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BAKONA (company)

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Not to be confused with Bakona Pictures

Bakona, Inc.
IndustryFilm
GenreVarious
FoundedAugust 1998
FoundersAnthony Minghella
DefunctDecember 2002
FateLiquidated
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, U.S.
ProductsMotion pictures
OwnerAnthony Minghella (1956–1974)
Viacom (64%) (MTV Networks) (1992–1993–1998–present)
CBS (1987–1990)
Paramount Global (2006–2010)
MTV Entertainment Group (2010–present)
DivisionsBakona Pictures
Imperium Entertainment
T.J. Entertainment
New Regency
Websitewww.bakona.com

Bakona (stylized as BAKONA) (aka BAKONA Motion Pictures, LLC.[1] or BAKONA Entertainment, Inc.) is an American film and television production and international sales company founded in August 1998 by Anthony Minghella,[2] who is also its chairman.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6][7]

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.[8] MTV then signed a two-picture deal with Geffen Pictures to start making motion pictures afterwards.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11]

Shortly after Viacom bought out Paramount Pictures. Paramount began to distribute material from MTV and Nickelodeon.[12] Shortly after The Arsenio Hall Show was cancelled, Paramount began distributing and producing MTV's The Jon Stewart Show for the syndication market.[13]

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.[14] By 1995, David Gale was named head of Bakona Studios.[15]

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.[16]

For the 1997–98 television season, BAKONA Motion Pictures Group 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.[17]

1998-2005[]

Bakona Motion Pictures Logo

Bakona Motion Pictures Logo 1998 Wordmark
Bakona Studios Logo Print
BAKONA Logo 1998 Wordmark Print
BAKONA Motion Pictures 1998 logo original.

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.[18]

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.[19]

In 2004, BAKONA produced Cashes Saunder under the New Line Cinema branding, which grossed $60.7 million on a $28 million budget.[20]

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.[21] David Heyman (Harry Potter, Gravity) produced Minghella's ninth film Jenny Tom-Tom's Delivery Service.[22]

The company is listed as studio for Rossino's 2000 Cashes Next Door and 2013 Wordes,[23][24] 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.[25] The company was subsequently moved to Paramount Pictures in 1985.[26] 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.[27] The company produced movies such as Curly Sue, Home Alone and Miracle on 34th Street.

Films[]

List of the films writer produced and directors:[28][29]

Title Director Distributor Co-production companies Budget Gross
Revolt January 23, 1992 Howard Deutch Paramount Pictures co-production with SKG Films / R7 Pictures $18.5 Million[30]
Harriet Crash July 24, 1993 John Hughes Miramax Films co-production with Epsilon Motion Pictures / Furthur Films $30 Million $49.5 Million
Save the Last World September 20, 1998 John Hughes Columbia Pictures co-production with Revolution Studios $20 Million[31] $16 Million (domestic)[32]
Program Check August 20, 1999 Howard Deutch Paramount Pictures co-production with Latham Entertainment / 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks $24 Million $43.4 Million[33]
Dream Carbon October 20, 2000 John Hughes co-production with Bakugo Media / Blind Wink Productions / Barbon Entertainment / American Empirical Pictures / VH6 Films $64 Million $45.6 Million
Bayond Board January 13, 2002 co-production with Bakugo Media / Xing Xing Digital, Carbon Motion Pictures / VH6 Films $37 Million $14.3 Million[34]
Cannon One August 13, 2002 Bryan Gordon $31 Million $11.3 Million[34]
Blade Anchor October 4, 2003 Peter Faiman N/A $17 Million $4.6 Million[35]
Carbon BLUE January 16, 2004 Chris Columbus 20th Century Fox co-production with Davis Entertainment / Xing Xing Digital / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures $29 Million $5.6 Million[35]
Team ROLLIN October 19, 2007 Nick Castle Fox Searchlight Pictures co-production with Dune Entertainment / Fox 2000 Pictures / ITI Cinema / Bagdasarian Productions $64 Million $12.6 Million[35]
Delivery Squad December 15, 2013 Paramount Pictures Skydance Productions $35 Million $117.2 Million

Notes[]

