1.
Television program
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It may be a single production, or more commonly, a series of related productions. A limited number of episodes of a show may be called a miniseries or a serial or limited series. Television series are without a fixed length and are divided into seasons or series. While there is no defined length, U. S. industry practice has traditionally favored longer television seasons than those of other countries, a one-time broadcast may be called a special, or particularly in the UK a special episode. A television film is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video, a program can be either recorded, as on video tape, other various electronic media forms, played with an on-demand player or viewed on live television. Television programs may be fictional, or non-fictional and it may be topical, or historical. They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy, a drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures, except for soap opera-type serials, many shows especially before the 1980s, remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters lives during the episode, because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order. Since the 1980s, there are series that feature progressive change to the plot. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time television series to have this kind of dramatic structure. While the later series, Babylon 5 is an example of such production that had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 2012, it was reported that television was growing into a component of major media companies revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of television programs. When a person or company decides to create a new series, they develop the elements, consisting of the concept, the characters, the crew. Then they offer it to the networks in an attempt to find one interested enough to order a prototype first episode of the series. They want very much to get the word out on what types of shows they’re looking for, to create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series must be put together. If the network likes the pilot, they pick up the show to air it the next season, sometimes they save it for mid-season, or request rewrites and further review
2.
Beverly Hills, California
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Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. By 2013, its population had grown to 34,658, sometimes referred to as 90210, one of its primary ZIP codes, it was home to many actors and celebrities throughout the 20th century. The city includes the Rodeo Drive shopping district and the Beverly Hills Oil Field, gaspar de Portolá arrived in the area that would later become Beverly Hills on August 3,1769, travelling along native trails which followed the present-day route of Wilshire Boulevard. The area was settled by Maria Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband in 1828 and they called their 4,500 acres of property the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. in 1854, she sold the ranch to Benjamin Davis Wilson and Henry Hancock. By the 1880s, the ranch had been subdivided into parcels of 75 acres and was being bought up by anglos from Los Angeles. Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker acquired most of it, at this point, the area was known as the Hammel and Denker Ranch. By 1888, Denker and Hammel were planning to build a town called Morocco on their holdings and they did not find enough to exploit commercially by the standards of the time, though. In 1906, therefore, they reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company, renamed the property Beverly Hills, subdivided it, the development was named Beverly Hills after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts and because of the hills in the area. The first house in the subdivision was built in 1907, although sales remained slow, Beverly Hills was one of many all-white planned communities started in the Los Angeles area around this time. Restrictive covenants prohibited non-whites from owning or renting property unless they were employed as servants by white residents and it was also forbidden to sell or rent property to Jews in Beverly Hills. Burton Green began construction on The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1911, the hotel was finished in 1912. The visitors drawn by the hotel were inclined to purchase land in Beverly Hills and that same year, the Rodeo Land and Water Company decided to separate its water business from its real estate business. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission was split off from the company and incorporated in September 1914, buying all of the utilities-related assets from the Rodeo Land. In 1919, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land on Summit Drive and built a mansion, finished in 1921, the glamor associated with Fairbanks and Pickford as well as other movie stars who built mansions in the city contributed to its growing appeal. By the early 1920s the population of Beverly Hills had grown enough to make the water supply a political issue, in 1923 the usual solution, annexation to the city of Los Angeles, was proposed. There was considerable opposition to annexation among such famous residents as Pickford, Fairbanks, Will Rogers, the Beverly Hills Utility Commission, opposed to annexation as well, managed to force the city into a special election and the plan was defeated 337 to 507. In 1925, Beverly Hills approved an issue to buy 385 acres for a new campus for UCLA. The cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Venice also issued bonds to pay for the new campus
3.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Chairman
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The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, a committee, or a deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chair presides over meetings of the group and conducts its business in an orderly fashion. When the group is not in session, the officers duties include acting as its head, its representative to the outside world. In some organizations, this position is called president, in others, where a board appoints a president. Other terms sometimes used for the office and its holder include chair, chairperson, chairwoman, presiding officer, president, moderator, facilitator, the chairman of a parliamentary chamber is often called the speaker. The term chair is used in lieu of chairman, in response to criticisms that using chairman is sexist. In his 1992 State of the Union address, then-U. S, president George H. W. Bush used chairman for men and chair for women. A1994 Canadian study found the Toronto Star newspaper referring to most presiding men as chairman, the Chronicle of Higher Education uses chairman for men and chairperson for women. An analysis of the British National Corpus found chairman used 1,142 times, chairperson 130 times, the National Association of Parliamentarians does not approve using chairperson. In World Schools Style debating, male chairs are called Mr. Chairman, the FranklinCovey Style Guide for Business and Technical Communication, as well as the American Psychological Association style guide, advocate using chair or chairperson, rather than chairman. The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style suggests that the forms are gaining ground. It advocates using chair to refer both to men and to women, the word chair can refer to the place from which the holder of the office presides, whether on a chair, at a lectern, or elsewhere. During meetings, the person presiding is said to be in the chair and is referred to as the chair. Major dictionaries state that the word derives from chair and man, some authorities, however, including Riddicks Rules of Procedure, suggest that the second part of chairman derives from the Latin manus, and thus claim gender-neutrality for the word. Vladimir Lenin, for example, officially functioned as the head of Soviet Russia not as tsar or as president, note in particular the popular standard method for referring to Mao Zedong, Chairman Mao. In the absence of the chairman and vice chairman, groups sometimes elect a chairman pro tempore to fill the role for a single meeting. In some organizations that have titles, deputy chairman ranks higher than vice chairman, as there are often multiple vice chairs
6.
Mark Burnett
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Mark Burnett is a television and film producer and author and, since December 2015, president of MGM Television and Digital Group. He is a British expatriate in the United States and he has won ten Emmy Awards, five Producers Guild of America Awards, seven Critics Choice Television Awards, and six Peoples Choice Awards. Scripted shows that can be expected in the coming months include Condor, Get Shorty, Burnett additionally produced the cable miniseries The Bible and A. D. The Bible Continues, as well as the feature films Son of God, Little Boy, Burnett was born on 17 July 1960 in London, the only child of Archie and Jean Burnett, both Ford Motors factory workers, and was raised in Dagenham, Essex. His father was a Roman Catholic and his mother was a Presbyterian, aged 17, he enlisted in the British Army, and became a Section Commander in the Parachute Regiment. From 1978–82 he served with the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment in C Company, in October 1982, Burnett emigrated to the United States, where his friend Nick Hill, who had emigrated from the UK several years earlier, was working as a nanny and chauffeur. Hill knew of a position for a live-in nanny with the Jaeger family in affluent Beverly Hills. Despite having no experience as a nanny, Burnett went on the interview, the Jaegers, realizing the advantage of having a nanny and security at the same time, hired him. After a year of working for the Jaegers, he moved on to family in the beach city of Malibu, California. He was eventually given a position in the insurance office owned by Burt, two years later, Burnett rented a portion of a fence at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, and sold T-shirts for $18 each during weekends. Realizing he made money selling T-shirts, he left his insurance job. In 1991, Burnett, and four others joined a French adventure competition, afterward, Burnett saw a business opportunity in holding similar competitions. He purchased the rights and brought a similar competition, Eco-Challenge. Eco-Challenge launched Burnetts career as a television producer, Burnett is best known for producing the hit reality show Survivor, which premiered in the summer of 2000 and was the most watched summer series since Sonny and Cher. Survivor was named the Number 1 reality series of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 2009, in 2004, NBC premiered the The Apprentice, a reality television series in which contestants competed for a job under real estate magnate Donald Trump. The Apprentice spawned numerous licensed international versions of the show, Burnett has produced several other television franchises including, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. He has maintained a presence in award show franchises, having produced the MTV Movie Awards, the annual Peoples Choice Awards, the Spike Video Game Awards. Burnett has produced more than 3,200 hours of programming which regularly airs in more than 70 countries
7.
