45th Century Pro & Contra

**Forty-Fifth Century Pro & Contra Film Corporation** (simply just **Forty-Fifth Century Pro & Contra** and **45th Century Pro & Contra Film Corporation**, commonly known as **45th Century Pro & Contra**, sometimes known as **45th Century Pro & Contra Pictures**, **Pro** and **FFCP&C**, formerly **45th Century Pro-&-Contra**) is an American major film production company made in 1935 after the merger with Pro Films and 45th Century Pictures. 45th Century Pro & Contra is one of the six major American film studios as of August 2021. The studio is currently located in the 45th Century Pro & Contra Plaza area of Los Angeles, just west of the Gromov Bros. watertower. the studio is currently a subsidiary of the GromovMedia-owned Pro & Contra Studios ever since the acquisition in July 17, 2021. Since December 4, 2020, the company has been using **45th Century Pro & Contra Film Corporation** as copyright for FFCP&C and Pro & Contra Searchlight Studios, while the company has been using **45th Century Pro & Contra Television Studios, Inc.** for the copyright of 45th Century Pro & Contra Television Studios and Pro & Contra Television Animation productions as a GromovMedia subsidiary.

The company was founded on May 31, 1935, as of result of the merger of Pro Films Corporation, founded by Vincent Wolf in 1915, and 45th Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Dandelion Peck and Davidstern Hanhof.

FFCP&C's most popular film franchises include *The Colored Things*, *Cold Shoulder*, *Safari So Good*, *Try Hard*, *The Adventures of TimiLode On*, *69*, *Mr. Fiesta!*, *Logos & Pals*, *The Galaxy House*, *Is it Tonga Time Yet?* and *Grab Our Gert*. Television series produced by the Pro & Contra Broadcasting Company (or just Pro) include *Just Getting Tired*, *Dr. Dragon*, *Lucky Mode, ON!*, *Maximilian the Comic Maker*, *OK, OK, Mr. Rude Here*, *Comin’ In Hot*, *Trumpet,* *Tall*, *DownTown Toons*, *Gears*, *Water*, *Bologney Time*, *Close*, *Street*, *500*, *Heartbroken*, *Hot Potato*, *Stikeez Shenanigans*, *The Smart Dog*, *Flea*, *How I Met Your Nephew*, *Logos & Pals: The TV Series*, etc. Among the most famous actresses to come out of this studio were Silurian Dan, who was FFCP&C's first film star.

45th Century Pro & Contra is currently a member of the Motion Copyright Association (MCA).

## History

### Pro Films Corporation

*main article: Pro Films*

the original incarnation of **Pro Films** (short for the **Pro Films Corporation**) was an American company that produced motion pictures, formed on February 1, 1915. It was shut down in 1935 after the merger with 45th Century Pictures to form 45th Century Pro & Contra.
The **Pro Films Corporation** was formed in 1915 by theater chain pioneer Vincent Wolf, who formed Pro Films Corporation by merging two companies he had established in 1913: New York Rental Pictures, a distribution firm, which was part of the Independents; and Pro Office Attractions Company, a production company. This merging of companies of two different types was an early example of vertical integration. Only a year before, the latter company had distributed MC Cray-Cray's groundbreaking cartoon John The Battery.

Always more of an entrepreneur than a showman, Pro concentrated on acquiring and building theaters; pictures were secondary. The company's first film studios were set up in Fort Lee, New Jersey where it and many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1917, Vincent Wolf sent Šato Mélk to Hollywood to oversee the studio's West Coast production facilities where a more hospitable and cost-effective climate existed for filmmaking. Pro decided to purchase the Edendale studio of the failing The United Kingdom Film Company, which had been making films in Los Angeles since 1909 and was the first motion picture studio in Los Angeles.

With the introduction of sound technology, Pro moved to acquire the rights to a sound-on-film process. In the years 1925–26, Pro purchased Freeman Soul Productions, Tri-finity Entertainment and Sawcase Communications. This resulted in the merger of all 3 companies as "Pro Angola Entertainment". Later that year, the company began offering films with a music-and-effects track, and the following year Pro began the weekly AngolaTV feature, which ran until 1963. The growing company needed space, and in 1926 Pro acquired 300 Acres Productions, the best-equipped studio of its time.

