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Sunn Classic Pictures

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Sunn Classic Pictures
TypeProduction company
Film distributor
IndustryMotion picture / television entertainment
Founded1971[1][2]
FounderRayland Jensen
Defunct1988 to 1990[1]
FateAcquired 1988
SuccessorLibrary:
Paramount Pictures
Headquarters,
United States
OwnerSchick (1971–1980)[1]
Taft Broadcasting (1980–1987)[3]
Independent (2000–present)[4]
Websitewww.sunnclassicpictures.com

Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent[4] U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971.[1][2] The company was notable for family films and documentaries, and was purchased by Taft Broadcasting in 1980.

History

Sunn Classic was located in Park City, Utah,[5] with offices in nearby Salt Lake City;[3] its company name added an extra "n" to the word "Sun" to differentiate them from a publisher of pornographic books.[6] The founder, Rayland Jensen, previously handled distribution of American National Enterprises' 1968 release, Alaskan Safari, which spent five years at the North American box office.[1] In 1971, Jensen began his new company at the request of employees from the Schick razor company,[1] at the time a subsidiary of Warner-Lambert.[7] The founding executives were Jenson, Patrick Frawley (of Schick), and Charles E. Sellier Jr.

During its tenure, Sunn Classic spent US$85,000 in pre-production research on each of its films, conducting phone surveys and interviews with potential viewers. According to Bruce A. Austin, "Sunn identified as its market working-class families who rarely went to the movies more than twice a year". In the midst of the research, it released films with an MPAA rating of G, and in heavily marketed limited engagements. Through a process called four wall distribution (or "four-walling"), the company would rent theaters to show its films, and retained all of the box office receipts.[2][8]

Sunn Classic specialized in family entertainment such as 1974's The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,[4][8] and its subsequent spin-off television series on the NBC network.[1] The Outer Space Connection was released in 1975. This documentary was produced by Alan Landsburg but was distributed by Sunn Classic. By 1977, domestic sales for Grizzly Adams reached upwards of US$24 million; another Sunn release, In Search of Noah's Ark, made US$26 million.[2]

For 1977's The Lincoln Conspiracy,[2] the company departed from its normal four wall distribution strategy to demand up-front guarantees from theatres.[9][10] Among its other titles were 1979's In Search of Historic Jesus[11] and 1983's Cujo.

The company also ran a television unit in tandem with its film department.[3] Most of the company's 1970's productions were produced by Charles E. Sellier Jr and several were directed by the young (at the time) director James L. Conway and both would go on to long careers in the entertainment industry.

In July 1980,[12] the company and two Schick divisions were purchased by Cincinnati-based Taft Enterprises[13] for over US$2.5 million.[3][12] Eventually, the new owner christened Sunn Classic as Taft International Pictures.[11] However, after Carl Lindner Jr. purchased Taft in 1987 and restructured it into Great American Broadcasting, the studio ceased operations. By the 2000s, the media and property assets of the original Sunn Classics were under new management.[4]

Jensen and another fellow employee, Clair Farley, formed Jensen Farley Pictures; one of their early releases was 1981's Private Lessons.[14]

Currently Sunn Classic's library is owned by Paramount Global subsidiary Paramount Pictures through Melange Pictures. However, very few films from that library have seen a DVD or Blu-ray release; those that have are mostly the later larger-budgeted Taft productions such as Cujo, Hangar 18, and The Boogens although some of their TV shows like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams have been released on DVD. Like with almost all the Melange Pictures owned films, Olive Films owns the home video rights to the catalog.

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Park City, Utah

Park City, Utah

Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is 32 miles (51 km) southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and 20 miles (32 km) from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 8,396 at the 2020 census. On average, the tourist population greatly exceeds the number of permanent residents.

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City (SLC), often shortened to Salt Lake, is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which had a population of 1,257,936 at the 2020 census. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area, a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along a 120-mile (190 km) segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,746,164, making it the 22nd largest in the nation. It is also the central core of the larger of only two major urban areas located within the Great Basin.

