Universal_Studios

context: Universal Studios Inc. (also known as Universal Pictures) is an American film studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. Universal Studios is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Universal was founded in 1912 by the German Carl Laemmle (pronounced "LEM-lee"), Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour.
qas: answers: text: NBCUniversal
question: Which company is directly above Universal Studios?

answers: text: Comcast
question: Which company runs NBC Universal?

answers: text: Big Six
question: What is the nickname given to the large studios of which Universal is a part?

answers: text: 1912
question: When was Universal Studios created?

answers: text: Universal City, California
question: Where does Universal's filming take place?

answers: text: Universal Pictures
question: What is another name for Universal Studios Inc.?

answers: text: Comcast
question: Who is the ultimate owner of Universal Studios?

answers: text: 100 Universal City Plaza Drive
question: What is the street address of Universal Studios' production studios?

answers: text: Universal City, California
question: In what city and state are its production studios located?

answers: text: New York City
question: In what city are Universal Studios' corporate offices located?

context: It is the world's fourth oldest major film studio, after the renowned French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, and the Danish Nordisk Film company.
qas: answers: text: fourth
question: What rank does Universal Studios have in terms of age?

answers: text: Nordisk
question: Which film studio from Denmark is older than Universal?

answers: text: Gaumont Film Company and Pathé
question: Which French companies are older than Universal?

answers: text: French
question: What is the nationality of Pathé?

answers: text: Nordisk Film company
question: Along with Pathé and the Gaumont Film Company, what major film studio is older then Universal Studios?

answers: text: fourth
question: Among major film studies, where does Universal Studios rank in terms of age?

context: Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane[a] and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the day's takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition, and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.
qas: answers: text: Chicago
question: After a trip to what city did Carl Laemmle leave the dry goods business?

answers: text: 1908
question: In what year was the Motion Picture Trust created?

answers: text: Edison
question: What notable historical figure was involved in the Motion Picture Trust?

answers: text: the Latham Loop
question: For what part of a motion picture projector did the Motion Picture Trust hold a patent?

context: Soon, Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners decided to avoid paying Edison by producing their own pictures. In June 1909, Laemmle started the Yankee Film Company with partners Abe Stern and Julius Stern. That company quickly evolved into the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), with studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where many early films in America's first motion picture industry were produced in the early 20th century. Laemmle broke with Edison's custom of refusing to give billing and screen credits to performers. By naming the movie stars, he attracted many of the leading players of the time, contributing to the creation of the star system. In 1910, he promoted Florence Lawrence, formerly known as "The Biograph Girl", and actor King Baggot, in what may be the first instance of a studio using stars in its marketing.
qas: answers: text: Yankee Film Company
question: What company did Laemmle found in June 1909?

answers: text: Abe Stern and Julius Stern
question: Who were Laemmle's business partners in the Yankee Film Company?

answers: text: Fort Lee, New Jersey
question: In what city and state was the Independent Moving Pictures Company based?

answers: text: The Biograph Girl
question: What was a nickname of Florence Lawrence?

answers: text: King Baggot
question: What actor did Laemmle promote?

context: The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New York on April 30, 1912. Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.
qas: answers: text: April 30, 1912
question: On what date was the incorporation of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company?

answers: text: New York
question: In what state was the Universal Film Manufacturing Company incorporated?

answers: text: Laemmle
question: Who was the president of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company circa July 1912?

answers: text: bought out by Laemmle
question: What was the fate of the other partners of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company?

answers: text: movie production
question: Along with exhibition and distribution, what business did the Universal Film Manufacturing Company engage in?

context: On March 15, 1915,:8 Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre (0.9-km²) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. Studio management became the third facet of Universal's operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Unlike other movie moguls, Laemmle opened his studio to tourists. Universal became the largest studio in Hollywood, and remained so for a decade. However, it sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly inexpensive melodramas, westerns and serials.
qas: answers: text: March 15, 1915
question: On what date did Universal City Studios open?

answers: text: 0.9
question: In square kilometers, what was the size of Universal City Studios?

answers: text: Cahuenga Pass
question: What geographical feature separated Universal City Studios from Hollywood?

answers: text: Universal
question: What was the biggest Hollywood studio during this period?

context: In its early years Universal released three brands of feature films — Red Feather, low-budget programmers; Bluebird, more ambitious productions; and Jewel, their prestige motion pictures. Directors included Jack Conway, John Ford, Rex Ingram, Robert Z. Leonard, George Marshall and Lois Weber, one of the few women directing films in Hollywood.:13
qas: answers: text: low-budget programmers
question: What sort of films were produced by Red Feather?