President (corporate title)
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The President is a leader of an organization, company, community, club, trade union, university or other group. In many organizations, it is the legally recognized highest titled corporate officer, the president may also be the chairman. The relationship between the president and the Chief Executive Officer varies, depending on the structure of the specific organization, in a similar vein to the Chief Operating Officer, the title of corporate President as a separate position is also loosely defined. The powers of the president vary widely across organizations and such powers come from specific authorization in the bylaws, originally, the term president was used to designate someone who presided over a meeting, and was used in the same way that foreman or overseer is used now. It has now come to mean chief officer in terms of administrative or executive duties. In addition to the administrative or executive duties in organizations, the president has the duties of presiding over meetings, in committees or small boards, the president votes along with the other members. However, in assemblies or larger boards, the president should vote only when it can affect the result, at a meeting, the president only has one vote. The powers of the president vary widely across organizations, the amount of power given to the president depends on the type of organization, its structure, and the rules it has created for itself. If the president exceeds the given authority, engages in misconduct, or fails to perform the duties, such procedures may include censure, suspension, or removal from office. The rules of the organization would provide details on who can perform these disciplinary procedures. Usually, whoever appointed or elected the president has the power to discipline this officer, some organizations may have a position of President-Elect in addition to the position of President. Generally the membership of the organization elects a President-Elect and when the term of the President-Elect is complete, some organizations may have a position of Immediate Past President in addition to the position of President. In those organizations, when the term of the President is complete, the organization can have such a position only if the bylaws provide it. The duties of such a position would also have to be provided in the bylaws, riding Shotgun, The Role of the COO. National Association of Parliamentarians®, Education Committee, independence, MO, National Association of Parliamentarians®
8.
Broadcast network
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A broadcast network is a group of radio stations, television stations, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or broadcast, content from a centralized source. For example, PBS and BBC are TV networks that provide programming for local TV station affiliates to air using signals that can be picked up by the television sets of local viewers. Reginald Fessenden, an engineer and communications researcher for the U. S. Weather Bureau was the first individual to transmit a regular radio broadcast. His broadcasts were to ships at sea, for which he used radio telegraphy equipment and his programs consisted of a recorded Handel piece, a violin performance, and a reading from the Bible. He claimed to be the first to transmit the human voice, general Electric was encouraged years later to create the Radio Corporation of America. Around this time, AT&T also became involved in radio, with all of these stations going on the air, AT&T devised the concept of sharing programming to save on effort required to create programming. In addition, programs sometimes appealed to the audiences of more than one station, when two or three stations link together from a telephone line it is called chain broadcasting. Since the phone lines were owned by AT&T, they were the first corporation to begin the sharing of two or three stations via telephone lines. In 1924, the Eveready Hour was broadcast over 12 stations, National companies were able to reach large portions of the nation with their brand names and slogans in a resourceful manner. By 1925 AT&T had linked together 26 stations in a network and they also ran an owned & operated station, WEAFNinew York. Radio Corporation of America followed suit, using AT&T’s network model, however, conflict resulted as RCA needed to lease phone lines from AT&T. The Federal Trade Commission took notice of this and charged AT&T with United States antitrust law violations, in 1926 AT&T sold off their broadcasting interests to RCA. RCA agreed to lease network connections from AT&T and for several decades AT&T made a business in radio. In 1926, RCA created the National Broadcasting Company under David Sarnoff, when NBC first launched, it comprised two groups of stations that worked together, with different programs and sponsors to support. The two networks were called NBC Red and NBC Blue, NBC Red covered stronger stations and NBC Blue covered weaker stations. In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission issued the Report on Chain Broadcasting, the FCC cited NBC Red and NBC Blue as a primary concern, which the commission thought was anti-competitive. Since the FCC does not have the power to regulate the networks, in 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States took away the FCC’s power to enforce chain broadcasting regulations. NBC Blue was sold to Edward Noble who later named it the American Broadcasting Company, NBC also had a chain of shortwave stations, called NBC White Network, in the 1930s
9.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California and it is one of the worlds oldest film studios. In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3,2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MGM, is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would later buy Universal Studios, the studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and a film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up production, as well as keeping production going at UA. It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production, the studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt, MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the major creditor. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australias Seven Network in 1996, the debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGMs ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem and he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loews Theatres chain. With Loews lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality, however, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17,1924, Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production. MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years, in 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loews passed to Nicholas Schenck, in 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew familys holdings with Schencks assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision, Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds
10.
MGM Holdings
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MGM Holdings, Inc. is a Delaware-registered pure holding company and the parent company of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. Through this holding company, MGMs creditors own the studio and its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California, United States. MGM Holdings was formed on February 11,2005 by a Sony-led consortium and on April 8,2005, the lenders refused to do so and argued that a sale was the only way to recoup their investment. Cooper agreed to conduct an auction to gauge the level of interest by potential buyers, the studio also held out the possibility of gaining a large influx of cash from new investors, although industry analysts believed that alternative was unlikely to happen. Some industry analysts said sale of the studio could net $1.5 billion to $3 billion, others pegged the value at between $2 billion to $2.5 billion. Potential buyers included Time Warner, Qualia Capital, 20th Century Fox, MGM also announced that its creditors agreed to a forbearance on the companys debt payments originally until January 31,2010, but the forbearance was extended to March 31,2010. The Hollywood Reporter said Warner Bros. 20th Century Fox, industry observers worried, however, that buyers might only bid on a few of MGMs assets such as the James Bond film franchise or The Hobbit film which would draw bids of less than $1 billion. At least one trade publication said creditors would accept offers amounting to $2 billion for parts or all of the studio. Even a bid or bids totalling $1.8 billion might be accepted, industry observers said, the due diligence process was going slowly one trade publication reported, with only four of the potential 20 companies participating as of December 18. MGM originally set Friday, January 15, as the deadline to receive bids from the companies interested in acquiring the studio, however, fewer bids than expected were made. Reliance Entertainment, which has a joint venture with DreamWorks, joined the bidding on the deadline date, News Corp. reportedly signed a nondisclosure agreement on or about January 15, and was considering a bid. On January 17, the New York Times reported that bids had been received from Time Warner, Lionsgate, some of the bids may have been below $1 billion, and nearly all the bids would require MGM to file for bankruptcy first and shed its debt obligations. But the Financial Times said sources believed most bids were within the $1.5 to $2 billion range, barclays Capital, a British investment bank, was quoted as saying, We find it unlikely that MGMs creditors would cleanly agree to a sale price materially below $2bn. Time Warner, one source reported, is seen by industry observers as the leading bidder since it already owns much of the MGM library and has large cash reserves. By January 23, bids from Relativity Media and Reliance Entertainment were received as well, six days later, MGM extended its deadline to March 31, and by the next day, News Corporation suggested that the company should offer MGM some cash to keep the company running. A few days later, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes stated that he was interested in MGM, but didnt need to be in any deals, later, other bidders began bidding on Miramax and Liberty Medias Overture Films as well, which their respective owners put up for bidding. MGM stated in February 2010 that the studio would likely be sold in the four months. However, some stated that the company might continue as a label for new James Bond productions, catalog already included all the pre-1986 MGM titles originally acquired by Ted Turner
11.
Orion Pictures
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It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion achieved a high reputation for Hollywood quality. Woody Allen, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Oliver Stone, of the films distributed by Orion, four won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Amadeus, Platoon, Dances with Wolves, and The Silence of the Lambs. Two other Orion films, Hannah and Her Sisters and Mississippi Burning, were nominated for same category. In 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer revived the Orion name for television, a year later Orion Pictures was quietly relaunched by the studio, in January 1978, three executives of Transamerica -owned studio United Artists – Arthur B. Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert S. Benjamin - quit their jobs, Krim and Benjamin had headed UA since 1951, and subsequently turned around the then-flailing studio with a number of critical and commercial successes. Change had begun once Transamerica purchased UA in 1967, and within a decade a rift formed between Krim and TA chairman Jack Beckett regarding the studios operations, Krim suggested spinning off United Artists into a separate company, which was rejected by Beckett. The last straw came for Pleskow when he refused to collect, Krim, Benjamin, and Pleskow quit United Artists on January 13,1978, followed by the exits of senior vice presidents William Bernstein and Mike Medavoy three days later. In February 1978, the five men forged a deal with Warner Bros, the executives formed Orion Pictures Company, named after the constellation, which they claimed had five main stars. The new company intended only to projects, giving the filmmakers complete creative autonomy. Orion held a $100 million line of credit, and its films would be distributed by the Warner Bros. studio, Orion, however, was contractually given free rein over distribution and advertising, as well as the number and type of films the executives chose to invest in. In late March 1978, Orion signed its first contract, a deal with John Travoltas production company. Orion also developed a co-financing and distribution deal with EMI Films, Orions first film, A Little Romance, was released in April that year. That year, Orion released Blake Edwards 10, which became a big critical and commercial success, other films released in that period included Caddyshack, The Great Santini, a critically praised but underpromoted adaptation of a Pat Conroy novel, and Promises in the Dark. Out of the 23 films Orion released between April 1979 and December 1981, only a third of them made a profit, Orion executives were conflicted over financing big-budgeted films and passed on Raiders of the Lost Ark for that reason. By early 1982, Orion had severed its ties with Warner. As part of the deal, the rights to Orions films made up to that point were sold to Warner, Orion was now looking to have its own distribution network by acquiring another company with such capabilities. The four partners looked into Allied Artists and Embassy Pictures before settling on Filmways, Orion subsequently purchased Filmways and reorganized the flailing company
12.
