Gracie Films
Gracie Films logo
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Private | |
Industry | Film and television animation production |
Founded | 1986 |
Founder | James L. Brooks |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Key people
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Richard Sakai (President)[1] |
Website | http://www.graciefilms.com |
Gracie Films is a California-based film and television production company, created by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company has produced many award-winning films and television series, including Big, Broadcast News, Jerry Maguire, and most notably The Simpsons. The company is primarily associated with film studio and distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment, but it still has an office at the 20th Century Fox lot as The Simpsons is still produced there.
History[edit]
James L. Brooks created the production company with the help of 20th Century Fox in 1986, which was named after the comedian Gracie Allen. The company was established to "provide real writers with a vehicle to get their movies made". Through the company, Brooks gave The Simpsons free rein when it came to writing the series, as he firmly believed they were the most important part of the process.[2] Indie, Inc described it as "James L. Brooks and Polly Platt's production company, Gracie Films, which had a relationship with Columbia."[3]
Simpsons Confidential said that "It's important to note that in the legal battles over The Simpsons, it was Fox that was being sued, not Gracie Films".[4]
Beyond Monopoly also said that "FOX and Gracie Films (co-producers of the series [The Simpsons] have paid to every phase of the show's international distribution".[5] Since When Is Fran Drescher Jewish? explained: "In Italy, in particular, Gracie Films has worked in collaboration with Mediaset (the local distributor of The Simpsons) to find voices for dubbing that would match those of the original American actors as closely as possible."[6]
Location[edit]
The company's production office is located in the Sidney Poitier Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California.
Animation[edit]
The Gracie Films animation depicts whispering and even noisy movie patrons in a theater being shushed by a woman so the company's name accompanied by music and a blue background can be seen and heard.
Some special versions of the company's animation were made to fit episodes of shows like The Simpsons, for example playing the jingle in a minor key with a pipe organ, and replacing the hush with a scream in the Treehouse of Horror anthology specials. Often, dialogue from characters can be heard during the animation, sometimes in response to the shushing.
Television shows[edit]
Title | Creator(s) | Years active | Co-Produced by |
---|---|---|---|
The Tracey Ullman Show | James L. Brooks, Jerry Belson, Ken Estin, Heide Perlman | 1987–1990 | 20th Century Fox Television |
The Simpsons | Matt Groening | 1989–present | 20th Century Fox Television, The Curiosity Company (Season 28–present) |
Sibs | Heide Perlman | 1991–1992 | Columbia Pictures Television |
Phenom | Sam Simon, Dick Blasucci, Marc Flanagan | 1993–1994 | Columbia Pictures Television, ELP Communications |
The Critic | Al Jean, Mike Reiss | 1994–1995 | Columbia Pictures Television, Film Roman |
What About Joan? | Ed. Weinberger | 2001–2002 | Columbia TriStar Television |
Films[edit]
Title | Director | Released | Distributor | Co-produced by | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broadcast News | James L. Brooks | December 16, 1987 | 20th Century Fox | ||
Big | Penny Marshall | June 3, 1988 | |||
Say Anything... | Cameron Crowe | April 14, 1989 | |||
The War of the Roses | Danny DeVito | December 8, 1989 | Jersey Films | ||
I'll Do Anything | James L. Brooks | February 4, 1994 | Columbia Pictures | ||
Bottle Rocket | Wes Anderson | February 21, 1996 | Indian Paintbrush Boyle-Taylor Productions |
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Jerry Maguire | Cameron Crowe | December 16, 1996 | TriStar Pictures | Vinyl Films | |
As Good as It Gets | James L. Brooks | December 25, 1997 | |||
Riding in Cars with Boys | Penny Marshall | October 19, 2001 | Columbia Pictures | ||
Spanglish | James L. Brooks | December 17, 2004 | |||
The Simpsons Movie | David Silverman | July 27, 2007 | 20th Century Fox | Rough Draft Feature Animation Film Roman AKOM 20th Century Fox Animation |
Animated film based on the hit TV show |
How Do You Know | James L. Brooks | December 17, 2010 | Columbia Pictures | ||
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" | David Silverman | July 13, 2012 | 20th Century Fox | Film Roman 20th Century Fox Animation |
Short film |
The Edge of Seventeen | Kelly Fremon Craig | November 18, 2016 | STX Entertainment | Huayi Brothers Pictures | |
Icebox[7] | Daniel Sawka | TBD | Sony Pictures | Based on the 2016 short of the same name |
References[edit]
- ^ "Richard Sakai / Variety". Variety. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
- ^ Simpsons Confidential, p. 30, at Google Books
- ^ Indie, Inc.: Miramax and the Transformation of Hollywood in the 1990s, p. 159, at Google Books
- ^ Simpsons Confidential: The uncensored, totally unauthorised history of the world's greatest TV show by the people that made it, p. 126, at Google Books
- ^ Beyond Monopoly: Globalization and Contemporary Italian Media, p. 101, at Google Books
- ^ Since When Is Fran Drescher Jewish?: Dubbing Stereotypes in The Nanny, The Simpsons, and The Sopranos, p. 73, at Google Books
- ^ "James L. Brooks' Gracie Films Tapa Daniel Sawka to Writers and Direct New Movie". December 16, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Gracie Films |