Savoy Pictures
Encyclopedia
Savoy Pictures Inc. was an independent motion picture company in operation from 1992 to 1997.
, No Escape
, Last of the Dogmen
and Serial Mom
.
Budgets for their films grew. However, with rather poor marketing, Savoy faced a major financial slump, only three years after being formed. For three years, Savoy then released box office failures including Exit to Eden
and Getting Away with Murder
. HBO handled home video release for the Savoy library.
In January 1995, Kaufman announced that he was hiring Robert N. Fried
to run the motion picture studio. Fried brought in executives Alan Sokol, Bob Levin, Cathy Schulman
, Stan Brooks, Stan Wlodkowski and filmmakers Sam Raimi
, Bob Teitel and George Tillman, Rob Weiss
and Peter Chelsom
. In September 1995, Kaufman announced that he was no longer going to invest in the motion picture business and was re-positioning the company as a TV station holding company.
Shortly thereafter, he announced a deal with New Line Cinema
to distribute and/or co-produce the films that were then in production or pre-production, such as Martin Lawrence
's directorial debut A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
, American History X
, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Heaven's Prisoners
, Faithful
, and The Stupids
. However, Paramount Pictures
distributed and co-produced the Savoy Pictures film, A Simple Plan
, which was also their last film.
From 1994 to 1997, Savoy was half of a joint venture with Fox Broadcasting Company
, in a company called SF Broadcasting
. Stations owned by SF Broadcasting were WALA-TV
in Mobile
, Alabama
, WLUK-TV
in Green Bay
, Wisconsin
, WVUE
in New Orleans, and KHON-TV
in Honolulu
, Hawaii
. All became Fox affiliates in 1995. They were sold to Silver King Broadcasting in 1997.
Savoy Pictures announced in December 1995 that Barry Diller
's IAC/Interactive Corporation was going to acquire Savoy. The deal was finalized in 1997. Victor Kaufman is presently Vice Chairman and sits on the board of directors of IAC.
holding television distribution. However, Universal Pictures
' Focus Features
unit has begun to acquire some of Savoy's in-house productions, with a DVD reissue of Serial Mom
being released on May 6, 2008.
History
Victor A. Kaufman became chairman and chief executive officer of Savoy Pictures in 1992 along with vice chairman executive, Lewis J. Korman. Among Savoy Picture's noteworthy feature films were A Bronx TaleA Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...
, No Escape
No Escape
No Escape, released in some territories as Escape from Absolom is a 1994 action/science fiction film shot in Queensland starring Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, Stuart Wilson and Kevin Dillon....
, Last of the Dogmen
Last of the Dogmen
Last of the Dogmen is a 1995 adventure Western film written and directed by Tab Murphy about the search for and discovery of an unknown band of Dog Soldiers from a tribe of Cheyenne Indians...
and Serial Mom
Serial Mom
Serial Mom is a 1994 American dark satire written and directed by John Waters, starring Kathleen Turner as the title character, Sam Waterston as her husband, and Ricki Lake and Matthew Lillard as her children. Despite statements to the contrary in the movie, the story is completely fictional...
.
Budgets for their films grew. However, with rather poor marketing, Savoy faced a major financial slump, only three years after being formed. For three years, Savoy then released box office failures including Exit to Eden
Exit to Eden
Exit to Eden is a novel by Anne Rice, initially published in 1985 under the pen name Anne Rampling, but subsequently under Rice's name.The novel explores the subject of BDSM in romance novel form. The novel also brought attention to Rice's published works that differed from the type of writing she...
and Getting Away with Murder
Getting Away with Murder (1996 film)
Getting Away with Murder is a 1996 comedy film written and directed by Harvey Miller. The film stars Dan Aykroyd, Jack Lemmon, Lily Tomlin and Bonnie Hunt.This was the final project for veteran writer and director Harvey Miller....
. HBO handled home video release for the Savoy library.
In January 1995, Kaufman announced that he was hiring Robert N. Fried
Robert N. Fried
Robert N. Fried is an American film producer, screenwriter, studio executive and media entrepreneur.-Career:His film credits include the sports film Rudy as well as the popular films So I Married an Axe Murderer, Boondock Saints and Collateral...
to run the motion picture studio. Fried brought in executives Alan Sokol, Bob Levin, Cathy Schulman
Cathy Schulman
Cathy Schulman is an American film producer.A graduate of Yale University, Schulman's screen credits include Isn't She Great, Sidewalks of New York, Employee of the Month, Crash, The Illusionist, and Darfur Now...
