Seven Arts Productions

Last updated

Seven Arts Productions
Industry Film
Genre Entertainment
Founded1957;67 years ago (1957)
Founder Eliot Hyman
Ray Stark
Norman Katz
Defunct1967;57 years ago (1967)
Fate Merged with Warner Bros. to form Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
SuccessorsCompany
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Library:
Warner Bros. (excluding co-productions)
Key people
Eliot Hyman
Ray Stark
Norman Katz
Parent Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969)
Second logo (1961-1964) Seven Arts Second logo.jpg
Second logo (1961–1964)
Third logo (1964-1967) Seven Arts Third Logo.jpg
Third logo (1964–1967)

Seven Arts Productions was a production company which made films for release by other studios. It was founded in 1957 by Eliot Hyman, Ray Stark, and Norman Katz. [1]

Contents

History

Seven Arts' first film was The Gun Runners , released by United Artists.

Among its productions were The Misfits (1961) for United Artists, Gigot (1962) for Twentieth Century-Fox, Lolita (1962) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) for Warner Bros., and Is Paris Burning? (1966) for Paramount Pictures.

Over time it expanded its role, becoming equity investors with other studios and partnering with British horror film company Hammer Film Productions on many projects. It also retained ancillary rights on new productions surrendered on earlier films, including Seven Days in May (1964) and Promise Her Anything (1965) for release by Paramount.

Seven Arts also distributed feature films and TV programs for television. Warner Bros. licensed the TV rights to its post-1949 library to Seven Arts in 1960. Seven Arts made similar deals with 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures. [1] Seven Arts also acquired theatrical reissue rights to some Fox films as well. [1]

In 1967, Seven Arts Productions acquired the controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures from Jack L. Warner for $32 million. [2] The companies were merged as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. It was rebranded as Warner Bros. Inc. after Kinney National Company bought the company in 1969. [3]

Other uses

Neither the later Seven Arts Pictures nor the defunct releasing company "Seven Arts", an early 1990s joint venture between Carolco Pictures and New Line Cinema (the latter which subsequently merged into Warner Bros.), is related to the original Seven Arts Productions.

Select filmography

Theatre credits

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Artists</span> In-name-only American digital media/entertainment company

United Artists Corporation (UA) is an American production and distribution company founded in 1919 by D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a venture premised on allowing actors to control their own interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desilu</span> American production company

Desilu Productions, Inc. was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Mannix, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA's Revue Studios, until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained the number-one independent production company, until Ball sold it to Gulf and Western Industries in 1968.

DePatie–Freleng Enterprises was an American animation studio founded by former Warner Bros. Cartoons employees in May 1963, before dissolving in 1981. Based in Burbank, California, DFE produced animation for film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major film studios</span> United States film production and distribution companies with high output

Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Famous Studios</span> Defunct American animation studio

Famous Studios was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized control of the aforementioned studio after the departure of its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1942. The studio's productions included three series started by the Fleischers—Popeye the Sailor, Superman, and Screen Songs—as well as Little Audrey, Little Lulu, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Honey Halfwitch, Herman and Katnip, Baby Huey, and the anthology Noveltoons series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eon Productions</span> British film production company known for producing the James Bond film series

Eon Productions Limited is a British film production company that primarily produces the James Bond film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK.

Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films. The characters featured in these cartoons, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, are among the most famous and recognizable characters in the world. Many of the creative staff members at the studio, including directors and animators such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Arthur Davis, and Frank Tashlin, are considered major figures in the art and history of traditional animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Douglas (director)</span> American film director (1907–1993)

Gordon Douglas Brickner was an American film director and actor, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark VII Limited</span> Production company of actor and filmmaker Jack Webb

Mark VII Limited was the production company of actor and filmmaker Jack Webb, and was active from 1951 to his death in 1982. Many of its series were produced in association with Universal Television; most of them aired on the NBC television network in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screen Gems</span> American film studio

Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation, initially as a cartoon studio, then a television studio, and later on as a film studio. The label currently serves as a film production that specializes in genre films, mainly horror.

United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and United Artists (UA) films when MGM was part of the venture and also distributed Disney films in certain territories until 1987. In 2001, MGM left UIP, and signed a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox's overseas arm. The company formerly distributed DreamWorks Pictures releases internationally as well until late 2005.

The Mirisch Company was an American film production company owned by Walter Mirisch and his brothers, Marvin and Harold Mirisch. The company also had sister firms known at various times as Mirisch Production Company, Mirisch Pictures Inc., Mirisch Films, and The Mirisch Corporation.

United Artists Television (UATV) was an American television production/distribution studio of United Artists Corporation that was formed on January 1, 1958. The company is remembered for producing series such as This Man Dawson, World of Giants, Stoney Burke, The Outer Limits, Gilligan's Island, My Mother the Car, The Fugitive, The Rat Patrol, thirtysomething, The New Phil Silvers Show, The Patty Duke Show and The Pink Panther Show. In September 2014, the studio briefly returned to full-time TV production under the new management of United Artists Media Group (UAMG), led in part by husband and wife producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. With its folding back into MGM Television, UATV was temporarily dormant until 2020 when MGM Television was reincorporated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGM Animation/Visual Arts</span>

MGM Animation/Visual Arts was an American animation studio established in 1962 by animation director/producer Chuck Jones, producer Les Goldman and executive Walter Bien as Sib Tower 12 Productions. Its productions include the last series of Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts, the TV specials Horton Hears a Who! and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and the feature film The Phantom Tollbooth, all released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Eliot Hyman (1904–1980) was an American film executive who helped co-found Seven Arts Productions.

Kenneth Hyman is an American film producer, best known for The Dirty Dozen (1967). The son of Eliot Hyman, he was head of UK operations for Seven Arts Productions and head of production for Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. While head of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, among his achievements was hiring black director Gordon Parks for The Learning Tree (1969).

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hoyt, Eric (3 July 2014). Hollywood Vault: Film Libraries Before Home Video. Univ of California Press. ISBN   9780520282636.
  2. Warner Sperling, Cass (Director) (2008). The Brothers Warner (DVD film documentary). Warner Sisters, Inc. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016.
  3. "Seven Arts Purchases Shares in Warner Bros". The New York Times. 26 November 1966. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 14 March 2023.