answers: text: more ambitious productions
question: What type of movies came out of Bluebird?

answers: text: prestige motion pictures
question: What motion pictures were made by Jewel?

answers: text: Directors
question: What was the profession of George Marshall?

answers: text: Lois Weber
question: Who was one of the few female Hollywood directors in this era?

context: Despite Laemmle's role as an innovator, he was an extremely cautious studio chief. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. This policy nearly bankrupted the studio when actor-director Erich von Stroheim insisted on excessively lavish production values for his films Blind Husbands (1919) and Foolish Wives (1922), but Universal shrewdly gained a return on some of the expenditure by launching a sensational ad campaign that attracted moviegoers. Character actor Lon Chaney became a drawing card for Universal in the 1920s, appearing steadily in dramas. His two biggest hits for Universal were The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). During this period Laemmle entrusted most of the production policy decisions to Irving Thalberg. Thalberg had been Laemmle's personal secretary, and Laemmle was impressed by his cogent observations of how efficiently the studio could be operated. Promoted to studio chief, Thalberg was giving Universal's product a touch of class, but MGM's head of production Louis B. Mayer lured Thalberg away from Universal with a promise of better pay. Without his guidance Universal became a second-tier studio, and would remain so for several decades.
qas: answers: text: Erich von Stroheim
question: Who directed Blind Husbands?

answers: text: 1922
question: In what year was Foolish Wives produced?

answers: text: Lon Chaney
question: Who starred in The Phantom of the Opera?

answers: text: 1923
question: What year saw a film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

answers: text: Irving Thalberg
question: Who was at one time Laemmle's personal secretary?

context: In 1926, Universal opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under the direction of Joe Pasternak. This unit produced three to four films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler's increasing domination of central Europe. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. In the U.S., Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary's films, but at least some of them were exhibited through other, independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York, without benefit of English subtitles. Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary.
qas: answers: text: Deutsche Universal-Film AG
question: What was the name of Universal's German production unit?

answers: text: Joe Pasternak
question: Who ran Universal's German production unit?

answers: text: 1926
question: In what year did Deutsche Universal-Film AG open?

answers: text: three to four
question: How many films did Universal's German subsidiary make yearly?

answers: text: Hungary
question: Along with Germany and Austria, where was Deutsche Universal-Film AG at one time based?

context: In the early years, Universal had a "clean picture" policy. However, by April 1927, Carl Laemmle considered this to be a mistake as "unclean pictures" from other studios were generating more profit while Universal was losing money.
qas: answers: text: "clean picture"
question: what was the policy that Universal followed in its early years?

answers: text: April 1927
question: By what month and year did Laemmle change his opinion on "unclean pictures"?

answers: text: Universal was losing money
question: Why did Laemmle change his position on "unclean pictures"?

context: Universal owned the rights to the "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" character, although Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks had created Oswald, and their films had enjoyed a successful theatrical run. After Charles Mintz had unsuccessfully demanded that Disney accept a lower fee for producing the property, Mintz produced the films with his own group of animators. Instead, Disney and Iwerks created Mickey Mouse who in 1928 stared in the first "sync" sound animated short, Steamboat Willie. This moment effectively launched Walt Disney Studios' foothold, while Universal became a minor player in film animation. Universal subsequently severed its link to Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio to produce Oswald cartoons headed by Walter Lantz.
qas: answers: text: Ub Iwerks
question: Along with Walt Disney, who created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?

answers: text: Universal
question: Who owned the rights to Oswald?

answers: text: Charles Mintz
question: Who produced an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit motion picture?

answers: text: Mickey Mouse
question: What character did Walt Disney create in 1928?

answers: text: Steamboat Willie
question: What was the first animated short with synchronized sound?

context: In 2006, after almost 80 years, NBC Universal sold all Walt Disney-produced Oswald cartoons, along with the rights to the character himself, back to Disney. In return, Disney released ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from his contract so he could work on NBC's Sunday night NFL football package. However, Universal retained ownership of Oswald cartoons produced for them by Walter Lantz from 1929 to 1943.
qas: answers: text: Disney
question: Who bought the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons in 2006?

answers: text: NBC Universal
question: Who was 2006 seller of the Oswald cartoons?

answers: text: Al Michaels
question: What notable figure worked as a sportscaster for ABC?

answers: text: Walter Lantz
question: Who began producing Oswald cartoons for Universal in 1929?