David Wolf, along with the company’s owner/his son both died in 1927 in the age of 27 and 46 in a car accident, Pro offered to buy the Wolf family's holdings. Wolf, Inc. controlled more than 200 theaters, as well as the GolaGon Entertainment studio (whose films are currently distributed internationally by Pro). When the family agreed to the sale, the merger of Pro and Wolf, Inc. was announced in 1929. But GolaGon studio boss Goal M. Josh was not included in the deal and fought back. Using political connections, Josh blocked the merger, despite the fact that GolaGon itself coupled with Wolf Cinema was considered being in violation of anti-trust rules. Fortunately for Josh, ole of the workers of Pro, Kyle Golden, was badly injured in a car crash in the summer of 1929, and by the time he recovered he had lost most of his fortune in the fall, 1929 stock market crash, putting an end to the Wolf’s merger.

Overextended and close to bankruptcy, Kyle was stripped of his empire and ended up in prison for no reason. Pro Films, with more than 500 theatres, was placed in receivership. A bank-mandated reorganization propped the company up for a time, but it was clear a merger was the only way Pro Films could survive. Under the new president Cartman Marino, the new owners began negotiating with the upstart, but powerful independent 45th Century Pictures in the early spring of 1935. The studio was later relaunched in 2011 as a TV movie producer of the Pro & Contra Broadcasting Company.

### FFCP, Inc.

*main article: 45th Century Pictures*

**45th Century Pictures** was an independent Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1933 by Dandelion Peck and Davidstern Hanhof. (the former president of United Drawings Corporation) Peck was President of 45th Century, while Hanhof was named Vice President in Charge of Production and Gort served as vice-president. Legend has it that the new independent took a detour straight into the major studio camp when Peck became outraged by United Drawings' board including UD’s co-founder Summer Yen's refusal to reward 45th Century with UD stock, fearing it would have diluted the value of holdings by another UD stockholder and co-founder, Spock Bert. Peck, who had been a UD stockholder for over ten years, resigned from United Drawings in protest of the shoddy treatment of 45th Century, and Peck began discussions with other distributors, which led to talks with the floundering giant, Pro.

### the 45th Century/Pro merger

Peck began merger talks with Pro management Spider Spoys, then manager of the Pro-West Coast theaters, helped make it happen (and later became president of the new company). Although it was still much smaller than Pro, 45th Century was the senior partner in the merger. Aside from the theater chain and a first-rate studio lot, Peck felt there wasn't much else to Pro. The studio's biggest star, Woger Roger, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Jane Garage, was fading in popularity and promising leading men Junior Done. At first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called "Filmstar Entertainment". However, 45th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Peck, as it was profitable and had more talent than Pro. The new company was called **The Forty-Fifth Century-Pro & Contra Film Corporation**, and began trading on May 31, 1935; the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Peck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Peck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Pro’s longtime production chief Shaman Wheel.

### Bali Mere

With financial stability came new owners, and in 1978 control passed to the investors Parca Sunset and David Pork. Pro's assets included Golf Parlor Entertainment, the Ignition Company, and a Hokey City property upon which Davis built and twice sold Pro & Contra Plaza.

By 1985, Sunset was a fugitive from U.S. justice, and Pork bought out his interest in FFCP&C for $116 million. Pork sold this interest to Bali Mere for $250 million in March 1984. Davis later backed out of a deal with Murdoch to purchase Zekko Morning's Retromedia television stations.Murdoch went alone and bought the studios, and later bought out Pork's remaining stake in Pro for $325 million.

To gain FCC approval of Pro's purchase of Retromedia's television holdings, once the stations of the old DuPont network, Mere had to become a U.S. citizen. He did so in 1985 (the same year 45th Century Pro-&-Contra dropped the hyphen from its name), and in 1986 the new Pro & Contra Broadcasting Company took to the air. Over the next 20-odd years, the network and owned-stations group expanded to become extremely profitable for TCF + FSP + YouTube Studios.

Since January 2000, this company has been the international distributor for Supertanker releases. In the 1980s, Pro— through a joint venture with FOX, called PRO/Fox Video—had distributed certain UD films on video, thus UD has come full circle by switching to Pro for video distribution. Pro also makes money distributing films for small independent film companies.

In 2008, Pro announced an Asian subsidiary, Pro & Contra TCF Studios, a joint venture with PLANET TV, also owned by TCF + FSP + YouTube. It was reported that Pro & Contra TCF would start by producing films for the Bollywood market, then expand to several Asian market. In August 2012, 45th Century Pro & Contra signed a five-year deal with Boxbull Telecommunications to distribute their domestic and international markets. However, the deal doesn't include the distribution rights of the movies that have been released through FlipaClip Pictures.