Sony Pictures Television
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Columbia TriStar Television was an American television studio that was active from 1994 to 2002. After the merger, Columbia Pictures Television Distribution was renamed as Columbia TriStar Television Distribution, expanding its television library in 1994, SPE acquired Stewart Television. Its global subsidiary, Columbia TriStar International Television, distributed Sonys programs across the globe and it was created in 1992 by merging Columbia Pictures International Television with TriStar Television. This was also the launch of the Columbia TriStar Television Group a year later, in 1996, CTT launched their own animation division, Columbia TriStar Childrens Television. The name was changed in 1997 to Adelaide Productions, within dismantling of Columbia Pictures Television in 2001 and TriStar Television in 1999, these studios were folded into Columbia TriStar Television. In 1998, it made a partnership with Global Maritime Group to create the company called Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Co, medien KG used for copyright purposes. In 1999, they went back to the old way and ELP, on October 25,2001, CTT and CTTD merged to form Columbia TriStar Domestic Television. Some shows continued using the CTDT name, many stopped using it in November 2002, while Hollywood Squares continued using it until early 2003
13.
Sony
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Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation that is headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment, the company is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony was ranked 116th on the 2015 list of Fortune Global 500 and these make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. The group consists of Sony Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Financial Holdings and others. Sony is among the Semiconductor sales leaders by year and as of 2013, the companys current slogan is BE MOVED. Their former slogans were make. believe, like. no. other, Sony has a weak tie to the SMFG keiretsu, the successor to the Mitsui keiretsu. Sony began in the wake of World War II, in 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in a department store building in Tokyo. The company had $530 in capital and a total of eight employees, in the following year he was joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo 東京通信工業. The company built Japans first tape recorder, called the Type-G, in 1958 the company changed its name to Sony. When Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was looking for a name to use to market themselves, they strongly considered using their initials. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TTK, the company occasionally used the acronym Totsuko in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was Tokyo Teletech until Akio Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name, the name Sony was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the Latin word sonus, which is the root of sonic and sound, and the other was sonny, a common slang term used in 1950s America to call a boy. In the 1950s Japan sonny boys, was a word into Japanese which connoted smart and presentable young men. The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955, at the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters to spell its name instead of writing it in kanji. The move was not without opposition, TTKs principal bank at the time and they pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Banks chairman gave their approval, according to Schiffer, Sonys TR-63 radio cracked open the U. S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics
14.
Lauren Lake's Paternity Court
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The show is produced by 79th & York Entertainment and the re-launched Orion Television, and is distributed by MGM Domestic Television Distribution. Paternity Court is executive produced by David Armour, according to John Bryan, president of MGM Domestic Television Distribution, the series is MGMs first first-run syndication series to come to the market in years. Reports of the series first emerged in December 2012, as early as December 2012, the court show was already sold in 75% of the country. Stations acquired the show on a basis with 3½ minutes of local. By August 2013, the show was sold in 92% of the country, Paternity Court premiered on Monday, September 23,2013. The court shows first day of taping was on June 13,2013, on January 28,2014, Paternity Court was renewed for a second season, which added Lakes name directly to the title as Lauren Lakes Paternity Court. As reported in late 2012, court programming is the second highest-rated genre on daytime television, Bryan has stated the goal of Paternity Court is to reinvigorate the court show genre. Paternity Court provides guests with unspecified resources in or near their hometowns, a psychiatrist, Carole Lieberman, is always on-site, and the show says Lauren Lake frequently, follows up with guests. Lake utilizes her experience as a woman, a mother, an expert, and an attorney to help the litigants through the problems they bring with them to court. Paternity Court is a hybrid of a talk show using the court show plaintiff/defendant format. Lake talks to the litigants and decides cases based upon the results of DNA tests. While the shows title is Paternity Court, it also looks into other situations using DNA verification, such as disputes over wills. There is a beginning, middle and end to each story, but then there’s what happens after the paternity test results. We don’t take any of this lightly, there is a responsible side to the show where we help families get on the right path. ”The program plans to bring something. Interesting but with a positive resolution. ”Most episodes end with Lake revealing the results of a paternity test. The show covers a range of cases. Armour has stated that, We want to dig into these stories much deeper than any other court show does. On this show, we’re dealing with resolutions about how families can move forward now that they have results. ”Unlike most present-day court shows which typically have two cases in episode, Paternity Court only focuses on one case per episode, though a second case can make an uncommon appearance
15.
The Ed Sullivan Show
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The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that ran on CBS from Sunday June 20,1948, to Sunday June 6,1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, in 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, the series finished No.31 in TV Guide Magazines 60 Best Series of All Time, the format was essentially the same as vaudeville, and although vaudeville had died a generation earlier, Sullivan presented many ex-vaudevillians on his show. The last original Sullivan show telecast was on March 28,1971, with guests Melanie, Joanna Simon, Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass, repeats were scheduled through June 6,1971. While most of the episodes aired live from New York City, the show aired live on occasion from other nations, such as the United Kingdom, Australia. For many years, Ed Sullivan was an event each Sunday evening. In those days, we had six acts. Then, each of our acts would do a leisurely ten minutes or so, Now they do two or three minutes. And in those early days I talked too much, I look up at me talking away and I say You fool. But I just keep on talking, Ive learned how to keep my mouth shut. The show enjoyed phenomenal popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s and he was regarded as a kingmaker, and performers considered an appearance on his program as a guarantee of stardom, although this sometimes did not turn out to be the case. The shows iconic status is illustrated by the song Hymn for a Sunday Evening from the 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie, in the song, a family of viewers expresses their regard for the program in worshipful tones. In September 1965, CBS started televising the program in compatible color, CBS had once backed its own color system, developed by Peter Goldmark, and resisted using RCAs compatible process until 1954. At that time, it built its first New York City color TV studio, Studio 72, in a former RKO movie theater at 2248 Broadway. One Ed Sullivan Show was broadcast on August 22,1954, from the new studio, CBS Studio 72 was demolished in 1986 and replaced by an apartment house. CBS Studio 50 was finally colorized in 1965, the 1965–66 season premiere starred the Beatles in an episode airing on September 12, which was the last episode to air in black and white. In the late 1960s, Sullivan remarked that his program was waning as the decade went on and he realized that to keep viewers, the best and brightest in entertainment had to be seen, or else the viewers were going to keep on changing the channel. Along with declining viewership, Ed Sullivan attracted a higher age for the average viewer as the seasons went on
16.
CBS
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CBS is an American commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major facilities and operations in New York City. CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, in reference to the iconic logo. It has also called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBSs first demonstrations of color television, the network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. a collection of 16 radio stations that was purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paleys guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, in 1974, CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971, CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controls the current Viacom. The television network has more than 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the United States. The origins of CBS date back to January 27,1927, Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18,1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates. Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, in early 1928 Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the networks Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. With the record out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System. He believed in the power of advertising since his familys La Palina cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio. By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS, during Louchenheims brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A. H. Grebes Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC, which would become the networks flagship station. WABC was quickly upgraded, and the relocated to 860 kHz. The physical plant was relocated also – to Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, by the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates. Paley moved right away to put his network on a financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures. The deal came to fruition in September 1929, Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time
17.
