Hemdale Film Corporation

Hemdale Film Corporation, known as Hemdale Communications after 1993, was an independent British-American film production company and distributor. The company was founded in London in 1967 as the Hemdale Company by actor David Hemmings and John Daly, naming the company from a combination of their surnames. The company produced numerous acclaimed films, often in conjunction with companies such as TriStar and Orion Pictures, including Platoon (1986) and The Last Emperor (1987), back-to-back winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture.
==History==
Hemdale began as an investment company to cut the high personal taxes on British actors. Eventually, the company went public as Hemdale Ltd. and began diversifying. Hemdale partnered with Patrick Meehan of Worldwide Artists, who once managed the band Black Sabbath,John Daly biography - Yahoo Movies invested in feature films, financed stage productions such as Grease, and became involved in boxing promotions such as The Rumble in the Jungle match between George Foreman and Muhammed Ali. John Daly was Hemdale's chairman and president. David Hemmings left the company in 1971, and Daly purchased his stock. Hemdale also distributed cable TV to hotels, which, in 1974, was its major source of revenue. After producing and distributing British films throughout the 1970s, Hemdale relocated to Hollywood in 1980 and focused extensively on movie-making.Thomas, Bob. "Independent filmmakers may produce over half of releases." Associated Press (October 23, 1986). Retrieved on April 1, 2011. A distribution agreement was made with Orion Pictures. In 1981 Derek Gibson joined the company as executive vice president and head of production. Daly and Gibson were then credited together as executive producers on all Hemdale films.
Among Hemdale's best known films are The Terminator, The Return of the Living Dead, Hoosiers, Salvador, River's Edge, Platoon, and The Last Emperor; the latter two were back-to-back recipients of the Academy Award for Best Picture. Hemdale produced and or financed over 80 films during this period.
In 1986, Salvador was the first major film released by Hemdale Distribution in the United States. Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf had received a regional release in December 1985.
In 1991, Hemdale sold its valuable assets to another company that Daly and Gibson ran at cut-rate prices, which became Hemdale Communications. Erik Parkinson joined the new company as president of Hemdale Pictures Corporation and Hemdale Home Video. That same year, the new Hemdale created a collection of many video cassette titles released by Hemdale Home Video around the United States of America. Its first title was the Home Video reissue of the original Terminator in 1991, via a distribution deal it signed with the old Hemdale company, then renamed NSB Film Corporation, to release some films from the latter's 150-title library. In 1993, Hemdale Pictures was rechristened as Hemdale Communications. In 1995, the video rights to some of Hemdale's higher-profile titles were licensed to LIVE Entertainment (now Lionsgate).
In 1992, NSB sued Daly and Gibson for selling the Hemdale remnants to Parkinson's company, and Crédit Lyonnais Bank Nederland for breach of contract, racketeering, fraud, equitable subordination and contributing to its bankruptcy. The next year, Crédit Lyonnais filed another lawsuit against NSB, resulting in the bank foreclosing on both NSB and its Hemdale library and forcing NSB to severe ties with Hemdale Home Video to release some of its titles. In 1994, NSB and Crédit Lyonnais settled their year-old ligation.
In March 1995, Daly and Gibson left the company, to be succeeded in their positions by Eric Parkinson.Allbusiness.com Hemdale Communications Inc. announces resignation of chairman John Daly and president Derek Gibson; March 6, 1995 That November, the company was reorganized; Parkinson was relegated to running only the video division, and former studio tax attorney Ray Bennett became chairman of Hemdale, while Larry Glauber became CEO. On November 9, 1995, Hemdale filed for involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
===Aftermath===
After the studio closed, the Hemdale library was then incorporated into Consortium de Réalisation, a French holding company set up by Crédit Lyonnais to handle the rights to titles acquired by Credit Lyonnais Bank. In 1999, the library was incorporated into the Orion Pictures output now owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer via PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, after MGM acquired the Consortium de Réalisation library from PolyGram (ironically, Orion was the theatrical distributor for a number of Hemdale's films). One significant exception is The Last Emperor, a Hemdale production whose rights are now held by its producer, Jeremy Thomas. Hemdale licensed each of the US media rights to different companies; for example, Columbia Pictures handled US Theatrical only. Most of the foreign productions Hemdale distributed have subsequently returned to their original owners (such as Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, which producer Tokyo Movie Shinsha now controls worldwide). In the late '80s and early '90s, the television rights to the Hemdale library lay with Carolco Pictures.
The company's last new credit was the Virgin Games video game adaptation The Terminator, which showed up on the game's start up screen as Hemdale's The Terminator.
==Films==
Release Date 	Title 	Notes
December 18, 1972 	Images 	distributed by Columbia Pictures
April 24, 1981 	Cattle Annie and Little Britches 	distributed by Universal Pictures
September 25, 1981	Carbon Copy 	co-production with RKO Pictures; distributed by Avco Embassy Pictures
October 16, 1981 	Strange Behavior 	distributed by World Northal
June 24, 1983 	Yellowbeard 	distributed by Orion Pictures
October 1983 	Escape from the Bronx 	distributed by New Line Cinema
April 1984 	Race for the Yankee Zephyr 	
June 1984 	A Breed Apart 	distributed by Orion Pictures
September 28, 1984	Irreconcilable Differences 	co-production with Warner Bros.
