PARAMOUNT PICTURES

WHO ARE THEY?

Paramount Pictures is an American film studio and television production
company that is part of the Big 6 film studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles,
California. The company was founded on May 8th, 1912, with the name Famous
Players Film Company, by W. W. Hodkinson, Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky.
When the company was founded, Adolph Zukor wanted to produce featurelength movies that would appeal mainly to the middle-class, as most around that
time were aimed at the working-class. Currently, the CEO of Paramount is Brad
Grey and the company is owned by Viacom.
Today, the company ethos is embarking on a new phase of history by continuing
the evolution of our services and facilities to meet the demands of today and
tomorrows production partners. Last year Paramounts revenue was $2.885
billion.

SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES
Paramount have expanded their company by owning many different
subsidiaries. Companies include: MTV Films, Nickelodeon Movies, Comedy
Central Films and United International Pictures . The companies produce a
variety of movie genres but keeps to the Paramount ethos: [] meet the
demands of today and tomorrows production partners.

Founded in 1996, MTV Films is an American motion picture production division

of the television channel MTV. Some of their movies are based from the MTV
programs such as Jackass and Beavis and Butt-head. They also have some
notable movies in their library such as: Zoolander, Napoleon Dynamite, The
Longest Yard, Get Rich or Die Tryin and Freedom Writers. The company also
own 4 direct-to-video titles: Beneath, Jackass 2.5 & 3.5 and Jackass Presents:
Bad Grandpa. 5.

Nickelodeon Movies is an American motion picture production division of the

childrens television program Nickelodeon. Founded in 1995, the company has
produced family feature films, adaptations and original projects. Its films include:
Good Burger, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Nacho Libre, The Rugrats Movie and
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. Nickelodeon merged with 20 th Century Fox
to produce movies in 1993 but no movies were made. By 1995 Viacom, who had
already purchased Paramount Communications, seized the opportunity for
Paramount to distribute Nickelodeon movies.
Although the company produce family films, there have been Academy Award
and Golden Globe nominations for their films. In 2005 Lemony Snickets A Series
of Unfortunate Events won an Oscar for Best Makeup. In 2012 Rango won Best
Animated Feature. In the same year Steven Spielbergs The Adventures of Tintin
won a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature.

Founded in 1995, Comedy Central Films is a motion picture division of the adult
television company Comedy Central. The films are targeted towards adult
audiences and are based of the shows of the program. Their films include: South
Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, The Hebrew Hammer, Reno 911!: Miami and
Kevin Hart: Laugh At My Pain.

United International Pictures is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and

Universal Studios. The company distributes movies outside of the United States
and Canada. They also have international distribution rights to Metro-GoldwynMayer. They also distribute DreamWorkss movies internationally. Founded in
2007, it only operates in 15 countries. Some countries include: Austria, Belgium,
Germany, Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand. The main office is located in London
but operations in the UK are being taken over by Paramount Pictures to relocate
in the US.

THEIR MOVIES
Paramount Pictures have a vast movie library with notable films including:
Titanic - $658,672,302 (highest box office gross)
Forrest Gump - $330,252,182
World War Z - $202,359,711
Jackass 3-D - $117,229,692
Shrek The Third - $322,719,944
Friday The 13th (1980) - $127,244,300
Paramount Pictures are not specialized in a particular genre compared to other film studios
such as Disney who make family orientated movies. Originally, studios such as Universal,
MGM and Warner Bros., were often associated to a particular genre to individualize
themselves from each other. For example Universal were known for their horror films, MGM
was known for their musicals and Warner Bros. was known for their gangster films. In recent
years Paramount has released more Comedies and Thrillers compared to other genres.

LOGOS THROUGH HISTORY

1914 - 1952

The first ever logo of Paramount Pictures presents a black and

white image with the peak of a mountain. The mountain peak is a
reoccurring image in later logos which relates to the word
Paramount and connotes images of might and power.

The next logo to be used is in 1952 and this time it uses colour,
which is the new found feature in films in this period. The
company that filters colour in films is Technicolour which is
added to the Paramount logo. In this logo it is clear to see the
mountain peak ascend above the clouds which connotes
themes of power and superiority.

The next logo in 1954 uses a whole spectrum of colour that

includes a painted picture of the landscape of the mountain.
The Technicolur is replaced with A Gulf+Western Company
which will be used in all the logos up to 1987. Here, the
mountain is shown with more detail and shows it towering
above the clouds which connotes the theme of Paramount.

This logo uses a darker colour tone compared to previous logos. This
time the mountain peak is not towering above the clouds but it still
shows its landscape which connotes themes of elegance and
professionalism. The logo has also changed from A Paramount Picture
to just Paramount which shows the company to be sophisticated.

The logo used from 1975-1987 is completely different to earlier logos

but the mountain peak still remains which shows that the company is
still high and mighty. The landscape of the mountain is replaced with
a solid blue background which relates back to the sky used in
previous logos which connotes purity.

The current Paramount theme uses modern computer graphics and detailed
editing to make the company be the most superior it has ever been. The detailed
computer graphics make the mountain a much more realistic image and also
adds other mountains in the logo too but are obviously much lower than the
Paramount peak. This logo also makes the peak ascend much higher above the
clouds compared to the previous logos which explains that the company is
keeping up with modern entertainment but is still at the top of the market. A
sunrise/sunset is also included in the distance which connotes mightiness and
the theme of riding in to the sunset.