United International Pictures

Infobox_Company
company_name = United International Pictures
company_
company_type = 50/50 joint venture
parent = Paramount Pictures Corp. and Universal Studios, Inc.
owner = Viacom, Inc. and NBC Universal, Inc. (General Electric)
foundation = London (1981)
dissolved = 2007 into Paramount Pictures (UIP is still active in the USA)
location = London
key_people =
num_employees =
industry = Motion pictures
products = motion pictures
revenue =
operating profit
homepage = [http://www.uip.com/ UIP.com]

United International Pictures (or UIP; now known as Paramount Pictures International) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures (owned by Viacom) and Universal Studios (owned by NBC Universal/General Electric), to distribute some of the two studios films theatrically outside United States (including territories) and Canada. It also has rights to distribute films theatrically by DreamWorks (also owned by Viacom) and independent films. It was the successor to Cinema International Corporation.

UIP also had international theatrical distribution rights to features by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (which included Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists; now part-owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment) when MGM was part of the venture until 2001 when MGM dropped out, and at that time, international distribution rights to MGM films were passed on to 20th Century Fox (owned by News Corporation). UIP holds the Turkish rights to films by Walt Disney Pictures.

The company was formed in 1981 after MGM purchased UA, and merged its international distribution arm with what was then called Cinema International Corporation, which once had a video division, CIC Video. The company is based in the United Kingdom (London), with offices in 34 countries, and represented in 23 other countries. Regional offices are in Singapore, Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Sydney (Australia). Seven years after their debut, they helped out with Denzel Washington's 1989 film, "For Queen and Country".

Starting in 2007, UIP reduced its international operations from 35 to 20 countries. The other 15 "key countries" are now directly managed separately by Universal (taking over operations in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland) and Paramount (taking over operations in Australia, Brazil, France, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand and the UK).

External links

* [http://www.uip.com United International Pictures]
*imdb company|id=0074139|company=United International Pictures