BAKONA

*Not to be confused with Bakona Pictures*
**BAKONA** (aka **BAKONA Motion Pictures, L.L.C.** or **BAKONA Entertainment, Inc.**) is an American film and television production and international sales company founded in August 1998 by Anthony Minghella, who is also its chairman. The company produces motion pictures for studios such as Sony Pictures Entertainment, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures. In 1996, it struck a first look deal with Fox.

BAKONA was acquired in 1994 by Viacom, who a year later put the company under its Frank Packer division. By early 1999, MTV Networks was about to be broken up due to financial problems, mostly stemming from building the Pepsi Center in Denver. Bernstein and venture capitalist Kevin O Donnell, son of Kennedy administration special assistant and appointments secretary Kenny O'Donnell, purchased Bakona back, restoring its independent company status.

## History

### 1992-1998

BAKONA Entertainment started in 1991 and went into expansion two years later, with Doug Herzog serving as president of the unit. Its expansion was to produce shows for theatrical release, broadcast TV and cable, syndication and the international marketplace. MTV then signed a two-picture deal with Geffen Pictures to start making motion pictures afterwards.

Only one movie came out of the deal due to the 1994 acquisition of Paramount Pictures by BAKONA's parent company Viacom. *Joe's Apartment*, based on a short aired on MTV, came out on July 26, 1996, and grossed $4.6 million on a $13 million budget, making it a box office bomb. Shortly afterwards, Bakona Studios tried for an entertainment strip *Real Time*, to be distributed by Viacom Enterprises, which was owned by MTV's parent Viacom, and scheduled on air for the 1994–95 season, but never materialized.

Shortly after Viacom bought out Paramount Pictures. Paramount began to distribute material from MTV and Nickelodeon. Shortly after *The Arsenio Hall Show* was cancelled, Paramount began distributing and producing MTV's *The Jon Stewart Show* for the syndication market.

In 1994, the Paramount Television Group and BAKONA Entertainment, Inc. signed a deal to develop projects commissioned by Bakona, and gave Paramount the right of first refusal on projects developed by Bakona. By 1995, David Gale was named head of Bakona Studios.

Bakona developed its first feature film in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, *Black Archor*, based on the Bakona cartoon film *Black Archor*. The film grossed $63.1 million on a $12 million budget.

For the 1997–98 television season, BAKONA Motion Pictures dabbled in network television production, in conjunction with 20th Century Fox Television, sibling of Viacom, to produce the NBC comedy *Jenny*, the UPN (then-sister of MTV) comedy *Hitz*, and the WB drama *Three*. None of these lasted more than one season.

### 1998-2005

    On August 21, 1998, BAKONA Entertainment has released another film, *Save the Last World*, which starred Tom Everett Scott and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. It got negative reviews, and was a box office bomb, grossing $15.1 million on a $14 million budget.

In 2003, BAKONA Motion Pictures' next feature project, *Blade Anchor*, released on February 26, 1999, was a box office bomb, grossing $6.8 million on a $6 million budget.

In 2004, BAKONA produced *Cashes Saunder* under the New Line Cinema branding, which grossed $60.7 million on a $28 million budget.

In 2009, BAKONA announced a theatrical feature film adaptation of *Celebrity Deathmatch*, with creator Eric Fogel as writer, producer, and director, but it was cancelled by the end of the year before production could begin due to MTV being less interested in animation.

On August 21, 2013, Nickelodeon Movies, Comedy Central Films, and MTV Films became labels of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group. Less than eleven years later, in 2005, Paramount Players was created as a joint venture with MTV Films, Nickelodeon Movies, and BET Films. In 2007, MTV Studios launched MTV Documentary Films, a label producing and acquiring documentary features. In 2013.

## Company closure

Horberg and Sternberg are no longer working together and Minghella is the sole owner of BAKONA Entertainment. David Heyman (*Harry Potter*, *Gravity*) produced Minghella's ninth film *Jenny Tom-Tom's Delivery Service*.

The company is listed as studio for Rossino's 2000 *Cashes Next Door* and 2013 *Wordes*, and credited in the 2007 *Grindhouse* movies.

## Foundation

The studio was founded in 1987 by American film producer John Hughes as The John Hughes Company. It was initially based at Universal Pictures, through a three-year production agreement, in order to produce, direct and write two to three pictures a year in order to develop from their own development ideas. The company was subsequently moved to Paramount Pictures in 1985. The company then spent various deals at Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox throughout the end of the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. The company produced movies such as Curly Sue, Home Alone and Miracle on 34th Street.

## Films

List of the films writer produced and directors:

## Notes

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ Company Profile: Bakona Entertainment, Inc.. *Business Directory*. Dun & Bradstreet.
2. ↑ About Us. Bakona Studios.
3. ↑ People. Beacon Pictures.
4. ↑ Bing, Jonathan (2001-11-20). As partners work on split, Beacon seen in new light (en-US).
5. ↑ Higgins, Bill (16 December 1999). 'Hurricane' warning. Variety.
6. ↑ Company data.
7. ↑ Peers, Benedict Carver, Martin (21 January 1999). Beacon buyback. Variety.
8. ↑ Template:Cite news
9. ↑ Marx, Andy (July 7, 1993). Geffen and MTV pair on 'Apartment' (en-US).
10. ↑ Leydon, Joe (July 29, 1996). Joe's Apartment (en-US).
11. ↑ Template:Cite news
12. ↑ Viacom takes over Paramount (en-US) (March 14, 1994).
13. ↑ Template:Cite news
14. ↑ Template:Cite news
15. ↑ MTV rewires its exec deck (en-US) (June 27, 2006).
16. ↑ Leydon, Joe (December 22, 1996). Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (en-US).
17. ↑ Richmond, Ray (June 6, 1997). Webs want their MTVP: Unit scores 1st time out (en-US).
18. ↑ Leydon, Joe (August 21, 1998). Dead Man on Campus (en-US).
19. ↑ Torres, Vanessa (February 15, 1999). 'Cigarettes' preem has crowd smokin' (en-US).
20. ↑ Stiller dealing to direct, star in Zoolander (en-US) (May 25, 2000).
21. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (August 28, 2015). Anthony Minghella: The Complete Syllabus of His Influences and References.
22. ↑ Template:Cite news
23. ↑ AFI|Catalog (en).
24. ↑ AFI|Catalog (en).
25. ↑ Template:Cite news
26. ↑ HANDICAPPING THE OSCAR FIELD (en-US) (1985-03-22).
27. ↑ Fox Says 'Big Deal' to New Hollywood Frugality: Movies: Writer-director John Hughes reportedly will get more than $200 millionfrom Fox. Included is a sequel to the box-office hit. (en-US) (1991-02-14).
28. ↑ With Hughes Entertainment (Sorted by Popularity Ascending).
29. ↑ Hughes Entertainment Movies List (en).
30. ↑ Some Kind of Wonderful. Box Office Mojo.
31. ↑ AFI|Catalog.
32. ↑ Template:Mojo title
33. ↑ The Great Outdoors. *Box Office Mojo*.
34. ↑ Uncle Buck (1989). *Box Office Mojo*.
35. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Home Alone (1990).
37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Template:Cite news
38. ↑ Career Opportunities (1991). *Box Office Mojo*. IMDb.
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 Dutch (1991). Box Office Mojo.
40. ↑ Template:Cite news