Allied Artists International

Allied Artists International, Inc.
Corporation
Industry Entertainment
Founded Southern California (1979), successor-in-interest to Allied Artists Pictures Corporation (1946)
Founders Robert Abernathy
Richard B. Smith
Headquarters Los Angeles, California &
New York City, New York
Key people
 Kim Richards, Chairman and CEO, Robert Fitzpatrick, President
Products Motion pictures, Television production, Music, Music publishing, Entertainment, Television syndication, Online games, Mobile entertainment, Video on demand, Digital distribution
Subsidiaries Allied Artists Pictures, Allied Artists Music Group, Allied Artists Television, Allied Artists Home Video, Monogram Pictures
Website alliedartists.com

Allied Artists International, Inc. is an entertainment company which works on movies, television, music, games, and other media products. The company is the successor to Allied Artists Pictures Corporation (formerly known as Monogram Pictures Corporation).[1][2] In 1971, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation formed subsidiary Allied Artists Records.[3] Embroiled in a contentious bankruptcy, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation transferred its interest in the Allied Artists trademarks to Allied Artists Records on June 17, 1983[4] to enable production and distribution to continue.[5] On October 6, 2000, Allied Artists Records filed for a newly designed mark, which became registered on December 25, 2001.[6][7] On April 1, 2001, Allied Artists Records changed its name to Allied Artists International, Inc. and assigned its trademarks to reflect the corporate name change.[8] After the assignment of intellectual property between the original Allied Artists Pictures Corporation and Allied Artists International, 445 titles were released under the Allied Artists brand through the year 2009, with additional titles in production and scheduled for release in years to come.[9]

History

Monogram Pictures

Main article: Monogram Pictures

Producer Walter Mirisch began at Monogram Pictures after World War II as assistant to studio head Samuel "Steve" Broidy. He convinced Broidy that the days of low-budget films were ending, and in 1946, Monogram created a new unit, Allied Artists Productions, to make costlier films.

At a time when the average Hollywood picture cost about $800,000 (and the average Monogram picture cost about $90,000), Allied Artists' first release, It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), cost more than $1,200,000.[10] Subsequent Allied Artists releases were more economical but did have enhanced production values; many of them were filmed in color.

The studio's new policy permitted what Mirisch called "B-plus" pictures, which were released along with Monogram's established line of B fare. Mirisch's prediction about the end of the low-budget film had come true thanks to television, and in September 1952, Monogram announced that henceforth it would only produce films bearing the Allied Artists name. The studio ceased making movies under the Monogram brand name in 1953 (but was later reactivated by Allied Artists International). The parent company became Allied Artists, with Monogram Pictures becoming an operating division.

Allied Artists Pictures

Allied Artists did retain a few vestiges of its Monogram identity, continuing its popular Stanley Clements action series (through 1953), its B-Westerns (through 1954), its Bomba, the Jungle Boy adventures (through 1955), and especially its breadwinning comedy series with The Bowery Boys (through 1957 with Clements replacing Leo Gorcey). For the most part, however, Allied Artists was heading in new, ambitious directions under Mirisch.

For a time in the mid-1950s the Mirisch family had great influence at Allied Artists, with Walter as executive producer, his brother Marvin as head of sales, and brother Harold as corporate treasurer. They pushed the studio into big-budget filmmaking, signing contracts with William Wyler, John Huston, Billy Wilder and Gary Cooper. But when their first big-name productions, Wyler's Friendly Persuasion and Wilder's Love in the Afternoon were box-office flops in 1956–57, studio-head Broidy retreated into the kind of pictures Monogram had always favored: low-budget action and thrillers. Mirisch Productions then had success releasing their films through United Artists.

Allied Artists ceased production in 1966 and became a distributor of foreign films, but restarted production with the 1972 release of Cabaret and followed it the next year with Papillon. Both were critical and commercial successes, but high production and financing costs meant they were not big money makers for Allied. In 1975 Allied distributed the French import film version of Story of O but spent much of its earnings defending itself from obscenity charges.[11]

Monogram/Allied Artists survived by finding a niche and serving it well. Probably the best-known tribute paid to Monogram came from French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard, who dedicated his 1960 film Breathless to Monogram, citing the studio's films as a major influence.

The company lasted until 1979, when runaway inflation and high production costs pushed it into bankruptcy. The post-1936 Monogram/Allied Artists library was bought by television producer Lorimar; today a majority of this library belongs to Warner Bros. Entertainment. The pre-1936 Monogram library became incorporated into that of Republic, today a part of Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures.

