Trimark Pictures

Trimark Pictures (also referred to as Trimark) was an American production company that specialized in the production and distribution of television and home video motion pictures. The company was formed in 1984 by Mark Amin as Vidmark Entertainment with Vidmark Inc. (later Trimark Holdings Inc.) established as the holding company. As a small studio, Trimark produced and released theatrical, independent, television and home video motion pictures. The logo features a triangle with a profile of a tiger's head.
Among the company's many releases are Peter Jackson's 1992 film Dead Alive, which they chose to release theatrically due to Jackson's possessing a following. They are well known for releasing films considered to be controversial for the time period, as in the case with the 1999 film Better Than Chocolate, as some newspapers refused to carry advertisements for the film that featured the word "lesbian" as part of a critic blurb.
==Background==
Vidmark Entertainment was formed in August 1984 and began operating as a domestic home video distributor in early 1985. In 1987, Vidmark began distributing and sub-licensing motion pictures for international distribution.
Vidmark Entertainment first became involved with motion picture production in 1988, when its founders and investors provided financing for the feature Demonwarp. Demonwarp was produced by Richard L. Albert through his advertising company Design Projects, Inc., which was Vidmark's and many other home video and independent film distributors' advertising company. Demonwarp was shot on 35mm film, and starred George Kennedy, but only cost $250,000 to make. Coming from a marketing background, producer Rick Albert convinced Mark Amin that if the film's budget was limited to the minimum baseline sales that Vidmark could make with any film released on videocassette in the United States, then the motion picture would have to be profitable. Since the original investors in Vidmark also invested in and owned the 20/20 Video chain of stores, they could accurately project what the minimum sales would be. The projections proved true, and adding to the robust U.S. home video sales, international sales, cable and free television sales, Demonwarp earned many multiples of its original budget. Mark Amin served as executive producer, and during production of Demonwarp he decided to raise money by a public offering of Vidmark, to form Trimark.
Trimark picked up its first film, Warlock, a 1989 film starring Julian Sands which was a major theatrical hit with fans of such films. Trimark eventually made the sequel Warlock: The Armageddon in 1993. Trimark also saw success in other familiar film series the studio produced and distributed. Leprechaun, released in 1993 starring a young Jennifer Aniston and Warwick Davis as the sinister leprechaun grossed over $10 million during its theatrical run. One theatrical sequel and four direct to video sequels eventually followed. Other Trimark productions included The Dentist, a major hit on HBO, Return of the Living Dead III and Pinocchio's Revenge. Trimark also made the dramatic Eve's Bayou, starring Samuel L. Jackson, which received critical acclaim. Trimark also released the miniseries Storm of the Century on home video.
On December 31, 1991, Vidmark acquired International Broadcast Systems, Ltd. for $1.6 million and renamed the company as Trimark Television. In June 1992, Vidmark, Inc. changed its name to Trimark Holdings, Inc. to reflect Trimark's diversification of its distribution streams. In March 1993, the company formed Trimark Interactive to expand into the emerging market for interactive software and multimedia. Trimark Interactive's assets were sold to Graphix Zone in March 1997.
In 2000, Trimark merged with Lions Gate Entertainment in which Amin became the single largest shareholder. In 2001, Mark Amin founded Sobini Films, and is its CEO.
In late 2017, Lionsgate launched a channel for Roku streaming players using the Vidmark name and a modified variant of their late 1980s logo, with Lionsgate-owned movies, including some from the original Vidmark and Trimark, amongst the selection.