October 26, 1984 	The Terminator 	distributed by Orion Pictures
November 16, 1984 	Special Effects 	distributed by New Line Cinema
November 1984 	Perfect Strangers 	distributed by New Line Cinema
January 25, 1985 	The Falcon and the Snowman 	distributed by Orion Pictures
August 16, 1985 	The Return of the Living Dead 	distributed by Orion Pictures
December 1985 	Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf 	
March 5, 1986 	Salvador 	
April 18, 1986 	At Close Range 	distributed by Orion Pictures
November 1, 1986 	Inside Out 	
November 14, 1986 	Hoosiers 	distributed by Orion Pictures
November 21, 1986 	Body Slam 	distributed by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
November 21, 1986 	Defense of the Realm 	
December 19, 1986 	Platoon 	distributed by Orion Pictures
May 8, 1987 	River's Edge 	distributed by Island Pictures
May 15, 1987 	Made in U.S.A. 	distributed by TriStar Pictures
May 1987 	My Little Girl 	
June 12, 1987 	Burke & Wills 	
July 10, 1987 	The Whistle Blower 	
July 30, 1987 	High Tide 	distributed by TriStar Pictures
August 1, 1987 	Love at Stake 	distributed by TriStar Pictures
September 18, 1987	Hotel Colonial 	distributed by Orion Pictures
September 25, 1987	Best Seller 	distributed by Orion Pictures
November 1987 	Slate, Wyn & Me 	
1987 	Scenes from the Goldmine 	
February 5, 1988 	The Supergrass 	
March 25, 1988 	High Season 	
April 15, 1988 	The Last Emperor 	distributed by Columbia Pictures
May 25, 1988 	The Tale of Ruby Rose 	
July 15, 1988 	A Killing Affair 	
September 15, 1988	War Party 	
November 23, 1988 	Buster 	
December 23, 1988 	The Boost 	
January 13, 1989 	Ha-Holmim 	
January 21, 1989 	Cheap Shots 	
January 27, 1989 	Cohen and Tate 	
March 3, 1989 	Out Cold 	
April 28, 1989 	Criminal Law 	
May 19, 1989 	Miracle Mile 	
June 2, 1989 	Vampire's Kiss 	
July 21, 1989 	Shag 	
August 18, 1989 	Blood Red 	
September 22, 1989	The Time Guardian 	
October 6, 1989 	The Everlasting Secret Family 	
November 10, 1989 	Staying Together 	
January 5, 1990 	Love or Money 	
January 26, 1990 	Incident at Raven's Gate 	
April 20, 1990 	Chattahoochee 	
May 6, 1990 	The Belly of an Architect 	
1990 	Wishful Thinking 	
September 21, 1990	Don't Tell Her It's Me 	
November 2, 1990 	Vincent & Theo 	
November 21, 1990 	Hidden Agenda 	
April 12, 1991 	Impromptu 	
April 19, 1991 	Kill Line 	
June 14, 1991 	Bright Angel 	
September 27, 1991	Prime Target 	distribution
November 1991 	Thousand Pieces of Gold 	distribution
February 28, 1992 	Complex World 	distribution
March 13, 1992 	Highway to Hell 	distribution
May 29, 1992 	Cold Heaven 	distribution
June 15, 1992 	Beautiful Dreamers 	distribution
??, 1992 	Round Numbers 	distribution
August 7, 1992 	Bed & Breakfast 	distribution
August 21, 1992 	Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland	distribution
August 26, 1992 	Knock Outs 	distribution
September 1, 1992 	The Legend of Wolf Mountain 	distribution
October 14, 1992 	Murder Blues 	distribution
1992 	Merlin - The True Story of Magic 	distribution
March 5, 1993 	Love Your Mama 	distribution
April 25, 1993 	The Magic Voyage 	distribution
??, 1993 	Breakfast of Aliens 	distribution
September 10, 1993	The Seventh Coin 	distribution
September 15, 1993	Laser Moon 	distribution
October 6, 1993 	In a Moment of Passion 	distribution
January 5, 1994 	Quest of the Delta Knights 	distribution
January 19, 1994 	Future Shock 	distribution
1994 	The Polar Bear King 	distribution
May 4, 1994 	Confessions of a Hitman 	distribution
June 3, 1994 	The Princess and the Goblin 	distribution
September 13, 1994	Savage Land 	distribution
October 19, 1994 	The Story of Christmas 	distribution
January 3, 1995 	The Littlest Viking 	distribution
March 28, 1995 	Across the Moon 	distribution
May 20, 1995 	Mosquito 	distribution
October 24, 1996 	One More Shot 	co-distribution with Tapeworm Video Distributors
October 31, 1997 	Grizzly Mountain 	co-distribution with Legacy Releasing and LIVE Entertainment
== References ==
==External links==
* (as Hemdale)
* (as Hemdale Film Distribution)
* (under full name)
Category:Dubbing (filmmaking)
Category:Film distributors of the United Kingdom
Category:Film production companies of the United Kingdom
Category:Film production companies of the United States
Category:Film distributors of the United States
Category:Media companies established in 1967
Category:Media companies disestablished in 1995
Category:1967 establishments in England
Category:1995 disestablishments in California
Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995