Silver Screen Partners

Last updated
Silver Screen Partners L.P.
Company type Limited Partnership
FoundedJune 8, 1983;41 years ago (1983-06-08) [1]
Founder Roland W. Betts
Defunct1992;32 years ago (1992)
FateDissolved
Successor Touchwood Pacific Partners
Total equity
  • Partners: $83 million
  • Partners II: $193 million
  • Partners III: $300 million
  • Partners IV:
Owner
Divisions
  • Silver Screen Partners, L.P.
  • Silver Screen Partners II, L.P.
  • Silver Screen Partners III, L.P.
  • Silver Screen Partners IV, L.P.

Silver Screen Partners refers to four limited partnerships [a] organized as an alternative funding source for film production originally formed by American investor Roland W. Betts as a collaboration with cable television network HBO in 1983. The managing general partner for the partnerships was Silver Screen Management, Inc. [2]

Contents

Silver Screen Partners entered into an agreement with The Walt Disney Company beginning in 1985 to collaborate with the Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Touchstone Pictures, and Hollywood Pictures studios to produce works such as The Great Mouse Detective ; Return to Oz ; The Black Cauldron ; Volunteers ; Down and Out in Beverly Hills ; Three Men and a Baby ; Good Morning, Vietnam ; Cocktail ; Oliver & Company ; Dead Poets Society ; Who Framed Roger Rabbit ; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ; Turner & Hooch ; The Little Mermaid ; Pretty Woman ; Dick Tracy ; The Rescuers Down Under ; Beauty and the Beast ; and Encino Man . Despite a string of successful films, Silver Screen Partners became defunct in 1992.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush was a member of Silver Screen Management, Inc.'s board of directors from 1983 to 1993. When Bush first ran for president in 2000, his membership on the board was scrutinized by the media over his attacks on Hollywood's perceived "pervasiveness of violence", particularly regarding the financing of the cult thriller film The Hitcher . [3]

History

The original Silver Screen Partners L.P. was organized by New York film investment broker Roland W. Betts to fund movies for HBO on April 19, 1983, and officially formed in Delaware on June 8 of that year. [1] The limited partnerships (13,000) sold through EF Hutton were oversubscribed and raised $83 million. HBO made a 50 percent guarantee on their investment for exclusive cable rights. Another 40% was guaranteed by Thorn EMI, a British firm, for foreign distribution and foreign TV and videocassette markets. Additional income was lined up for domestic videocassette sales. [4] HBO's film division was just starting out so film output was slow. [5] For the Silver Screen/HBO films, the partnership was active in the process from selecting film pitches and negotiating release dates with the distributor. In 1984, the first HBO/Silver Screen movie, Flashpoint , was released through TriStar Pictures as were all the HBO/Silver Screen films. [4]

Silver Screen Partners II, L.P. began financing films for The Walt Disney Company in 1985 with $193 million [6] from 20,000 limited partners. Silver Screen was hands-off with Disney given its name and new management team led by Michael Eisner, formerly at Paramount. HBO was expecting that Silver Screen would return to them for its third limited partnership. [4] However, in January 1987, Silver Screen Partners III began financing movies for Disney with $300 million raised, the largest amount raised for a film financing limited partnership by EF Hutton. [6]

Silver Screen's fourth limited partnership, Silver Screen Partners IV, was also set up to finance Disney's studios. On October 23, 1990, The Walt Disney Company formed Touchwood Pacific Partners which supplanted the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary source of funding. [7]

In 1991, Silver Screen Partners III, L.P. was among a group of production companies were sued for copyright infringement over Who Framed Roger Rabbit's "End Title" song. [8]

Structure

The partnerships paid for the movie's production costs and shared in the gross dollars in all markets from theater to television. Limited partners received their return before the production company could defray any of their expenses. This is preferred by investors as it guarantees some return if the film fails or has budget overrun and from the producer's overhead. Profits from a single film cannot be used to cover losses on other films, making the partnership somewhat risky. [5]

