Paramount Pictures - A short history

Paramount's lineage dates back to 1912 when Adolph Zukor, the owner of a New York nickelodeon, secured American distribution rights to Sarah Bernhart's four-reel film, Queen Elizabeth. The film's triumphant opening on July 12, 1912 as the first full-length drama shown in the United States prompted Zukor to found the Famous Players Film Company. Famous Players began to produce movies in New York, beginning with The Prisoner of Zenda and The Count of Monte Cristo. A year later Zukor invested in a film distribution company named Paramount Pictures.

June 28, 1916 marked a turning point in Paramount's history. The Jesse L. Lasky Company, which was producing films in Hollywood, California, merged with Famous Players to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. The corporation consolidated its production and distribution divisions, and audiences began seeing "Paramount Pictures." Zukor and Lasky then constructed a vast new studio on Marathon Street in Hollywood, which the company has occupied since 1926.

Paramount's early artists included directors Cecil B. DeMille and William S. Hart, and stars Mary Pickford, Rudolf Valentino and Clara Bow. Wings, the studio's 1928 release, received the very first Academy Award® for Best Picture from the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

A few of Paramount's memorable post-World War II films include The Ten Commandments, White Christmas, Shane, Psycho, Romeo and Juliet, True Grit, The Godfather films, Ordinary People, Reds, Terms of Endearment, Saturday Night Fever, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Beverly Hills Cop, Ghost, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, the Star Trek movies, Indecent Proposal, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Mission Impossible and Titanic. Many of these titles are available from Paramount Home Entertainment. Please check our online catalog.

Gulf+Western Industries, Inc. acquired control of Paramount on March 24, 1966. The corporation turned its interest toward the new entertainment division, and on June 5, 1989, G+W was renamed Paramount Communications Inc.

On March 11, 1994, Paramount merged with Viacom Inc, under the leadership of Sumner Redstone, chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Today, Paramount Pictures, together with Paramount Television, CBS Television, Simon & Schuster Publishing, MTV Networks, Showtime Networks, Infinity, BET, UPN, Paramount Parks and Blockbuster Entertainment comprise the entertainment leader, Viacom Inc.

Paramount Pictures is the only major motion picture studio located in Hollywood. It is an expansive, self-contained state-of-the-art production center and business community.

source : www.paramount.com