Trimark Pictures
Trimark Pictures was an American[1] production company that specialized in the production and distribution of television and home video motion pictures.[2] The company was formed in 1984 by Mark Amin as Vidmark Entertainment with Vidmark Inc. (later Trimark Holdings Inc.) established as the holding company.[3] As a small studio, Trimark produced and released theatrical, independent, television and home video motion pictures. The logo features a triangle with a profile of a tiger's head.
Formerly | Vidmark Entertainment (1984–1989) |
---|---|
Type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Film |
Founded | August 1984 (as Vidmark Entertainment) June 23, 1989 (as Trimark Pictures) |
Founder | Mark Amin |
Defunct | March 12, 2001 |
Fate | Merged with Lionsgate |
Successor | Lionsgate Films (Lionsgate Entertainment) |
Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, |
Key people | Mark Amin (Chairman & CEO) |
Products | Motion Pictures |
Parent | Vidmark, Inc. (1985–1995) Trimark Holdings (1995–2000) Lionsgate (2000–2001) |
Divisions | Trimark Interactive[1] Trimark Television Kidmark Entertainment Trimark Home Video |
Subsidiaries | CinemaNow (formerly) Trimark Ultra Sports |
Among the company's many releases are Peter Jackson's 1992 film Dead Alive, which they chose to release theatrically due to Jackson's possessing a following.[4] They are well known for releasing films considered to be controversial for the time period, as in the case with the 1999 film Better Than Chocolate, as some newspapers refused to carry advertisements for the film that featured the word "lesbian" as part of a critic blurb.[5]
Background
Vidmark Entertainment was formed in August 1984 and began operating as a domestic home video distributor in early 1985. In April 1986, Vidmark Entertainment signed a deal with ABC Video Enterprises, to distribute six titles on videocassette.[6] In 1987, Vidmark began distributing and sub-licensing motion pictures for international distribution. That year, the company entered theatrical distribution and production with the acquisition of four films and completion of its first in-house productions, namely American Gothic, That's Adequate, Silent Memory and Born of Fire.[7]
Vidmark Entertainment entered motion picture production in 1988 with the feature Demonwarp.
Trimark picked up its first film, Warlock, a 1989 film starring Julian Sands which was a major theatrical hit with fans of such films. Trimark eventually made the sequel Warlock: The Armageddon in 1993. Trimark also saw success in other familiar film series the studio produced and distributed. Leprechaun, released in 1993 starring a young Jennifer Aniston and Warwick Davis as the sinister leprechaun grossed over $10 million during its theatrical run. One theatrical sequel and four direct to video sequels eventually followed. Other Trimark productions included The Dentist, a major hit on HBO, Return of the Living Dead III and Pinocchio's Revenge. Trimark also made the dramatic Eve's Bayou, starring Samuel L. Jackson, which received critical acclaim. Trimark also released the miniseries Storm of the Century on home video. On June 29, 1990, Vidmark Entertainment began trading on NASDAQ with the ticker symbol VDMK.[8]
On December 31, 1991, Vidmark acquired International Broadcast Systems, Ltd. for $1.6 million and renamed the company as Trimark Television. In June 1992, Vidmark, Inc. changed its name to Trimark Holdings, Inc. to reflect Trimark's diversification of its distribution streams. In March 1993, the company formed Trimark Interactive to expand into the emerging market for interactive software and multimedia. Trimark Interactive's assets were sold to Graphix Zone in March 1997.
In 2000, Trimark merged with Lions Gate Entertainment in which Amin became the single largest shareholder. In 2001, Mark Amin founded Sobini Films, and is its CEO.
In late 2017, Lionsgate launched a channel for Roku streaming players using the Vidmark name and a modified variant of their late 1980s logo, with Lionsgate-owned movies, including some from the original Vidmark and Trimark, amongst the selection.[9]
List of distributed movies
Theatrical
Release Date | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
May 12, 1989 | Going Overboard | |
September 24, 1989 | A Fool and His Money | |
November 17, 1989 | High Stakes | |
July 14, 1990 | Solar Crisis | |
September 29, 1990 | Backstreet Dreams | |
November 2, 1990 | Frankenstein Unbound | Co-production, Co-distributor and Co-financer with 20th Century Fox |
January 11, 1991 | Warlock | Originally released in 1989. Co-distributed with New World Pictures. |
May 1991 | Servants of Twilight | |
June 14, 1991 | Kickboxer 2 | theatrical distribution only |
October 4, 1991 | Whore | |
October 18, 1991 | Dolly Dearest | |
November 15, 1991 | And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird | |
January 31, 1992 | Into the Sun | |
May 20, 1992 | The Psychic | USA distribution only |
January 8, 1993 | Leprechaun | |
February 12, 1993 | Dead Alive | USA distribution only |
September 24, 1993 | Warlock: The Armageddon | |
October 8, 1993 | Deadfall | |
October 29, 1993 | Return of the Living Dead III | limited release |
November 12, 1993 | Philadelphia Experiment II | |
November 24, 1993 | Cyborg 2 | |
January 14, 1994 | Death Wish V: The Face of Death | |
February 25, 1994 | Silent Tongue | |
April 8, 1994 | Leprechaun 2 | |
