Orion Pictures
The Orion Pictures Corporation was a company in the production and distribution of television and film content.
History
Differences lead to the establishment
Because of differences between the management of United Artists and their parent company, Transamerica Corporation rose three senior managers from the Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks sen. and David Griffith founded film production companies from Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow.
This step can not be easy for them, since Crimea and Benjamin 1951, the United Artists acquired from their previous owners and from the pure film distribution created a thriving film company. This has been involved since then in the production of feature films and the subsidiary United Artists Records and United Artists Television were established. In addition, the new owners established a worldwide operating movie rentals. But after the Transamerica Corporation, the film company acquired in 1968, there were tensions between the managers of United Artists and the new parent company. Despite great commercial and economic success in the 1970s, the Transamerica Corporation as the owner did not understand the business of the entertainment industry. The United Artists Management was retrospectively about their decision of selling also dissatisfied. This culminated in 1978 in the resignation of Crimea, Benjamin and Pleskow - the creative director of United Artists.
Shortly thereafter created the three together with the media company Warner Communications, Orion Pictures Corporation as a joint venture. The trio took care of the film production and film companies. Warner Bros. was the responsible for the worldwide distribution. This collaboration was in 1982 end. The rights to the movies until then established remained with the company Warner Bros.
Merger with Filmways, Inc.
1982 Orion Pictures Corporation merged with the company Filmways, Inc. This was made famous in the 60s through the production of television series. In the 70s, Filmways, Inc. produced mainly second-rate movies. The main interest of Orion consisted but of the rights of the film library of the subsidiary company American International Pictures.
The Orion Pictures Corporation achieved some artistic and economic successes in the following years. These include the Academy Award-winning Amadeus, Platoon, Dances with Wolves and The Silence of the Lambs. Encouragement from the audience got the produced Woody Allen's films and the first Terminator and Robocop movies. But also incurred a lot of films the company through at the box office.
The Orion Pictures Corporation -actuated film distribution and sales in the home entertainment area in the United States independently. Outside the United States, either local film distributors have been used or you made use of the apparatus hire another U.S. film society, such as the international arms of 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures.
Integration into the Metromedia
From respect for Arthur Krim billionaire John Kluge invested in 1986 in the Orion Pictures Corporation. By 1988 this was the majority owner of the company, Metromedia.
Due to financial problems, the Orion Pictures Corporation was in 1992 with U.S. $ 700 million debt bankruptcy, although two big hits ( The Silence of the Lambs and The Dances with Wolves ) have been brought to market in quick succession and won a total of 12 Oscars. The blame for this total number of flops such as Attack of the 20 Foot Woman. Through the bankruptcy process, some already finished movies only in 1994 could see the big screen. A later success, The Addams Family, had to be sold to another club before the theatrical release.
The television division of Orion Pictures Corporation was sold due to financial problems in the U.S. television channel American Broadcasting Company and was renamed ABC Productions. The rights to the series were produced still held by the Orion Pictures Corporation. ABC was in the time of the insolvency owner of the television rights of the film company.
1996 ended in the bankruptcy proceedings.
Sale to Metro -Goldwyn -Mayer
John Kluge's Metromedia acquired the two film company The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Motion Picture Corporation of America and incorporated them into his company. In 1997, Metromedia sold these two together using the Orion Pictures Corporation to Kirk Kerkorian's Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer. The purchase price was $ 573 million. Has been completed for fiscal 1998. The value of purchase consisted mainly of the large film libraries of individual companies.
The Orion Pictures Corporation remained only on paper as an independent film production unit consist. There was also the part of the MGM considerations to establish the subsidiary as a special label for inexpensive entertainment films.
The MGM lion was added to all DVD - evaluations of the films from the Orion Pictures Corporation rights floor. To this belong the rights to the films of Filmways, Inc., the American International Pictures and produced their own works after 1982.
The sale of the Metro -Goldwyn -Mayer to a run by the Sony Corporation of America consortium Orion Pictures Corporation emigrated together with their film library also in their possession.
Possible future
A relaunch of the production company or even the label Orion Pictures Corporation is unlikely under the new owner because the Sony Pictures Entertainment already in possession of Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics and since 2005 also the Metro -Goldwyn -Mayer and United Artists is.