Major Film Studios

==Overview==
With the exception of Sony Pictures, the "Big Five" majors were active since Hollywood's Golden Age, 3 of which were part of the original Big Eight major film studios. Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. were members of the original "Big Five", but one of them, Universal Pictures, was part of the "Little Three" in the next tier down. Walt Disney Productions was an independent production company during the Golden Age, then became a mini-major in the 1950s, and then became a major in the mid-1980s, joining the "Big Six" (Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Columbia, and Universal), briefly to comprise the "Big Seven", before MGM became a mini-major in 1986. United Artists and Columbia Pictures were the other members of the "Little Three", the former a distribution company for several independent producers which later began producing films, grew to major status, and was then acquired by MGM. The latter produced and distributed films, was later bought by Sony along with Tri-Star Pictures in 1989, and later became part of the company Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1991. MGM, RKO, and 20th Century Fox were the other three "Big Five" majors, that exist today only as a mini-major, a small independent company, and a subsidiary of Disney that brought the "Big Six" studios to an end, respectively.
While the main studios of the Big Five are located within 15 miles (24 km) of each other, Disney is the only studio that has been owned by the same conglomerate since its founding and was also the sole member whose parent entity is still located near Los Angeles on Disney's studio lot and in the same building, until 2019, when the company acquired Lionsgate. Warner Bros., Paramount/20th Century Fox, and Universal were previously owned by many different companies and now report to conglomerates that are located in New York City (Amazon's Warner Bros. Discovery, Microsoft' ViacomFOX, and Comcast's NBCUniversal), and in the case of Sony Pictures, Sony in Tokyo; moreover, Disney and Sony are the only ones whose parent companies are still headquartered near the Pacific Ocean. Paramount/Fox is the only member of the Big Five still based in Hollywood and located entirely within the official city limits of the City of Los Angeles. Sony is in Culver City, whereas Disney and Warner Bros. are both located in Burbank, and Universal is mostly in the unincorporated area of Universal City (although a parking lot and entrance gate in its northeast corner lie within Los Angeles city limits).
Most of today's Big Five also control subsidiaries with their own distribution networks that concentrate on arthouse pictures (e.g. Universal's Focus Features) or genre films (e.g. Sony's Screen Gems); several of these specialty units were shut down or sold off between 2008 and 2010. The five major studios are contrasted with smaller production and/or distribution companies, which are known as independents or "indies". The leading independent producer/distributors such as Lionsgate and STX Entertainment are sometimes referred to as "mini-majors". From 1998 through 2005, DreamWorks SKG commanded a large enough market share to arguably qualify it as a seventh major, despite its relatively small output. In 2006, DreamWorks was acquired by Viacom, Paramount's corporate parent. In late 2008, DreamWorks once again became an independent production company; its films were distributed by Disney's Touchstone Pictures until 2016, at which point distribution switched to Universal.
The Big Five major studios are today primarily backers and distributors of films whose actual production is largely handled by independent companies – either long-running entities or ones created for and dedicated to the making of a specific film. The specialty divisions often simply acquire distribution rights to pictures in which the studio has had no prior involvement. While the majors still do a modicum of true production, their activities are focused more in the areas of development, financing, marketing, and merchandising. Those business functions are still usually performed in or near Los Angeles, even though the runaway production phenomenon means that most films are now mostly or completely shot on location at places outside Los Angeles.
