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Vestron Pictures

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Vestron Pictures
TypeDivision
IndustryFilm industry
GenreVarious
Founded1986; 37 years ago (1986)
FounderSteve Tisch
Lawrence Turman
Gene Kirkwood
Defunct1993; 30 years ago (1993)
FateParent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, assets acquired by LIVE Entertainment
SuccessorLionsgate
Headquarters,
Key people
Austin O. Furst Jr.
ProductsMotion pictures
OwnerVestron, Inc.
ParentVestron, Inc. (1986–1991)
LIVE Entertainment (1991–1992)

Vestron Pictures was an American film studio and distributor, a former division of Austin O. Furst, Jr.'s Vestron Inc., that is best known for their 1987 release of Dirty Dancing.[1]

The company is a defunct successor corporation of the earlier video distributor, Vestron Video.[1] Vestron also has had a genre film division, Lightning Pictures, a spin-off of Vestron's Lightning Video, headed by Lawrence Kasanoff, who would later go on to found Lightstorm Entertainment and Threshold Entertainment.[2]

Discover more about Vestron Pictures related topics

1987 in film

1987 in film

The following is an overview of events in 1987 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths. Paramount Pictures celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1987.

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman, a young woman who falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Swayze) at a vacation resort.

Vestron Video

Vestron Video

Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market.

Lawrence Kasanoff

Lawrence Kasanoff

Lawrence Alan "Larry" Kasanoff is an American filmmaker who founded the Vestron Pictures genre subsidiary Lightning Pictures in 1986, Lightstorm Entertainment with James Cameron in 1990, and Threshold Entertainment in 1993.

Lightstorm Entertainment

Lightstorm Entertainment

Lightstorm Entertainment is an American independent production company founded in 1990 by filmmaker James Cameron and producer Lawrence Kasanoff. The majority of its films have been distributed and owned by 20th Century Fox, now known as 20th Century Studios. It has produced several films including Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Titanic, Alita: Battle Angel and the Avatar film series; Cameron has employed other filmmakers to produce and direct films under the Lightstorm banner.

Threshold Entertainment

Threshold Entertainment

Threshold Entertainment Group, also known as Threshold Entertainment, is an intellectual property company. Its animation subsidiary, Threshold Animation Studios, produces films. Larry Kasanoff is the company's chief executive officer (CEO) after previously serving as president for Lightstorm Entertainment, a company he co-founded with entrepreneur and filmmaker James Cameron.

History

The company was initially kicked off to "pursue projects" with top producers, namely Steve Tisch, Larry Turman and Gene Kirkwood, and Vestron would have to finance projects, and do a decided number of series and relationships.[3] The first Vestron Pictures film released was Malcolm, the Australian feature film that launched a New York run on July 18, 1986.[4]

On October 1, 1986, Vestron Pictures and Gotham-based financial outfit Integrated Resources, Inc., which cost a $100 million joint venture to handle underwriting of the production and distribution of 15 in-house Vestron Pictures' feature films, which planned to run from 1987 to 1989, and had to pain a distinctly upbeat of the co-venture's potential.[5]

In December 1986, Vestron Pictures planned to produce ten films and to acquire 10-15 films in order to become a virtual low-budget film studio, and gave production budgets of under $2 million to the Lightning Pictures genre label, as titles from the mainstream label ran $2–6 million; the company was relegated to low-budget production without resorting to exploitation filmmaking, and shot for a broad base that expanded into all segments of the viewing audience.[6]

In 1987, the Vestron Pictures unit acquired worldwide rights to Bob Balaban's Parents, from production company Parents Productions, and Roger Holzberg's Midnight Crossing, from another independent production company, Team Effort Productions, with another Vestron subsidiary, Interaccess Film Distribution, to handle foreign sales and distribution rights on the two pictures.[7]

In September 1987, upon the success of the company's biggest hit, Dirty Dancing, Vestron acquired 24 productions and pickups that were slated for release throughout 1988, and toward that end, the company unveiled four productions before the end of the year, as well as four acquisitions, and called for quality pictures with budgets of $6 million.[8]

In October 1987, Vestron Pictures bought the rights to the two films from production company Double Helix Films, Mace and Funland. Vestron would handle theatrical, television, pay cable and syndicated TV rights to the former, and home video, cable and TV rights to the latter film, and Double Helix Films would retain the rights to the two films for foreign distribution.[9]

In November 1987, Vestron Pictures studied the Australia, Holland and the Benelux countries, eyeing openings of theatrical operations in those territories. The company already had distribution offices in the U.K. and Japan, and would cooperate with Vestron's international sales subsidiary, Interaccess Film Distribution. It decided not to set up shop in France due to declining theatrical attendance and a glut of cinemas, some of which formed a crowded field in the nation.[10]

Vestron Pictures' parent company, Vestron, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and went out of business in 1991, with their assets being acquired by LIVE Entertainment. Today, Lionsgate owns the rights to the Vestron library after acquiring Artisan Entertainment in 2003.

