Guild Home Video
Encyclopedia
Guild Home Video or Guild Film Distribution was one of the very first video distribution
companies to start operating in the UK. Unlike other independent labels such as Intervision or Videoform, GHV not only survived for a very long time, but continued to grow, eventually becoming a video distributor for independent studios such as Carolco
, New Line Cinema
, Cannon and Lorimar
, whose videos were released by Video Collection International and PolyGram Video.
, Guild Home Video were one of the biggest of the early video companies, and responsible for distributing a large and varied catalogue of movies. The initial batch of releases came out in mid-1980 and were easily recognisable by the sky blue, stylised 'G' symbol that the company retained throughout its life (with only a colour change to gold in 1987), the original Guild catalogue included a large array of features. From creaky and dated British science-fiction/horror fare such as The Beast in the Cellar
, The Body Stealers
and Doomwatch
, to documentary/non-fiction titles like The Entertaining Electron and Reardon on Snooker as well as recent box office hits like David Cronenberg
's Scanners
and Jack Nicholson
's remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice
. Many classic Australian movies such as "My Brilliant Career", "Breaker Morant" and "Money Movers" were also released at that time too.
The original catalogue was uncommonly large by the standards of most labels at that time, with well over 100 titles released within the first two years of trading alone, and Guild became well known for the professionalism of its product. At a time when many of the independent labels were resorting to tacky and often distatefully lurid cover designs to get its products noticed (Go Video's Cannibal Holocaust
/SS Experiment Camp and Vipco's Driller Killer being prime examples), GHV adopted a much more subtle approach. Many of their cover designs can be seen on: http://www.pre-cert.co.uk Interestingly, early Guild covers were colour coded. Cassettes for "hire only" carried a Pink band round the base of the sleeve, while later Hire/Sale cassettes carried a sky blue band round the top. There were also a number of tapes with a yellow band as well, but these are all but extinct now and desirable when found.
(1). This ruinous and reactionary response to the "Video Nasties
" crisis meant that any movie available on video had to carry a BBFC video certificate. As each film would cost hundreds of pounds to classify if re-submitted, many independent labels found it uneconomic to submit their entire back catalogues and several simply went out of business. GHV, by now exclusive distributors to the likes of Cannon, The Samuel Goldwyn Company
and Lorimar were able to continue on the strength on their newer titles and the older back catalogue generally disappeared from view. More successful titles like Straw Dogs and Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came
were among the first budget "sell through" titles to appear when Video Collection began retailing cut-price movies in 1986.
, which resulted in them gaining exclusive UK video rights for big budget blockbuster movies like Terminator 2, Total Recall
, Cliffhanger
and Rambo 3. Guild Home Video/Guild Film Distribution merged with Pathé
in 1996, forming a new name
of Guild Pathe Cinema Limited, eventually in 1998, the Guild home video name itself vanished, leaving Pathé
on its own.
Guild also had "Rental distribution rights" with 20th Century Fox
, operating as Fox Guild Entertainment and
after the Pathe merger, Fox Pathe Home Entertainment.
The "Guild" name disappeared in 1998, when Guild Pathé Cinema, became "Pathé Distribution"
The video rights to the Carolco library are now shared between Momentum Pictures
and Optimum Releasing
. The Cannon library is now owned by MGM
(with distribution by Fox
), and Warner Bros.
owns the rights to the Lorimar
films.
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
companies to start operating in the UK. Unlike other independent labels such as Intervision or Videoform, GHV not only survived for a very long time, but continued to grow, eventually becoming a video distributor for independent studios such as Carolco
Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments was an American independent film production company that, within a decade, went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being bankrupted by...
, New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
, Cannon and Lorimar
Lorimar Productions
Lorimar, later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American television production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993...
, whose videos were released by Video Collection International and PolyGram Video.
Origins
Based in Oundle Road, PeterboroughPeterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
, Guild Home Video were one of the biggest of the early video companies, and responsible for distributing a large and varied catalogue of movies. The initial batch of releases came out in mid-1980 and were easily recognisable by the sky blue, stylised 'G' symbol that the company retained throughout its life (with only a colour change to gold in 1987), the original Guild catalogue included a large array of features. From creaky and dated British science-fiction/horror fare such as The Beast in the Cellar
The Beast in the Cellar
The Beast in the Cellar is a 1970 British horror film written and directed by James Kelley. The film was produced by Leander Films and Tigon British Film Productions. Filming took place at Pinewood Studios. The film was released in the UK on DVD by Anchor Bay as part of The Tigon Collection...
