Vestron Pictures Inc. was an American film studio and distributor, a former division of Austin O. Furst, Jr.'s Vestron Inc., that is best known for their 1987 release of Dirty Dancing .
61-413: Vestron also has had a genre film division, Lightning Pictures , a spin-off of Vestron's Lightning Video, headed by Lawrence Kasanoff , who would later go on to found Lightstorm Entertainment and Threshold Entertainment . The company was initially kicked off to "pursue projects" with top producers, namely Steve Tisch , Larry Turman and Gene Kirkwood, and Vestron would have to finance projects, and do
122-519: A Bachelor of Arts degree, and later received a Master of Business Administration degree from University of Pennsylvania . He is known for films such as the Mortal Kombat movie franchise including the 1995 Mortal Kombat , its 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat Annihilation and its spin-off series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and Mortal Kombat: Conquest . He became involved with
183-502: A 1959 Philadelphia ordinance requiring total budget for new construction or major renovation projects in which governmental resources are used to include 1% for art to be used to pay for installation of site-specific public art, in part because many alumni collected and donated art to Penn, and in part because of the presence of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design on the campus. In 2020, Penn installed Brick House ,
244-687: A March 2017 university statement. In 2007, Penn acquired about 35 acres (14 ha) between the campus and the Schuylkill River at the former site of the Philadelphia Civic Center and a nearby 24-acre (9.7 ha) site then owned by the United States Postal Service . Dubbed the Postal Lands, the site extends from Market Street on the north to Penn's Bower Field on the south, including
305-520: A Tree Campus USA since 2009 and formally recognized as an accredited ArbNet Arboretum since 2017. Penn maintains an interactive website linked to Penn's comprehensive tree inventory, which allows users to explore Penn's entire collection of trees. The second arboretum, Morris Arboretum , which serves as the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , is 92 acres and includes over 13,000 labelled plants from over 2,500 types, representing
366-431: A clay house. At the installation, Penn president Amy Guttman proclaimed that "Ms. Leigh's sculpture brings a striking presence of strength, grace, and beauty—along with an ineffable sense of mystery and resilience—to a central crossroad of Penn's campus." The Covenant , known to the student body as "Dueling Tampons" or "The Tampons," is a large red structure created by Alexander Liberman and located on Locust Walk as
427-652: A decided number of series and relationships. The first Vestron Pictures film released was Malcolm , the Australian feature film that launched a New York run on July 18, 1986. On October 1, 1986, Vestron Pictures and Gotham-based financial outfit Integrated Resources, Inc. established a $ 100 million joint venture to handle underwriting of the production and distribution of 15 Vestron Pictures feature films produced in-house, which planned to be released from 1987 to 1989. In December 1986, Vestron Pictures planned to produce ten films and to acquire 10-15 films in order to become
488-790: A degree from the College of Arts and Sciences and a degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Also, the Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences allows its students to either double major in the sciences or submatriculate and earn both a BA and an MS in four years. The most recent Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER) was first offered for the class of 2016. A joint program of Penn's School of Arts and Sciences and
549-553: A gateway to the high-rise residences "super block." It was installed in 1975 and is made of rolled sheets of milled steel. A white button, known as The Button and officially called the Split Button is a modern art sculpture designed by designed by Swedish sculptor Claes Oldenburg (who specialized in creating oversize sculptures of everyday objects). It sits at the south entrance of Van Pelt Library and has button holes large enough for people to stand inside. Penn also has
610-534: A group of Philadelphians organized to erect a great preaching hall for George Whitefield , a traveling Anglican evangelist , which was designed and constructed by Edmund Woolley . It was the largest building in Philadelphia at the time, and thousands of people attended it to hear Whitefield preach. In the fall of 1749, Benjamin Franklin , a Founding Father and polymath in Philadelphia, circulated
671-568: A large part of Washington University in St. Louis . They were known for having combined the Gothic architecture of the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge with the local landscape to establish the Collegiate Gothic style. The present core campus covers over 299 acres (121 ha) in a contiguous area of West Philadelphia's University City section, and the older heart of
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#1732794428328732-467: A monumental work of art, created by Simone Leigh at the College Green gateway to Penn's campus near the corner of 34th Street and Woodland Walk. This 5,900-pound (2,700 kg) bronze sculpture, which is 16 feet (4.9 m) high and 9 feet (2.7 m) in diameter at its base, depicts an African woman's head crowned with an afro framed by cornrow braids atop a form that resembles both a skirt and