List of notable Silver Screen Partners films

TitleRelease DateCo-Production withBudgetGross
Footloose February 17, 1984 Paramount Pictures
Flashpoint August 31, 1984 HBO Films
Heaven Help Us February 8, 1985
Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend March 22, 1985 Touchstone Pictures $14,972,297
Return to Oz June 21, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures $25,000,000$11,137,801
The Black Cauldron July 24, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Productions $21,288,692
My Science Project August 9, 1985 Touchstone Pictures $4,122,748
Volunteers August 16, 1985 HBO Films
The Journey of Natty Gann September 27, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures N/A$9,708,373
Sweet Dreams October 2, 1985 HBO Films
One Magic Christmas November 22, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures N/A$13,677,222
Head Office January 3, 1986 HBO Films
Down and Out in Beverly Hills January 31, 1986 Touchstone Pictures $14 million$91,411,255
The Hitcher February 21, 1986 HBO Films
Odd Jobs March, 1986
Off Beat April 11, 1986 Touchstone Pictures $4,117,061
Ruthless People June 27, 1986$71,233,101
The Great Mouse Detective July 2, 1986 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $14 million$38,625,550
Tough Guys October 3, 1986 Touchstone Pictures $18 million$21,458,229
The Color of Money October 17, 1986$13,800,000$76,728,982
Outrageous Fortune January 30, 1987$25 million$65,864,741
Tin Men March 6, 1987$11,000,000$25,411,386
Ernest Goes to Camp May 22, 1987$3,500,000$23,509,382
Benji the Hunted June 17, 1987 Walt Disney Pictures and Mulberry Square Productions$22,257,624
Adventures in Babysitting July 1, 1987 Touchstone Pictures $7 million$34,368,475
Stakeout August 5, 1987$28,215,000$65,673,233
Can't Buy Me Love August 14, 1987 Touchstone Pictures and The Mount Company$31,623,833
Hello Again November 6, 1987 Touchstone Pictures $20,419,446
Three Men and a Baby November 25, 1987$15 million$167,780,960
Good Morning, Vietnam December 23, 1987$13 million$123,922,370
Shoot to Kill February 12, 1988$29,300,090
D.O.A. March 18, 1988$3.5 million$12,706,478
Return to Snowy River April 15, 1988 Walt Disney Pictures, Burrowes Film Group and Hoyts Film Partnership $13,687,027
Big Business June 10, 1988 Touchstone Pictures $20 million$40,150,487
Who Framed Roger Rabbit June 22, 1988 Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Entertainment $50,587,000$329,803,958
Cocktail July 29, 1988 Touchstone Pictures and Interscope Communications $6,000,000$171,504,781
The Rescue August 5, 1988 Touchstone Pictures $5,855,392
Heartbreak Hotel September 30, 1988$5,509,417
The Good Mother November 4, 1988$14 million$4,764,606
Ernest Saves Christmas November 11, 1988$6,000,000 (estimate)$28,202,109
Oliver & Company November 18, 1988 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $74,151,346
Beaches December 21, 1988 Touchstone Pictures and All Girl Productions$57,041,866
Three Fugitives January 27, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $15,000,000$40,586,886
Disorganized Crime April 14, 1989 Touchstone Pictures and Kouf/Bigelow Productions$20 million$7,724,000
Dead Poets Society June 9, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $16.4 million$235,860,116
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids June 23, 1989 Walt Disney Pictures $18 million$222,724,172
Turner & Hooch July 28, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $42 million$71,079,915
Cheetah August 18, 1989 Walt Disney Pictures $5 million$8,153,677
An Innocent Man October 6, 1989 Touchstone Pictures and Sandollar Productions$20,047,604
Gross Anatomy October 20, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $25 million$11,604,598
The Little Mermaid November 17, 1989 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $40 million$211,343,479
Blaze December 13, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $18 million$19,131,246
Where the Heart Is February 23, 1990$22 million$1,106,475
Pretty Woman March 23, 1990$14 million$463,407,268
Ernest Goes to Jail April 6, 1990$9,000,000$25,029,569
Spaced Invaders April 27, 1990$5,000,000$15,369,573
Fire Birds May 25, 1990$14,760,451
Dick Tracy June 15, 1990$46 million$162,738,726
Betsy's Wedding June 22, 1990$36 million$19,740,070
Taking Care of Business August 17, 1990 Hollywood Pictures $14 million$20,005,435
Mr. Destiny October 12, 1990 Touchstone Pictures $19 million$15,379,253
The Rescuers Down Under November 16, 1990 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $27,931,461
Three Men and a Little Lady November 21, 1990 Touchstone Pictures $71,609,321
Green Card December 23, 1990$29,888,235
White Fang January 18, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures and Hybrid Productions Inc.$14 million$34,793,160
Run February 1, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $4,409,328
Scenes from a Mall February 22, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $3 million$9,563,393
The Marrying Man April 5, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $26 million$12,454,768
Oscar April 26, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $35 million$23,562,716
One Good Cop May 3, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $11,276,846
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken May 24, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures and Pegasus Entertainment$7,294,835
The Rocketeer June 21, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and The Gordon Company$42,000,000$62,000,000
The Doctor July 24, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $24 million$38,120,905
V.I. Warshawski July 26, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $11,128,309
True Identity August 23, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $15 million$4,693,236
Deceived September 27, 1991$30 million$28,738,096
Ernest Scared Stupid October 11, 1991$9,600,000$14,143,280
Beauty and the Beast November 22, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $25 million$418,460,691
Blame It on the Bellboy March 6, 1992 Hollywood Pictures $3,104,545
Newsies April 10, 1992 Walt Disney Pictures $15 million$2,819,485
Encino Man May 22, 1992 Hollywood Pictures $7 million$40.7 million

Notes

  1. ↑ Silver Screen Partners, Silver Screen Partners II, Silver Screen Partners III, and Silver Screen Partners IV

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References

  1. 1 2 "Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". SEC.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 29, 1996. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Form 15 - Silver Screen Partners, L.P." SEC.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. December 29, 1998. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Bush Has a Tie to Media 'Depravity'". Los Angeles Times . Associated Press. September 15, 2000. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Mathews, Jack (September 20, 1985). "HBO, Disney Take Betts at Fun Odds". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2014-12-21. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Fabrikant, Geraldine (September 11, 1990). "Market Place; Silver Screen's Tie with Disney". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Briefly: E. F. Hutton Raised $300 Million for Disney". Los Angeles Times . February 3, 1987. Archived from the original on 2014-05-03. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Disney, Japan Investors Join in Partnership : Movies: Group Will Become Main Source of Finance for All Live-Action Films at the Company's Three Studios". Los Angeles Times . Associated Press. October 23, 1990. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  8. ↑ "A Selected Summary of Southern California-Related Business Litigation Developments During the Past Week". Los Angeles Times . United Press International. February 25, 1991. Archived from the original on 2015-02-17. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
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