Discover more about History related topics

Lawrence Turman

Lawrence Turman

Lawrence Turman is an American former film producer.

Malcolm (film)

Malcolm (film)

Malcolm is a 1986 Australian cult film comedy, written by the husband-and-wife team of David Parker and Nadia Tass, and directed by Nadia Tass. The film stars Colin Friels as Malcolm, a tram enthusiast who becomes involved with a pair of would-be bank robbers. His co-stars are Lindy Davies and John Hargreaves. The film won the 1986 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, and seven other AFI awards including Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.

Bob Balaban

Bob Balaban

Robert Elmer Balaban is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Gosford Park (2001), in which he also appeared.

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman, a young woman who falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Swayze) at a vacation resort.

Funland (film)

Funland (film)

Funland is a 1987 American dark comedy film directed by Michael A. Simpson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bonnie and Terry Turner. It follows a disgruntled clown who takes revenge on the staff of an amusement park who fired him. It was filmed at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, Georgia.

Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

Holland

Holland

Holland is a geographical region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th century, Holland proper was a unified political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the counts of Holland. By the 17th century, the province of Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating the other provinces of the newly independent Dutch Republic.

Benelux

Benelux

The Benelux Union, also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portmanteau formed from joining the first few letters of each country's name and was first used to name the customs agreement that initiated the union. It is now used more generally to refer to the geographic, economic, and cultural grouping of the three countries.

Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 14,125 islands covering 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi); the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto.

France

France

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.

Artisan Entertainment

Artisan Entertainment

Artisan Entertainment was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until it was purchased by later mini-major film studio Lions Gate Entertainment in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and distribution agreements. Its headquarters and private screening room were located in Santa Monica, California. It also had an office in Tribeca in Manhattan, New York.

Lionsgate

Lionsgate

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is currently headquartered in Santa Monica, California, United States. In addition to its flagship Lionsgate Films division, the company contains other divisions such as Lionsgate Television and Lionsgate Interactive. It owns a variety of subsidiaries such as Summit Entertainment, Debmar-Mercury, and Starz Inc.

Productions

Vestron Pictures

Release Date Title Notes
July 20, 1986 Malcolm US distribution only
November 14, 1986 Slaughter High
November 1986 Billy Galvin
February 20, 1987 Alpine Fire
April 10, 1987 Gothic US distribution only
May 1987 Nightforce Direct-to-video
May 15, 1987 Personal Services
August 21, 1987 Dirty Dancing
August 28, 1987 Hamburger Hill International and video distribution only, Paramount Pictures owned North American theatrical rights
September 25, 1987 China Girl
September 25, 1987 The Princess Bride International distribution only; 20th Century Fox owned North American theatrical rights
October 2, 1987 Anna
November 6, 1987 Steel Dawn
December 1987 The Family US distribution only
December 18, 1987 The Dead
1988 Dangerous Curves
January 22, 1988 Promised Land
March 4, 1988 And God Created Woman
April 8, 1988 The Pointsman
April 22, 1988 The Unholy
May 6, 1988 Salome's Last Dance
May 13, 1988 Midnight Crossing
May 20, 1988 Call Me
June 3, 1988 The Beat
June 17, 1988 Waxwork
June 1988 Paramedics
August 12, 1988 Young Guns International and video distribution only, 20th Century Fox owned North American theatrical rights
October 14, 1988 The Lair of the White Worm
November 25, 1988 Amsterdamned US distribution only
December 23, 1988 Burning Secret
January 27, 1989 Parents
February 17, 1989 Paperhouse US distribution only
March 3, 1989 Dream a Little Dream
March 1989 Big Man on Campus
April 28, 1989 The Fruit Machine US distribution only
May 5, 1989 The Rainbow
May 12, 1989 Earth Girls Are Easy US distribution only
June 29, 1989 Twister
August 25, 1989 Little Monsters Vestron produced the film but sold the film to United Artists due to financial problems.
December 1, 1989 Hider in the House
December 8, 1989 Cat Chaser
February 4, 1990 Spies on Ice
March 28, 1990 Paint It Black Direct-to-video
April 3, 1990 Catchfire
July 15, 1990 Fear
November 6, 1990 Sally the Witch: The movie Produced in association with Marina Entertainment, Inc.
November 9, 1990 Love Hurts
October 23, 1991 Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat Direct-to-video
January 29, 1992 Enid Is Sleeping
July 29, 1992 Spies Inc. released on VHS in 1992 by LIVE Home Video, under the name Code Name: Chaos

