Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales were founded in 1919 by Harry Cohn, his brother Jack and Joe Brandt. The name wasn't working for them, so in 1924, the brothers bought out Brandt, Harry Cohn became President, and they renamed the company Columbia Pictures Corporation.
The next 10 years brought mild success to the company, as links started to appear between other film companies. Cary Grant signed a freelance contract with CPC in 1937, and MGM also had a contract with them, so as to help CPC keep their contract budget to a minimum. Columbia were also used as the distribution company for the first Mickey Mouse shorts from Disney.
During the 1940's, CPC benefited massively from the war, as people would sit watching films. Rita Hayworth became their biggest contracted star, and the budget and contract list began to get bigger and longer. The budgets were kept very small for films, and Harry Cohn was the last major film company president to give the go-ahead for colour films. 1948 was the big year for CPC, as the Government decided to stop big film companies from owning their own cinemas. This then put CPC into what is known as 'The Big Five' - the 5 major film companies of the US.
The 1950's and 1960's brought major success to CPC. Harry Cohn died in February 1958, and slowly, Columbia became the place to be. They gained the rights to the first James Bond film, and has always remained one of the distributors for the films.
In 1968, Columbia Pictures Corporation merged with some smaller subsiduaries, and became Columbia Pictures Industries. The early 1970's nearly bankrupted CPI, but studios were sold, and new management were brought in.
In 1980, Coca-Cola bought CPI, and bigger, more expensive films were being produced - some being massive hits, and some being flops. The end of the '80's brought a volatile film industry, and Coca-Cola allowed CPI to become their own company again. They changed their name again to Columbia Pictures Entertainment.
1989 brought Sony, who purchased CPE. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars on revamping and refurbishing all the studios and production rooms. The 1990's brought turbulence to Sony, as they wrote off $2.4b towards the start of the decade, but made over $1b revenue in 1997.
The new millenium brought massive success to Columbia, and they made over $1b in successive years for 4 years. The Spider-Man franchise, Casino Royale, The Dan Brown franchise and Men In Black brought massive commercial success to them, and they are still prospering into this new decade.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment