The Difference between Miramax, Universal, Touchstone Pictures, New Line and all that!

Are they production? Are they for film or productions? Who produces tv or film? How do they handle copyrights or distribution?

Why would anyone want to know this? Or who the hell cares? I DO!! If you're watching film and have half a brain to think about the process of "How the hell do I have this DVD or how am I able to watch this footage of actors in this theatre?" or better yet, if you're life me and interested in the production, editing, acting, film creation process and steps, knowing who the heck who is who and and how all that production jazz adds up is not only inspiring and illuminating, but essential data! So conclusively this is very valuable information to understand for any connection with creating or to galvanize a greater appreciation of creating (or watching) great film!

I always wanted to know what the deal was with that whole seemingly messy or confusing smorgasbord of film studios that flash their little animation and brand before the feature title and credits roll. The research aimed at clarifying this obfuscation proved to be very rewarding!!

• Miramax -- (Walt Disney)film production and distribution (originally in NY now purchased by Walt Disney)
  
• Touchstone Pictures (Walt Disney)-- a film label of Walt Disney (est. 1984) it has the more mature themes of features released under walt disney; noteworthy productions: Dead Poets' Soceity, Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl.
  
• Walt Disney Company -- one of largest media and entertainment corps on world
  
• Walt Disney Studios -- centered around animation
  
• Warner Brothers (Timewarner)-- film and tv production (subsidary of Timewarner! LOL cool!)
  
• New Line Cinema (Timewarner) -- film production and distribution (subsidary of Timewarner)
  
• Icon Productions LLC (Mel Gibson)-- film production (Mel Gibson's film production company; founded 1989; started when mel was trying to finance hamlet); noteworthy productions: Man without a Face, Braveheart, What Women Want).
  
• Imagine Entertainment (Ron Howard) -- film and tv production (Ron Howard and Brian Grazer; 1986; noteworthy productions: Arrested Development, Beautiful Mind)
  
• Dreamworks LLC (Paramount: Viacom)-- film, tv, and game development, production, and distribution (started Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen; 1994; 11 years later sold to Paramount Pictures, under viacom,)
  
• 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (News Corporation) -- film production and distribution (6th largest in america; located in Century city; started 1933).
  
• Paramount Pictures Corporation (Viacom) -- film production and distribution (oldest running movie studio in hollywood (beating Universal by 1 month only! LOL!; located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood; subsidary of Viacom)
  
• Plan B Entertainment -- film production (started Brad Pitt, Brad Grey, Jennifer Anistion; noteworthy titles: Jesse James, Departed, Charlie and Chocolate Factory, Troy)
  
• Universal Studios -- (subsidary of NBC) 2nd-longest running film studio on San Fernando (Paramount being the oldest.
  

Conclusions: WOW!! This is so awesome and massively illuminating!! I finally understand the inter-relationship between all this "Bank Pictures" "XYZ Productions" etc that I see flash before a film title and principal role credits! Cool! I guess if you break it down, there's the invidividual film companies (Gibson's, Howard's, Pitt's) and then the labels and subsidaries of the major ones

1. Viacom -- Paramount, Dreamworks
   
2. NBC -- Universal Studios
   
3. News Corporation -- 20th Century Fox
   
4. Timewarner -- Warner Brothers
   
5. Walt Disney -- Touchstone, Miramax
   

Cool!!! So you've got those 5 major media conglomerates each with a few film labels and subsidary companies and then a small handful of talents actors, directors, producer individuals that spun off their own successful production companies. COOL!!

Reflections: It's interesting to note the quality and type of movie that emerges from each kind of production company. Plan B's Jesse James was highly artistic and had that independent feel, as did the Departed and Beautiful Mind, appropriate from being produced under independent production company. Then more mainstream maybe more "common themed" films might be more typically produced by one of those 5 mainstream conglomerates.

COOL!!! Awesome!! Now I can now who produced what, which of the 5 main media conglomerate companies or three independents backed and helped distribute a film! So awesome simplifying that so it's not some confusing brand flash of a production company, actually understanding the structure of the film production makes understanding the composition of films much more tangible because you can udnerstand that "oh yeah, they shot the filmm, editted it and then handed it off to Gibson's Icon for production, or shot it over to Disney's Miramax for distribution". Cool clarity! The research aimed at clarifying this obfuscation proved to be very rewarding!!