20th Century Fox
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio currently owned by 21st Century Fox. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios and is located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio was formerly owned by News Corporation. 20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2015, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters, the studios biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity and promising leading men James Dunn, at first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called Fox-20th Century, even though 20th Century was the senior partner in the merger. However, 20th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck, the new company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31,1935, the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President, Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Foxs longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan. The company established a training school. The contracts included an option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have founded in 1915. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary, however, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The companys films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their credits as well as its opening fanfare. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studios leading assets, Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple, favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO, while Zanuck went off for eighteen months war service, junior partner William Goetz kept profits high by going for light entertainment. The studios—indeed the industrys—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable, in 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Foxs output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razors Edge, Wilson, Gentlemans Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and they also made the 1958 film version of South Pacific
18.
NBC
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The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is part of the Big Three television networks, founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America, NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. Following the acquisition by GE, Bob Wright served as executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electrics remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke, during a period of early broadcast business consolidation, radio manufacturer Radio Corporation of America acquired New York City radio station WEAF from American Telephone & Telegraph. Westinghouse, a shareholder in RCA, had an outlet in Newark, New Jersey pioneer station WJZ. This station was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923, WEAF acted as a laboratory for AT&Ts manufacturing and supply outlet Western Electric, whose products included transmitters and antennas. The Bell System, AT&Ts telephone utility, was developing technologies to transmit voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, the 1922 creation of WEAF offered a research-and-development center for those activities. WEAF maintained a schedule of radio programs, including some of the first commercially sponsored programs. In an early example of chain or networking broadcasting, the station linked with Outlet Company-owned WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, AT&T refused outside companies access to its high-quality phone lines. The early effort fared poorly, since the telegraph lines were susceptible to atmospheric. In 1925, AT&T decided that WEAF and its network were incompatible with the companys primary goal of providing a telephone service. AT&T offered to sell the station to RCA in a deal that included the right to lease AT&Ts phone lines for network transmission, the divisions ownership was split among RCA, its founding corporate parent General Electric and Westinghouse. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15,1926, WEAF and WJZ, the flagships of the two earlier networks, were operated side-by-side for about a year as part of the new NBC. On April 5,1927, NBC expanded to the West Coast with the launch of the NBC Orange Network and this was followed by the debut of the NBC Gold Network, also known as the Pacific Gold Network, on October 18,1931. The Orange Network carried Red Network programming, and the Gold Network carried programming from the Blue Network, initially, the Orange Network recreated Eastern Red Network programming for West Coast stations at KPO in San Francisco. The Orange Network name was removed from use in 1936, at the same time, the Gold Network became part of the Blue Network. In the 1930s, NBC also developed a network for shortwave radio stations, in 1927, NBC moved its operations to 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, occupying the upper floors of a building designed by architect Floyd Brown
19.
MGM Parade
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The 30 minute The MGM Parade, one of MGMs first TV programs, was produced by MGMs trailer department as one of the compilation and promotional shows that imitated Disneyland. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer first used television for promotional purposes having a tie in with The Ed Sullivan Show in the early 1950s. The Sullivan Show, however, switched to 20th Century Fox in the mid-1950s, so MGM attempted to have an agreement with NBC. Instead, MGMs trailer department produced what became MGMs first television series, within three years after its cancellation though, the company then launched what became MGM Television. MGM Parade premiered on ABC in the fall 1955, exploring the inner workings of the MGM studios, it featured interviews with prominent MGM actresses and actors to promote current and upcoming releases. The program also presented edited selected short subjects from the studios library, episodes of the series sporadically air between features on the Turner Classic Movies network in the US. The 20th Century Fox Hour MGM Parade at the Internet Movie Database
20.
Walt Disney anthology television series
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The series was broadcast on Sunday for 25 of those years. The show has had two hosts, Walt Disney and Disney Chairman Michael Eisner. The original version of the series premiered on ABC on Wednesday, the show is the second longest running prime-time program on American television, behind rival film anthology, the Hallmark Hall of Fame. However, Hallmark Hall of Fame aired as a program during its first five seasons before becoming a bi-monthly program. Disney wanted to produce a program in order to finance the development of the Disneyland amusement park. After being turned down by both CBS and NBC, Disney eventually signed a deal with ABC on March 29,1954, consequently, Davy Crockett and other pioneers of the Old West, and American history in general appeared in Frontier Land. Topics for Fantasy Land would include either actual cartoons, and animated films, excerpts from a True-Life Adventure documentary may also be included or those using stroboscopic stop-action photography, explaining the techniques of cartoon animation. The multi-plane camera used to create the effects of Bambi was also as a topic for a Fantasy Land-set telecast. Tomorrow Land was an opportunity for the Disney studio staff to present cutting-edge science and technology, and to predict possible futures, such as futuristic automobiles and this format remained basically unchanged through the 1980s, though new material was scarce in later years. Other episodes were segments from Disney films such as, or cartoons of Donald Duck, the program spawned the Davy Crockett craze of 1955 with the airing of a three-episode series about the historical American frontiersman, starring Fess Parker in the title role. Millions of dollars of merchandise relating to the character were sold. Three historically based hour-long programs aired during late 1954/early 1955, and were followed up by two dramatized installments the following year, the TV episodes were later edited into two theatrical films. On July 17,1955, the opening of Disneyland was covered on a television special, Dateline, Disneyland. It was hosted by Walt along with Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter and Ronald Reagan, and featured various other guests. In 1959, the series was retitled Walt Disney Presents and moved to a Friday night timeslot, by 1960, ABC had switched it to Sunday nights, where it would remain for 21 years. Although the basic format remained the same, the moved to NBC on September 24,1961 to take advantage of that networks ability to broadcast programming in color. In addition, Walt Disneys relationship with ABC had soured as the network resisted selling its stake in the park before doing so in 1960. Von Drake was the first Disney character created specifically for television, Walt Disney died on December 15,1966, twelve years after the anthology series premiered
21.
American Broadcasting Company
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The network is headquartered on Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street in Manhattan, New York City. There are additional offices and production facilities elsewhere in New York City, as well as in Los Angeles and Burbank. Since 2007, when ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC originally launched on October 12,1943, as a radio network, separated from and serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS, in the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, who had been the head of UPT, made the new television network profitable by helping develop, in 1996, most of Capital Cities/ABCs assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company. The television network has eight owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States, most Canadians have access to at least one U. S. ABC News provides news and features content for radio stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting. In the 1930s, radio in the United States was dominated by three companies, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Mutual Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company. The last was owned by electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation of America, in 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940. The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC Red or NBC Blue, at that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Once Mutuals appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, the newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, Edward John Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million. Due to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, which was to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell his station with the FCCs approval, the Commission authorized the transaction on October 12,1943. Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the American Broadcasting Company name from George B. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, both stations were then managed by Don Searle, the vice-president of the Blue Networks West Coast division. The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly, the network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. S. From Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming, while its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television. To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, the ABC television network made its debut on April 19,1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia becoming its first primary affiliate
22.