answers: text: 1943
question: In what year did Walter Lantz cease producing Oswald cartoons for Universal?

context: In 1928, Laemmle, Sr. made his son, Carl, Jr. head of Universal Pictures as a 21st birthday present. Universal already had a reputation for nepotism—at one time, 70 of Carl, Sr.'s relatives were supposedly on the payroll. Many of them were nephews, resulting in Carl, Sr. being known around the studios as "Uncle Carl." Ogden Nash famously quipped in rhyme, "Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a very large faemmle." Among these relatives was future Academy Award winning director/producer William Wyler.
qas: answers: text: 70
question: How many of Carl Laemmle, Sr.'s relatives were working for Universal as of 1928?

answers: text: Uncle Carl
question: What was Carl Laemmle, Sr.'s nickname at Universal?

answers: text: Ogden Nash
question: What poet wrote a notable rhyme about Laemmle?

answers: text: 21
question: At what age did Carl Laemmle, Jr. become president of Universal?

answers: text: William Wyler
question: What Academy Award-winning director was a relative of Carl Laemmle's?

context: "Junior" Laemmle persuaded his father to bring Universal up to date. He bought and built theaters, converted the studio to sound production, and made several forays into high-quality production. His early efforts included the critically mauled part-talkie version of Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat (1929), the lavish musical Broadway (1929) which included Technicolor sequences; and the first all-color musical feature (for Universal), King of Jazz (1930). The more serious All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), won its year's Best Picture Oscar.
qas: answers: text: Junior
question: What was Carl Laemmle Jr.'s nickname?

answers: text: Show Boat
question: What movie was based on an Edna Ferber novel?

answers: text: 1929
question: In what year was the musical Broadway produced?

answers: text: All Quiet on the Western Front
question: What movie won the 1930 Academy Award for Best Picture?

answers: text: King of Jazz
question: What all-color musical did Universal make in 1930?

context: Laemmle, Jr. created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which extended into the 1940s, affectionately dubbed Universal Horror. Among them are Frankenstein (1931), Dracula ( also in 1931), The Mummy (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933). Other Laemmle productions of this period include Imitation of Life (1934) and My Man Godfrey (1936).
qas: answers: text: 1931
question: In what year did Universal make a film version of Dracula?

answers: text: 1933
question: In what year was The Invisible Man made?

answers: text: Imitation of Life
question: What film was produced by Laemmle in 1934?

answers: text: 1936
question: In what year did My Man Godfrey premiere?

answers: text: 1931
question: When was Universal's version of Frankenstein made?

context: Universal's forays into high-quality production spelled the end of the Laemmle era at the studio. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the depression was risky, and for a time Universal slipped into receivership. The theater chain was scrapped, but Carl, Jr. held fast to distribution, studio and production operations.
qas: answers: text: The theater chain
question: What part of Universal's business was terminated while it was in bankruptcy?

answers: text: production operations
question: Along with distribution and studio operations, what part of Universal was retained by Carl Laemmle, Jr. during bankruptcy?

context: The end for the Laemmles came with a lavish version of Show Boat (1936), a remake of its earlier 1929 part-talkie production, and produced as a high-quality, big-budget film rather than as a B-picture. The new film featured several stars from the Broadway stage version, which began production in late 1935, and unlike the 1929 film was based on the Broadway musical rather than the novel. Carl, Jr.'s spending habits alarmed company stockholders. They would not allow production to start on Show Boat unless the Laemmles obtained a loan. Universal was forced to seek a $750,000 production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation, pledging the Laemmle family's controlling interest in Universal as collateral. It was the first time Universal had borrowed money for a production in its 26-year history. The production went $300,000 over budget; Standard called in the loan, cash-strapped Universal could not pay, Standard foreclosed and seized control of the studio on April 2, 1936.
qas: answers: text: 1936
question: In what year was Universal's ill-fated film version of Show Boat released?

answers: text: 1929
question: In what year had Universal previously made a version of Show Boat?

answers: text: $750,000
question: What was the amount of the production loan Universal sought to complete Show Boat?

answers: text: the Standard Capital Corporation
question: Who granted Universal the production loan?

answers: text: April 2, 1936
question: When did the Standard Capital Corporation take control of Universal?

context: Universal's 1936 Show Boat (released a little over a month later) became a critical and financial success, it was not enough to save the Laemmles' involvement with the studio. They were unceremoniously removed from the company they had founded. Because the Laemmles personally oversaw production, Show Boat was released (despite the takeover) with Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.'s names on the credits and in the advertising campaign of the film. Standard Capital's J. Cheever Cowdin had taken over as president and chairman of the board of directors, and instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had a few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, left.
qas: answers: text: J. Cheever Cowdin
question: Who became president of Universal after the Standard Capital takeover?

