Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group
Encyclopedia
Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, Inc. (formerly known as Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group) is a corporation which develops scripts and oversees theatrical production for The Walt Disney Company
's production companies and imprints. The Group, one of Hollywood's major film studios, is based at the Walt Disney Studios
in Burbank, California
. It includes:
The Group in its current form was initiated in 1998 by then Studio Chairman Joe Roth
in order to centralize the various production units and to make live-action film production within Disney more cost-efficient. The President of the Group is Mark Zoradi, who reports to Rich Ross, Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios. Ross, in turn, reports to Robert (Bob) Iger
, President/CEO of The Walt Disney Company
.
The name Buena Vista comes from the much older company Buena Vista Distribution
, a company founded by Walt Disney as a subsidiary to distribute his films and short subjects in 1953. That name in turn came from the street name South Buena Vista Street in Burbank
where the Walt Disney Studios
complex was, and still exists today.
In 2003, headlines were made as the first ever PG-13 certificate film was released under the Walt Disney Pictures
imprint – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
, a film based on the famous Disneyland attraction. Although non-Disney branded imprints and divisions of the studio have released films with certificates PG-13 (the first being Adventures in Babysitting
in 1987) and as high as R (the first being Down and Out in Beverly Hills
in 1986). Disney had from the start of its Touchstone imprint until the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy a very strict approach to violence and other possibly mature elements in Disney-branded live-action films. Nevertheless, ever since the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, Walt Disney Pictures has produced more PG-13 branded films.
Film director M. Night Shyamalan
, who had done The Sixth Sense
, Unbreakable, Signs
and The Village
with Disney clashed with the Group's executives during pre-production of his 2006 film, Lady in the Water
. Shyamalan left the studio after Nina Jacobson
and others became, in Shyamalan's eyes, overly critical of his script, which would eventually be produced by Warner Bros.
Shyamalan is quoted in a book about the difficult period that he "had witnessed the decay of her creative vision right before his own wide-open eyes. She didn't want iconoclastic directors. She wanted directors who made money." In her own defense, Jacobson said, "in order to have a Hollywood relationship more closely approximate a real relationship, you have to have a genuine back and forth of the good and the bad. Different people have different ideas about respect. For us, being honest is the greatest show of respect for a filmmaker."
In July 2006 Disney announced a shift in strategy of releasing more Disney-branded (ie Walt Disney Pictures) films and fewer Touchstone titles. The move was expected to reduce the Group's work force by approximately 650 positions worldwide, including that of its then President Nina Jacobson
.
In April 2007, Disney retired the Buena Vista brand.
On February 9, 2009, DreamWorks SKG entered a 5-year, 30-picture distribution deal with the Touchstone Pictures
division starting in 2011.
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's production companies and imprints. The Group, one of Hollywood's major film studios, is based at the Walt Disney Studios
Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)
The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States, serve as the international headquarters for media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Studio's house offices for each of the company's divisions along with creative spaces designed for movie production. The Walt Disney...
in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
. It includes:
- Walt Disney Pictures and TelevisionWalt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
- Walt Disney PicturesWalt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
- Touchstone PicturesTouchstone PicturesTouchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
- DisneynatureDisneynatureDisneynature is an independent film label of The Walt Disney Company, founded on April 21, 2008 as a division of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group...
- Hollywood PicturesHollywood PicturesHollywood Pictures is one of The Walt Disney Company's several alternate movie divisions. Like Disney's Touchstone Pictures brand, it produces films for a more mature adult audience than Walt Disney Pictures.-History:...
- Walt Disney Pictures
- Walt Disney Animation Studios
- DisneyToon StudiosDisneyToon StudiosDisneyToon Studios is an American animation studio owned by The Walt Disney Company, responsible for producing direct-to-video and occasional theatrical films for Walt Disney Studios....