The Big Five major studios are also members of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
==Maxi-majors==
===Present===
Studio parent
(Conglomerate)	Primary film
studio unit
----
Secondary film studio unit	Date founded	Arthouse/Indie/Traveller	Genre movie/B 
movie	Animation	Other Divisions and
brands	OTT/VOD	US/CA market share (2020)
NBCUniversal (Comcast) 	Universal Pictures
----
DreamWorks Pictures	April 30. 1912
----
August 30, 1934	Focus Features
Focus World
DreamWorks Classics	Working Title Films
Gramercy Pictures
Amblin Entertainment
Dark Horse Studios
Nintendo Studios
Mattel Studios	Universal Animation
Universal Television Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Television Animation
Illumination
Universal Family Entertainment	Dark Horse Comics
Nintendo
Mattel	Peacock
Hulu (20%)
Hayu
Vudu (70%)
My5 
VRV
7plus
ITVComcast (50%)	
Microsoft Entertainment Group 
(Microsoft)	Paramount Pictures
----
20th Century Fox	May 8, 1912
----
May 31, 1935	Viacom Pictures
Paramount Players
Paramount Classics
Fox Classics	Miramax
Dimension Films
Lucasfilm
IDW Studios
Sega Studios
Hasbro Studios
Skydance Media	Paramount Animation
Paramount Television Animation
Fox Animation Studios
Fox Television Animation
Blue Sky Studios
Ilion Animation Studios
MTV Animation
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
CHF Entertainment	IDW Publishing
Sega
Hasbro	Paramount+
Pluto TV
Hulu (60%)
BET+
Noggin
Voot (49%)
ITV Hub
STV Player
ITVComcast (50%)	
Warner Bros. Discovery 
(Amazon)	Warner Bros. Pictures
----
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	April 4, 1923
----
April 17, 1924	New Line Cinema
Picturehouse
Orion Classics	United Artists
Orion Pictures
Castle Rock Entertainment
DC Films
Namco Studios
Bandai Studios	Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Television Animation
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Animation
Reel FX Animation Studios
Cartoon Network Studios	DC Entertainment
Namco
Bandai	Amazon Prime Video
Vudu (30%)
Crunchyroll
UKTV Play
BBC iPlayer	
The Walt Disney Company 
(Apple Inc.)	Walt Disney Pictures
----
Lionsgate Films	October 16, 1923
----
1943	Summit Entertainment
Aristan Entertainment
RKO Pictures	Touchstone Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Marvel Studios
Square Enix Studios
Moose Studios	Walt Disney Animation Studios
Disney Television Animation
Lionsgate Animation
Lionsgate Television Animation
Pixar Animation Studios
DisneyToon Studios	Marvel Entertainment
Square Enix
Moose Toys	Disney+
Cinepix
Hulu (20%)
All 4
S4C
ABC iView	
Sony Entertainment (Sony)	Columbia Pictures
----
TriStar Pictures	January 10, 1924
----
March 2, 1982	Screen Gems
3000 Pictures
Sony Pictures Classics	Destination Films
Triumph Films
Ghost Corps
Valiant Studios
Capcom Studios
Jazwares Studios	Columbia Animation Studios
Columbia Television Animation
TriStar Animation Studios
TriStar Television Animation
Sony Pictures Animation
Sony Wonder	Vailant Comics
Capcom
Jazwares	Netflix
FunimationNow (95%)
Wakanim (95%)
Pure Flix
Tubi (80%)	
===Past===
Other major film studios of the 20th century included:
====Main====
* RKO Radio Pictures (RKO) (1928–1959): one of the Big Five studios, bought by Howard Hughes in 1948, was mismanaged and dismantled and was pretty much defunct by the 1957 studio lot sale; revived several times as an independent studio, with most recent film releases in 2012 and 2015.
*United Artists (UA) (1919–1981): one of the Little Three major minor studios, originally only a distributor for independent film producers acquired by MGM in 1981; brand name was resurrected in 2019 when Annapurna Pictures and MGM renamed a distribution company which is a joint venture between the two companies to United Artists Releasing.
* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1924–1996): one of the Big Five studios, acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in 1986, who sold the studio back to Kirk Kerkorian later that year while retaining MGM's pre-May 1986 library; became a mini-major studio upon the sale; emerged twice from bankruptcy in the 2010s; sold to Amazon through WarnerMedia.
*DreamWorks Pictures (1934-2004): one of the Big Five studios, acquired by NBC Universal in 2004
*20th Century Fox (TCF, 20th, or Fox) (1935–2000): one of the Big Five studios, acquired by ViacomCBS in 2000
*Lionsgate Pictures (1943-2019): one of the Big Five Studios acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2019
====Secondary====
*Fox Searchlight Pictures (1994-2000)
*New Line Cinema (2008-2023)
WTN+
==Mini-majors==
Mini-major studios (or "mini-majors") are the larger film production companies that are smaller than the major studios and attempt to compete directly with them.
===Present===
TBA
===Past===
Category:Major Film Studios
Category:Studios
Category:Hollywood