KTTV
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KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California, United States. KTTV is owned by the Fox Television Stations division of 21st Century Fox, the two stations share studio facilities within the Fox Television Center in West Los Angeles, and KTTVs transmitter is located on Mount Wilson. The station is available to DirecTV subscribers in the few areas of the Western United States that do not have an over-the-air Fox affiliate. KTTVs origins can be traced to December 1946, when the license and construction permit was secured by the Times-Mirror Company. It was one of five licenses that were granted simultaneously by the Federal Communications Commission to parties interested in launching commercial television stations in Los Angeles. In 1948, CBS, which owned KNX radio, purchased a 49% interest in the station, KTTV began operations on January 1,1949 and was operated initially by KTTV, Incorporated, the Times/CBS-owned holding company. The stations first telecast was the Tournament of Roses Parade, which channel 11 would air every New Years Day until 1995, in May 1950, Times-Mirror purchased the Nassour Studios – a large motion picture facility on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and centralized KTTVs operations there. CBS did not join Times-Mirror in the purchase, at the time its West Coast production facilities were based at Columbia Square, KTTV converted the Nassour Studios into a major production house for television, producing programs locally and for the emerging syndication market. Prior to the move, KTTV operated out of different facilities. Later in 1950, CBS chose to acquire its own station in Los Angeles – KTSL – which was being spun off by the Don Lee Broadcasting System as a result of its sale to General Tire and Rubber. KTTVs relationship with CBS ended after two years as the network moved its programming to KTSL. A few months later, channel 11 agreed to become the new Los Angeles outlet of the DuMont Television Network, in 1954, DuMont moved its programming to KHJ-TV, and KTTV became an independent station. During the late 1950s, the station was briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. In 1958, channel 11 scored an advantage against its rivals when it became the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. For the first 11 years and at the request of the team, eventually, the number of Dodger games broadcast on the station increased and the home game blackout was lifted, the relationship between KTTV and the Dodgers would last until 1992. The Times-Mirror Company sold the station to Metromedia in 1963, later that year, Metromedia purchased KLAC and the original KLAC-FM, giving channel 11 sister stations on the radio dial. Metromedia would later engineer a trade of FM frequencies, resulting in KLAC-FM moving to 94.7 FM in 1965. m, in 1986, Australian newspaper publisher Rupert Murdoch and his company, the News Corporation, purchased KTTV and the other Metromedia television stations. Following the News Corporation purchase, KTTV added more syndicated talk, court
23.
Amoco
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Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company, was a global chemical and oil company that was founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States. It later absorbed the American Oil Company, founded in Baltimore in 1910 and incorporated in 1922 by Louis Blaustein, Amoco merged with British Petroleum in December 1998, forming BP Amoco. Shortly after the merger, Amoco stations began a rebranding that saw the stations change their names to the BP marque while continuing to sell Amoco-branded fuel. Eventually all traces of the Amoco brand name were eliminated and the stations adopted the BP branding permanently, the firms innovations included two essential parts of the modern industry, the gasoline tanker truck and the drive-through filling station. Its headquarters were located in the Amoco Building in Chicago, Illinois, Standard Oil was formed in 1889 by John D. Rockefeller as part of the Standard Oil trust. In 1910, with the rise in popularity of the automobile, in 1911, the year it became independent from the Standard Oil trust, the company sold 88% of the gasoline and kerosene sold in the Midwest. In 1912 it opened its first gas station in Minneapolis. It had the rights to use the Standard name in the region. It purchased the Dixie Oil Company of Louisiana in 1919 and began investing in oil companies outside its Standard marketing territory. Blaustein incorporated his business as the American Oil Co. in 1922, in 1923 the Blausteins sold a half interest in American Oil to the Pan American Petroleum & Transport company in exchange for a guaranteed supply of oil. Before this deal, Amoco was forced to depend on Standard Oil of New Jersey, Standard Oil of Indiana acquired Pan American in 1925, beginning John D. Rockefellers association with the Amoco name. In the 1920s and 1930s Indiana Standard opened up dozens more refining and oil-drilling facilities, combined with a new oil-refining process, Indiana Standard created its exploration and production business, Stanolind, in 1931. In the following years, a period of exploration and search for oil-rich fields ensued. In 1925, it bought a stake in the Pan American Petroleum, the acquired company had previously bought a half interest in the American Oil Company, which marketed half of PATs oil in the United States. Indiana Standard raised its stake in PAT to 81 percent by 1929, in 1931, Stanolind completed its acquisition of Sinclair Pipeline and also acquired the Sinclair Crude Oil Purchasing Company. All of the companies were consolidated into the newly formed Stanolind Pipeline Company. The crude oil purchasing operations became Stanolind Crude Oil Purchasing Company, the pipeline company headquarters were located in the Philcade building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1957, all of the corporations pipeline activities were merged into a single entity, the Amoco lead-free gasoline was sold at Americans stations in the eastern and southern U. S. alongside American Regular gasoline, which was a leaded fuel
24.
United States Department of Justice
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The department was formed in 1870 during the Ulysses S. Grant administration. In its early years, the DOJ vigorously prosecuted Ku Klux Klan members, the Department of Justice administers several federal law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The department has responsibility to investigate instances of fraud, to represent the United States in legal matters such as in the Supreme Court. The department also has responsibilities to review actions of law enforcement conduct by the Violent Crime Control. The Department is headed by the United States Attorney General, who is nominated by the President, the current Attorney General is Jeff Sessions. The U. S. Attorney General was initially a one-person and it was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, but this grew with the bureaucracy. At one time the Attorney General gave legal advice to the U. S. Congress as well as the President, until March 3,1853, the salary of the Attorney General was set by statute at less than the amount paid to other Cabinet members. Early Attorneys General supplemented their salary by engaging in private practice of law. Following unsuccessful efforts to put the Attorney Generals Office on a footing, in 1869. On February 19,1868, Lawrence introduced a bill in Congress to create the Department of Justice, President Ulysses S. Grant then signed the bill into law on June 22,1870. The Department of Justice officially began operations on July 1,1870, just prior to the Civil War, in February 1861, the Confederate States of America established a Department of Justice. Grant appointed Amos T. Akerman as Attorney General and Benjamin H. Bristow as Americas first Solicitor General, both Akerman and Bristow used the Department of Justice to vigorously prosecute Ku Klux Klan members in the early 1870s. In the first few years of Grants first term in there were 1000 indictments against Klan members with over 550 convictions from the Department of Justice. The result was a decrease in violence in the South. Akerman gave credit to Grant and told a friend that no one was better or stronger then Grant when it came to prosecuting terrorists. Akermans successor, George H. Williams, in December 1871, the law did create a new office, that of Solicitor General, to supervise and conduct government litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1884, control of federal prisons was transferred to the new department, new facilities were built, including the penitentiary at Leavenworth in 1895, and a facility for women located in West Virginia, at Alderson was established in 1924. The U. S. Department of Justice building was completed in 1935 from a design by Milton Bennett Medary, upon Medarys death in 1929, the other partners of his Philadelphia firm Zantzinger, Borie and Medary took over the project
25.
Block booking
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Block booking is a system of selling multiple films to a theater as a unit. Under block booking, independent theater owners were forced to take large numbers of studios pictures sight unseen and those studios could then parcel out second-rate product along with A-class features and star vehicles, which made both production and distribution operations more economical. The element of the system involving the purchase of unseen pictures is known as blind bidding. In a 1918 popularity poll. the six top stars on the list—Mary Pickford, Marguerite Clark, Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lockwood, William S. Hart, and Wallace Reid—were all under contract to Zukor. Using this leverage, Paramount was able to insist that prospective exhibitors interested in, say and these block-booking arrangements typically included groups of from 13 to 52 or even 104 titles. Because these films had not yet produced, exhibitors were required to buy blind from a sketchy prospectus or campaign book. All of the major studios, with the exception of United Artists. For much of the 1920s, Paramount and growing Warner Bros. in particular, relied heavily on block booking, already, in 1921 the Federal Trade Commission had launched an investigation of the studios booking practices that would last for eleven years. A1927 cease-and-desist order was disregarded by the majors, with a whole seasons worth of films offered up on an all-or-nothing basis, theaters werent just bidding on movies they hadnt seen, but on many movies not yet even made. This was also called blind-bidding because, other than knowing the genre, the actors and actresses, and an overview of the plot. In one case, Zukor had pressured theater operators to buy a block of one hundred and four each year. In the process, the majors shifted the risks of production financing to the independent exhibitor, the long-term effects of the policy also stifled competition by foreclosing the market to independent producers and distributors. In short, block booking allowed the majors to wrest the greatest amount of profits from the marketplace, along with the blocks of features, exhibitors were required to take the majors shorts as well—a practice known as full-line forcing. The smaller Hollywood studios—known collectively as Poverty Row—didnt have the big pictures with A-list stars that would have allowed them to compel theater owners to directly block book, instead, they mostly sold exclusive regional distribution rights to so-called states rights firms. These distributors in turn marketed blocks of movies to exhibitors, typically six or more pictures featuring the same star, the Sherman Trust Act of 1890 controlled the interstate commerce with different trust-busting provisions and were brought to bear against studio system monopolistic activities. Block booking and blind bidding were at the heart of the charged as illegally monopolistic. The Department of Justice filed suit against the arms of Hollywood studios in the Famous Players-Lasky antitrust case of 1928. The Department of Justice charged the ten entities that controlled ninety eight percent of the theatrical distribution
26.