answers: text: Margaret Sullavan
question: What notable female star left Universal after the Standard Capital takeover?

answers: text: J. Cheever Cowdin
question: Who was Universal's chairman of the board of directors after the Standard Captial takeover?

answers: text: William Wyler
question: Along with Margaret Sullavan, what notable film talent left Universal after the Standard Capital takeover?

answers: text: 1936
question: In what year was Show Boat released?

context: Meanwhile, producer Joe Pasternak, who had been successfully producing light musicals with young sopranos for Universal's German subsidiary, repeated his formula in America. Teenage singer Deanna Durbin starred in Pasternak's first American film, Three Smart Girls (1936). The film was a box-office hit and reputedly restored the studio's solvency. The success of the film led Universal to offer her a contract, which for the first five years of her career produced her most successful pictures.
qas: answers: text: Joe Pasternak
question: Who produced the film Three Smart Girls?

answers: text: Deanna Durbin
question: Who starred in the film Three Smart Girls?

answers: text: 1936
question: In what year was Three Smart Girls made?

answers: text: Universal's German subsidiary
question: Prior to his work in America, where was Joe Pasternak employed?

answers: text: light musicals
question: What type of films did Joe Pasternak produce in Germany?

context: When Pasternak stopped producing Durbin's pictures, and she outgrew her screen persona and pursued more dramatic roles, the studio signed 13-year-old Gloria Jean for her own series of Pasternak musicals from 1939; she went on to star with Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Donald O'Connor. A popular Universal film of the late 1930s was Destry Rides Again (1939), starring James Stewart as Destry and Marlene Dietrich in her comeback role after leaving Paramount Studios.
qas: answers: text: 13
question: How old was Gloria Jean in 1939?

answers: text: Bing Crosby
question: Along with Donald O'Connor and Bing Crosby, with whom did Gloria Jean star?

answers: text: James Stewart
question: Who played Destry in Destry Rides Again?

answers: text: Paramount Studios
question: Prior to working at Universal, what studio employed Marlene Dietrich?

answers: text: 1939
question: In what year was Destry Rides again produced?

context: By the early 1940s, the company was concentrating on lower-budget productions that were the company's main staple: westerns, melodramas, serials and sequels to the studio's horror pictures, the latter now solely B pictures. The studio fostered many series: The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys action features and serials (1938–43); the comic adventures of infant Baby Sandy (1938–41); comedies with Hugh Herbert (1938–42) and The Ritz Brothers (1940–43); musicals with Robert Paige, Jane Frazee, The Andrews Sisters, and The Merry Macs (1938–45); and westerns with Tom Mix (1932–33), Buck Jones (1933–36), Bob Baker (1938–39), Johnny Mack Brown (1938–43); Rod Cameron (1944–45), and Kirby Grant (1946–47).
qas: answers: text: 1938–43
question: During what period were the Little Tough Guys films produced?

answers: text: 1938–41
question: Over what span were the Baby Sandy films made?

answers: text: 1938–42
question: In what period did Universal produce Hugh Herbert comedies?

answers: text: 1932–33
question: When did Universal make Tom Mix westerns?

answers: text: 1946–47
question: In what span did Universal produce westerns with Kirby Grant?

context: Universal could seldom afford its own stable of stars, and often borrowed talent from other studios, or hired freelance actors. In addition to Stewart and Dietrich, Margaret Sullavan, and Bing Crosby were two of the major names that made a couple of pictures for Universal during this period. Some stars came from radio, including Edgar Bergen, W. C. Fields, and the comedy team of Abbott and Costello (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Abbott and Costello's military comedy Buck Privates (1941) gave the former burlesque comedians a national and international profile.
qas: answers: text: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
question: What two performers were known as the team Abbott and Costello?

answers: text: Buck Privates
question: What military comedy did Bud Abbott and Lou Costello star in?

answers: text: W. C. Fields
question: Along with Abbott and Costello and Edgar Bergen, what radio star appeared in Universal films?

context: During the war years Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, lending the studio some amount of prestige productions. Universal's core audience base was still found in the neighborhood movie theaters, and the studio continued to please the public with low- to medium-budget films. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in new Sherlock Holmes mysteries (1942–46), teenage musicals with Gloria Jean, Donald O'Connor, and Peggy Ryan (1942–43), and screen adaptations of radio's Inner Sanctum Mysteries with Lon Chaney, Jr. (1943–45). Alfred Hitchcock was also borrowed for two films from Selznick International Pictures: Saboteur (1942) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943).
qas: answers: text: Fritz Lang
question: Who was the directorial partner of Walter Wanger?