, The Body Stealers
The Body Stealers
The Body Stealers is a 1969 British science fiction film directed by Gerry Levy, about the disappearance of British military paratroopers in mid-air whilst on a routine jump. Two investigators try to figure out what happened and uncover an alien plot to steal bodies of earthlings by snatching them...
and Doomwatch
Doomwatch
Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC One between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist , responsible for investigating and combating various...
, to documentary/non-fiction titles like The Entertaining Electron and Reardon on Snooker as well as recent box office hits like David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
's Scanners
Scanners
Scanners is a 1981 science-fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan...
and Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
's remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1934 crime novel by James M. Cain.The novel was quite successful and notorious upon publication, and is regarded as one of the more important crime novels of the 20th century...
. Many classic Australian movies such as "My Brilliant Career", "Breaker Morant" and "Money Movers" were also released at that time too.
The original catalogue was uncommonly large by the standards of most labels at that time, with well over 100 titles released within the first two years of trading alone, and Guild became well known for the professionalism of its product. At a time when many of the independent labels were resorting to tacky and often distatefully lurid cover designs to get its products noticed (Go Video's Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest and dealing with indigenous tribes, it was cast mostly with United States actors and filmed in English to achieve wider distribution...
/SS Experiment Camp and Vipco's Driller Killer being prime examples), GHV adopted a much more subtle approach. Many of their cover designs can be seen on: http://www.pre-cert.co.uk Interestingly, early Guild covers were colour coded. Cassettes for "hire only" carried a Pink band round the base of the sleeve, while later Hire/Sale cassettes carried a sky blue band round the top. There were also a number of tapes with a yellow band as well, but these are all but extinct now and desirable when found.
Growth
Guild Home Video continued to grow steadily throughout the 1980s, notable especially as one of the very few independent labels to survive the 1984 Video Recordings ActVideo Recordings Act 1984
The Video Recordings Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed in 1984. It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon by an authority designated by the Home Office...
(1). This ruinous and reactionary response to the "Video Nasties
Video nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
" crisis meant that any movie available on video had to carry a BBFC video certificate. As each film would cost hundreds of pounds to classify if re-submitted, many independent labels found it uneconomic to submit their entire back catalogues and several simply went out of business. GHV, by now exclusive distributors to the likes of Cannon, The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...
and Lorimar were able to continue on the strength on their newer titles and the older back catalogue generally disappeared from view. More successful titles like Straw Dogs and Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came
Suppose They Gave A War and Nobody Came was a 1970 feature film.The plot is a mixture of comic and dramatic elements and concerns the reactions of a number of World War II veterans to the then contemporary US army.Directed by Hy Averback and produced by Fred Engles, the film includes Brian Keith,...
were among the first budget "sell through" titles to appear when Video Collection began retailing cut-price movies in 1986.
Decline
By the early 1990s the face of video was changing and the video trade was being dominated more and more by the big studios. It was in this climate that GHV had its last hurrah. In 1988 they secured a distribution deal with Hollywood "mini-major" Carolco PicturesCarolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments was an American independent film production company that, within a decade, went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being bankrupted by...
, which resulted in them gaining exclusive UK video rights for big budget blockbuster movies like Terminator 2, Total Recall
Total Recall
Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox & Mel Johnson, Jr.. It is based on the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”...
, Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger (film)
Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow. Stallone plays a mountain climber, who becomes embroiled in a failed heist set in a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains...
and Rambo 3. Guild Home Video/Guild Film Distribution merged with Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
in 1996, forming a new name
of Guild Pathe Cinema Limited, eventually in 1998, the Guild home video name itself vanished, leaving Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
on its own.
Guild also had "Rental distribution rights" with 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, operating as Fox Guild Entertainment and
after the Pathe merger, Fox Pathe Home Entertainment.
The "Guild" name disappeared in 1998, when Guild Pathé Cinema, became "Pathé Distribution"
The video rights to the Carolco library are now shared between Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures , an Alliance Films company, is one of the leading independent motion picture distributors in the UK and Ireland and releases approximately 20 theatrical films a year, with several stv releases....
and Optimum Releasing
Optimum Releasing
StudioCanal UK is a film distributor company working in the UK and Ireland. The company releases many films, including foreign language films, anime releases such as Studio Ghibli's films and independent British, Irish and American films in the UK and sometimes Ireland.Optimum was acquired by...
. The Cannon library is now owned by MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
(with distribution by Fox
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
), and 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,...
owns the rights to the Lorimar
Lorimar Productions
Lorimar, later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American television production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993...
films.