793-748: A pamphlet, " Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania ," his vision for what he called a "Public Academy of Philadelphia". On June 16, 1755, the College of Philadelphia was chartered, paving the way for the addition of undergraduate instruction. Much of Penn's current architecture was designed by the Philadelphia -based architecture firm Cope and Stewardson , whose owners were Philadelphia born and raised architects and professors at Penn who also designed Princeton University and
854-524: A replica of the Love sculpture, part of a series created by Robert Indiana . It is a painted aluminum sculpture and was installed in 1998 overlooking College Green. In 2019, the Association for Public Art loaned Penn two multi-ton sculptures. The works are Social Consciousness , created by Sir Jacob Epstein in 1954, and Atmosphere and Environment XII , created by Louise Nevelson in 1970. Until
915-591: A student's GPA to be a very important academic factor, with emphasis on an applicant's high school class rank and letters of recommendation. Admission is need-blind for U.S., Canadian, and Mexican applicants. For the class of 2026, entering in Fall 2022, the university received 54,588 applications. The Atlantic also ranked Penn among the 10 most selective schools in the country. At the graduate level, based on admission statistics from U.S. News & World Report , Penn's most selective programs include its law school,
976-447: A tech incubator. The rest of the site, known as South Bank, is a mixture of lightly refurbished industrial buildings that serve as affordable and flexible workspaces and land for future development. Penn hopes that "South Bank will provide a place for academics, researchers, and entrepreneurs to establish their businesses in close proximity to each other to facilitate cross-pollination of their ideas, creativity, and innovation," according to
1037-864: A virtual low-budget film studio, and gave production budgets of under $ 2 million to the Lightning Pictures genre label, as titles from the mainstream label ran $ 2–6 million; the company was relegated to low-budget production without resorting to exploitation filmmaking, and shot for a broad base that expanded into all segments of the viewing audience. In 1987, the Vestron Pictures unit acquired worldwide rights to Bob Balaban 's Parents , from production company Parents Productions, and Roger Holzberg 's Midnight Crossing , from another independent production company, Team Effort Productions, with another Vestron subsidiary, Interaccess Film Distribution , to handle foreign sales and distribution rights for
1098-399: Is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of nine colonial colleges and was chartered prior to the U.S. Declaration of Independence when Benjamin Franklin , the university's founder and first president, advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service . Penn identifies as
1159-578: Is located east of the Highline Green and stretches from Walnut to South Streets . Penn maintains two arboreta. The first, the roughly 300-acre (120 ha) Penn Campus Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania, encompasses the entire University City main campus. The campus arboretum is an urban forest with over 6,500 trees representing 240 species of trees and shrubs, ten specialty gardens and five urban parks, which has been designated as
1220-796: Is the undergraduate division of the School of Arts and Sciences . The School of Arts and Sciences also contains the Graduate Division and the College of Liberal and Professional Studies , which is home to the Fels Institute of Government , the master's programs in Organizational Dynamics, and the Environmental Studies (MES) program. Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania. Other schools with undergraduate programs include
1281-464: The Beaux-Arts building include a rotunda and gardens that include Egyptian papyrus . Penn maintains a website providing a detailed roadmap to small museums and galleries and over one hundred locations across campus where the public can access Penn's over 8,000 artworks acquired over 250 years, which includes paintings, sculptures, photography, works on paper, and decorative arts. The largest of
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#17327944283281342-659: The Benelux countries. The company already had distribution offices in the U.K. and Japan , and would cooperate with Vestron's international sales subsidiary, Interaccess Film Distribution . It decided not to set up shop in France due to declining theatrical attendance and a glut of cinemas, some of which formed a crowded field in the nation. Vestron Pictures' parent company, Vestron, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and went out of business in 1992, with their assets being acquired by LIVE Entertainment . Today, Lionsgate owns
1403-898: The Declaration of Independence , seven who signed the United States Constitution , 24 members of the Continental Congress , three presidents of the United States , 38 Nobel laureates, nine foreign heads of state , three United States Supreme Court justices, at least four Supreme Court justices of foreign nations, 32 U.S. senators , 163 members of the U.S. House of Representatives , 19 U.S. Cabinet Secretaries , 46 governors , 28 State Supreme Court justices, 36 living undergraduate billionaires (the largest number of any U.S. college or university), and five Medal of Honor recipients. In 1740,
1464-613: The National Science Foundation . Its endowment is $ 21 billion, making it the sixth-wealthiest private academic institution in the nation as of 2023. The University of Pennsylvania's main campus is located in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia , and is centered around College Hall . Notable campus landmarks include Houston Hall , the first modern student union , and Franklin Field ,