answers: text: 1942–46
question: In what period did Basil Rathbone star in a series of Sherlock Holmes films?

answers: text: 1943–45
question: In what period did film versions of Inner Sanctum Mysteries appear?

answers: text: Selznick International Pictures
question: What was the studio that Alfred Hitchcock normally worked for?

answers: text: 1943
question: In what year was Shadow of a Doubt produced?

context: As Universal's main product had always been low-budget film, it was one of the last major studios to have a contract with Technicolor. The studio did not make use of the three-strip Technicolor process until Arabian Nights (1942), starring Jon Hall and Maria Montez. The following year, Technicolor was also used in Universal's remake of their 1925 horror melodrama, Phantom of the Opera with Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy. With the success of their first two pictures, a regular schedule of high-budget, Technicolor films followed.
qas: answers: text: Arabian Nights
question: What was the first Universal film to use the three-strip Technicolor process?

answers: text: Maria Montez
question: What actress starred in Arabian Nights?

answers: text: Claude Rains
question: Along with Nelson Eddy, who starred in the Phantom of the Opera?

answers: text: 1925
question: When was Universal's first version of the Phantom of the Opera made?

answers: text: 1942
question: In what year was Arabian Nights produced?

context: In 1945, the British entrepreneur J. Arthur Rank, hoping to expand his American presence, bought into a four-way merger with Universal, the independent company International Pictures, and producer Kenneth Young. The new combine, United World Pictures, was a failure and was dissolved within one year. Rank and International remained interested in Universal, however, culminating in the studio's reorganization as Universal-International. William Goetz, a founder of International, was made head of production at the renamed Universal-International Pictures Inc., which also served as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm's films. Goetz, a son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer decided to bring "prestige" to the new company. He stopped the studio's low-budget production of B movies, serials and curtailed Universal's horror and "Arabian Nights" cycles. Distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc.
qas: answers: text: 1945
question: In what year was United World Pictures founded?

answers: text: Kenneth Young
question: What producer was involved in the founding of United World Pictures?

answers: text: one year
question: How long did United World Pictures last?

answers: text: William Goetz
question: Who was the head of production at Universal-International Pictures?

answers: text: Louis B. Mayer
question: Who was William Goetz's father-in-law?

context: Goetz set out an ambitious schedule. Universal-International became responsible for the American distribution of Rank's British productions, including such classics as David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948). Broadening its scope further, Universal-International branched out into the lucrative non-theatrical field, buying a majority stake in home-movie dealer Castle Films in 1947, and taking the company over entirely in 1951. For three decades, Castle would offer "highlights" reels from the Universal film library to home-movie enthusiasts and collectors. Goetz licensed Universal's pre–Universal-International film library to Jack Broeder's Realart Pictures for cinema re-release but Realart was not allowed to show the films on television.
qas: answers: text: 1948
question: In what year was the Olivier version of Hamlet made?

answers: text: David Lean
question: Who directed 1946's Great Expectations?

answers: text: Castle Films
question: In 1947, what company did Universal buy a stake in?

answers: text: Jack Broeder
question: Who ran Realart Pictures?

answers: text: 1951
question: In what year did Universal-International take over Castle Films?

context: The production arm of the studio still struggled. While there were to be a few hits like The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1948), Universal-International's new theatrical films often met with disappointing response at the box office. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out, and the studio returned to low-budget films. The inexpensive Francis (1950), the first film of a series about a talking mule and Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), part of a series, became mainstays of the company. Once again, the films of Abbott and Costello, including Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), were among the studio's top-grossing productions. But at this point Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. Besides Abbott and Costello, the studio retained the Walter Lantz cartoon studio, whose product was released with Universal-International's films.
qas: answers: text: 1946
question: In what year was The Killers produced?

answers: text: Francis
question: What Universal-International film was about a talking mule?

answers: text: 1949
question: In what year was Ma and Pa Kettle made?

answers: text: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
question: What Abbott and Costello film was released in 1948?

answers: text: Milton Rackmil
question: Who bought Rank's share of Universal-International?