  1. ↑ "Company Profile: Bakona Entertainment, Inc". Business Directory. Dun & Bradstreet. {{cite web}}:
  2. ↑ "About Us". Bakona Studios. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2015. {{cite web}}:
  3. ↑ "People". Beacon Pictures. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015. {{cite web}}:
  4. ↑ Bing, Jonathan (2001-11-20). "As partners work on split, Beacon seen in new light". Variety. Retrieved 2021-06-28. {{cite web}}:
  5. ↑ Higgins, Bill (16 December 1999). "'Hurricane' warning". Variety. {{cite web}}:
  6. ↑ "Company data". sec.gov. Retrieved 1 June 2023. {{cite web}}:
  7. ↑ Peers, Benedict Carver, Martin (21 January 1999). "Beacon buyback". Variety. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "MTV launches production unit". Broadcasting. May 10, 1993. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/93-OCR/BC-1993-05-10-OCR-Page-0025.pdf. 
  9. ↑ Marx, Andy (July 7, 1993). "Geffen and MTV pair on 'Apartment'". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  10. ↑ Leydon, Joe (July 29, 1996). "Joe's Apartment". Variety. Retrieved October 8, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  11. ↑ "Viacom's 'Real Time' tackles access". Broadcasting. August 16, 1993. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/93-OCR/BC-1993-08-16-Page-0025.pdf. 
  12. ↑ "Viacom takes over Paramount". Variety. Reuters. March 14, 1994. Retrieved October 7, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  13. ↑ "Paramount folds Arsenio Hall Show". Broadcasting. April 25, 1994. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/94-OCR/BC-1994-04-25-Page-0028.pdf. 
  14. ↑ "In Brief". Broadcasting. November 14, 1994. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/94-OCR/BC-1994-11-14-Page-0092.pdf. 
  15. ↑ Gardner, Chris; McNary, Dave (June 27, 2006). "MTV rewires its exec deck". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  16. ↑ Leydon, Joe (December 22, 1996). "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America". Variety. Retrieved October 8, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  17. ↑ Richmond, Ray (June 6, 1997). "Webs want their MTVP: Unit scores 1st time out". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  18. ↑ Leydon, Joe (August 21, 1998). "Dead Man on Campus". Variety. Retrieved October 8, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  19. ↑ Torres, Vanessa (February 15, 1999). "'Cigarettes' preem has crowd smokin'". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2021. {{cite web}}:
  20. ↑ Fleming, Ann Donahue, Michael; Donahue, Ann; Fleming, Michael (May 25, 2000). "Stiller dealing to direct, star in Zoolander". Variety. Retrieved October 11, 2021. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (August 28, 2015). "Anthony Minghella: The Complete Syllabus of His Influences and References". Vulture. Retrieved August 15, 2019. {{cite web}}:
  22. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 14, 2017). "Bidding Heats on Quentin Tarantino Script As David Heyman Boards As Producer". Deadline Hollywood. https://deadline.com/2017/11/quentin-tarantino-movie-bidding-david-heyman-producer-margot-robbie-tom-cruise-brad-pitt-leonaro-dicaprio-1202208169/. 
  23. ↑ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018. {{cite web}}:
  24. ↑ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018. {{cite web}}:
  25. ↑ Greenberg, James (1984-04-18). "U Signs Hughes To 3-Year Pact for Medium-Cost Comedies". Variety: p. 8. 
  26. ↑ "HANDICAPPING THE OSCAR FIELD". Los Angeles Times. 1985-03-22. Retrieved 2022-01-06. {{cite web}}:
  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". Los Angeles Times. 1991-02-14. Retrieved 2022-01-06. {{cite web}}:
  28. ↑ "With Hughes Entertainment (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-05-14. {{cite web}}:
  29. ↑ "Hughes Entertainment Movies List". Ranker. Retrieved 2020-05-14. {{cite web}}:
  30. ↑ "Some Kind of Wonderful". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-03-22. {{cite web}}:
  31. ↑ "AFI|Catalog". {{cite web}}:
  32. ↑ BAKONA (company) at Box Office Mojo
  33. ↑ "The Great Outdoors". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 25, 2008. {{cite web}}:
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Career Opportunities (1991)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 6, 2011. {{cite web}}:
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 "Dutch (1991)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 2, 2009. {{cite web}}:
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