Television network
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Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks. Many early television networks evolved from earlier radio networks, such networks are commonly referred to by terms such as specialty channels in Canada or cable networks in the U. S. A network may or may not produce all of its own programming, if not, production companies can distribute their content to the various networks, and it is common that a certain production firm may have programs that air on two or more rival networks. Similarly, some networks may import television programs from other countries, some stations have the capability to interrupt the network through the local insertion of television commercials, station identifications and emergency alerts. Others completely break away from the network for their own programming and this is common where small networks are members of larger networks. The majority of television stations are self-owned, even though a variety of these instances are the property of an owned-and-operated television network. The commercial television stations can also be linked with an educational broadcasting agency. It is also important to note that some countries have launched national television networks, on the other hand, television networks also undergo the impending experience of major changes related to cultural varieties. The emergence of television has made available in major media markets. Such a diverse captive audience presents an occasion for the networks and this is explained by author Tim P. Vos notes that policymakers did not expressly intend to create a broadcast order dominated by commercial networks. In fact, legislative attempts were made to limit the networks preferred position, as to individual stations, modern network operations centers usually use broadcast automation to handle most tasks. A major international network is the British Broadcasting Corporation, which is perhaps most well known for its news agency BBC News. Owned by the Crown, the BBC operates primarily in the United Kingdom and it is funded by the television licence paid by British residents that watch terrestrial television and as a result, no commercial advertising appears on its networks. Outside of the UK, advertising is broadcast because the licence fee applies to the BBCs British operations. 23,000 people worldwide are employed by the BBC and its subsidiary, other networks are dedicated to specialized programming, such as religious content or programs presented in languages other than English, particularly Spanish. The largest television network in the United States, however, is the Public Broadcasting Service, some public television outlets, such as PBS, carry separate digital subchannel networks through their member stations. This works as each network sends its signal to many local affiliated stations across the country. These local stations then carry the feed, which can be viewed by millions of households across the country
27.
Fourth television network
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Never able to find solid financial ground, DuMont ceased broadcasting in August 1956. Many companies later began to operate television networks which aspired to compete against the Big Three, however, between the 1950s and the 1980s, none of these start-ups endured and some never even launched. After decades of these failed fourth networks, many industry insiders believed that creating a viable fourth network was impossible. The October 1986 launch of the Fox Broadcasting Company was met with ridicule, in the 1940s, four television networks began operations by linking local television stations together via AT&Ts coaxial cable telephone network. These links allowed stations to share television programs across great distances, local stations became affiliates of one or more of the four networks, depending on the number of licensed stations within a given media market in this early era of television broadcasting. The FCCs freeze, as it was called, was supposed to last for six months, when it was lifted after four years in 1952, there were only four full-time television networks. The FCC would only license three local VHF stations in each U. S. television market, a fourth station, the FCC ruled, would have to broadcast on the UHF band. Most viewers could not receive UHF stations, and most advertisers would not advertise on stations which few could view. Since there were four networks but only three VHF stations in most major U. S. cities, one network would be forced to broadcast on a UHF outlet with a limited audience, NBC and CBS had been the larger networks, and the most successful broadcasters in radio. As they began bringing their popular programs and stars into the television medium, they sought –. In many areas, ABC and DuMont were left with undesirable UHF stations, ABC was near bankruptcy in 1952, DuMonts network was unprofitable after 1953. The end of the DuMont Network left many UHF stations without a source of programming. Several new television companies were formed through the years in failed attempts to band these stations together in a new fourth network, some within the industry felt there was a need for a fourth network, that complaints about diversity in programming could be addressed by adding another network. We need a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth network, certainly a new network is not going to stress quality programming when the ratings indicate that the American public prefer hillbillies, cowboys and spies. A new network will have to deliver an audience if it is to attract the big spenders from the ranks of sponsors, advertisers, too, called for the creation of a fourth network. Representatives from Procter & Gamble and General Foods, two of the largest advertisers in the U. S. hoped the competition from a network would lower advertising rates on the Big Three. Independent television producers, too, called for a network after battles with the Big Three. George Fox, the president of the George Fox Organization, announced plans for a television film network in May 1956
28.
United Artists
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United Artists is an American film and television entertainment studio. The studio was bought, sold and restructured over the ensuing century. On December 14 of the year, however, MGM acquired the 48% stake of UAMG it did not own. UA was incorporated as a joint venture on February 5,1919, by Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks, each held a 20% stake, with the remaining 20% held by lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo. The idea for the venture originated with Fairbanks, Chaplin, Pickford, already Hollywood veterans, the four stars talked of forming their own company to better control their own work. They were spurred on by established Hollywood producers and distributors who were tightening their control over salaries and creative decisions. With the addition of Griffith, planning began, but Hart bowed out before anything was formalized, when he heard about their scheme, Richard A. Rowland, head of Metro Pictures, is said to have observed, The inmates are taking over the asylum. The four partners, with advice from McAdoo, formed their distribution company and its headquarters was established at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York City. The original terms called for each of the stars to produce five pictures each year, UAs first film was a success. Without selling stock to the public, following the other studios, as a result, production was slow and the company distributed an annual average of five films during its first five years. By 1924 Griffith had dropped out and the company was facing a crisis, veteran producer Joseph Schenck was hired as president. He had been producing pictures for a decade, and he brought commitments for films starring his wife, Norma Talmadge, his sister-in-law, Constance Talmadge, contracts were signed with independent producers, most notably Samuel Goldwyn, and Howard Hughes. In 1933, Schenck organized a new company with Darryl F. Zanuck, called Twentieth Century Pictures, Schenck formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to buy and build theaters under the United Artists name. They began international operations, first in Canada and then in Mexico, by the end of the 1930s, United Artists was represented in over 40 countries. When he was denied a share in 1935, Schenck resigned. He set up 20th Century Pictures merger with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century Fox, al Lichtman succeeded Schenck as company president. Other independent producers distributed through United Artists in the 1930s including, Walt Disney Productions, Alexander Korda, Hal Roach, David O. Selznick, as the years passed, and the dynamics of the business changed, these producing partners drifted away. Samuel Goldwyn Productions and Disney went to RKO, and Wanger to Universal Pictures, in the late 1930s, UA turned a profit
29.
Ted Turner
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Robert Edward Ted Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the Cable News Network, in addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television. As a philanthropist, he is known for his $1 billion gift to support the United Nations, which created the United Nations Foundation, Turner serves as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation board of directors. Additionally, in 2001, Turner co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative with US Senator Sam Nunn, NTI is a non-partisan organisation dedicated to reducing global reliance on, and preventing the proliferation of, nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors, Turners media empire began with his fathers billboard business, Turner Outdoor Advertising, which he took over in 1963 after his fathers suicide. His purchase of an Atlanta UHF station in 1970 began the Turner Broadcasting System, CNN revolutionized news media, covering the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Turner turned the Atlanta Braves baseball team into a popular franchise. Turners penchant for controversial statements earned him the nicknames The Mouth of the South, Turner has also devoted his assets to environmental causes. He was the largest private landowner in the United States until John C. Malone surpassed him in 2011 and he uses much of his land for ranches to re-popularize bison meat, amassing the largest herd in the world. He also created the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Turner was born on November 19,1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Florence and Robert Edward Turner II, when he was nine, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia. He attended The McCallie School, a boys preparatory school in Chattanooga. Turner attended Brown University and was vice-president of the Brown Debating Union and he became a member of Kappa Sigma. Turners father wrote saying that his choice made him appalled, even horrified, Turner later changed his major to Economics, but before receiving a diploma, he was expelled for having a female student in his dormitory room. Turner was awarded an honorary B. A. from Brown University in November 1989 when he returned to campus to keynote the National Association of College Broadcasters second annual conference. After leaving Brown University, Turner returned to the South in late 1960 to become manager of the Macon. Following his fathers March 1963 suicide, Turner became president and chief executive of Turner Advertising Company when he was 24 and turned the firm into a global enterprise. He joined the Young Republicans, saying he felt at ease among these budding conservatives and was following in Ed Turners far-right footsteps
30.