context: In the 1950s, Universal-International resumed their series of Arabian Nights films, many starring Tony Curtis. The studio also had a success with monster and science fiction films produced by William Alland, with many directed by Jack Arnold. Other successes were the melodramas directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter, although for film critics they were not so well thought of on first release as they have since become. Among Universal-International's stable of stars were Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Audie Murphy, and John Gavin.
qas: answers: text: Tony Curtis
question: Who did many of Universal-International's Arabian Nights films feature?

answers: text: William Alland
question: Who notably produced monster and science fiction films for Universal?

answers: text: Douglas Sirk
question: What Universal director was known for his melodramas?

answers: text: Jack Arnold
question: Who directed monster movies for Universal?

answers: text: Ross Hunter
question: Who produced melodramas for Universal?

context: Though Decca would continue to keep picture budgets lean, it was favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al. decision. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Wasserman's deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. When one of those films, Winchester '73, proved to be a hit, the arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal, and eventually at other studios as well.
qas: answers: text: Lew Wasserman
question: Who was a notable talent agent circa 1950?

answers: text: James Stewart
question: What star did Lew Wasserman represent?

answers: text: James Stewart
question: What actor featured in Winchester '73?

answers: text: U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al.
question: What legal decision resulted in movie studios letting their contract actors go?

context: By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was again changing. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the reduced audience size for cinema productions. The Music Corporation of America (MCA), then predominately a talent agency, had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958, for $11 million, renamed Revue Studios. MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, yet was increasingly influential on Universal's product. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and director Alfred Hitchcock were signed to Universal Pictures contracts.
qas: answers: text: MCA
question: What acronym was the Music Corporation of America known by?

answers: text: Republic Studios
question: Where did MCA's Revue Productions subsidiary rent space?

answers: text: 1.5
question: In square kilometers, how large was the lot Universal sold to MCA?

answers: text: 1958
question: In what year did Universal sell its 360-acre lot to MCA?

answers: text: $11 million
question: How much did MCA pay for Universal's 360-acre lot?

context: The long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA, Inc. happened in mid-1962 as part of the MCA-Decca Records merger. The company reverted in name to Universal Pictures. As a final gesture before leaving the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1964 MCA formed Universal City Studios, Inc., merging the motion pictures and television arms of Universal Pictures Company and Revue Productions (officially renamed as Universal Television in 1966). And so, with MCA in charge, Universal became a full-blown, A-film movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary launched in 1964. Television production made up much of the studio's output, with Universal heavily committed, in particular, to deals with NBC (which later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal; see below) providing up to half of all prime time shows for several seasons. An innovation during this period championed by Universal was the made-for-television movie.
qas: answers: text: 1962
question: In what year did MCA take over Universal?

answers: text: Universal City Studios, Inc.
question: What company did MCA create in 1964?

answers: text: Universal Television
question: What new name was given to Revue Productions in 1966?

answers: text: NBC Universal
question: What was the company formed by the merger of Universal and NBC?

answers: text: 1964
question: When did Universal inaugurate its studio tour subsidiary?

context: At this time, Hal B. Wallis, who had latterly worked as a major producer at Paramount, moved over to Universal, where he produced several films, among them a lavish version of Maxwell Anderson's Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), and the equally lavish Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Though neither could claim to be a big financial hit, both films received Academy Award nominations, and Anne was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Richard Burton), Best Actress (Geneviève Bujold), and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle). Wallis retired from Universal after making the film Rooster Cogburn (1975), a sequel to True Grit (1969), which Wallis had produced at Paramount. Rooster Cogburn co-starred John Wayne, reprising his Oscar-winning role from the earlier film, and Katharine Hepburn, their only film together. The film was only a moderate success.
qas: answers: text: Hal B. Wallis
question: Who produced Anne of the Thousand Days?

answers: text: Maxwell Anderson
question: Who wrote the original work that the film version of Anne of the Thousand Days was based on?

answers: text: 1971
question: In what year was the film version of Mary, Queen of Scots made?

answers: text: Richard Burton
question: Whose performance in Anne of the Thousand Days garnered a Best Actor nod?

answers: text: Rooster Cogburn
question: What was the name of the sequel to True Grit produced by Universal?