Pfizer

Pfizer

Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer (1824–1906) and his cousin Charles F. Erhart (1821–1891).

Patrick Frawley

Patrick Frawley

Patrick Joseph Frawley, Jr. (1923–1998) was a Nicaraguan-American business magnate whose portfolio included Paper Mate, Schick, and Technicolor, Inc. A devout Catholic, he was a leading American conservative figure from the late 1950s onward. He became involved in publishing and film production from the late 1960s.

Charles Sellier

Charles Sellier

Charles Edward Sellier Jr. was an American television producer, screenwriter, novelist and director, best known for creating the American book and television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. He was also known for directing the notorious Christmas themed slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night He also wrote and produced more than thirty films and 230 television shows during his career, which spanned four decades.

Four wall distribution

Four wall distribution

In the film industry, four wall distribution is a process through which a studio or distributor rents movie theaters for a period of time and receives all of the box office revenue. The four walls of a movie theater give the term its name. Companies engaging in this practice were common in the United States during the late 1960s and 1970s; one of them was the Utah-based Sunn Classic Pictures.

NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are located at Comcast Building in New York City. The company also has offices in Los Angeles at 10 Universal City Plaza and Chicago at the NBC Tower. NBC is the oldest of the traditional "Big Three" American television networks, having been formed in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America. NBC is sometimes referred to as the "Peacock Network," in reference to its stylized peacock logo, introduced in 1956 to promote the company's innovations in early color broadcasting.

Alan Landsburg

Alan Landsburg

Alan William Landsburg was an American television writer, producer, and director. He was the founder and CEO of Alan Landsburg Productions and the Landsburg Company and was involved in producing over fifty movies of the week. He had over 2000 hours of television production experience.

In Search of Noah's Ark

In Search of Noah's Ark

In Search of Noah's Ark is a 1976 American documentary film based on David W. Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by Sunn Classic Pictures, it explores the alleged final resting place of Noah's Ark.

In Search of Historic Jesus

In Search of Historic Jesus

In Search of Historic Jesus is a 1979 American documentary film based on Lee Roddy and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by Sunn Classic Pictures, the film speculates on the historical accuracy of the biblical depiction of Jesus.

Cujo (film)

Cujo (film)

Cujo is a 1983 American horror film based on Stephen King's 1981 novel of the same name and directed by Lewis Teague. It was written by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner, and starring Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh Kelly and Danny Pintauro.

James L. Conway

James L. Conway

James L. Conway is an American film and television director, producer, and writer, studio executive, and novelist.

Production slate

A partial list of films produced:

Documentaries

Films

Television films

From 1977 to 1982 the company produced a series of television films with the Classics Illustrated brand (Schick Sunn Classic Pictures executive Patrick Frawley owned the rights to Classic Illustrated during this period):

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Bigfoot

Bigfoot

Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid alleged by cryptozoologists and enthusiasts to inhabit the forests of North America. Dubious evidence has been offered to prove Bigfoot's existence, including anecdotal claims of sightings, photographs, video and audio recordings, hair samples, and casts of large footprints. Some of this evidence was later discovered to be hoaxes or misidentification, and scientists do not find any of the remaining evidence compelling.

Loch Ness Monster

Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster, affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protruding from the water. Popular interest and belief in the creature has varied since it was brought to worldwide attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with a number of disputed photographs and sonar readings.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.

Ancient astronauts

Ancient astronauts

Ancient astronauts refers to a pseudoscientific hypothesis which holds that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of modern cultures, technologies, religions, and human biology. A common position is that deities from most, if not all, religions are extraterrestrial in origin, and that advanced technologies brought to Earth by ancient astronauts were interpreted as evidence of divine status by early humans.

Guardian of the Wilderness

Guardian of the Wilderness

Guardian of the Wilderness is a 1976 theatrical narrative film directed by David O'Malley about the true story of Galen Clark, an explorer who successfully campaigned to have the Yosemite area set aside from commercial development, the original forerunner of the American national parks system. Clark was prompted by his dedication to preserving places like the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, which he discovered, from being destroyed by loggers. The cast features Denver Pyle as Galen Clark, John Dehner as legendary naturalist John Muir and Ford Rainey as Abraham Lincoln. Clark was eventually appointed Superintendent of Yosemite, a position in which he served for more than two decades during which he defined the concept of an American park ranger; his varied history with the valley ranged across 55 years.