Kirk Kerkorian
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Kerkor Kirk Kerkorian was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his holding company based in Beverly Hills. Kerkorian is known for having one of the important figures in the shaping of Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern. He built the worlds largest hotel in Las Vegas three times, the International Hotel, the MGM Grand Hotel and the MGM Grand and he purchased the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio in 1969. Of Armenian American origin, Kerkorian provided over $1 billion for charity in Armenia through his Lincy Foundation and it was established in 1989 and was particularly focused on helping to rebuild northern Armenia after the 1988 earthquake. In 2000 Time magazine named him the 10th largest donor in the US. Kerkorian was declared an honorary citizen of Armenia by President Robert Kocharyan in September 1998 and he was bestowed the title of National Hero of Armenia, the highest state award, by Kocharyan in May 2004. Kerkor Kerkorian was born on June 6,1917 in Fresno, California, Armenian was his first language and he didnt learn the English language until we hit the streets. His family moved to Los Angeles following the depression of 1920–21, Kirk Kerkorian also had a younger sister, Rose Kerkorian. In exchange for flying lessons from pioneer aviator Pancho Barnes, he agreed to milk, on gaining his commercial pilots certificate in six months, Kerkorian learned that the British Royal Air Force was ferrying Canadian-built de Havilland Mosquitos over the North Atlantic to Scotland. The Mosquitos fuel tank carried enough fuel for 1,400 miles, the fee was $1,000 per flight. While accounts claim the risk was that one in four failed to make it. In May 1944, Kerkorian and his Wing Commander John de Lacy Wooldridge rode the wave, Wooldridge got to Scotland in six hours,46 minutes, Kerkorian, in seven hours, nine minutes. In two and a half years with RAF Ferry Command, Kerkorian delivered 33 planes, logged thousands of hours, traveled to four continents, after the war, having saved most of his wages, Kerkorian spent $5,000 on a Cessna. He worked as an aviation pilot, and made his first visit to Las Vegas in 1944. He then bid on some war surplus bombers, using money on loan from the Seagram family. Gasoline, and especially airplane fuel, was in short supply at the time, so he sold the fuel from the tanks, paid off his loan. He operated the airline until 1968 when he sold it for $104 million to the Transamerica Corporation, in 1962, Kerkorian bought 80 acres in Las Vegas, across the Las Vegas Strip from the Flamingo, for $960,000. This purchase led to the building of Caesars Palace, which rented the land from Kerkorian, on November 21,1980, the original MGM Grand burned in a fire that was one of the worst disasters in Las Vegas history
31.
Associated Artists Productions
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Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. Through acquisitions, a. a. p. was later folded into United Artists, Associated Artists was founded in 1948 by Eliot Hyman. It handled syndication of 500 films, including the Republic Pictures and Robert Lippert libraries and it also served for Monogram Pictures and Producers Releasing Corporation. In 1951, Hyman sold the company to David Bairds Lansing Foundation then to a newly started Motion Pictures for Television, Hyman also became a partner in Mouline Production, production company on Moby Dick, while financing and producing other films and TV projects. His son Ken served as vice-president, Associated also acquired distribution right to Johnny Jupiter, Candid Camera,13 Artcinema Associates feature films,37 Western films and 3 serials. In 1956, the company was refinanced and its changed to Associated Artists Productions Corp. Lou Chelsers PRM, Inc. closed the purchase of the entire pre-1950 library owned by Warner Bros, Pictures in June 1956 for $21 million with a. a. p. and its theatrical subsidiary Dominant Pictures handling distribution sales. A. a. p. also purchased the Popeye cartoons from Paramount Pictures in June 1956, by December 1957, control of a. a. p. had gone to New York Supreme Court between the parties of a. a. p. National Telefilm Associates, and Harris minority shareholder group, the company was acquired by United Artists in 1958 with UA borrowing the full amount $27 million from Manufacturerss Trust when a. a. p. shareholders needed cash quickly. The a. a. p. purchased did come with uncollected accounts receivable amount around the purchase price, the resulting division was named United Artists Associated, Inc. U. a. a. made a deal to distribute Beany, the material a. a. p. bought from Warner Bros. Pictures included all of its features produced and distributed by Warner Bros. prior to 1950, also included were the live-action short subjects released prior to September 1,1948. The remaining black-and-white Merrie Melodies made from 1933 to 1934 and the black-and-white Looney Tunes were already sold to Sunset Productions, former Warner cartoon director Bob Clampett was hired to catalog the Warner cartoon library. This purchase and the Popeye cartoons gave a. a. p. a library of over 568 theatrical cartoon shorts, for the Warner Bros. productions, a. a. p. simply inserted their logo prior to the start of the film. For the Popeye cartoons, a. a. p. removed all logos and mentions of Paramount from the Popeye prints they distributed, since Paramount did not want to be associated with television at the time. The ending result was that new a. a. p. title cards were made to cover up the Paramount originals on both the black & white and color cartoons. However, because Popeye cartoons were still in production at the time of the sale, in 1956, in recent years, due to efforts by Turner Entertainment Co. the Paramount references have been restored to the cartoons. In 1969, the United Artists Corporation presented to the Library of Congress the earliest surviving preprint material from the film library of Warner Bros
32.
Time Warner
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Time Warner Inc. is an American multinational media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is currently the third largest entertainment company in terms of revenue, after Comcast. It was also once the worlds largest media conglomerate, Time Warner was first founded in 1990 with the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The current company consists largely of the assets of the former Warner Communications, Time Warner currently has major operations in film and television, with a limited amount in publishing operations. Among its most popular assets are HBO, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW Television Network, CNN, DC Comics, and as of August 2016, Hulu, owning 10%. In the past, other divisions of Time Warner included Time Inc. AOL, Time Warner Cable, Warner Books and Warner Music Group, all of these operations were either sold to other investors or spun off as independent companies from 2004 to 2014. On October 22,2016, AT&T announced its intent to acquire Time Warner for $108.7 billion, Time Warner consists of three divisions, Home Box Office Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Warner Bros. Home Box Office Inc. operates the namesake HBO premium television service as well as sister service Cinemax, hBO- and Cinemax-branded channels are currently available in over 70 countries around the world, and HBO programming is licensed to other television networks in over 150 countries. In 2012, HBO was the #1 premium pay television service in primetime television, in 2013, the network received five Golden Globes and 23 primetime Emmy Awards. HBO’s programming includes the airing of feature films, HBO Documentary Films, HBO original films, the network has developed content distribution platforms, like HBO GO and Max GO to help support and deliver programming to users via online and mobile devices. In 2011, Cinemax launched its first original series, Strike Back. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. operates international news, entertainment, animation, young adult, Turner brands include CNN, HLN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, truTV, Turner Sports, and more. Turners brands and sub brands reach broad domestic and international audiences, in addition to television network programming, Turner manages digital sports entities, including bleacherreport. com NBA. com, PGA. com and NCAA. com. Turner Sports produces sports programming and content for the Turner Networks, Turner Sports’ television line-up includes NBA and MLB games, the NCAA Tournament Games, and the PGA Championship. Turner operates PGA. com and related properties of the PGA under agreements with the PGA. Pictures Group grossed 4.3 billion dollars at the box office. Home Video is the leader with a 21% market share in total DVD
33.
