Company type | Film distributor and production company |
---|---|
Industry | Motion pictures |
Founded | 1982[1] |
Founder | David Geffen |
Defunct | 1998 |
Fate | Closed |
Successors | DreamWorks Pictures Library: Warner Bros. Paramount Pictures (through MTV Entertainment Studios) ( Beavis and Butt-Head Do America only) Disney–ABC Domestic Television ( Tales from the Crypt syndication rights only) |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Key people | David Geffen Eric Eisner |
Owner | Warner Bros. (1982–1994) DreamWorks Pictures (1994–1998) |
Divisions | Geffen Television Geffen Records |
The Geffen Film Company (also known as The Geffen Company, The Geffen Film Company, Inc., and later Geffen Pictures) was an American film distributor and production company founded by David Geffen, the founder of Geffen Records, and future co-founder of DreamWorks. The spherical Geffen Pictures logo (based on the logo of its record-label counterpart) was created by Saul Bass. Their most famous films are Risky Business (1983), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Beetlejuice (1988), and Interview with the Vampire (1994).
Geffen founded the company in 1982, [1] having recruited Eric Eisner as president, [2] and distributed its films through Warner Bros. [3] Geffen was operated as a division of Warner Bros., and as a result, following the company's shutdown in 1998, Warner Bros. now owns the company's library, with the exception of the 1996 Mike Judge comedy Beavis and Butt-Head Do America , which is owned by Paramount Pictures (via Paramount Animation, MTV Entertainment Studios and MTV Animation). [4]
In 1993, Geffen and MTV Productions struck a two-picture deal. [5]
In 1994, The Geffen Film Company was renamed and reorganized as DreamWorks Pictures , though the Geffen Pictures brand was continued to be used on films by David Geffen until 1998, when it was folded under the DreamWorks Pictures brand (including all of the company's library).
Release date | Title | Director | Notes | Names | Budget | Gross (worldwide) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 5, 1982 | Personal Best | Robert Towne | The Geffen Film Company | $15 million | $5.6 million | |
August 5, 1983 | Risky Business | Paul Brickman | $6.2 million | $63.5 million | ||
March 15, 1985 | Lost in America | Albert Brooks | $4 million | $10.1 million | ||
September 13, 1985 | After Hours | Martin Scorsese | co-production with Double Play Productions | $4.5 million | $10.6 million | |
December 19, 1986 | Little Shop of Horrors | Frank Oz | $25 million | $39 million | ||
March 30, 1988 | Beetlejuice | Tim Burton | $15 million | $74.2 million |
Release Date | Title | Director | Notes | Names | Budget | Gross (worldwide) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 2, 1990 | Men Don't Leave | Paul Brickman | The Geffen Film Company | $7 million | $6 million | |
March 22, 1991 | Defending Your Life | Albert Brooks | Geffen Pictures | N/A | $16.4 million | |
December 13, 1991 | The Last Boy Scout | Tony Scott | co-production with Silver Pictures | $43 million | $114.5 million | |
October 1, 1993 | M. Butterfly | David Cronenberg | N/A | $1.4 million | ||
November 11, 1994 | Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles | Neil Jordan | $60 million | $223.7 million | ||
July 26, 1996 | Joe's Apartment | John Payson | co-production with MTV Productions | $13 million | $4.6 million | |
October 11, 1996 | Michael Collins | Neil Jordan | $25 million | $27.5 million | ||
December 20, 1996 | Beavis and Butt-Head Do America | Mike Judge | co-production with Paramount Pictures and MTV Productions | $12 million | $63.1 million | |
April 3, 1998 | The Butcher Boy | Neil Jordan | N/A | $1.96 million |
Years | Title | Networks | Notes | Names | Seasons | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989–1996 | Tales from the Crypt | HBO | Co-production with Tales from the Crypt Holdings | Uncredited | 7 | 93 |
1989–1991 | Beetlejuice | ABC (seasons 1–3) Fox Kids (season 4) | Co-production with Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Tim Burton, Inc. and Nelvana | The Geffen Film Company (seasons 1–2) Geffen Pictures (seasons 3–4) | 4 | 94 |
Beavis and Butt-Head is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge for MTV and later Paramount+. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, and love for hard rock and heavy metal. The original series juxtaposes slice-of-life short subjects—in which the teens embark on low-minded misadventures in their Texas town—with the pair watching and commenting on music videos.
Paramount Pictures Corporation, doing business as Paramount Pictures is an American film and television production and distribution company and the namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles.
Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command the 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.
MTV Entertainment Studios is the film and television production arm of MTV Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Founded in 1991 as MTV Productions, it is a consolidation of the former MTV Films group established in 1996 and the MTV Production Development/MTV Studios group of 2003–2021, it has produced original television shows like Beavis and Butt-Head, Æon Flux, Jackass, My Super Sweet 16, Daria, Celebrity Deathmatch, Clone High and The Real World and films such as Election, Joe's Apartment and Napoleon Dynamite. Its films are released by fellow Paramount Global division Paramount Pictures. The MTV Films unit was part of Paramount Players until 2020.
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA) (also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The studio has released a total of 48 feature films, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. Its first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film was Kung Fu Panda 4 on March 8, 2024; their upcoming theatrical slate of films includes The Wild Robot on September 20, 2024, Dog Man on January 31, 2025, and The Bad Guys 2 on August 1, 2025. Additionally, DreamWorks has reserved a release date for an untitled animated film on September 26, 2025.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is a 1996 American adult animated comedy road film based on the MTV animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head. The film was co-written and directed by series creator Mike Judge, who also reprises his roles from the series; Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Robert Stack and Cloris Leachman star in supporting roles. The film follows Beavis and Butt-Head, two teen delinquents who travel the US and unknowingly become fugitives.
MTV Animation is the animation department of the television network MTV. The department's parent company is MTV Entertainment Studios, which is owned by Paramount Global. MTV Animation gained substantial popularity in the 1990s, with many of their largest successes including the original broadcasts of Liquid Television (1991–1995), Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997), Daria (1997–2002), and Celebrity Deathmatch (1998–2007). Of the animated shows that aired, Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria ended up being the most successful, with both shows developing a cult following.
Joe's Apartment is a 1996 American musical black comedy film written and directed by John Payson, based on his 1992 short film of the same name, and starring Jerry O'Connell and Megan Ward. The first MTV Films production, it was the only one not to involve Paramount Pictures. It was also the first film Blue Sky Studios was involved in.
Harvey Films was the production arm of comic book publisher Harvey Comics. It was founded in 1957.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio, owned by NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast.
Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own Rango and the end of their distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation in 2012.
DreamWorks Pictures is an American film studio and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action film studio by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, of which they owned 72%. The studio formerly distributed its own and third-party films. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each.
The 39th Annual Annie Awards honoring the best in animation of 2011 were held on February 4, 2012, at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (WBPA), formerly known as Warner Animation Group (WAG), is an American animation studio that serves as the animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, by Jeff Robinov, the studio is the successor to the dissolved 2D traditional hand-drawn animation studio Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which shut down in 2004, and is also a sister to the regular Warner Bros. Animation studio.
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group unit, and is based at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California. Animated films produced by Warner Bros. Pictures Animation are also released under the studio banner.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe is a 2022 American adult animated science fiction comedy film directed by John Rice and Albert Calleros and written by Mike Judge, Lew Morton, Guy Maxtone-Graham and Ian Maxtone-Graham. It is the second film based on the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head after Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996). The film follows teenage delinquents Beavis and Butt-Head, who are transported 24 years from 1998 to 2022, encounter parallel-universe versions of themselves and are hunted by the US government.