context: In the early 1970s, Universal teamed up with Paramount Pictures to form Cinema International Corporation, which distributed films by Paramount and Universal worldwide. Though Universal did produce occasional hits, among them Airport (1970), The Sting (1973), American Graffiti (also 1973), Earthquake (1974), and a big box-office success which restored the company's fortunes: Jaws (1975), Universal during the decade was primarily a television studio. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased United Artists in 1981, MGM could not drop out of the CIC venture to merge with United Artists overseas operations. However, with future film productions from both names being released through the MGM/UA Entertainment plate, CIC decided to merge UA's international units with MGM and reformed as United International Pictures. There would be other film hits like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Back to the Future (1985), Field of Dreams (1989), and Jurassic Park (1993), but the film business was financially unpredictable. UIP began distributing films by start-up studio DreamWorks in 1997, due to connections the founders have with Paramount, Universal, and Amblin Entertainment. In 2001, MGM dropped out of the UIP venture, and went with 20th Century Fox's international arm to handle distribution of their titles to this day.
qas: answers: text: Paramount Pictures
question: Who partnered with Universal in the creation of Cinema International Corporation?

answers: text: 1970s
question: In what year was the film Airport made?

answers: text: Earthquake
question: What Universal hit film was produced in 1974?

answers: text: United Artists
question: What company was purchased by MGM in 1981?

answers: text: 1997
question: When did United International Pictures start distributing films for DreamWorks?

context: Anxious to expand the company's broadcast and cable presence, longtime MCA head Lew Wasserman sought a rich partner. He located Japanese electronics manufacturer Matsushita Electric (now known as Panasonic), which agreed to acquire MCA for $6.6 billion in 1990. Meanwhile, around this time, the production subsidiary was renamed Universal Studios Inc., and (in 1990) MCA created MCA/Universal Home Video Inc. for the VHS video cassette (later DVD) sales industry.
qas: answers: text: Lew Wasserman
question: Who was the head of MCA in 1990?

answers: text: Panasonic
question: What is the current name of the company that was called Matsushita Electric in 1990?

answers: text: $6.6 billion
question: How much did Matsushita Electric pay for MCA?

answers: text: 1990
question: In what year was MCA/Universal Home Video Inc. created?

answers: text: Japanese
question: What was the nationality of Matsushita Electric?

context: Matsushita provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and five years later Matsushita sold an 80% stake in MCA/Universal to Canadian drinks distributor Seagram for $5.7 billion. Seagram sold off its stake in DuPont to fund this expansion into the entertainment industry. Hoping to build an entertainment empire around Universal, Seagram bought PolyGram in 1999 and other entertainment properties, but the fluctuating profits characteristic of Hollywood were no substitute for the reliable income stream gained from the previously held shares in DuPont.
qas: answers: text: 80%
question: What percentage of MCA/Universal did Matsushita Electric sell five years after acquiring the company?

answers: text: Seagram
question: To whom did Matsushita sell a large share of MCA/Universal?

answers: text: $5.7 billion
question: How much did Seagram pay to buy a large share of MCA/Universal?

answers: text: its stake in DuPont
question: What did Seagram sell to finance their purchase of a share in MCA/Universal?

answers: text: PolyGram
question: What company did Seagram buy in 1999?

context: To raise money, Seagram head Edgar Bronfman Jr. sold Universal's television holdings, including cable network USA, to Barry Diller (these same properties would be bought back later at greatly inflated prices). In June 2000, Seagram was sold to French water utility and media company Vivendi, which owned StudioCanal; the conglomerate then became known as Vivendi Universal. Afterward, Universal Pictures acquired the United States distribution rights of several of StudioCanal's films, such as Mulholland Drive (which received an Oscar nomination) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (which became the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980). Universal Pictures and StudioCanal also co-produced several films, such as Love Actually (an $40 million-budgeted film that eventually grossed $246 million worldwide). In late 2000, the New York Film Academy was permitted to use the Universal Studios backlot for student film projects in an unofficial partnership.
qas: answers: text: Edgar Bronfman Jr.
question: Who was the head of Seagram?

answers: text: Barry Diller
question: Who bought the USA cable network from Seagram?

answers: text: Vivendi
question: Who bought Seagram in June 2000?

answers: text: $40 million
question: What was the budget of the film Love Actually?

answers: text: Mulholland Drive
question: What StudioCanal film received an Academy Award nomination?

context: Burdened with debt, in 2004 Vivendi Universal sold 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (including the studio and theme parks) to General Electric, parent of NBC. The resulting media super-conglomerate was renamed NBCUniversal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. After that deal, GE owned 80% of NBC Universal; Vivendi held the remaining 20%, with an option to sell its share in 2006. GE purchased Vivendi's share in NBCU in 2011 and in turn sold 51% of the company to cable provider Comcast. Comcast merged the former GE subsidiary with its own cable-television programming assets, creating the current NBCUniversal. Following Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, the Comcast-GE deal was closed on Jan 29, 2011. In March 2013, Comcast bought the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.
qas: answers: text: General Electric
question: Who bought 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2004?