, Stan Brooks, Stan Wlodkowski and filmmakers Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
, Bob Teitel and George Tillman, Rob Weiss
Rob Weiss
Rob Weiss is an American television and film producer, screenwriter, actor, and director. His break came in 1993 when he wrote and directed the 1993 film Amongst Friends. The film was well received at film festivals and scored Weiss a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film...
and Peter Chelsom
Peter Chelsom
Peter Chelsom is a British actor and film director. He has directed among others such films as Shall We Dance? and Hannah Montana: The Movie...
. In September 1995, Kaufman announced that he was no longer going to invest in the motion picture business and was re-positioning the company as a TV station holding company.
Shortly thereafter, he announced a deal with 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...
to distribute and/or co-produce the films that were then in production or pre-production, such as Martin Lawrence
Martin Lawrence
Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
's directorial debut A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate is a 1996 dark comedy-romance film that was directed and co-written by Martin Lawrence, who also stars in the film. Lawrence co-wrote the screenplay alongside Kenny Buford, who has also written for Lawrence's hit television sitcom, Martin...
, American History X
American History X
American History X is a 1998 American drama film directed by Tony Kaye and starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. It was distributed by New Line Cinema....
, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Heaven's Prisoners
Heaven's Prisoners
Heaven's Prisoners is a 1996 feature film drama starring Alec Baldwin, Kelly Lynch, Mary Stuart Masterson, Teri Hatcher and Eric Roberts. It is based on a Dave Robicheaux novel of the same name by James Lee Burke. The film was directed by Phil Joanou...
, Faithful
Faithful
Faithful may refer to:* Faithfulness* Faithful , a baptised Catholic* Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, a book about the Boston Red Sox...
, and The Stupids
The Stupids (film)
The Stupids is a 1996 American comedy/adventure film directed by John Landis. The film is based on The Stupids, characters from a series of books written by Harry Allard and illustrated by James Marshall....
. However, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
distributed and co-produced the Savoy Pictures film, A Simple Plan
A Simple Plan (film)
A Simple Plan is a 1998 drama film directed by Sam Raimi, based on the novel of the same name by Scott Smith, who also wrote the screenplay of the film. It was shot in Delano, Minnesota and Ashland and Saxon, Wisconsin. Billy Bob Thornton was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
, which was also their last film.
From 1994 to 1997, Savoy was half of a joint venture with Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, in a company called SF Broadcasting
SF Broadcasting
SF Broadcasting was an owner and operator of American television stations from March 1994, when it was created to 1997. It was formed from the purchase of Burnham Broadcasting.-Ownership structure:...
. Stations owned by SF Broadcasting were WALA-TV
WALA-TV
WALA-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southern Alabama, Southeastern Mississippi, and the Western Florida Panhandle that is licensed to Mobile. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter in Spanish Fort, Alabama...
in Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV
WLUK-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Fox River Valley area and Northeastern Wisconsin. Licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Scray's Hill in Ledgeview; the station also broadcasts in...
in Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, WVUE
WVUE
WVUE-DT, broadcasting on virtual channel 8, is a TV station in New Orleans, Louisiana, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company. WVUE is owned by Louisiana Media Company, with studios in the Gert Town section of New Orleans and transmitter in Chalmette, Louisiana.- Digital television :WVUE-DT...
in New Orleans, and KHON-TV
KHON-TV
KHON-TV is a Fox-affiliated television station in Honolulu, Hawaii. The station broadcasts on virtual channel 2.In addition to its Honolulu broadcast facilities, KHON has relays on all the major Hawaiian Islands to rebroadcast programs outside of metropolitan Honolulu: KHAW-TV in Hilo; KAII-TV in...
in Honolulu
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. All became Fox affiliates in 1995. They were sold to Silver King Broadcasting in 1997.
Savoy Pictures announced in December 1995 that Barry Diller
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.-Early life:...
's IAC/Interactive Corporation was going to acquire Savoy. The deal was finalized in 1997. Victor Kaufman is presently Vice Chairman and sits on the board of directors of IAC.
Current home video rights to the Savoy library
HBO has been the home video rights holder for the Savoy library, with sister company Warner Bros. TelevisionWarner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
holding television distribution. However, Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
' Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....
unit has begun to acquire some of Savoy's in-house productions, with a DVD reissue of Serial Mom
Serial Mom
Serial Mom is a 1994 American dark satire written and directed by John Waters, starring Kathleen Turner as the title character, Sam Waterston as her husband, and Ricki Lake and Matthew Lillard as her children. Despite statements to the contrary in the movie, the story is completely fictional...
being released on May 6, 2008.