Production companies at the start of films

[weekender]

At the start of films there are usually production companies (that I've never heard of) listed alongside film-makers/broadcasters (that I've actually heard of).

What's going on there then?

I realise that I can't possibly know every production company, but it wouldn't be uncommon for me to go to a film and see something like this:

-Film4...in conjunction with...Magic Khat Productions

-BBC Films...in conjunction with...Chisel Movies

-Universal..in conjunction with...Scary Hair Area Productions

Or something like that anyway.

Are these sorts of production companies really just massive scams?  Possibly of a tax nature?  Is one of the first things you do when making a film to set up a spurious production company?

Please explain.  Thanks :)

[Wet Blanket]

Isn't it just down to the arcane way indie movies are financed now that lots of small production companies each stump up a little bit of dosh rather than one major one risking a lot? Plus sometimes speculative financiers set up a production co. simply to fund a specific film.


It's only an estimate but I'd say there are on average about six thousand little animated stings before the average indie feature starts now. They should move them to the end credits. I saw one film where they split the screen up and showed the logos all at once. That was a good compromise.

[Noodle Lizard]

Yes, Wet Blanket's right.  Especially in European films, funding is taken from a number of different companies/studios/commissions/grants etc. whereas Hollywood films tend to be financed entirely by one or two studios.  A production company is different and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with funding.

But even if you're a tiny filmmaker, it is good form to have/be part of an LLC of some sort, since you'll be employing people and paying for things like insurance and permits and all that.  Makes it all a lot tidier.

[neveragain]

What I don't understand (sort of) is why, after you've had all the fancy logos, it generally fades to black and lists them all again in a nicer font before sticking up the title. Yes, it's the opening credits. I know, I know, I know. But why?!

[Mister Six]

But even if you're a tiny filmmaker, it is good form to have/be part of an LLC of some sort, since you'll be employing people and paying for things like insurance and permits and all that.  Makes it all a lot tidier.

Also if your film bombs, it'll be the LLC that goes bankrupt and not you.

What I don't understand (sort of) is why, after you've had all the fancy logos, it generally fades to black and lists them all again in a nicer font before sticking up the title. Yes, it's the opening credits. I know, I know, I know. But why?!

For the telly? Don't they tend to chop off the film logos on TV? Not watched actual television for about eight or nine years now, so I've no idea

[popcorn]

Let's post the best idents!

My vote: Orion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm9sUIJo-rE

[DukeDeMondo]

Let's post the best idents!

My vote: Orion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm9sUIJo-rE

Orion is clearly best.

Gong man off Rank would be up there too, mind. Somethin terribly unsettlin about the whole thing.

https://youtu.be/B5hP15g4EI0

[Blumf]

VVVV AN RKO RADIO PICTURE VVVV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzeqLo_BGNo

[non capisco]

Gong man off Rank would be up there too, mind. Somethin terribly unsettlin about the whole thing.

There...is, isn't there? I actually found him quite unsettling as a kid in the 80s when he wan't even a real man, just a faceless bald drawing.

As I spent most of my troubled 90s adolescence practically living in the Cannon cinema in Gravesend there is a certain chilly nostalgia factor to this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehrvxjZTNFY
Butterkist, Butterkist, rah rah rah

This oddly melancholy United Artists one was at the start of some of my James Bond VHS-es, the ones that came in the massive cases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1llEpKZsK8

I think the winner is the RKO one though. Properly iconic. Although if the Warner Brothers logo boinging towards you at the start of a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoon counts, that MIGHT beat all comers.

[greenman]

The Cannon logo always looked like something from an Arnie film to me, "consider yourself fired" as he kills the CEO.

[Funcrusher]

On the subject of production companies, or rather funding sources, at the start of films, I've seen twice recently in this list in the opening credits of a film one which is just called Belgian Tax Shelter number such and such. Which is refreshingly honest at least.

[Ambient Sheep]

Trivia: One of the Rank gong men - the second of three, I think - later became a Jehovah's Witness.

[weekender]

Trivia: One of the Rank gong men - the second of three, I think - later became a Jehovah's Witness.

This fact will prove useful, thanks.

Out of interest, what did the other two do later?

[Ambient Sheep]

Not become Jehovah's Witnesses.

[Ambient Sheep]

I made the mistake of Googling this.

This Guardian Notes & Queries page starts off by claiming there were three:

Billy Wells, Phil Nieman, Ken Richmond

but then later contributors insist that actually there were four:

Carl Dane, Billy Wells, Phil Nieman, Ken Richmond

(apparently Carl hit it three times, the others just twice).


Meanwhile over at Wikipedia, the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongman article is surprisingly unhelpful but also mentions a...

George Francis Moss Snr

...who seems to appear nowhere else except in copies of that Wikipedia article, so I smell bollocks...

...and to confuse matters further, the entry for Billy Wells says he was the THIRD gong man, not the second.

We may never know the truth.[nb]But I vote for Dane, Wells, Nieman, Richmond, with the Wells article being wrong.[/nb]


Anyway, the one for Kenneth Richmond, as well as saying he was the fourth and last, also says:

He was also one of Jehovah's Witnesses for most of his life, being jailed as a conscientious objector during World War II. In later life, he was a volunteer minister for his church.

So in fact, he was a Jehovah's Witness BEFORE as well.


So apart from getting the number of gong men wrong[nb]Although I did say, "I think".[/nb], getting the wrong ordinal for the JW one[nb]Although the "I think" did also apply to this bit.[/nb], and saying he only became one later[nb]Not that you will believe this, but I nearly footnoted that post to say "Actually he might have been one before as well." but decided against it.[/nb], I got it completely right!

Have you farted yet?

[Ambient Sheep]

* Insert joke about Jehovah's Witnesses finding a new intrusive way to get people's attention at their front doors. *

[Famous Mortimer]

My favourite is the company that made "Scary Movie" (not that one, the 1991 one which is quite good), the splendidly named "Generic Movies".

[Puce Moment]

My favourite is the company that made "Scary Movie" (not that one, the 1991 one which is quite good), the splendidly named "Generic Movies".

Look who crept back in when nobody was looking...

[BlodwynPig]

Love those intros. Atmospheric and moody and often better than the film. Could watch hours of production company intros

[Steve Lampkins]

Lazy tagger alluded to it:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpqf56_family-guy-studio-logos_fun

[Famous Mortimer]

Look who crept back in when nobody was looking...

Eh. I decided to grow up (again). I take it you've changed your name, or I have a terrible memory?

[Puce Moment]

Eh. I decided to grow up (again). I take it you've changed your name, or I have a terrible memory?

Yes.