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The Paramount company was founded by W. W. Hodkinson on May 8, 1912, as a merger of 11 film rental bureaus. Paramount was the first company that did nationwide distribution, thus gaining a huge efficiency advantage over the old regional States' Rights system. The company did 5-year exclusive contracts with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company , Jesse L. Lasky 's Feature Play Company , and with Bosworth Studio . The contracts were expanded to 25 years later (see Vertical Integration). Paramount also introduced the block-booking system, which meant that an exhibitor who wanted to show a particular Famous Players movie had to buy an entire package, containing a set of (mostly mediocre) films from all companies that worked together with Paramount. This system was very efficient for the involved production firms and in 1917, Adolph Zukor bought Paramount and merged it with Famous Players.
The new firm was called Paramount Pictures Corporation, and was the dominating force in the American market, it had most of the major stars under contract (like Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr.). Adolph Zukor also fired W. W. Hodkinson, who founded First National to challenge Paramount's power. First National controlled a large portion of the nation's cinemas and thus Paramount decided to build its own chain of cinemas and achieved yet greater control of the market (in 1920, it controlled 5000 cinemas, 25% of the market). In 1919, First National and Paramount planned to merge, to gain full control of the market and to cut production cost, because they figured that stars couldn't demand huge sums if there was only one major company to work for. But the plan was uncovered by a private eye hired by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and David Wark Griffith, who wanted to know why the major companies did not prolong their contracts. In reaction to the plan, they decided to found their own distribution company, United Artists, which effectively ended the efforts to found a monopoly. Nevertheless, Paramount was one of the dominating companies in the Second Oligopoly until the United States Supreme Court split the company in two in 19491949 is the common year starting on Saturday. see link for calendar) Events January-February January 4 RMS Caronia of the Cunard Line departs Southampton for New York on her maiden voyage January 4 February 22 Series of winter storms in Nebraska, Wyoming,.
After World War II, in the aftermath of the 1948 anti-trust suit forcing studios to divest in their movie theatres, Paramount struggled to keep up with the changing movie business. It sold its pre- 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with back catalog of features to MCAThe Music Corporation of America commonly known as MCA is a United States based corporation in the music business. MCA publishes music, books music acts, and runs a record label. MCA was founded as a music booking agency based in Chicago in 1924 by Jules, (then a talent agency and fledgling TV production company); when the company was split, the theater half became United Paramount Theatres, which later merged with ABCPaul Rand in 1962. ABC network re-directs here; an alternate meaning is Australian Broadcasting Corporation The American Broadcasting Company or ABC is a television and radio network in the United States, owned by The Walt Disney Company. History In 1940. Paramount also had a hand in creating (and, ultimately, destroying) the DuMont Television NetworkThe DuMont Television Network was the first licensed American television network, beginning operation in 1946 and predating CBS, NBC, and ABC as networks. It owned and operated three television stations, WABD (named for Allen B. DuMont) in New York City, through its ownership of Los Angeles TV station KTLA.
In 1966Events January January 1 In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bedel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. January 2 Strike of public transportation workers in New York City ends January 13 January 3 First Acid Test at the Fil, Paramount was purchased by Gulf+WesternGulf and Western Industries for a number of years known as Gulf+Western was a United States conglomerate whose legal successor is Viacom. Its prosaic origins date to a manufacturer named Michigan Bumper Co. founded in 1934, though Charles Bluhdorn treated, an industrial conglomerate. Gulf+Western also purchased the Desilu television studio from Lucille Ball the next year, reincorporating it as Paramount Television. G+W installed producer and actor Robert Evans as studio head; this proved to be a smart move, as in the next ten years Paramount would become the Number One studio in Hollywood, and produce such classics as Rosemary's Baby and The Godfather films, despite Evans' snarky personality and penchant for getting himself into trouble. Above him were first Frank Yablans and then Barry Diller, each answering to G&W chief Charles Bluhdorn . Paramount Television was also very successful, creating such classics as Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, and Cheers, and maintaining the Star Trek franchise that had exploded in the early 1970s after NBC's cancellation of the series in 1969 and its subsequent sale to syndication.
Paramount's successful run extended into the 1980s and 1990s, generating such hits as the Friday the 13th slasher series, Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels, Beverly Hills Cop (part of a string of films starring comedian Eddie Murphy) and the Star Trek feature films, as well as Oscar winners like Atlantic City and Forrest Gump. By this time, G+W had sold off most of its industrial divisions, and in 1989, they changed their name to Paramount Communications. In 1993, Viacom entered a bid to purchase the studio, which they beat Barry Diller for in 1994.
Paramount Pictures was unconnected to Paramount Records, until it purchased the rights to use Paramount Records' name (but not its back catalogue) in the late 1960s. Paramount used the name to publish soundtrack albums and pop records from the Dot Records back catalogue, since Dot had been switched over to all-country [1]. In 1974, Paramount sold all of their record holdings to ABC Records, which in turn ended up as part of MCA in 1978.
As of 2004, Paramount is the only major film studio to locate its main production facilities within Hollywood itself (most studios are located in other Los Angeles suburbs). Its studio tour was a popular tourist attraction for years until tours were cancelled in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; as of 2004, Paramount is the only major studio that has yet to reinstate the tours, citing ongoing security concerns.
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