,

5394-498: The late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount . By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company's main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials, and sequels to the studio's horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43);

5487-402: The law is to protect the public from fraud, by compelling the business owner to first file or register his fictitious business name with the county clerk, and then making a further public record of it by publishing it in a newspaper. Several other states, such as Illinois , require print notices as well. In Uruguay , a trade name is known as a nombre fantasía , and the legal name of business

5580-420: The lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947 and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer "highlights" reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal's pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder's Realart Pictures for cinema re-release, but Realart

5673-414: The major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen , W. C. Fields , and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello ( Bud Abbott and Lou Costello ). Abbott and Costello's military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile. During the war years, Universal did have

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5766-442: The melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter , which were critically reassessed more positively years later. Among Universal-International's stable of stars were Rock Hudson , Tony Curtis , Jeff Chandler , Audie Murphy , and John Gavin . Although Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in

5859-415: The motion pictures and television arms of the formerly Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964. Television production made up much of

5952-461: The named defendant, RRL Corporation, was a Lexus car dealership doing business as " Lexus of Westminster ", but remaining a separate legal entity from Lexus, a division of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. . In California , filing a DBA statement also requires that a notice of the fictitious name be published in local newspapers for some set period of time to inform the public of the owner's intent to operate under an assumed name . The intention of

6045-469: The parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary. In the early years, Universal had a "clean picture" policy. However, by April 1927, Carl Laemmle considered this a mistake as "unclean pictures" from other studios generated more profit while Universal lost money. In early 1927, Universal had been negotiating deals with cartoon producers since they wanted to get back into producing them. On March 4, Charles Mintz signed

6138-472: The release of the film Mickey Blue Eyes . UIP then took over the theatrical distribution inventory of future films planned to be released by Universal Pictures International, such as The Green Mile and Angela's Ashes . On October 4, 1999, Universal renewed its commitments to United International Pictures to release its films internationally through 2006. Anxious to expand the company's broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought

6231-527: The same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era. Following the westward trend of the industry, by the end of 1912, the company was focusing its production efforts in the Hollywood area. Universal Weekly and Moving Picture Weekly were the alternating names of Universal's internal magazine that began publication in this era; the magazine was intended to market Universal's films to exhibitors. Since much of Universal's early film output

6324-498: The same position for the new company. Without Thalberg's guidance, Universal became a second-tier studio and would remain so for several decades. In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak . This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler 's increasing domination of central Europe. With

6417-417: The studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas , westerns , and serials . In 1916, Universal formed a three-tier branding system for their releases. Unlike

6510-410: The studio on April 2, 1936. Although Universal's 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles' involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded, with studio advertisements referring to "the new Universal". Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat

6603-476: The studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International's films. In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis . The studio also had success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland , with many directed by Jack Arnold and starring John Agar . Other successes were

6696-547: The studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically panned part-talkie version of Edna Ferber 's novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) won its year's Best Picture Oscar . Laemmle Jr. created

6789-619: The studio's output from its wartime average of fifty films per year (nearly twice the major studio's output) to thirty-five films a year. Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc. Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank's British productions, including such classics as David Lean 's Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier 's Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into

6882-505: The studio's output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which much later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below ) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie. In 1982, Universal became the studio base for many shows that were produced by Norman Lear 's Tandem Productions / Embassy Television , including Diff'rent Strokes , One Day at

6975-598: The studio. Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan , left. Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal's German subsidiary, repeated his formula in the United States. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak's first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film

7068-459: The surname(s) of the sole trader or partners, or the legal name of a company. The Companies Registration Office publishes a searchable register of such business names. In Japan , the word yagō ( 屋号 ) is used. In Colonial Nigeria , certain tribes had members that used a variety of trading names to conduct business with the Europeans. Two examples were King Perekule VII of Bonny , who

7161-469: The term trade name to refer to "doing business as" (DBA) names. In most U.S. states now, however, DBAs are officially referred to using other terms. Almost half of the states, including New York and Oregon , use the terms assumed business name or assumed name ; nearly as many, including Pennsylvania , use the term fictitious name . For consumer protection purposes, many U.S. jurisdictions require businesses operating with fictitious names to file

7254-518: The top-tier studios, Universal did not own any theaters to market its feature films. Universal branding their product gave theater owners and audiences a quick reference guide. Branding would help theater owners judge films they were about to lease and help fans decide which movies they wanted to see. Universal released three different types of feature motion pictures: Directors of "Jewel" films included Jack Conway , John Ford , Rex Ingram , Robert Z. Leonard , George Marshall , and Lois Weber , one of

7347-579: The two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol 's Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders , 1967) and Romain Gary 's Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru ), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, including Louis Malle 's Lacombe, Lucien , Bertrand Blier 's Les Valseuses (English title Going Places , 1974), and Fred Zinnemann 's The Day of

7440-449: The wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman's deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester '73 (1950), proved to be

7533-458: The world's largest talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km) studio lot to MCA in 1958 for $ 11 million, renamed Revue Studios . MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal's products. The studio lot

7626-544: Was a box-office hit and reputedly resolved the studio's financial problems. The film's success led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career, produced her most successful pictures. When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin's pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby , W. C. Fields , and Donald O'Connor . A popular Universal film of

7719-416: Was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures : Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943). As Universal's main product had always been lower-budgeted films, it was one of the last major studios to contract with Technicolor . The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez . Technicolor

7812-429: Was also used for the studio's remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy . With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget Technicolor films followed. In 1945, J. Arthur Rank, who had already owned a stake in the studio almost a decade before, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal,

7905-447: Was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor , William Fox , and Marcus Loew , Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain . He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained

7998-476: Was destroyed in subsequent fires and nitrate degradation, the surviving issues of these magazines are a crucial source for film historians. On March 15, 1915, Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios , on a 230-acre (0.9-km) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. Studio management became the third facet of Universal's operations, with

8091-614: Was established on June 8, 1912, formed in a merger of Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), the Powers Motion Picture Company , Rex Motion Picture Manufacturing Company , Champion Film Company , Nestor Film Company , and the New York Motion Picture Company . Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company , with movie production, distribution, and exhibition venues all linked in

8184-553: Was known as Captain Pepple in trade matters, and King Jubo Jubogha of Opobo , who bore the pseudonym Captain Jaja . Both Pepple and Jaja would bequeath their trade names to their royal descendants as official surnames upon their deaths. In Singapore , there is no filing requirement for a "trading as" name, but there are requirements for disclosure of the underlying business or company's registered name and unique entity number. In

8277-468: Was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures Company, Inc. which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm's films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer , decided to bring "prestige" to the new company. He stopped the studio's low-budget production of B movies , serials and curtailed Universal's horror and " Arabian Nights " cycles. He also reduced

8370-624: Was measured in terms of the 25 billion admission tickets that were clocked in China in 1986, and Worldwide Media Sales, a division of the New York-based Worldwide Media Group, had been placed in charge of the undertaking. In the early 1980s, the company had its own pay television arm Universal Pay Television (a.k.a. Universal Pay TV Programming, Inc.), which spawned in 1987, an 11-picture cable television agreement with then-independent film studio New Line Cinema . In

8463-454: Was not allowed to show the films on television. The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), both produced by Mark Hellinger , Universal-International's new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out. The studio returned to low-budget and series films such as Ma and Pa Kettle (1949),

8556-401: Was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.'s names on the credits and in the film's advertising campaign. Standard Capital's J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Joining him were British entrepreneurs C.M. Woolf and J. Arthur Rank , who bought a significant stake in

8649-542: Was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day , Lana Turner , Cary Grant , and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal contracts. The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA- Decca Records merger. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964, MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc ., merging

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