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Sony Pictures Entertainment: A Brief History |
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Columbia Pictures was formed in 1924 by Harry Cohn, his brother Jack, and Joe Brandt. Known in its early years for the production of a large volume of low-budget movies, that reputation began to change in 1927, when the studio hired a young director named Frank Capra, who would helm Columbia's first all-talkie feature, The Donovan Affair. Capra's directing talents contributed to a number of firsts for the studio - none greater than Columbia's first Best Picture Academy AwardŽ for its 1934 film, It Happened One Night, which swept the top five awards and put Columbia on the map. Capra went on to direct a number of Columbia's most beloved classics, including Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It with You (another Best Picture OscarŽ winner) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
With Columbia's ever-increasing respect and prestige in the '30s and '40s, the Cohn brothers were able to expand their influence - and their acreage - in Hollywood. In 1935, they purchased additional property in Burbank to use as a back lot for location filming. Columbia also continued to build its roster of stars. Harry Cohn's keen eye for talent led to the discovery and signing of Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, and William Holden, to name just a few. The 1950s continued to be successful for the now-established studio. Crowning the decade were three more OscarŽ-winning smashes: From Here to Eternity, On the Waterfront, and The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Columbia demonstrated its eagerness to move with the changing times of the 1960s by expanding the scope and appeal of its films to include pictures with youth-oriented themes like Dr. Strangelove, Bye Bye Birdie, Funny Girl, and To Sir, With Love alongside a continuing parade of classics like its three Best PictureŽ winners of the decade: Lawrence of Arabia, A Man for All Seasons, and Oliver! The astonishing success of 1969's groundbreaking Easy Rider paved the way for the studio's daring films of the 1970s, films like Taxi Driver, The Way We Were, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Kramer Vs. Kramer.
The 1980s found Columbia turning out smash hit after smash hit with Tootsie, The Karate Kid, Stripes, and Ghostbusters. 1982's epic film Gandhi added another Best Picture OscarŽ statue to the studio's growing collection. Never a studio to rest on its laurels, Columbia made motion picture history in 1983 by joining with HBO and CBS to form Tri-Star Pictures (now known as TriStar), the first new motion picture studio in decades. TriStar achieved an astonishingly rapid growth to major studio status, releasing films in its early years like The Natural.
Columbia Pictures became Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1991, at the start of a decade that saw still more records broken and dreams achieved. In 1997, SPE broke all-time records for a motion picture distributor, powered by a summer season that saw three consecutive blockbuster releases: Men in Black - the biggest-grossing film of the year and the highest-grossing movie in the company's history at that date - Air Force One, and My Best Friend's Wedding. The new millennium has seen Sony Pictures' success continue and grow, with hits like the Spider-Man and Charlie's Angels series, Black Hawk Down, The Da Vinci Code, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Superbad.
SPE reaffirmed and strengthened its commitment to all levels and styles of filmmaking in the 1990s, beginning in 1992 with the launch of its specialty division Sony Pictures Classics. Sony Pictures Classics has released some of the most acclaimed films of the last two decades, films which have garnered dozens of Academy AwardŽ nominations and awards, including multiple winners for Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Film. Screen Gems, once the television division of Columbia Pictures, was reborn in 1999 as a specialty division producing and distributing feature films in a wide variety of genres. Some of the major worldwide hits from Screen Gems include Stomp the Yard, Armored, and the Resident Evil, Hostel, and Underworld series. Stage 6 Films, launched in 2007, distributes a slate of primarily independently-produced films. Sony Pictures Animation released its first film, Open Season, in 2002. Only a few years old, SPA is renowned for the high standards of its films which marry the best of CGI animation with family-friendly storytelling.
With a rich history dating back to the birth of the motion picture industry, SPE is known throughout the world not only for its top motion pictures and television programming, but also for its breakthrough digital innovations and its leadership as a 21st Century broadband studio. The motion picture library continues to be one of Sony Pictures Entertainment's most valuable assets, with more than 5,000 films, including timeless classics, cutting-edge hits, and 12 Best Picture Academy AwardŽ winners.
Sony Pictures Entertainment: an industry leader, lighting up screens around the world.
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