Lightning Pictures

Release Date Title Notes
July 10, 1987 Blood Diner
September 16, 1987 Street Trash
June 30, 1989 Far From Home
September 27, 1989 C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.
March 16, 1990 Blue Steel eventually acquired and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer due to financial problems
May 11, 1990 Class of 1999 released by Taurus Entertainment Company
September 18, 1991 Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College released by Taurus Entertainment Company
January 17, 1992 A Gnome Named Gnorm

Discover more about Productions related topics

Malcolm (film)

Malcolm (film)

Malcolm is a 1986 Australian cult film comedy, written by the husband-and-wife team of David Parker and Nadia Tass, and directed by Nadia Tass. The film stars Colin Friels as Malcolm, a tram enthusiast who becomes involved with a pair of would-be bank robbers. His co-stars are Lindy Davies and John Hargreaves. The film won the 1986 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, and seven other AFI awards including Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.

Billy Galvin

Billy Galvin

Billy Galvin is a 1986 American drama film directed by John Gray. It stars Karl Malden and Lenny von Dohlen.

Alpine Fire

Alpine Fire

Alpine Fire is a 1985 Swiss drama film directed by Fredi M. Murer. It won the Golden Leopard at the 1985 Locarno International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 58th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Gothic (film)

Gothic (film)

Gothic is a 1986 British psychological horror film directed by Ken Russell, starring Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley, Myriam Cyr as Claire Clairmont and Timothy Spall as Dr. John William Polidori. It features a soundtrack by Thomas Dolby, and marks Richardson's and Cyr's film debut.

Personal Services

Personal Services

Personal Services is a 1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones and written by David Leland, about the rise of a madam of a suburban brothel which caters to older men. The story is inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne, the "House of Cyn" madam.

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman, a young woman who falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Swayze) at a vacation resort.

Hamburger Hill

Hamburger Hill

Hamburger Hill is a 1987 American war film set during the Battle of Hamburger Hill, a May 1969 assault during the Vietnam War by the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) "Screaming Eagles" on a ridge of Dong Ap Bia near the Laotian border in central Vietnam. The ridge was a well-fortified position, including trenchworks and bunkers, of the North Vietnamese Army. U.S. military records of the battle refer to the mountain as "Hill 937," its map designation having been derived from the high elevation of the hill at 937 meters (3,074 ft).

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global. It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles.

China Girl (1987 film)

China Girl (1987 film)

China Girl is a 1987 independent neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Abel Ferrara, and written by his longtime partner Nicholas St. John.

Anna (1987 film)

Anna (1987 film)

Anna is a 1987 American comedy drama film directed by Yurek Bogayevicz and starring Sally Kirkland, Robert Fields, Paulina Porizkova, Steven Gilborn and Larry Pine. It was adapted by Agnieszka Holland from an unauthorized story by Holland and Bogayevicz, based on the real-life relationship of Polish actresses Elżbieta Czyżewska and Joanna Pacuła.

Dangerous Curves (1988 film)

Dangerous Curves (1988 film)

Dangerous Curves is a 1988 American comedy film directed by David Lewis and starring Tate Donovan and Grant Heslov.

And God Created Woman (1988 film)

And God Created Woman (1988 film)

And God Created Woman is a 1988 American comedy-drama film directed by Roger Vadim in his final theatrical release and starring Rebecca De Mornay, Vincent Spano and Frank Langella. It has the same title as the 1956 French film Et Dieu… créa la femme starring Brigitte Bardot, also directed by Vadim, but has a completely different story.

Source: "Vestron Pictures", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 19th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestron_Pictures.

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References
  1. ^ a b "Talks on Vestron Reported". The New York Times. February 17, 1990.
  2. ^ "CAN FILMMAKING SAVE VESTRON'S HOME VIDEO?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  3. ^ "Vestron Is Looking Into Feature Film Projects By Tisch, Turman, Kirkwood". Variety. 1986-01-15. p. 8.
  4. ^ "'Malcolm' Scheduled As Vestron's Initial Release". Variety. 1986-07-02. p. 19.
  5. ^ "Vestron Pics Into Joint Venture For Prod. Of 15 Films". Variety. 1986-10-01. p. 3.
  6. ^ "Vestron Gearing Up '87 Slate To Include Lowballers, Pickups". Variety. 1986-12-10. p. 22.
  7. ^ "Vestron Buys World Rights To 2 New Pix". Variety. 1987-09-09. pp. 4, 32.
  8. ^ Greenberg, James (1987-09-16). "'Dancing' No Dirty Word At Vestron; First Hit Fuels More". Variety. pp. 6, 121.
  9. ^ "Vestron Buys Rights To Two Double Helix Pics". Variety. 1987-10-14. p. 36.
  10. ^ "Vestron is eyeing more intl. bases". Variety. 1987-11-11. p. 26.

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