Paramount Pictures

**Paramount Pictures** is an American film production and distribution company. It is the oldest movie studio in the United States. It has been in existence since 1912. Paramount is owned by media conglomerate Paramount Skydance. Paramount is one of the Big Five movie studios.

## History

Paramount Pictures Inc. can trace its beginnings to the creation in May, 1912 of the Famous Players Film Company. Organized in 1914 by a Utah theater owner, W. W. Hodkinson, Paramount Pictures was the first successful nationwide distributor. Until this time, movies were sold on a statewide or regional basis. This was inefficient and costly to producers.

In 1916, Adolph Zukor created a three-way merger of his Famous Players Film Company, Jesse L. Lasky's Lasky Feature Play Company, and Paramount. The new company was called Famous Players-Lasky and grew quickly. Lasky ran the production side. Hiram Abrams was in charge of distribution and Zukor handled the business side of the company.

In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took on the name Paramount-Famous Lasky Corporation. Three years later, because of the importance of the Publix theater chain, it was later known as Paramount-Publix Corporation. The company went into bankruptcy in 1933. When the company emerged from bankruptcy, it was known as Paramount Pictures, Inc.

Paramount Pictures had been an early supporter of television. It created stations in 1939 in Los Angeles (later to become KTLA) and Chicago's WBKB.

Paramount's successful run of lightweight pictures in the 1980s and 1990s created hits like _Flashdance_, the _Friday the 13th_ series; _Raiders of the Lost Ark_, _Beverly Hills Cop_ and the _Star Trek_ features.

In 1993, entertainment conglomerate Viacom bought Paramount.

Paramount is the last major movie studio located in Hollywood. Other studios such as Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures moved to other neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

On December 11, 2005, Paramount said it had purchased DreamWorks SKG in a deal worth $1.6 billion. On February 1, 2006, the studio announced that the DreamWorks acquisition was completed.

In March 2010, Paramount started Insurge Pictures, a low-budget label. In 2019, Paramount bought 49 percent of Miramax Films.

## Movie studios

- DreamWorks Pictures (1996-present; live-action and animated movies)
- Nickelodeon Movies (1998-present)
- Miramax Films (2019-present)

## Other websites

- Official website
- Paramount Pictures on IMDB.com
- Insurge Pictures

## Infobox (company)

- **name**: Paramount Pictures Corporation
- **logo**: Paramount Pictures Logo 2025.svg
- **logo caption**: Logo used since 1967
- **image**: Paramountpicturesmelrosegate.jpg
- **image size**: 250px
- **image alt**: Paramount Pictures studio lot
- **image caption**: The Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. On September 17, 2006, the company moved there.
- **trade name**: Paramount Pictures
- **type**: Division (business), Division
- **industry**: movie industry, Movies
- **location**: 5555 Melrose Avenue
- **location city**: Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
- **location country**: United States
- **area served**: Worldwide
- **key people**: Brian Robbins (Chairman and Chief executive officer, CEO)
- **products**: movie, Motion pictures
- **divisions**: Nickelodeon Group