1525-508: The Preakness Stakes . Penn library system has grown into a system of 14 libraries with 400 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and a total operating budget of more than $ 48 million. The library system has 6.19 million book and serial volumes as well as 4.23 million microform items and 1.11 million e-books. It subscribes to over 68,000 print serials and e-journals. The university has 15 libraries. Van Pelt Library on
1586-695: The School of Engineering and Applied Science , the Wharton School , and the School of Nursing . Among its graduate schools are its law school , whose first professor James Wilson participated in writing the first draft of the U.S. Constitution , its medical school , which was the first medical school established in North America, and the Wharton School, the nation's first collegiate business school. In 2023, Penn ranked third among U.S. universities in research expenditures , according to
1647-478: The School of Nursing and the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) . The current president is J. Larry Jameson (interim). The University of Pennsylvania Police Department (UPPD) is the largest, private police department in Pennsylvania, with 117 members. All officers are sworn municipal police officers and retain general law enforcement authority while on the campus. The official seal of
1708-402: The fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States , though this representation is challenged by other universities since Franklin first convened the board of trustees in 1749, arguably making it the fifth-oldest. The university has four undergraduate schools and 12 graduate and professional schools. Schools enrolling undergraduates include the College of Arts and Sciences ,
1769-540: The rest of the Thirteen Colonies . Since the Penn Museum was founded in 1887, it has taken part in 400 research projects worldwide. The museum's first project was an excavation of Nippur , a location in current day Iraq. Penn Museum is home to the largest authentic sphinx in North America at about seven feet high, four feet wide, 13 feet long, 12.9 tons, and made of solid red granite. The sphinx
1830-594: The 2012 Threshold Entertainment animated film Foodfight! , which was originally intended to be released in 2003. In 2023, Kasanoff released a self-help book titled A Touch of the Madness: How to Be More Innovative in Work and Life… by Being a Little Crazy . This article about an American film producer is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Penn or UPenn )
1891-777: The Middle East, Mesoamerica , Asia, the Mediterranean, Africa and indigenous artifacts of the Americas. Its most famous object is the goat rearing into the branches of a rosette-leafed plant, from the royal tombs of Ur . The Penn Museum's excavations and collections foster a strong research base for graduate students in the Graduate Group in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World . Features of
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1952-473: The Penn campus is the university's main library. The other 14 are: Penn also maintains books and records off campus at high density storage facility. The Penn Design School 's Fine Arts Library was built to be Penn's main library and the first with its own building. The main library at the time was designed by Frank Furness to be first library in nation to separate the low ceilings of the library stack , where
2013-632: The School of Engineering and Applied Science, VIPER leads to dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Engineering degrees by combining majors from each school. For graduate programs, Penn offers many formalized double degree graduate degrees such as a joint J.D./MBA and maintains a list of interdisciplinary institutions, such as the Institute for Medicine and Engineering, the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies, and
2074-549: The Sciences in Philadelphia in a merger, and The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College . Wistar Institute , a cancer research center, is also located on campus. In 2014, a new seven-story glass and steel building was completed next to the institute's original brick edifice built in 1897 further expanding collaboration between the university and the Wistar Institute. The Module 6 Utility Plant and Garage at Penn
2135-512: The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania serves as the signature and symbol of authenticity on documents issued by the corporation. The most recent design, a modified version of the original seal, was approved in 1932, adopted a year later and is still used for much of the same purposes as the original. The official seal of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania serves as the signature and symbol of authenticity on documents issued by
2196-641: The art galleries is the Institute of Contemporary Art , one of the only kunsthalles in the country, which showcases various art exhibitions throughout the year. Since 1983, the Arthur Ross Gallery , located at the Fisher Fine Arts Library , has housed Penn's art collection and is named for its benefactor, philanthropist Arthur Ross . Every College House at the University of Pennsylvania has at least four members of faculty in
2257-526: The books and the outer ring is the Latin motto of the university, "Leges Sine Moribus Vanae." Penn's "One University Policy" allows students to enroll in classes in any of Penn's twelve schools. Penn has a strong focus on interdisciplinary learning and research. It offers double degree programs, unique majors, and academic flexibility. Penn's "One University" policy allows undergraduates access to courses at all of Penn's undergraduate and graduate schools except