Allied Artists Records

Following the 1980 bankruptcy and dissolution of Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, Allied Artists Records sought to expand its trademark and service mark rights to include all forms of entertainment, including those previously held by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Allied Artists Records ultimately filed for and received federal trademark protection for "Production and distribution of entertainment services, namely, phonograph records, motion picture films, video tapes, DVDs, and radio and television programs" in International Class 041.[12][13] By 1988, Allied Artists Records claimed recording artists such as Lionel Richie, Lawrence Welk, Bob Seger, and Ted Nugent.[14] Allied Artists Records (now Allied Artists Music Group)'s roster includes Coolio, David Hasselhoff and Renegade.[15] In 2000, it was announced that Allied Artists Records would issue a Spanish Language recording by actor David Hasselhoff.[16] In 2007, given the length of time Allied Artists International, Inc. had exercised control over the name, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued Allied Artists International, Inc. (Allied Artists Records' successor) a Notice of Acceptance under Section 8 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1058(a)(1) and Section 15 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1065, which deems Allied Artists International, Inc's right to the federal trademarks for "Allied Artists" incontestable.[17]

Allied Artists International

Allied Artists Records,[18] which was a separate entity at the time of the Allied Artists Pictures Corporation bankruptcy, was left standing with the only remaining rights to the "Allied Artists" name, although those rights had up to that point been limited to motion picture soundtracks, records and music publishing.[19]

Allied Artists today

Allied Artists International, Inc. produces and distributes entertainment products including motion pictures, television productions, DVDs, music CD's, entertainment software, music publishing and other entertainment-related media.

Today, Monogram Pictures is a division of Allied Artists International, somewhat ironic given the fact that Allied Artists originally sprang from Monogram Pictures. However, as Allied Artists emerged as the predominant brand, Monogram Pictures took a backseat and was dormant for many years. Allied Artists has recently renewed the Monogram Pictures trademarks and announced new productions under the Monogram banner.[20][21]

Allied Artists Pictures, the flagship film group division of Allied Artists International, Inc., is ranked within the top one thousand film production and distribution companies worldwide, out of more than two hundred and fifty thousand studios listed by the Internet Movie Database.[22]

Executives

This section should be integrated into the narrative.

Music and film executive Robert Fitzpatrick joined Allied Artists in 1999, and died in October 2010. Following Fitzpatrick’s death, Kim Richards took over as president and CEO. Richards was a young television soundtrack engineer in the 1970s, and Fitzpatrick helped him earn his first gold record.[23]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-and-film-executive-robert-32820 | The Hollywood Reporter
  2. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/peter-liapis-william-summers-lead-33928 | The Hollywood Reporter
  3. ↑ Billboard Magazine, July 31, 1971
  4. ↑ "Trademark Assignment Assignee Details". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Billboard Magazine, September 6, 1980
  6. ↑ Markify, trademark record for AAI
  7. ↑ "United States Patent and Trademark Registration No. 2522770". United States Trademark and Patent Office. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "Trademark Assignment Details". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  9. ↑ "IMDb Listing for Allied Artists Pictures". Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  10. ↑ "Out Hollywood Way", New York Times, September 8, 1946, p. X1.
  11. ↑ David A. Cook. Lost illusions: American cinema in the shadow of Watergate and ..., Volume 9. Simon & Schuster. p. 325.
  12. ↑ Trademarkia, classes of trademarks owned by AAI
  13. ↑ As well as "Promoting the services of entertainment professionals, namely, talent agency services" in International Class: 035, Trademarkia, classes of trademarks owned by AAI
  14. ↑ "...firm, Consolidated Allied Companies, operated Allied Artists Records… in Studio City... company claimed... Lionel Richie, Lawrence Welk, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent...", Daily News of Los Angeles, May 12, 1988, Page: N10, KAREN E. KLEIN Daily News Staff Writer,
  15. ↑ Billboard.com, retrieved March 8, 2011
  16. ↑ "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff will release his first Spanish- language album later this year on Allied Artists Records”, MORNING REPORT; ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION'S PRESS; TELEVISION, Los Angeles Times, Aug 26, 2000,
  17. ↑ "United States Patent & Trademark Office Registration No. 2522770". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  18. ↑ Allied Artists Records changed its name to 'Allied Artists International, Inc.' on March 8, 2001."Business Entity Search". Nevada Secretary of State. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  19. ↑ "Allied Artists". Allied Artists.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  20. ↑ Trademarkia, record of AAI trademarks
  21. ↑ "Trademark Assignment Assignee Details". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 19 September 2010. and "IMDb Listing for Monogram Pictures". Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  22. ↑ "Stay on Top of the Film & TV Industry". IMDbPro. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  23. ↑ “’I've known Robert since the late 1970s when he helped a young television soundtrack engineer earn his first gold record,’ said Kim Richards, Allied Artists International CEO & chairman. ‘The engineer was me, and I've had the distinct honor and privilege of walking in Robert's wake ever since. Regardless of the heights this company reaches in the future, they will never be the same without Robert Fitzpatrick by my side.’", Music and Film Executive Robert Fitzpatrick Dies, The Hollywood Reporter, 10/27/2010,

External links

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