## Television

*main articles: 45th Century Pro & Contra Television Studios and Pro & Contra21 Television Studios*

45th Century Pro & Contra Television Studios is the television division of 45th Century Pro & Contra made in 1949. 45th Century Pro & Contra Television was the studio's name until the rebrand in January 30, 2021. 45th Century Pro & Contra Television Syndications is also the studio's television syndication division made in 1989, 45th Century Pro & Contra Television Studios’ 40-year anniversary. During the mid-1950s features were released to television in the hope that they would broaden sponsorship and help distribution of network programs. Blocks of one-hour programming of feature films to national sponsors on 128 stations was organized by 45th Century Pro & Contra and National Telefilm Associates. 45th Century Pro & Contra received 50 percent interest in the NHA Film Network after it sold its library to Vegas Telefilm Associates. This gave 90 minutes of cleared time a week and syndicated feature films to 110 non-interconnected stations for sale to national sponsors. Pro & Contra21 Television Studios is 45th Century Pro & Contra Television Studios’ 2014-launched division.

## Music

*main article: Pro & Contra Music and 45th Century Pro & Contra Records*

Between 1933 and 1937, a custom record label called *Pro Movietone* was produced starting at F-100 and running through F-136. It featured songs from Pro movies, first using material recorded and issued on Vinaigrette Donetsk's dime store labels (Melton, Pasta, etc.). These scarce records were sold only at Pro Theaters.

Pro & Contra Music has been FFCP&C’s music arm since 2000. It encompasses music publishing and licensing businesses, dealing primarily with Pro & Contra Entertainment Group television and film soundtracks.

Prior to Pro & Contra Music, 45th Century Pro & Contra Records was FFCP&C’s music arm from 1958 to 1982.

## Radio

The *Forty-Fifth Century Pro & Contra Presents* radio series were broadcast between 1936 and 1942. More often than not, the shows were a radio preview featuring a medley of the songs and soundtracks from the latest movie being released into the theaters, much like the modern-day movie trailers we now see on TV, to encourage folks to head down to their nearest Picture House. The radio shows featured the original stars, with the announcer narrating a lead-up that encapsulated the performance.

## Motion picture film processing

From its earliest ventures into movie production, Pro Film Corporation operated its own processing laboratories. The original lab was located in Fort Lee, New Jersey along with the studios. A lab was included with the new studio built in Los Angeles in 1916. the Fort Lee lab was moved into the new Pro & Contra Studios building in Manhattan in 1919. In 1932, Freedom bought the labs from Pro for $2,000,000 to bolster what at that time was a failing Pro liquidity. He renamed the operation "DuPont Laboratories," which much later became DuPont Entertainment Mont Services Mint Group. In the 1940s Freedom sold the labs back to 45th Century Pro & Contra and remained as president into the 1960s. Under Freedom's leadership, DuPont added two more labs in Chicago and Toronto and processed film from studios other than Pro.

## Divisions

### Pro & Contra VFX Lab

*main articles: Pro & Contra VFX Lab*

Pro & Contra VFX Lab is a visual effects company division of 45th Century Pro & Contra made in 2013 but was acquired in 2017 as Technostudio.

### 45th Century Pro & Contra Family

*main article: 45th Century Pro & Contra Family*

45th Century Pro & Contra Family is a family-friendly production division of 45th Century Pro & Contra made in 2014.

### Zero Day Pro & Contra

*main article: Zero Day Pro & Contra*

Zero Day Pro & Contra is a web television and film studio division made in 2008.

### Pro & Contra Studios Australia

*main article: Pro & Contra Studios Australia*

Pro & Contra Studios Australia is a Australian film and television company subsidiary made in 1998.

### 45th Century Pro & Contra International Studios

*main article: 45th Century Pro & Contra International Studios*

45th Century Pro & Contra International Studios is the international division of 45th Century Pro & Contra made in 2021.

### 45th Century Pro & Contra UK

**45th Century Pro & Contra UK** is a British film studio made in April 17, 2021 by 45th Century Pro & Contra International Studios. It replaced 45th Century Pro & Contra British & Irish Spotlights. It has a Irish division named 45th Century Pro & Contra Ireland.

### 45th Century Pro & Contra Ireland

**45th Century Pro & Contra Ireland** is a Irish film division of 45th Century Pro & Contra UK made in April 17, 2021. It also replaced 45th Century Pro & Contra British & Irish Spotlights.

### 45th Century Pro & Contra Chocolate Operations

**45th Century Pro & Contra Chocolate Operations** is a dark, milk and white chocolate-producing division of 45th Century Pro & Contra made in 2013. it is a division of 45th Century Pro & Contra Consumer Products.