==Gallery==
TBA
==List of distributed movies==
===Theatrical===
Release Date 	Title 	Notes
May 12, 1989 	Going Overboard 	
September 24, 1989	A Fool and His Money 	
November 17, 1989 	High Stakes 	
July 14, 1990 	Solar Crisis 	
September 29, 1990	Backstreet Dreams 	
November 2, 1990 	Frankenstein Unbound 	Co-production with 20th Century Fox
May 1991 	Servants of Twilight 	
June 14, 1991 	Kickboxer 2 	theatrical distribution only
October 4, 1991 	Whore 	
October 18, 1991 	Dolly Dearest 	
November 15, 1991 	And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird	
January 31, 1992 	Into the Sun 	
May 20, 1992 	The Psychic 	USA distribution only
January 8, 1993 	Leprechaun 	
February 12, 1993 	Dead Alive 	USA distribution only
September 24, 1993	Warlock: The Armageddon 	
October 8, 1993 	Deadfall 	
October 29, 1993 	Return of the Living Dead 3 	limited release
November 12, 1993 	Philadelphia Experiment II 	
January 14, 1994 	Death Wish V: The Face of Death 	
February 25, 1994 	Silent Tongue 	
April 8, 1994 	Leprechaun 2 	
May 13, 1994 	Trading Mom 	
October 28, 1994 	Frank and Jesse 	
November 23, 1994 	Love and a .45 	
December 5, 1994 	The Stoned Age 	
December 9, 1994 	Federal Hill 	
April 21, 1995 	Swimming with Sharks 	
August 11, 1995 	A Kid in King Arthur's Court 	co-production with Walt Disney Pictures
September 8, 1995 	Separate Lives 	USA distribution only
October 6, 1995 	Kicking and Screaming 	
October 25, 1995 	The Doom Generation 	USA distribution only
February 10, 1996 	Evolver 	co-production with A Band Apart
August 1996 	Crimetime 	
October 18, 1996 	The Dentist 	
January 31, 1997 	Meet Wally Sparks 	
February 28, 1997 	Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love 	
April 25, 1997 	Nothing Personal 	USA distribution only
May 2, 1997 	Ripe 	
May 16, 1997 	Sprung 	
July 25, 1997 	Box of Moonlight 	
September 10, 1997	First Love, Last Rites 	
November 7, 1997 	Eve's Bayou 	
January 16, 1998 	Star Kid 	
January 24, 1998 	The Curve 	
March 13, 1998 	Chairman of the Board 	
April 17, 1998 	Chinese Box 	
July 24, 1998 	Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss 	
August 21, 1998 	Carnival of Souls 	limited release
September 4, 1998 	Phoenix 	produced by Lakeshore Entertainment
September 11, 1998	Cube 	
September 18, 1998	Trance 	AKA The Eternal: Kiss of the Damned
October 7, 1998 	Slam 	
December 11, 1998 	The Dentist 2 	
December 20, 1998 	Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows 	
December 30, 1998 	Another Day in Paradise 	
May 15, 1999 	The Sex Monster 	
May 28, 1999 	Twice Upon a Yesterday 	
August 13, 1999 	Better Than Chocolate 	
September 17, 1999	Romance 	
October 15, 1999 	Joe the King 	
February 18, 2000 	Beautiful People 	
April 21, 2000 	The Last September 	
May 12, 2000 	Held Up 	
July 11, 2000 	History Is Made at Night 	
October 12, 2000 	Faust: Love of the Damned 	
December 1, 2000 	What's Cooking? 	
January 2001 	Skipped Parts 	
===Direct-to-video===
Release Date 	Title 	Notes
1988 	Demonwarp 	
November 30, 1988 	Body Beat 	
February 9, 1990 	The Sleeping Car 	
June 6, 1990 	The Amityville Curse 	
September 15, 1990	Spirits 	distribution only; produced by Cinema Group
September 26, 1990	Mob Boss 	produced by American Independent
April 17, 1991 	Black Magic Woman 	
December 27, 1992 	Prototype X29A 	
August 4, 1993 	American Kickboxer 2 	
September 22, 1993	Thunder in Paradise 	
November 24, 1993 	Cyborg 2 	
May 25, 1994 	Freefall 	
November 2, 1994 	Dangerous Touch 	
November 9, 1994 	Hong Kong '97 	
May 30, 1995 	Night of the Running Man 	
June 27, 1995 	Leprechaun 3 	
March 12, 1996 	True Crime 	
May 16, 1996 	Curse of the Starving Class 	
September 3, 1996 	Sometimes They Come Back... Again 	
February 25, 1997 	Leprechaun 4: In Space 	
July 28, 1998 	A Kid in Aladdin's Palace 	
November 10, 1998 	The Landlady 	
April 27, 1999 	King Cobra 	
September 7, 1999 	Sometimes They Come Back... for More	
October 12, 1999 	Warlock III: The End of Innocence 	
December 27, 1999 	Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying 	
March 28, 2000 	Leprechaun in the Hood 	
May 23, 2000 	Cord 	
March 13, 2001 	Killer Bud 	
April 24, 2001 	xChange 	
June 26, 2001 	Blood Surf 	
July 10, 2001 	Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal 	
*After Alice
*After the Storm (2001)
*At First Sight
*Atomic Train
*Attraction
*Blink of an Eye (1992)
*The Bogus Witch Project
*Cabin Pressure
*Christy: The Movie
*Cut
*Diplomatic Siege
*Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion
*Fear of Flying
*Frankenstein and Me
*Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood (a.k.a. The River Pirates)
*Happiness
*Interceptor (1992)
*An Invited Guest
*Kids
*Let the Devil Wear Black
*Love Is a Gun
*Mutiny
*NetForce
*The Perfect Tenant
*Route 666
*Running Free (1994)
*Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists
*The St. Francisville Experiment
*The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
*South of Heaven, West of Hell
*The Stepdaughter
*Tail Lights Fade
*Treehouse Hostage
*Zigs
Category:Mass media companies established in 1984
Category:Mass media companies disestablished in 2000
Category:Defunct American film studios
Category:2000 mergers and acquisitions
Category:Former Lionsgate subsidiaries
Category:Trimark Pictures films
Category:1984 establishments in California
Category:2000 disestablishments in California
Category:Film production companies of the United States
Category:Companies
Category:Film production companies