Seven Arts Productions

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Seven Arts Productions
IndustryFilm
GenreEntertainment
Founded1957; 67 years ago (1957)
FounderEliot Hyman
Ray Stark
Norman Katz
Defunct1967; 57 years ago (1967)
FateMerged with Warner Bros. to form Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
SuccessorsCompany
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Library:
Warner Bros. (excluding co-productions)
Key people
Eliot Hyman
Ray Stark
Norman Katz
ParentWarner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969)
Second logo (1961–1964)
Third logo (1964–1967)

Seven Arts Productions was a production company which made films for release by other studios. It was founded in 1957 by Eliot Hyman, Ray Stark, and Norman Katz.[1]

History[edit]

Seven Arts' first film was The Gun Runners, released by United Artists.

Among its productions were The Misfits (1961) for United Artists, Gigot (1962) for Twentieth Century-Fox, Lolita (1962) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) for Warner Bros., and Is Paris Burning? (1966) for Paramount Pictures.

Over time it expanded its role, becoming equity investors with other studios and partnering with British horror film company Hammer Film Productions on many projects. It also retained ancillary rights on new productions surrendered on earlier films, including Seven Days in May (1964) and Promise Her Anything (1965) for release by Paramount.

Seven Arts also distributed feature films and TV programs for television. Warner Bros. licensed the TV rights to its post-1949 library to Seven Arts in 1960. Seven Arts made similar deals with 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures.[1] Seven Arts also acquired theatrical reissue rights to some Fox films as well.[1]

In 1967, Seven Arts Productions acquired the controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures from Jack L. Warner for $32 million.[2] The companies were merged as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. It was rebranded as Warner Bros. Inc. after Kinney National Company bought the company in 1969.[3]

Other uses[edit]

Neither the later Seven Arts Pictures nor the defunct releasing company "Seven Arts", an early 1990s joint venture between Carolco Pictures and New Line Cinema (the latter which subsequently merged into Warner Bros.), is related to the original Seven Arts Productions.

Select filmography[edit]

Theatre credits[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Hoyt, Eric (3 July 2014). Hollywood Vault: Film Libraries Before Home Video. Univ of California Press. ISBN 9780520282636.
  2. ^ Warner Sperling, Cass (Director) (2008). The Brothers Warner (DVD film documentary). Warner Sisters, Inc. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Seven Arts Purchases Shares in Warner Bros". The New York Times. 26 November 1966. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

External links[edit]