 | |
| Company type | Production company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Founders | Steve Martin William E. McEuen |
| Fate | inactive |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | motion pictures |
Aspen Film Society was an American film production company formed in 1976 by actor, writer, comedian, and musician Steve Martin and film and record producer William E. McEuen, with backing from Paramount Pictures. [1] The company's films include The Jerk and Pee-wee's Big Adventure .
The company's first project, the 1977 short film The Absent-Minded Waiter, starred Steve Martin, Teri Garr, and Buck Henry. Written by Martin and directed by Carl Gottlieb, [2] it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 50th Academy Awards.
In the wake of Woody Allen's Annie Hall winning four Oscars at the 50th Academy Awards, Martin received $500,000 from Universal Pictures to write and star in the box office hit The Jerk, and the company gave Aspen Film Society and Martin the last cut and approval of the marketing campaign, as well as 50 percent of the profits. [3]
| Date | Film | Director | Distribution Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | The Absent-Minded Waiter | Carl Gottlieb | Paramount Pictures | nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film [4] [5] |
| 1979 | The Jerk | Carl Reiner | Universal Pictures | |
| 1980 | Steve Martin: Comedy is Not Pretty | Joseph Cates | TV special | |
| 1982 | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | Carl Reiner | Universal Pictures | |
| 1983 | The Man with Two Brains | Carl Reiner | Warner Bros. | |
| 1984 | The Lonely Guy | Arthur Hiller | Universal Pictures | |
| 1985 | Pee-wee's Big Adventure | Tim Burton | Warner Bros. | Burton's feature-length directorial debut |
| 1988 | Pulse | Paul Golding | Columbia Pictures | |
| 1989 | The Big Picture | Christopher Guest | Columbia Pictures | |
| 1990 | Cold Dog Soup | Alan Metter | Anchor Bay Entertainment | |
Burton Stephen Lancaster was an American actor and film producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in films and television series. He was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and he also won two BAFTA Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as #19 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Stephen Glenn Martin is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for his work in comedy films, television, and recording, he has received many accolades, including five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and an Honorary Academy Award, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards. He also received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2005, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2015. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
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Buck Henry was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's The Graduate (1967) for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also appeared in Nichols' Catch-22 (1970), Herbert Ross' The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), and Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972). In 1978, he co-directed Heaven Can Wait (1978) with Warren Beatty receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. He later appeared in Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life (1991), and the Robert Altman films The Player (1992) and Short Cuts (1993).
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Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's Double Trouble, starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for nine Academy Awards. He won an Oscar for Best Picture for 1976's Rocky. As a producer, he has been nominated for Best Picture for four films: Rocky (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Right Stuff (1983), and Goodfellas (1990).
Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in the golden age of Hollywood, generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row. Lacking the financial resources to deliver the lavish sets, production values, and star power of the larger studios, Monogram sought to attract its audiences with the promise of action and adventure.
The Absent-Minded Waiter is a 1977 American comedy short film starring Steve Martin, Buck Henry and Teri Garr. It was written by Martin and directed by Carl Gottlieb. The film was produced by William E. McEuen, who would go on to produce Steve Martin's next six films.
Marcia Lou Lucas is an American film editor. She is best known for her work editing the Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983) as well as other films by her then-husband George Lucas: THX-1138 (1971) and American Graffiti (1973). She also edited Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), and New York, New York (1977).
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C.H.O.M.P.S. is a 1979 American comic science fiction film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and directed by Don Chaffey. It is one of Hanna-Barbera’s live-action productions, despite their being primarily known as an animation studio.
Steve Martin starred in such films as The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), All of Me (1984), Three Amigos (1986), Roxanne (1987), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) Parenthood (1989), Father of the Bride (1991), Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), and The Pink Panther (2006). Martin has also hosted Saturday Night Live 16 times.
Edward Colman was an American cinematographer. He had a prolific relationship with Walt Disney Studios; beginning his relationship with that studio in 1953 as cinematographer for the television series Dragnet. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1956 for his work on that program. He also directed many live action films for Disney; notably earning Academy Award nominations for his cinematography for the films The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and Mary Poppins (1964).
Eustace Lycett was a British special effects artist who worked on attractions at Disneyland from the 1960s, such as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and Rocket to the Moon, as well as contributing to Disney animation.
William Eugene McEuen was a film producer and record producer famous for working with Steve Martin and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. His younger brother is John McEuen, banjo player and founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Thomas Vicari is an American recording engineer, mixing engineer, record producer and scoring mixer known for his work with Quincy Jones, Gino Vannelli, Nicholas Britell, Thomas Newman, Prince, George Duke and Barbra Streisand. He was the sound mixer for TV shows and films including Six Feet Under, The Newsroom, Behind the Candelabra, Phantom of the Paradise, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, Wall-E and Road to Perdition.