Galen Clark

Galen Clark

Galen Clark was a Canadian-born American conservationist and writer. He is known as the first European American to discover the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees, and is notable for his role in gaining legislation to protect it and the Yosemite area, and for 24 years serving as Guardian of Yosemite National Park.

Denver Pyle

Denver Pyle

Denver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling Jr. in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in the NBC television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the titular character's father, Buck Webb, in CBS's The Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.

John Muir

John Muir

John Muir, also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America.

John Dehner

John Dehner

John Dehner (DAY-ner) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor. From the late 1930s to the late 1980s, he amassed a long list of performance credits, often in roles as sophisticated con men, shady authority figures, and other smooth-talking villains. His credits just in feature films, televised series, and in made-for-TV movies number almost 300 productions. Dehner worked extensively as a radio actor during the latter half of that medium's "golden age,” accumulating hundreds of additional credits on nationally broadcast series. His most notable starring role was as Paladin on the radio version of the television Western Have Gun – Will Travel, which aired for 106 episodes on CBS from 1958 to 1960. He continued to work as a voice actor in film, such as narrating the film The Hallelujah Trail. Earlier in his career, Dehner also worked briefly for Walt Disney Studios, serving as an assistant animator from 1940 to March 1941 at the company's facilities in Burbank, California.

In Search of Noah's Ark

In Search of Noah's Ark

In Search of Noah's Ark is a 1976 American documentary film based on David W. Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by Sunn Classic Pictures, it explores the alleged final resting place of Noah's Ark.

Mount Ararat

Mount Ararat

Mount Ararat is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian Highland with an elevation of 5,137 m (16,854 ft); Little Ararat's elevation is 3,896 m (12,782 ft). The Ararat massif is about 35 km (22 mi) wide at ground base. The first recorded efforts to reach Ararat's summit were made in the Middle Ages, and Friedrich Parrot, Khachatur Abovian, and four others made the first recorded ascent in 1829.

Astral projection

Astral projection

Astral projection is a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a subtle body called an "astral body" or "body of light" through which consciousness can function separately from the physical body and travel throughout the astral plane.

Source: "Sunn Classic Pictures", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 28th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunn_Classic_Pictures.

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References
  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Management Team". Sunn Classic Pictures. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Film gives new twist to Lincoln assassination". The Day. New London, Connecticut. Associated Press (AP). May 23, 1977. p. 15. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Staff (June 26, 1980). "Taft forms movie unit". Deseret News. p. 5B. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d "Company profile". Sunn Classic Pictures. 2004. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  5. ^ Buck, Jerry (April 9, 1978). "Programmed Bear". The Palm Beach Post. Associated Press (AP). p. G8. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  6. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115792207/lincoln-conspiracydavid-balsiger/
  7. ^ safetyrazors.net: Schick Injector razors
  8. ^ a b Austin, Bruce A. (1989). "The Film Industry and Audience Response". Immediate Seating: A Look at Movie Audiences. Wadsworth Publishing. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0-534-09366-3.
  9. ^ Silverman, Syd (January 4, 1978). "Show Biz Hits Grand Slam in 1977". Variety. p. 1.
  10. ^ The Lincoln Conspiracy at the American Film Institute Catalog
  11. ^ a b Ebert, Roger (February 23, 1982). "Utah fest introduces new faces, films". The Miami News. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 3C. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Abstracts". Wall Street Journal Abstracts. Dow Jones & Company (News Corporation). July 10, 1980. p. 26.
  13. ^ Staff (July 27, 1987). "Special Report: The top 50 companies". Advertising Age. Crain Communications, Inc. p. S-3.
  14. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American Film Distribution: The Changing Marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 232. ISBN 0-8357-1776-3. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
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