- DisneyToon Studios
- Pixar Animation StudiosPixarPixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
The Group in its current form was initiated in 1998 by then Studio Chairman Joe Roth
Joe Roth
Joe Roth is an American film executive, producer and film director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Productions in 1987 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox , Caravan Pictures , and Walt Disney Studios before founding Revolution Studios in 2000.-Life and career:Roth was born in New York, New York,...
in order to centralize the various production units and to make live-action film production within Disney more cost-efficient. The President of the Group is Mark Zoradi, who reports to Rich Ross, Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios. Ross, in turn, reports to Robert (Bob) Iger
Robert Iger
Robert A. "Bob" Iger is the president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. He was named president of Disney in 2000, and later succeeded Michael Eisner as chief executive in 2005, after a successful effort by Roy E. Disney to shake-up the management of the company...
, President/CEO of The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
.
The name Buena Vista comes from the much older company Buena Vista Distribution
Buena Vista Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc. Buena Vista International was the international distribution arm, Buena Vista Home Entertainment was the firm's video and DVD distribution arm, and Buena Vista...
, a company founded by Walt Disney as a subsidiary to distribute his films and short subjects in 1953. That name in turn came from the street name South Buena Vista Street in Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
where the Walt Disney Studios
Walt Disney Studios (Burbank)
The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States, serve as the international headquarters for media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Studio's house offices for each of the company's divisions along with creative spaces designed for movie production. The Walt Disney...
complex was, and still exists today.
In 2003, headlines were made as the first ever PG-13 certificate film was released under the Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
imprint – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 adventure fantasy film based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, a film based on the famous Disneyland attraction. Although non-Disney branded imprints and divisions of the studio have released films with certificates PG-13 (the first being Adventures in Babysitting
Adventures in Babysitting
Adventures in Babysitting is a 1987 American comedy film written by David Simkins, directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Penelope Ann Miller, Bradley Whitford, and a brief cameo by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins...
in 1987) and as high as R (the first being Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Down and Out in Beverly Hills is a 1986 American comedy film based on the French play Boudu sauvé des eaux, which had previously been adapted on film in 1932 by Jean Renoir. Down and Out in Beverly Hills was directed by Paul Mazursky, and starred Nick Nolte, Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfuss...
in 1986). Disney had from the start of its Touchstone imprint until the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy a very strict approach to violence and other possibly mature elements in Disney-branded live-action films. Nevertheless, ever since the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, Walt Disney Pictures has produced more PG-13 branded films.
Film director M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
, who had done The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film tells the story of Cole Sear , a troubled, isolated boy who is able to see and talk to the dead, and an equally troubled child psychologist who tries to help him...
, Unbreakable, Signs
Signs (film)
Signs is a 2002 American science fiction horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It was adapted from a screenplay also written by Shyamalan. Executive producers for the film comprised Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Sam Mercer. The story focuses on a former preacher named Graham...
and The Village
The Village (2004 film)
The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,...
with Disney clashed with the Group's executives during pre-production of his 2006 film, Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water
The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
. Shyamalan left the studio after Nina Jacobson
Nina Jacobson
Nina Jacobson is an American film executive who, until July 2006, was president of the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and others became, in Shyamalan's eyes, overly critical of his script, which would eventually be produced by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Shyamalan is quoted in a book about the difficult period that he "had witnessed the decay of her creative vision right before his own wide-open eyes. She didn't want iconoclastic directors. She wanted directors who made money." In her own defense, Jacobson said, "in order to have a Hollywood relationship more closely approximate a real relationship, you have to have a genuine back and forth of the good and the bad. Different people have different ideas about respect. For us, being honest is the greatest show of respect for a filmmaker."
In July 2006 Disney announced a shift in strategy of releasing more Disney-branded (ie Walt Disney Pictures) films and fewer Touchstone titles. The move was expected to reduce the Group's work force by approximately 650 positions worldwide, including that of its then President Nina Jacobson
Nina Jacobson
Nina Jacobson is an American film executive who, until July 2006, was president of the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
.
In April 2007, Disney retired the Buena Vista brand.
On February 9, 2009, DreamWorks SKG entered a 5-year, 30-picture distribution deal with the Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
division starting in 2011.