Turner Broadcasting System
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The company was founded in 1970, and merged with Time Warner on October 10,1996. It now operates as a unit of Time Warner. The companys assets include CNN, HLN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, the companys current chairman and CEO is John K. Martin. Across Interstate 75/85 from the Techwood campus is the home of Turners WTBS superstation. By careful programming acquisitions, Turner guided the station to success, during December 1976, WTCG originated the superstation concept, transmitting via satellite to cable systems. On December 17,1976 at 1,00 pm, WTCG Channel 17s signal was beamed via satellite to its four cable systems in Grand Island, Nebraska, Newport News, Virginia, Troy, Alabama, and Newton, Kansas. All four cable systems started receiving the 1948 Dana Andrews - Cesar Romero film Deep Waters already in progress, the movie had started 30 minutes earlier. WTCG went from being a television station to a major TV network that every one of the 24,000 households outside of the 675,000 in Atlanta was receiving coast-to-coast. WTCG became a so-called Superstation and created a precedent of todays basic cable television, HBO had gone to satellite transmissions to distribute its signal nationally in 1975, but that was a service cable subscribers were made to pay extra to receive. Ted Turners innovation signaled the start of the cable revolution. In 1979, the changed its name to Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. On June 1,1980, CNN was launched at 17,00 EST becoming the first 24-hour news cable channel, in 1981, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Brut Productions from Faberge Inc. In 1984, Turner initiated Cable Music Channel, his competition for WASECs MTV, the channel was short-lived, but helped influence the original format of VH1. In 1986, after an attempt to acquire CBS, Turner purchased the film studio MGM/UA Entertainment Co. from Kirk Kerkorian for $1.5 billion. Following the acquisition, Turner had a debt and sold parts of the acquisition. MGM/UA Entertainment was sold back to Kirk Kerkorian, the MGM/UA Studio lot in Culver City was sold to Lorimar/Telepictures. Turner kept MGMs pre-May 1986 and pre-merger film and TV library Turner Entertainment Co. was founded on August 4,1986, on October 3,1988, the company launched Turner Network Television. Turner expanded its presence in movie production and distribution, first with the 1991 purchase of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio, on December 22,1993, Turner acquired Castle Rock Entertainment
34.
Warner Bros.
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Entertainment Inc. – colloquially known as Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios, Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. The companys name originated from the four founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and they opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, the owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, in 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, in 1918 they opened the first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, on April 4,1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwoods 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, however, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature Where the North Begins, the movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the top star. Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanucks career, Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jacks right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director, lubitschs film The Marriage Circle was the studios most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warners remained a lesser studio, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a contract, like The Marriage Circle. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywoods most successful independent studio, as the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan
35.
Turner Entertainment
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Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is a media company founded by Ted Turner. Purchased by Time Warner, along with Turner Broadcasting System, the company was responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution. In recent years, this role has largely been limited to being the copyright holder, on March 25,1986, Ted Turner and his Turner Broadcasting System purchased MGM from Kirk Kerkorian for $600 million, and renamed it MGM Entertainment Company, Inc. However, due to concerns in the community over the debt-load of his companies, on August 26,1986. However, Turner kept MGMs film, television and cartoon library as well as a portion of the United Artists library, forming Turner Entertainment Company. The library also included the pre-1950 Warner Bros, in December 1987, Turner acquired the worldwide rights through license, to 800 RKO films from its then-parent company Wesray Capital Corporation. On October 3,1988, Turner Broadcasting launched the TNT network, in doing so, Turner has played a major part in film preservation and restoration. On November 29,1989, Turner made another attempt to buy MGM/UA, but the deal failed, in 1991, Turner purchased Hanna-Barbera Productions, most of the pre-1991 Ruby-Spears Productions library, and Man from Atlantis from Great American Broadcasting. Shortly after Turner Broadcasting launched Cartoon Network, and later Boomerang, in 1993, Turner purchased Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema. and as a result, Turner now largely serves merely as a copyright holder for a portion of the Warner Bros. library. Hanna-Barberas current purpose as the only unit of Warner Bros. Animation is to serve as the holder for its creations such as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear while Time Warners divisions handle sales. Turner also had a distribution sales unit, Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution. Turner Pictures folded into Warner Bros. after the Turner-Time Warner merger, the Pagemaster and Cats Dont Dance were produced under Turner Feature Animation, Turners animation unit headed by David Kirschner and Paul Gertz. Spun off from the division of Hanna-Barbera Productions, Turner Feature Animation was folded into Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which was merged into Warner Bros. In 2003, Telepictures Distribution was folded into Warner Bros, television Distribution which meant Telepictures took over all series that were first run and distributed by TD. In the first decade of its existence, Turner released most of its own catalogue on home video through Turner Home Entertainment, THE released films produced by Turner Pictures on home video with their distributors and independently released the Hanna-Barbera cartoon library on home video. From early 1995 to early 1997, THE also distributed home video releases from New Line Home Video, NLHE distributed New Line films on video by itself from 1997 until the Warner Bros. /New Line Cinema merger in 2008
36.
Fame (1982 TV series)
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Fame is an American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987 by Eilenna Productions in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television. The show is based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name, using a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the fictional New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Although fictional, it was based heavily on the actual Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, most interior scenes were filmed in Hollywood, California. In all seasons except the third, the show filmed several scenes on location in New York City. Season 4 featured 18-year-old Janet Jackson as one of the students, the popularity of the series, particularly in the UK, led to several hit records and live concert tours by the cast. Despite its success, very few of the actors maintained high-profile careers after the series was cancelled, a number of the cast members were seen again briefly in Bring Back. Fame, a reunion special made for UK television in 2008. The show was produced by MGM Television and aired Thursday nights at 8, despite glowing reviews from critics, ratings were less than impressive, and NBC cancelled it after only two seasons. Ira Steven Behr wrote twelve episodes of the series and he recalled the series thusly, I did three years on Fame, which was a lot of fun and was also in syndication. We had no one looking over our shoulder and we got to do some wonderfully bizarre things on the show, and the only time they gave us any trouble was the last show I was going to write after I knew we were cancelled. It was going to be Road Warrior meets Fame and it was a show that takes place in the future, and you could only sing for the state. It was a fascist society, and we were going to have motorcycles going through the school and have Iggy Pop as the guest star. It was great, and I was in the midst of writing the episode when somehow MGM read somewhere that we planned to burn down the sets and we were going to trash them a bit, but it wasnt the last episode. We had one more after that, and they stopped me from writing it, the shows theme song was a pop hit for singer Irene Cara, having been featured in the motion picture. A re-recorded version of the theme, using instrumentation to the 1980 track, was used in the TV series and sung by co-star Erica Gimpel. Although Gimpel left the series midway through the season, her opening vocals were still heard on the show for two more seasons. An updated version of the song, featuring a modern, synthesized hard-rock flavor, was introduced in the fall of 1985 and this version ran for the final two seasons of Fame. I Still Believe In Me, from an episode of the series titled Passing Grade, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Original Song. It was performed by Erica Gimpel and Debbie Allen and co-written by Gary Portnoy who would go on to co-write, in the UK, two singles credited to The Kids from Fame, Hi-Fidelity and Starmaker, reached the top ten
37.
The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)
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The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serlings acclaimed 1959-64 television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a season for syndication. It was Serlings decision to sell his share of the back to the network that eventually allowed for a Twilight Zone revival. As an in-house production, CBS stood to earn more money producing The Twilight Zone than it could by purchasing a new series produced by an outside company. Even so, the network was slow to consider a revival, shooting down offers from the production team of Rod Serling and Buck Houghton. Their hesitation stemmed from concerns familiar to the series, The Twilight Zone had never been the breakaway hit CBS wanted. We were looking at the success of the series in syndication. Many of them deal with elements of the show, perhaps the public is ready for it again. The Twilight Zone was a series I always liked as a kid, said Singer. casts featured stars including Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Season Hubley, Morgan Freeman, Martin Landau, Jonathan Frakes, and Fred Savage. New theme music was composed and performed by The Grateful Dead with Merl Saunders, in addition, The Grateful Dead would go on to provide incidental music for a number of episodes in the series. Filling in for Serling as narrator was Charles Aidman, himself the star of two classic Twilight Zone episodes, the Twilight Zone ran for two seasons on CBS. For most of the run the series was one hour in length. For part of season 2, the show presented half-hour episodes, an additional third season of half-hour programs was produced in 1988 to pad the series syndication package. Robin Ward replaced Aidman as the narrator of these Canadian-produced episodes, unlike Serling and Forest Whitaker, host of the 2002 revival, neither Aidman nor Ward appeared on screen. The Twilight Zone debuted the night of September 27,1985 to a warm reception. Episodes featured adaptations of stories by Harlan Ellison, Greg Bear, Ray Bradbury, clarke, Robert McCammon, and Stephen King. A new batch of scripts was supplemented with remakes of classic Twilight Zone episodes like Dead Man’s Shoes, Shadow Play, though the production crew was convinced that they were making all of the right decisions, ratings began to slide as the novelty of the show wore off. You have not known humiliation until you have been beaten by Webster and Mr. Belvedere, wes Craven directed several episodes including Shatterday, A Little Peace and Quiet, Wordplay, and Chameleon
