Hemdale Film Corporation
| Fate | Shut down |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1967 (as The Hemdale Company) |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Headquarters |
London, United Kingdom Los Angeles, California, USA[1] |
Key people |
David Hemmings John Daly Derek Gibson |
| Products |
movies VHS tapes |
| Slogan | "A major independent" |
Hemdale Film Corporation, known as Hemdale Communications after 1993, was an independent film production company and distributor founded in London in 1967 as the Hemdale Company by actor David Hemmings and his manager, John Daly. Hemmings left the company in 1971, and Daly purchased his stock.[2]
Hemdale began as an investment company to cut the high personal taxes on British actors.[2] Eventually, the company went public as Hemdale Ltd. and began diversifying. Hemdale launched a talent agency that helped launch the careers of such bands as Black Sabbath and Yes,[3] invested in feature films, financed stage productions such as Grease, and became involved in boxing promotions such as The Rumble in the Jungle match between George Foreman and Muhammed Ali.[2] Hemdale also distributed cable TV to hotels, which, in 1974, was its major source of revenue.[2] After producing and distributing British films throughout the 1970s, Hemdale relocated to Hollywood in 1980 and focused extensively on movie-making.[2][4] In 1981 Derek Gibson joined the company.
Among its most well-known films are"The Falcon and the snowman", The Terminator, The Return of the Living Dead, Hoosiers, Salvador, River's Edge, Platoon, and The Last Emperor; the latter two were back-to-back recipients of the Academy Award for Best Picture,"Hidden Agenda" "At Close range", "Criminal Law", Hemdale produced and or financed over 80 films during this period. The company suffered a credit line withdrawal from its French bank Credit Lyonnais due a number of Government bank inquiries. The bank difficulties forced it to withdraw the companies line of credit forcing it to file for bankruptcy protection.[5]
In 1991, Eric Parkinson joined Hemdale Home Video as president of a subsidiary of Hemdale Communications.
In 1997, Hemdale shut its doors, shortly after it was announced that Daly and Gibson would leave the company.[6] The library was then incorporated into Consortium de Realisation, a French holding company set up by Credit Lyonnais to handle the rights to titles acquired by Credit Lyonnais Bank.
After the studio's closing, the Hemdale library was incorporated into the Orion Pictures output now owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after MGM acquired the Consortium de Realisation library from PolyGram (ironically, Orion was the theatrical distributor distributor for a number of Hemdale's films). One key exception is The Last Emperor, a Hemdale production. Hemdale licensed each of the US media rights to different companies. Columbia Pictures handled US Theatrical only. whose rights are now held by its producer, Jeremy Thomas. Most of the foreign productions Hemdale distributed have subsequently returned to their original owners (such as Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, which producer Tokyo Movie Shinsha now controls worldwide).
In 1991, Hemdale created a collection of many video cassette titles released by Hemdale Home Video around the United States of America. Its first title was the Home Video reissue of the original Terminator in 1991. In 1995, the video rights to some of Hemdale's higher-profile titles were licensed to LIVE Entertainment (now Lionsgate).
The company's last new credit was for the Virgin Games video game adaptation of The Terminator, which showed up on the game's start up screen as "Hemdale's The Terminator" in text on the scrolling logo, despite all box art calling it "The Terminator".
Films
| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| April 24, 1981 | Cattle Annie and Little Britches | distributed by Universal Pictures |
| October 16, 1981 | Strange Behavior | distributed by World Northal |
| June 24, 1983 | Yellowbeard | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| October 1983 | Escape from the Bronx | |
| April 1984 | Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr | |
| June 1984 | A Breed Apart | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| September 28, 1984 | Irreconcilable Differences | co-production with Warner Bros. |
| October 26, 1984 | The Terminator | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| November 16, 1984 | Special Effects | distributed by New Line Cinema |
| November 1984 | Perfect Strangers | |
| January 25, 1985 | The Falcon and the Snowman | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| February 9, 1986 | A Killing Affair | |
| August 16, 1985 | The Return of the Living Dead | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| January 1986 | Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf | |
| April 18, 1986 | At Close Range | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| April 23, 1986 | Salvador | |
| November 1, 1986 | Inside Out | |
| November 14, 1986 | Hoosiers | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| November 21, 1986 | Body Slam | distributed by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group |
| November 21, 1986 | Defense of the Realm | |
| December 19, 1986 | Platoon | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| May 8, 1987 | River's Edge | distributed by Island Pictures |
| May 15, 1987 | Made in U.S.A. | distributed by TriStar Pictures |
| May 1987 | My Little Girl | |
| June 12, 1987 | Burke & Wills | |
| July 10, 1987 | The Whistle Blower | |
| July 30, 1987 | High Tide | distributed by TriStar Pictures |
| August 1, 1987 | Love at Stake | distributed by TriStar Pictures |
| September 18, 1987 | Hotel Colonial | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| September 25, 1987 | Best Seller | distributed by Orion Pictures |
| November 1987 | Slate, Wyn & Me | |
| 1988 | Scenes from the Goldmine | |
| February 5, 1988 | The Supergrass | |
| March 25, 1988 | High Season | |
| April 15, 1988 | The Last Emperor | distributed by Columbia Pictures |
| May 25, 1988 | The Tale of Ruby Rose | |
| November 23, 1988 | Buster | |
| December 23, 1988 | The Boost | |
| January 13, 1989 | Ha-Holmim | |
| January 21, 1989 | Cheap Shots | |
| January 27, 1989 | Cohen and Tate | |
| March 3, 1989 | Out Cold | |
| April 28, 1989 | Criminal Law | |
| May 19, 1989 | Miracle Mile | |
| June 2, 1989 | Vampire's Kiss | |
| July 21, 1989 | Shag | |
| August 18, 1989 | Blood Red | |
| September 22, 1989 | The Time Guardian | |
| September 29, 1989 | War Party | |
| October 6, 1989 | The Everlasting Secret Family | |
| November 10, 1989 | Staying Together | |
| January 26, 1990 | Incident at Raven's Gate | |
| April 20, 1990 | Chattahoochee | |
| May 6, 1990 | The Belly of an Architect | |
| ??, 1992 | Merlin - The True Story of Magic | |
| August 21, 1992 | Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland | |
| June 3, 1994 | The Princess and the Goblin |
References
- ↑ "Release date not set for movie shot in S.C." Associated Press (November 6, 1988). Retrieved on April 1, 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Lambie, Ryan (7 April 2015). "The Rise and Fall of Hemdale". Den of Geek.
- ↑ http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800311381/bio John Daly biography - Yahoo Movies Archived February 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Thomas, Bob. "Independent filmmakers may produce over half of releases." Associated Press (October 23, 1986). Retrieved on April 1, 2011.
- ↑ Hemdale Communications Inc. files a voluntary petition for bankruptcy
- ↑ http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/7105716-1.html Hemdale Communications Inc. announces resignation of chairman John Daly and president Derek Gibson; March 6, 1995 Archived January 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
- Hemdale Film Corporation at the Internet Movie Database (as Hemdale)
- Hemdale Film Corporation at the Internet Movie Database (as Hemdale Film Distribution)
- Hemdale Film Corporation at the Internet Movie Database (under full name)
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