Atlantic Entertainment Group

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Not to be confused with Atlantis Entertainment.
Atlantic Entertainment Group
Founded1974
Defunct1989
FateAcquired by Island Pictures
SuccessorsStudio:
Island Pictures (1989-1998)
Library:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
HeadquartersUnited States
ParentCrédit Lyonnais
SubsidiariesClubhouse Pictures

Atlantic Entertainment Group, also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation, was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974.

History

Their initial releases were mostly geared to arthouse audiences, with an especially large number of Australian productions, as well as two Brazilian productions, Eu Te Amo (1981) and Lady on the Bus (1978), that introduced American audiences to actress Sonia Braga. They shifted their focus to small-budgeted independent films in the early 1980s, beginning with the surprise success of Valley Girl (1983), directed by Martha Coolidge. Night of the Comet, released in 1984, would be their first film to open on over 1000 screens.

By 1984, the company had signed an agreement with CBS/Fox Video, whereas a "conceptual partnership" that launched the Atlantic Video label, and among of the launch titles set up by Atlantic Video were Alphabet City, Roadhouse 66, Night of the Comet and Vamping. Atlantic International was also launched and license overseas rights to various films territory by territory.[1]

In 1985, they began a relationship with Paramount Pictures whereby the studio provided them money for larger-scale theatrical releases in exchange for home video and television rights to their films.[2] The company made its big break with the success of Teen Wolf, which then spawned a franchise that year.[3] In 1985, Atlantic Releasing Corporation started the Clubhouse Pictures label, which was designed to release films for a family audience, which set up the Clubhouse Pictures Family Network of theaters.[4]

On July 30, 1986, Jonathan Dana was hired by Atlantic Entertainment Group to supervise all Atlantic activities, via divisions Atlantic Releasing Corporation, Atlantic Television, Clubhouse Pictures and Atlantic International, and decided to "systemize" the top management to accommodate its growth to be a mini-major film studio.[5]

In November 1987, Atlantic Entertainment teamed up with Zenith Productions for a $20 million, three-picture agreement, following the success of Wish You Were Here, which the two companies ever formed a relationship that the relationship was more subtle than a 50/50 agreement, but essentially was an equal partnership, and the two companies would hold proportionate equity in all three pictures worldwide and the first wave of pictures was a production called Patty, as well as For Queen and Country and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, a co-production between the Czech and the U.S., and Atlantic would handle worldwide rights for the former, and had North American rights to the latter two, and foreign sales would be handled by Zenith's Sales Company.[6]

In January 1989, Atlantic made a new deal with Kartes Video Communications for home video rights to the movies previously covered in the Paramount deal. The library was bought by Island Pictures, which took over soliciting the films to home video. Island themselves suffered financial losses soon after, defaulting to Crédit Lyonnais, and both the Atlantic and Island libraries were absorbed into the bank's large "Epic" catalogue of films inherited from studios that had borrowed and defaulted to the financial institution. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment purchased the large catalogue from Crédit Lyonnais in 1997;[7] a year later, when PolyGram themselves were acquired by Universal Studios, Universal sold PolyGram's pre-1996 library to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in October 1998.[8]

For a number of years, Paramount Pictures had television and video distribution rights to Atlantic's library, some from their previous deal with the company, and others inherited when Viacom, who had purchased television rights to many earlier Atlantic releases, merged with Paramount. MGM via PolyGram Filmed Entertainment now distributes most of the library as a result of purchasing the pre-1996 portion of PolyGram's library.[9][10]

Filmography

Some of the company's most notable films include:

Release Date Title
April 17, 1987 Wild Thing
May 8, 1987 Steele Justice
May 14, 1987 The Umbrella Woman
May 29, 1987 Summer Heat
July 24, 1987 Wish You Were Here
August 21, 1987 The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
November 20, 1987 Teen Wolf Too
December 4, 1987 Home Is Where the Hart Is
January 8, 1988 Cop
February 12, 1988 A Tiger's Tale
March 18, 1988 Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw
April 22, 1988 Stormy Monday
June 17, 1988 A World Apart
August 11, 1988 A Summer Story
September 23, 1988 Patty Hearst
November 18, 1988 1969
May 19, 1989 For Queen and Country
July 9, 1989 A Soldier's Tale

Clubhouse Pictures

The company also had a division called "Clubhouse Pictures" to release family films. Films and television series released under this label include:

[11]

References

  1. ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1984-04-11). "Atlantic Home Video Label Formed Via 'Partnership' With CBS/Fox". Variety. p. 32.
  2. ^ "...newsline..." (PDF). Billboard. 1985-05-04. p. 30. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  3. ^ Variety. 1985-08-28. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Cohn, Lawrence (1985-11-13). "Atlantic corralling kidpic exhib web". Variety. p. 3.
  5. ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1986-07-30). "Atlantic Taps Dana To Head Up New Pic, TV Division". Variety. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Atlantic Entertainment Cements 3-Pic, $20-Mil Zenith Coventure". Variety. 1987-11-04. p. 27.
  7. ^ Epic library battle looms — Variety
  8. ^ MGM Agrees to Acquire PolyGram Movie Library - Los Angeles Times
  9. ^ Eller, Claudia (23 October 1998). "MGM Agrees to Acquire PolyGram Movie Library". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  10. ^ Kroon, Richard W. (2014). A/V A to Z: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Media, Entertainment and Other Audiovisual Terms. McFarland. ISBN 9780786457403.
  11. ^ A RALLY FOR G RATINGS CLUBHOUSE GETSBANDWAGON ROLLING FOR FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT - Orlando Sentinel
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