2318-445: The books were stored, from forty-foot-plus high ceilinged rooms, where the books were read and studied. The Yarnall Library of Theology, a major American rare book collection, is part of Penn's libraries. The Yarnall Library of Theology was formerly affiliated with St. Clement's Church in Philadelphia. It was founded in 1911 under the terms of the wills of Ellis Hornor Yarnall (1839–1907) and Emily Yarnall, and subsequently housed at
2379-538: The campus comprises the University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District . All of Penn's schools and most of its research institutes are located on this campus. The surrounding neighborhood includes several restaurants, bars, a large upscale grocery store, and a movie theater on the western edge of campus. Penn's core campus borders Drexel University and is a few blocks from the University City campus of Saint Joseph's University , which absorbed University of
2440-425: The contemporary art, Penn also has several traditional statues, including a good number created by Penn's first Director of Physical Education Department, R. Tait McKenzie . Among the notable sculptures is that of Young Ben Franklin , which McKenzie produced and Penn sited adjacent to the fieldhouse contiguous to Franklin Field . The sculpture is titled Benjamin Franklin in 1723 and was created by McKenzie during
2501-460: The corporation. A request for one was first recorded in a meeting of the trustees in 1753 during which some of the Trustees "desired to get a Common Seal engraved for the Use of [the] Corporation." In 1756, a public seal and motto for the college was engraved in silver. The most recent design, a modified version of the original seal, was approved in 1932, adopted a year later and is still used for much of
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2562-562: The former Philadelphia Divinity School. The library's major areas of focus are theology, patristics, and the liturgy, history and theology of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America . It includes a large number of rare books, incunabula, and illuminated manuscripts, and new material continues to be added. The campus has more than 40 notable art installations, in part because of
2623-580: The former main regional U.S. Postal Building at 30th and Market Streets, now the regional office for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service . Over the next decade, the site became the home to educational, research, biomedical , and mixed-use facilities. The first phase, comprising a park and athletic facilities, opened in the fall of 2011. In September 2011, Penn completed the construction of the $ 46.5 million, 24-acre (9.7 ha) Penn Park, which features passive and active recreation and athletic components framed and subdivided by canopy trees, lawns, and meadows. It
2684-569: The franchise after working on Terminator 2 with Lightstorm Entertainment, which was overtaken by Mortal Kombat as the most successful arcade game in 1993. His company Threshold Entertainment was started with the purpose of producing the first Mortal Kombat film and other Mortal Kombat media spin-offs. Kasanoff later served as executive producer of the 2021 reboot of Mortal Kombat . Other films produced by Kasanoff include Blood Diner , Blue Steel , True Lies , and Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers . He also directed and produced
2745-511: The health care schools (medicine, dental medicine, nursing, veterinary), the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Wharton School. Penn offers unique and specialized coordinated dual-degree (CDD) programs, which selectively award candidates degrees from multiple schools at the university upon completion of graduation criteria of both schools in addition to program-specific programs and senior capstone projects. Additionally, there are accelerated and interdisciplinary programs offered by
2806-628: The loan, both works had been located at the West Entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art , the older since its creation and the Nevelson work since 1973. Social Consciousness was relocated to the walkway between Wharton's Lippincott Library and Phi Phi chapter of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity house, and Atmosphere and Environment XII is sited on Shoemaker Green between Franklin Field and Ringe Squash Courts. In addition to
2867-475: The medical, veterinary and dental schools. Undergraduates at Penn may also take courses at Bryn Mawr , Haverford , and Swarthmore under a reciprocal agreement known as the Quaker Consortium . * SAT and ACT ranges are from the 25th to the 75th percentile. Undergraduate admissions to the University of Pennsylvania is considered by US News to be "most selective." Admissions officials consider
2928-468: The nation's first dual-level college football stadium and the nation's longest-standing NCAA Division I college football stadium in continuous operation. The university's athletics program, the Penn Quakers , fields varsity teams in 33 sports as a member of NCAA Division I's Ivy League conference. Penn alumni, trustees, and faculty include eight Founding Fathers of the United States who signed
2989-433: The northwest corner of 34th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue, the then site of DuPont 's Marshall Research Labs. In October 2016, with help from architects Matthias Hollwich , Marc Kushner , and KSS Architects , Penn completed the design and renovation of the center piece of the project, a former paint factory named Pennovation Works , which houses shared desks, wet labs, common areas, a pitch bleacher, and other attributes of
