Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.' studio offices in Burbank, California

**Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.** (formerly **Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.**), commonly referred to as **Warner Bros.** and abbreviated as **WB**, is an American entertainment company headquartered in Burbank, California, owned by AT&T's WarnerMedia. Founded in 1923, it has operations in film, television and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

## History

### Founding

The company's name originated from the four founding Warner brothers (born *Wonskolaser* or *Wonsal* before Anglicization): Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. They emigrated as young children with their parents to Canada from Krasnosielc, Poland.

Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the movie theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present *Life of an American Fireman* and *The Great Train Robbery*. They opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903.

When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, and arranged to save it. The owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance.

In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, to distribute films. In 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films. In 1918 they opened the first Warner Brothers Studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, *My Four Years in Germany,* based on a popular book by former ambassador James W. Gerard, was released. On April 4, 1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as **Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated**. (As late as the 1960s, Warner Bros. claimed 1905 as its founding date.)

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The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwood's 1919 Broadway play, *The Gold Diggers*, from theatrical impresario David Belasco. However, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature *Where the North Begins*. The movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the studio's top star. Jack nicknamed him "The Mortgage Lifter" and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanuck's career. Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jack's right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director; Harry Rapf left the studio to join Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Lubitsch's film *The Marriage Circle* was the studio's most successful film of 1924, and was on *The New York Times* best list for that year.

Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warner's remained a lesser studio. Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in *Beau Brummel*. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a long-term contract; like *The Marriage Circle*, *Beau Brummell* was named one of the ten best films of the year by the *Times*. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywood's most successful independent studio, where it competed with "The Big Three" Studios (First National, Paramount Pictures, and MGM). As a result, Harry Warner—while speaking at a convention of 1,500 independent exhibitors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin—was able to convince the filmmakers to spend $500,000 in newspaper advertising, and Harry saw this as an opportunity to establish theaters in cities such as New York and Los Angeles.

As the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan. With this new money, the Warners bought the pioneer Vitagraph Company which had a nationwide distribution system. In 1925, Warners' also experimented in radio, establishing a successful radio station, KFWB, in Los Angeles.

## Units

***Bold** indicates primary bussiness segment.*

	+ Warner Bros. Pictures
	+ New Line Cinema
	+ DC Films
	+ Castle Rock Entertainment
	+ Flagship Entertainment (China) (49%)
	+ Telewest Pictures (United Kingdom)
	+ Spyglass Media Group (minority stake)
* **Warner Bros. Television Group**
	+ Alloy Entertainment
	+ Telepictures
		- A Very Good Production
		- TMZ
	+ Warner Bros. Television
		- Warner Bros. Television Distribution
	+ Warner Horizon Television
		- Warner Horizon Scripted Television
		- Warner Horizon Unscripted & Alternative Television
	+ Telewest Studios
	+ The CW (50% with CBS Corporation)
		- The CW Plus
	+ Turner Classic Movies
* **Warner Bros. Worldwide Home Media and Games**
	+ Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
		- HBO Home Entertainment
	+ Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
		- Avalanche Software
		- Monolith Productions
		- NetherRealm Studios
		- Portkey Games
		- Rocksteady Studios
		- TT Games
			* Traveller's Tales
		- WB Games Boston
		- WB Games Montréal
	+ DC Entertainment
		- DC Comics
			* Vertigo Comics
		- *MAD*
	+ Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment
		- Warner Bros. Movie World
		- Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi
		- Warner Bros. Studio Tours
	+ Warner Bros. Consumer Products
* **Warner Bros. Global Kids & Young Adults**
	+ Warner Animation Group
	+ Warner Bros. Animation
		- Blue Ribbon Content
		- Hanna-Barbera Cartoons
	+ Cartoon Network
		- Cartoon Network Productions
		- Cartoon Network Studios
			* Cartoon Network Studios Europe
	+ Adult Swim
		- Adult Swim Games
		- Williams Street
			* Williams Street East
			* Williams Street Records
		- Toonami
	+ Boomerang
	+ Boing (Africa, Italy, Spain and France)
	+ Cartoonito (UK, Ireland and Italy)
	+ Pogo (India)
	+ LazyTown Entertainment
	+ Portfolio Entertainment
* **Warner Bros. Studio Facilities**
* **Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures**
* **Warner Bros. Technology**
* Turner Entertainment Co.
* WaterTower Music

## Film library

*Main article: List of Warner Bros. films*

## External links

* Official website
* Warner Bros. on IMDb