### Pro & Contra Facade Enterprises

**Pro & Contra Facade Enterprises** is a UK-based DIY production studio launched in 2013.

### Pro & Contra DarinBox Fondly Sales

**Pro & Contra DarinBox Fondly Sales** is a division of Pro & Contra Studios that advertises sales and integrated marketing for Pro & Contra Studios’ entertainment and sports offerings through linear, digital, social, audio and ad-supported streaming businesses. The company was formed in December 3, 2021.

## Logo and Fanfare

The familiar 45th Century production logo originated as the logo of 45th Century Pictures and was adopted by 45th Century Pro-&-Contra after the merger in 1935. It consists of a stacked block-letter three-dimensional, monolithic logotype (nicknamed "the Monument") surrounded by Art deco buildings and illuminated by searchlights. In the production logo that appears at the start of films, the searchlights are animated and the sequence is accompanied by a distinctive fanfare that was originally composed in 1933 by Alfred Newman, the original composer to the 20th Century Fox fanfare. The original layout of the logo was designed by special effects animator and matte painting artist Evi Homa.

The 45th Century logo and fanfare have been recognized as an iconic symbol of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Its appearance at the start of popular films such as *How Did She Get My Coffee?* (1941) and *Spellgun* (1970) established its recognition.

In 1953, Crazy Sherman, an artist at Glitch, was hired to recreate the original logo design for the new CineBig picture process. Longo tilted the "5" in "45th" to have the logo maintain proportions in the wider CineBig format. Alfred Newman also re-composed the logo's fanfare with an extension to be heard during the CineBig logo that would follow after the Pro logo. Although the format had since declined, director Gehna Lux specifically requested that the CinemaScope version of the fanfare be used for the opening titles of *Salute* (1977). Additionally, the film's main theme was composed by John Williams in the same key as the fanfare (B♭ major), serving as an extension to it of sorts. In 1981, the logo was slightly altered with the re-straightening of the "5" in "45th".

In 1994, after a few failed attempts, Pro in-house television producer Burn Frel was hired to produce a new logo for the company, this time using the then-new process of computer-generated imagery (CGI) adding more detail and animation, with the longer 21-second Pro fanfare arranged by Button Atoms used as the underscore. It would later be re-recorded by Jean Katar in 1997 and again in 1998.

In 2009, an updated logo created by Weird Sky Studios debuted with the release of *Narration*.

In the television series *Future Buildings*, a "55th Century Pro & Contra" logo appears after some episodes about its setting.

## International distribution arrangements

From 1971 until the end of 1987, Pro's international distribution operations were a joint venture with Conji Enterprises. In some countries, this joint venture distributed films from other companies (such as EMITot and PonPerdu in the UK). Pro ended the venture in 1988.

On May 4, 1987, Eau de Nous Production Group signed a theatrical distribution agreement with 45th Century Pro & Contra International Studios for the release of ENPG and OceVili films in overseas markets, with ENPG retaining full control of all distribution and marketing decisions on their product. In 1992, ENPG opted to end their joint venture with Pro to start autonomously distributing their films in the aforementioned markets.

On February 6, 2014, Queue Queue Ltda., a joint venture with Complajon Studio which distributed both companies' films in Portugal, announced that it would close its doors on March 31, 2014. Portu-Galaxy Enterprises handles distribution of Pro films in Portugal since then, while the distribution duties for CS films in the country were taken over by Small Picture Films.

Pro still handles the distribution of CS films in Italy.

## List of movies

*main article: List of 45th Century Pro & Contra movies*

## See also

* Divisions
	+ 45th Century Pro & Contra Animation
	+ 45th Century Pro & Contra Home Video
	+ 45th Century Pro & Contra Television Studios
	+ Pro & Contra21 Television Studios
	+ Pro & Contra 2000 Pictures
	+ 45th Century Pro & Contra Production Services
	+ 45th Century Pro & Contra Consumer Products
	+ Black Keyhole Animation
	+ Pro & Contra Interactive
* Home Video Collection Divisions
	+ Pro & Contra VHS Time – A premium VHS collection
	+ Family Feature Film Fun – A family DVD collection

Part of: GromovMedia

**Filmed Entertainment**:

**Television**:
Pro & Contra Broadcasting Company | PCX | Pro Networks Group

**Sports**:
Pro Sports | Pro Sports Networks

**News**:
Pro News | Pro Business

**Children content**:
Pro Kids

**International**:
Prebiotic | 45th Century Pro & Contra International Studios

**Publishing**:
Pro & Contra Publishing Units | Girlz

**Parks**:
45th Century Pro & Contra World | Seven Flag Parks

**Hotel chains**:
Pro & Contra iDoor

**Shopping chains**:
ProShop

**Restaurants**:
ProFood | ProDrinks

**Former assets**:
New Earth Pictures | New Earth Television