3050-501: The pre-World War I era (1910–1914). Other sculptures he produced for Penn include the 1924 sculpture of then Penn provost Edgar Fahs Smith . Penn is presently reevaluating all of its public art and has formed a working group led by Penn Design dean Frederick Steiner , who was part of a similar effort at the University of Texas at Austin that led to the removal of statues of Jefferson Davis and other Confederate officials, and Penn's Chief Diversity Officer, Joann Mitchell. Penn has begun
3111-555: The process of adding art and removing or relocating art. Penn removed from campus in 2020 the statue of the Reverend George Whitefield (who had inspired the 1740 establishment of a trust to establish a charity school, which trust Penn legally assumed in 1749) when research showed Whitefield owned fifty enslaved people and drafted and advocated for the key theological arguments in favor of slavery in Georgia and
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#17327944283283172-550: The rights to the Vestron library after acquiring Artisan Entertainment in 2003. Lawrence Kasanoff Lawrence Alan " Larry " Kasanoff (born June 1, 1959) is an American film producer who founded the Vestron Pictures genre subsidiary Lightning Pictures in 1986, Lightstorm Entertainment with James Cameron in 1990, and Threshold Entertainment in 1993. Kasanoff graduated from Cornell University with
3233-488: The rights to two films from production company Double Helix Films, Mace and Funland . Vestron would handle theatrical, television, pay cable and syndicated TV rights to the former, and home video, cable and TV rights to the latter film, and Double Helix Films would retain the rights to the two films for foreign distribution. In November 1987, Vestron Pictures was seeking to expand theatrical operations in Australia and
3294-708: The roles of House Dean, Faculty Master, and College House Fellows. Within the College Houses, Penn has nearly 40 themed residential programs for students with shared interests such as world cinema or science and technology. Many of the nearby homes and apartments in the area surrounding the campus are often rented by undergraduate students moving off campus after their first year, as well as by graduate and professional students. The College Houses include W.E.B. Du Bois, Fisher Hassenfeld, Gregory, Gutmann, Harnwell, Harrison, Hill College House , Kings Court English, Lauder, Riepe, Rodin, Stouffer, and Ware. The first College House
3355-432: The same purposes as the original. The outer ring of the current seal is inscribed with "Universitas Pennsylvaniensis," the Latin name of the University of Pennsylvania. The inside contains seven stacked books on a desk with the titles of subjects of the trivium and a modified quadrivium , components of a classical education: Theolog[ia], Astronom[ia], Philosoph[ia], Mathemat[ica], Logica, Rhetorica and Grammatica. Between
3416-438: The temperate floras of North America , Asia , and Europe , with a primary focus on Asia. Penn also owns the 687-acre (278 ha) New Bolton Center , the research and large-animal health care center of its veterinary school. Located near Kennett Square , New Bolton Center received nationwide media attention when Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro underwent surgery at its Widener Hospital for injuries suffered while running in
3477-414: The two pictures. In September 1987, upon the success of the company's biggest hit, Dirty Dancing , Vestron acquired 24 productions and pickups that were slated for release throughout 1988, and toward that end, the company unveiled four productions before the end of the year, as well as four acquisitions, and called for quality pictures with budgets of $ 6 million. In October 1987, Vestron Pictures bought
3538-499: The university. These undergraduate programs include: Dual-degree programs that lead to the same multiple degrees without participation in the specific above programs are also available. Unlike CDD programs, "dual degree" students fulfill requirements of both programs independently without the involvement of another program. Specialized dual-degree programs include Liberal Studies and Technology as well as an Artificial Intelligence: Computer and Cognitive Science Program. Both programs award
3599-613: Was Van Pelt College House, established in the fall of 1971. It was later renamed Gregory House. Fisher Hassenfeld, Ware and Riepe together make up one building called "The Quad." The latest College House to be built is Guttman (formerly named New College House West), which opened in the fall of 2021. Penn students in Junior or Senior year may live in the 45 sororities and fraternities governed by three student-run governing councils, Interfraternity Council, Intercultural Greek Council, and Panhellenic Council. The College of Arts and Sciences
3660-445: Was designed by BLT Architects and completed in 1995. Module 6 is located at 38th and Walnut and includes spaces for 627 vehicles, 9,000 sq ft (840 m ) of storefront retail operations, a 9,500-ton chiller module and corresponding extension of the campus chilled water loop, and a 4,000-ton ice storage facility. In 2010, in its first significant expansion across the Schuylkill River , Penn purchased 23 acres (9.3 ha) at
3721-560: Was discovered in 1912 by the British archeologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie , during an excavation of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, Egypt , where the sphinx had guarded a temple to ward off evil. Since Petri's expedition was partially financed by Penn Petrie offered it to Penn, which arranged for it to be moved to museum in 1913. The sphinx was moved in 2019 to a more prominent spot intended to attract visitors. The museum has three gallery floors with artifacts from Egypt ,
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