by Tara McHugh
PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
Paramount Pictures 100th Anniversary Logo. © 2012 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Company Overview
Originally founded in 1912 by Adolph Zukor under the name “Famous Players Film Company,” Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC) has become an international producer and distributor of motion picture entertainment that controls a wide variety of entertainment brands across all areas of media [0]. Paramount Pictures is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2012, the only major Hollywood studio to reach this momentous achievement. In addition to Paramount Pictures, film labels within PPC include MTV Films, targeted towards young adults; family-oriented Nickelodeon Movies; and art-house style, specialty film label Paramount Vantage (formerly Paramount Classics). In addition, Paramount has established distribution contracts with famous comic developer, Marvel Entertainment and acclaimed animated film producer, DreamWorks Animation. There are eight divisions within PPC: Paramount Digital Entertainment , Paramount Home Entertainment , Paramount Pictures International , Paramount Licensing, Inc. , Paramount Studio Group , Worldwide Television Distribution , and Paramount Famous Productions .
Contact Information
Address Phone Twitter Facebook
Paramount Pictures 323-956-5000 @ParamountPics Like the Page!
5555 Melrose Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90038
Company Executives
Brad Grey
CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION [1]
Rob Moore
Vice Chairman, Paramount Pictures [2]
Frederick Huntsberry
Chief Operating Officer, Paramount Pictures [3]
Adam Goodman
President, Paramount Film Group [4]
Mark Badagliacca
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Paramount Pictures Corporation [5]
Randall Baumberger
President, Paramount Studio Group [6]
Hal Richardson
President, Worldwide Television Distribution [7]
Jim Tharp
President, Domestic Theatrical Distribution, Paramount Pictures [8]
Dennis Maguire
President, Paramount Worldwide Home Entertainment [9]
Company Logo
The iconic logo was originally created in 1916, displaying a monochromatic symbol of a single snow-topped peak from the Wasatch mountain range.
When Viacom International purchased Paramount in 1994, the byline displaying the corporation’s signature font was added.
The most recently updated logo, released December 14th 2011, was redesigned by Devastudios, Inc. to include the “100 Years” emblem. In 2013, this emblem will be removed, but the design will continue to be used [10, 11].
HERE & NOW: SPRING 2012 SNAPSHOT OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Paramount Pictures: 100 Years of Movie Magic App
In honor of the 100th Anniversary, Paramount developed an app, called Paramount100, that offers the consumer an innovative way to access their favorite Paramount productions via a digital timeline composed of exclusive photos, unforgettable film clips, Academy Award® nominations and wins, and timeless music compositions.
It takes the user through the studio’s vast and compelling history, from the release of the first full-length drama Queen Elizabeth in 1912 to the 2011 release Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, including an overview of Paramount’s history.
The app also takes the user on a virtual tour of the Studio and offers hours of interactive entertainment with uniquely developed Scene It? game.
On January 7th 2012, iPad Insight declared Paramount100 as the Best Free iPad App of the Week. The review praised the inclusion of old movie posters and high-quality behind-the-scenes photos [12]. The 1.1 version of the app is free to download on iTunes and may be accessed on the iPad (Updated as of January 11, 2012. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.) [13].
The 84th Academy Award® Nominations and Wins
On January 24th 2012, Academy Award® nominations were announced. Paramount nominations included: Hugo (Best Picture, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, and Writing (Adapted Screenplay)), Kung Fu Panda 2 (Animated Feature Film), Puss In Boots (Animated Feature Film), Rango (Animated Feature Film), The Adventures of Tintin (Music (Original Score)), and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects) [14].
Hugo Official Movie Poster © 2012 Paramount Pictures
At the 84th Academy Awards® on February 26th, 2012, Paramount took home six out of the seventeen awards. Five of the six went to Hugo for Cinematography (Robert Richardson), Art Direction (Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo), Sound Mixing (Tom Fleischman & John Midgley), Sound Editing (Philip Stockton & Eugene Gearty), and Visual Effects (Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman & Alex Henning). Rango won for Best Animated Film (Gore Verbinski) [15].
A Season of Re-Releases
Titanic 3D Official Movie Poster © 2012 Paramount Pictures
Spring 2012 was a season full of re-releases and special screenings for previous Paramount productions, the most pervasive being the re-release of Titanic in 3D. The re-release of the film on April 4th 2012 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Titanic setting sail (coincidentally the same year as Paramount Picture’s 100th anniversary). The original film took home Best Picture, Best Director (James Cameron), and nine more awards at the 70th Academy Awards®.
Digital stereoscopic effects enterprise Stereo D coordinated the 3D conversion, amplified visual effects, and delivered full 3D editorial services for the film. Stereo D formally worked with Cameron on his 2009 Blockbuster hit Avatar [16].
According to Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers:
“Titanic 3D is revelatory, not just for scale it brings to the maritime disaster of an unsinkable ship hitting an iceberg and going down, but for the hushed closeness it brings to the interplay between the characters. The 3D intensifies Titanic. You are there. Caught up like never before in an intimate epic that earns its place in the movie time capsule.” [17]
Travers also reviewed the original film back in 1997 [18]. With a production budget of $18 million, the film just missed profit within the first weekend with a total weekend gross of $17,285,453. As per April 29th 2012, the film gross totaled $56,280,875 [19].
On January 26th 2012, Paramount announed the limited week-long re-release of Rango at the ArcLight Hollywood [20]. Presumably, the re-release of this film was due to its Academy Award® nomination, or perhaps it was because the domestic total gross of the film ($123,477,607) did not exceed the budget ($135 million) [21].
On February 28th 2012, it was announced that a restored and re-mastered version of The Godfather will be shown on a limited amount of screens, exclusively Cinemark XD, starting on March 1, 2012. The Coppola Restoration of The Godfather 40th Anniversary Edition was in the works since 2006 when Paramount Pictures and Francis Ford Coppola began to collaborate. Archivist Robert Harris and original cinematographer Gordon Willis also joined the project and the team worked together revising the original prints, re-release prints, and negatives, shot by shot and frame by frame to create the most visually astounding version of the film to date [22].
Playing Now
A Thousand Words Official Movie Poster © DW Studios LLC. All Rights Reserved
Paramount productions currently in theaters are Titanic 3D (tickets) A Thousand Words (tickets), and Jeff, Who Lives at Home (tickets). As mentioned previously, Titanic 3D is a re-release of the 1997 Academy Award® winning film. A Thousand Words stars Eddie Murphy as a literary agent who becomes enchanted by a magical Bodhi tree and his speech becomes limited to 1000 words [23]. Jeff, Who Lives at Home stars Jason Segel as a middle-aged man living in his mother’s basement who, upon a trip to the hardware store, finds the meaning of life while investigating his potentially adulterous wife with his brother, played by Ed Helms [24].
Coming Soon to a Theater Near You
The Dictator Official Movie Poster © 2012 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
The most anticipated Paramount release is The Dictator. As you can see from clicking the link, the movie website was designed specifically to promote the film and legitimize the faux country dictated by Sasha Baron Cohen’s character in the film. There is a ticker at the top of the site displaying false headlines and links such as “Tourism” and “Weather Forecast”. There was also a game created by iTunes for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad called Wadiyan Games. Other upcoming films: Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Katy Perry Part of Me 3D, Rise of the Guardians.
All sources cited within links.