answers: text: 20%
question: What percentage of NBC Universal was owned by Vivendi until 2011?

answers: text: Comcast
question: Who bought 51% of NBC Universal in 2011?

answers: text: March 2013
question: In what month and year did Comcast buy 49% of NBCUniversal?

answers: text: $16.7 billion
question: How much did Comcast pay for 49% of NBCUniversal in 2013?

context: In late 2005, Viacom's Paramount Pictures acquired DreamWorks SKG after acquisition talks between GE and DreamWorks stalled. Universal's long time chairperson, Stacey Snider, left the company in early 2006 to head up DreamWorks. Snider was replaced by then-Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger and Focus Features head David Linde. On October 5, 2009, Marc Shmuger and David Linde were ousted and their co-chairperson jobs consolidated under former president of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson becoming the single chairperson. Donna Langley was also upped to co-chairperson. In 2009, Stephanie Sperber founded Universal Partnerships & Licensing within Universal to license consumer products for Universal. In September 2013, Adam Fogelson was ousted as co-chairman of Universal Pictures, promoting Donna Langley to sole-chairman. In addition, NBCUniversal International Chairman, Jeff Shell, would be appointed as Chairman of the newly created Filmed Entertainment Group. Longtime studio head Ron Meyer would give up oversight of the film studio and appointed Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal, providing consultation to CEO Steve Burke on all of the company's operations. Meyers still retains oversight of Universal Parks and Resorts.
qas: answers: text: 2005
question: In what year did Paramount Pictures purchase DreamWorks?

answers: text: Stacey Snider
question: What Universal chairperson headed DreamWorks as of 2006?

answers: text: Adam Fogelson
question: Who became the chairperson in late 2009?

answers: text: Stephanie Sperber
question: Who was the founder of Universal Partnerships & Licensing?

answers: text: Donna Langley
question: Who became chairperson of Universal Pictures in September 2013?

context: Universal's multi-year film financing deal with Elliott Management expired in 2013. In July 2013, Universal made an agreement with Legendary Pictures to market, co-finance, and distribute Legendary's films for five years starting in 2014, the year that Legendary's similar agreement with Warner Bros. expires.
qas: answers: text: Elliott Management
question: Universal's deal with what company ended in 2013?

answers: text: Legendary Pictures
question: With whom did Universal sign a marketing and distribution deal in July 2013?

answers: text: five years
question: How many years is the deal with Legendary Pictures intended to run?

answers: text: 2014
question: In what year did Universal's deal with Legendary Pictures begin?

context: In June 2014, Universal Partnerships took over licensing consumer products for NBC and Sprout with expectation that all licensing would eventually be centralized within NBCUniversal. In May 2015, Gramercy Pictures was revived by Focus Features as a genre label, that concentrated on action, sci-fi, and horror films.
qas: answers: text: Gramercy Pictures
question: What film studio was brought back in May 2015?

answers: text: Focus Features
question: What division of NBCUniversal revived Gramercy Pictures?

answers: text: action, sci-fi, and horror
question: What genre of films will Gramercy be responsible for creating?

context: As of 2015, Universal is the only studio to have released three billion-dollar films in one year; this distinction was achieved in 2015 with Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions.
qas: answers: text: 2015
question: In what year did Universal release three billion-dollar films?

answers: text: Minions
question: Along with Jurassic World and Furious 7, what billion-dollar film was released by Universal in 2015?

answers: text: Universal is the only studio
question: How many studios have released three billion-dollar films in one year?

context: In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company in France, and in the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris, Universal Productions France S.A., although sometimes credited by the name of the distribution company, Universal Pictures France. Except for the two first films it produced, Claude Chabrol's Le scandale (English title The Champagne Murders) and Romain Gary's Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou (English title Birds in Peru), it was only involved in French or other European co-productions, the most noticeable ones being Louis Malle's Lacombe, Lucien, Bertrand Blier's Les Valseuses (English title Going Places), and Fred Zinnemann's The Day of the Jackal. It was only involved in approximately 20 French film productions. In the early 1970s, the unit was incorporated into the French Cinema International Corporation arm.
qas: answers: text: Universal Productions France S.A.
question: What was the name of the Universal production company based in Paris?

answers: text: Universal Pictures France
question: What was the name of Universal's French distribution company?

answers: text: The Champagne Murders
question: What was the English title of Le scandale?

answers: text: Fred Zinnemann
question: Who directed The Day of the Jackal?

answers: text: Les Valseuses
question: What film was known in English as Going Places?