- PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Infobox Company
company_name = PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Pictures, Inc.
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Inc.
PolyGram Film Productions, B.V.
company_type =Corporation
location_city =Universal City ,Los Angeles ,California &London England
founder =Philips
owner = Philips (1979-1999)
Universal Studios (1999)
foundation =May 8 ,1979
dissolved = 1999 intoUniversal Studios
divisions =Working Title Films
Interscope Communications
Propaganda Films
Gramercy Pictures
PolyGram Television PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE) (aka PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures) was a
London -based Anglo-Dutchfilm studio , founded in 1979 as aEurope an competitor toHollywood , but eventually sold and merged withUniversal Pictures in 1999.Among its most successful films were "
Four Weddings and a Funeral " (1994) and "Fargo" (1996). From 1989 to 1997 they co-produced withWarner Bros. the originalBatman movie series directed byTim Burton &Joel Schumacher , and starringMichael Keaton ,Val Kilmer andGeorge Clooney .The Dutch music company
PolyGram (owned byPhilips ) created PFE in 1979 to consolidate its existing film companies. It invested US$200 million with the intention of developing a European film studio that could produce and distribute films internationally on a scale to match the major Hollywood studios.Following the style of its music business, the company produced films through a number of creatively semi-autonomous 'labels', such as
Working Title Films in the UK andPropaganda Films andInterscope Communications in theUnited States – It also built up it own network of distribution companies.Film production within Polygram differed from traditional Hollywood studios, in that power to make ('green light') a film was not centralised in the hands of a small number of executives, but instead was decided by negotiations between producers, management and marketing. PFE President, "
Michael Kuhn ", claimed that "movies sort of green lit themselves."The company was based in the
United Kingdom , and invested heavily in British film making — some credit it with reviving the British film industry in the 1990s. Despite a successful production history, Philips decided to sell PFE to the beverage (liquor) conglomerateSeagram in 1999.PFE's assets were merged into Seagram's existing film studio,
Universal Pictures . Most of its library of films produced up until 1996 is now controlled byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Universal owns the rest of the post-1996 films and the library from 1996 to 1999 includingPolyGram Television .Production companies
*
Working Title Films (UK), acquired by PFE in 1991.
*Propaganda Films (US), acquired in 1991.
*Interscope Entertainment (US)
*A&M Films
*Island Pictures
*Cinéa (France)Distribution company
In 1993, PolyGram partnered with
Universal Pictures to create ajoint venture calledGramercy Pictures . Gramercy primarily distributed PolyGram films in the USA. After PolyGram's absorbing into Universal in 1999, Gramercy merged withOctober Films to form USA Films, which eventually becameFocus Features .elected films
Among the films directly produced by PFE were:
*"Backbeat" (1994)
*"Land and Freedom " (1995)
*"Home for the Holidays" (1995) (distributed theatrically byParamount Pictures in theUS .)
*"When We Were Kings " (1996)
*" Trainspotting" (1996)
*"The Relic" (1997) (distributed byParamount Pictures in theUS .)
*"Spiceworld" (1997) (distributed by Columbia in the US.)
*"Hard Rain" (1998) (distributed byParamount Pictures in theUS .)
*"Barney's Great Adventure " (1998) (co-production withLyrick Studios )
*"Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels " (1998)
*"Arlington Road " (1999)
*"Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends " (1997)Working Title Films
*"
London Kills Me " (1991)
*"Map of the Human Heart " (1992)
*"Posse" (1993)
*"The Young Americans" (1993)
*"Romeo Is Bleeding " (1994)
*"The Hudsucker Proxy " (1994) (co-production withWarner Bros. )
*"Four Weddings and a Funeral " (1994)
*"Dead Man Walking" (1995)
*"French Kiss" (1995) (co-production with20th Century Fox )
*"Fargo" (1996)
*"Bean" (1997)
*"The Borrowers" (1998)
*"The Big Lebowski " (1998)
*"Elizabeth" (1998)
*"Notting Hill" (1999)Propaganda (
Gold Circle Films )*"Candyman" (1992) (co-production with
TriStar Pictures )
*"Bob Roberts " (1992)
*"Kalifornia " (1993)
*"Barb Wire" (1996)
*"Sleepers" (1996) (co-production withWarner Bros. )
*"Slate Below" (1997)
*"The Game" (1997)
*"Being John Malkovich " (1999)Interscope (
Saturn Films )(Note: Most of these films were distributed by
The Walt Disney Company and are still owned byWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures unless otherwise noted)
*"The Air Up There " (1994)
*"Terminal Velocity" (1994)
*"Jumanji" (1995, withTriStar Pictures )
*"Operation Dumbo Drop " (1995, co-production with Disney)
*"Mr. Holland's Opus " (1995, Disney'sHollywood Pictures division distributed the film in the U.S. and PolyGram in all other countries; Disney owns U.S. rights while some international rights are with MGM)
*"Kazaam " (1996)
*"What Dreams May Come" (1998, distributed by PolyGram)
*"Very Bad Things " (1998, distributed by PolyGram)Gramercy
*"Dazed and Confused (1993)
*"Double Dragon" (1994)
*"Canadian Bacon" (1995)
*"" (1996)
*"Guy" (1997)Manga Entertainment
*"Ghost in the Shell" (1996)
References
* Michael Kuhn, "One Hundred Films and a Funeral: The Life and Death of Polygram Films", Thorogood, 2002. ISBN 1-85418-216-1.
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