From: livigni@bldrdoc.gov (David livigni 303-497-5898)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Re: ownership
Summary: conclusions
Date: 12 Jan 93 22:15:34 GMT

In Article 9082 of rec.arts.disney:
I wrote:

8-) A quick question about ownership...
8-) 
8-) A while ago, I thought I heard on CNN that Disney is the only
8-) remaining major U.S. movie studio that is not owned by the
8-) Japanese.  Can anyone confirm or deny this statement?  A friend
8-) says it is wrong, he claims MGM and 20th Century Fox are also
8-) American owned...

I received several interesting replies.  The response from this group
was great, I wish all the newsgroups could be as good, especially with
such uncharacteristic questions (too bad there's no CNN "news" group).
Thank you all for your courteous responses.  The replies I received are
summarized below.

The consensus seems to imply I am wrong about Japanese ownership, CNN
must have been talking about foreign ownership in general and probably
just cited the Japanese as an example.  However it seems likely that at
least Paramount is still American owned, so the entire point may be moot.

via EMAIL:

Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 07:15:48 PST
From: rcook@sdcc13.UCSD.EDU (Robert Cook)

8-) In article <7695@dove.nist.gov> you write:
...
8-) 
8-) The Japanese probably have an interest in almost every major company
8-) here, but I believe that MCA (Universal) is the only Japanese-owned
8-) "American" studio.  Did your friend say anything about Warner
8-) Brothers?  It was recently merged into the Time-Warner conglomerate.
8-) I seriously doubt that the Japanese own that.
8-) 
8-) - Robert Cook

Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 08:41:25 -0800
From: reiher@FICUS.CS.UCLA.EDU (Peter Reiher)

8-) In article <7695@dove.nist.gov> you write:
...
8-) Japanese companies own either two or three studios, depending on how
8-) you count.  Sony owns Columbia and Tri-Star (but Tri-Star is only a little
8-) more independent of Columbia than Touchstone is of Disney).  Matsushita,
8-) I believe, owns MCA, which in turn owns Universal.
8-) 
8-) Warner Bros. is owned by Times Warner, which is owned primarily by
8-) Rupert Murdoch, an Australian.
8-) 
8-) MGM/UA is currently owned by Credit Lyonnaisse, a French bank that
8-) desperately wants to unload it.
8-) 
8-) Disney is an independent company.  I believe the ownership of Paramount
8-) is also American.  Orion, which is not quite dead, is American owned.
8-) I believe Fox is also American owned.
8-) 
8-) --
8-)                 Peter Reiher
8-) 
8-)                 reiher@wells.cs.ucla.edu


Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 14:54:36 -0500 (EST)
From: "Allen D. Straw" <A1S@icf.hrb.com>

8-) You heard correctly on CNN - I can confirm that Disney is the only American-
8-) owned studio.  I'm not 100% sure, but I believe Matsushita bought MGM and
8-) 20th Century Fox.  This is the first time I have responded to a posting
8-) outside our company - so forgive me if I have done anything incorrectly
8-) in my response.
8-) 

via usenet:

Article 9089 of rec.arts.disney:
From: ray@pequod.bsd.uchicago.edu (& Uliassi)
8-) In article <7695@dove.nist.gov> livigni@bldrdoc.gov (David livigni  
8-) 303-497-5898) writes:
...
8-) 
8-) I am sure that Warner Brothers is NOT owned by the Japanese.
8-) 

Article 9113 of rec.arts.disney:
From: cscon134@uoft02.utoledo.edu (John Heiden UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO)

8-) In article <7695@dove.nist.gov>, livigni@bldrdoc.gov (David livigni 303-497-5898) writes:
...
8-) ================================================================================
8-) Alright, I'll try to list all of the major Hollywood film companies and
8-) who owns them.  (I'm sure you'll all let me know if I leave a company
8-) out, right?)
8-) 
8-) Universal/MCA - Japanese
8-) Columbia/Tri-Star - Japanese
8-) Twentieth Century Fox - Australian
8-) MGM/UA (& Canon) - French or Italian (So much confusion with them lately)
8-) Warner Bros. - Partly owned by two Japanese companies
8-) Disney - An American company!
8-) Paramount - An American company!
8-) Orion (assuming they really do recover) - An American company!
8-) 
8-) And with Paramount having like 3 billion dollars in cash, and Disney
8-) having like 2 billion dollars in cash, I don't think we'll see them
8-) get bought out easily.
8-) 
8-) 
8-) John Heiden
8-) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8-) John Heiden
8-) 
8-)                                        Dept. of Computer Services
8-) 
8-) CSCON134@Uoft02.UTOLEDO.EDU            The University of Toledo
8-) CSCON134@Uoft02.BITNET                 Toledo, Ohio     U.S.A.
8-) 

Thank you all for your help.

David Livigni
-- 
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@   Anything stated here is my opinion only    @
@   livigni@bldrdoc.gov                        @
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