May 11, 1994 | Return to Two Moon Junction | |
May 13, 1994 | Trading Mom | |
September 21, 1994 | Criminal Passion | |
October 28, 1994 | Frank and Jesse | |
November 23, 1994 | Love and a .45 | |
December 5, 1994 | The Stoned Age | |
December 9, 1994 | Federal Hill | |
January 10, 1995 | Payback | |
January 19, 1995 | Night of the Running Man | |
April 21, 1995 | Swimming with Sharks | |
June 27, 1995 | Heatseeker | |
August 11, 1995 | A Kid in King Arthur's Court | North American theatrical distribution only; produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Tapestry Films; handled international and North American home video rights |
September 8, 1995 | Separate Lives | USA distribution only |
October 6, 1995 | Kicking and Screaming | |
October 25, 1995 | The Doom Generation | USA distribution only |
February 10, 1996 | Evolver | co-production with A Band Apart |
August 1996 | Crimetime | |
October 18, 1996 | The Dentist | |
January 31, 1997 | Meet Wally Sparks | |
February 28, 1997 | Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love | |
April 25, 1997 | Nothing Personal | USA distribution only |
May 2, 1997 | Ripe | |
May 16, 1997 | Sprung | |
July 25, 1997 | Box of Moonlight | |
September 10, 1997 | First Love, Last Rites | |
November 7, 1997 | Eve's Bayou | |
January 16, 1998 | Star Kid | |
January 24, 1998 | The Curve | |
March 13, 1998 | Chairman of the Board | |
April 17, 1998 | Chinese Box | |
July 24, 1998 | Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss | |
August 21, 1998 | Carnival of Souls | limited release |
September 4, 1998 | Phoenix | produced by Lakeshore Entertainment |
September 11, 1998 | Cube | |
September 18, 1998 | Trance / The Eternal | retitled for DVD release |
October 7, 1998 | Slam | |
December 11, 1998 | The Dentist 2 | |
December 30, 1998 | Another Day in Paradise | |
May 28, 1999 | Twice Upon a Yesterday | |
July 18, 1999 | Flypaper | |
August 13, 1999 | Better Than Chocolate | |
September 17, 1999 | Romance | |
October 15, 1999 | Joe the King | |
February 18, 2000 | Beautiful People | |
April 21, 2000 | The Last September | |
May 12, 2000 | Held Up | |
July 11, 2000 | History Is Made at Night | |
October 12, 2000 | Faust: Love of the Damned | |
January 2001 | Skipped Parts |
Direct-to-video
Release Date | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
March 18, 1988 | Demonwarp | |
November 30, 1988 | Body Beat | |
February 9, 1990 | The Sleeping Car | |
June 6, 1990 | The Amityville Curse | |
September 15, 1990 | Spirits | distribution only; produced by Cinema Group |
September 26, 1990 | Mob Boss | produced by American Independent |
April 17, 1991 | Black Magic Woman | |
December 1, 1991 | All-American Murder | |
September 27, 1993 | Thunder in Paradise | |
November 2, 1994 | Dangerous Touch | |
November 9, 1994 | Hong Kong '97 | |
June 27, 1995 | Leprechaun 3 | |
March 12, 1996 | True Crime | |
June 18, 1996 | Two Guys Talkin' About Girls | |
September 3, 1996 | Sometimes They Come Back... Again | |
October 7, 1996 | Pinocchio's Revenge | |
February 25, 1997 | Leprechaun 4: In Space | |
October 29, 1997 | Trucks | |
July 28, 1998 | A Kid in Aladdin's Palace | |
April 27, 1999 | King Cobra | |
September 7, 1999 | Sometimes They Come Back... for More | |
October 12, 1999 | Warlock III: The End of Innocence | |
December 27, 1999 | Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying | |
March 2, 2000 | Cut | |
March 28, 2000 | Leprechaun in the Hood | |
May 23, 2000 | Cord | |
October 17, 2000 | Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th | |
December 5, 2000 | The Sr. Francisville Experiment | |
March 13, 2001 | Killer Bud | |
May 13, 2001 | Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal | |
June 26, 2001 | Blood Surf |
- After Alice
- After the Storm (2001)
- American Kickboxer 2
- At First Sight
- Atomic Train
- Attraction
- Blink of an Eye (1992)
- The Bogus Witch Project
- Cabin Pressure
- Christy: The Movie
- Curse of the Starving Class
- Diplomatic Siege
- Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion
- Faust: Love Of The Damned
- Fear of Flying
- Frankenstein and Me
- Freefall
- Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood (a.k.a. The River Pirates)
- Happiness
- Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows
- Interceptor (1992)
- An Invited Guest
- Kids
- The Landlady
- Let the Devil Wear Black
- Love Is a Gun
- Mutiny
- NetForce
- The Perfect Tenant
- Prototype (1992 film)
- Route 666
- Running Free (1994)
- Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists
- The Sex Monster
- Servants of Twilight
- The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
- South of Heaven, West of Hell
- The Stepdaughter
- Tail Lights Fade
- Treehouse Hostage
- What's Cooking?
- XChange
- Zigs
List of distributed video games
Release Date | Title | Platform | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | National Lampoon's Blind Date | Windows, Mac OS | |
November 23, 1994 | Air Havoc Controller | Windows | |
1995 | The Hive | Windows, PlayStation | |
1995 | White Men Can't Jump | Jaguar | |
Cancelled | Warlock | Jaguar |
References
- "MobyGames Profile-Trimark Interactive".
- Jeffrey, Don (May 30, 1992). "Vidmark reports strong sales in 3rd qtr, but profits down, a third, are weak". Billboard (p 51). Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- Levison, Louise (2013). Filmmakers and Financing: Business Plans for Independents. Focal Press. p. 120. ISBN 9780240820996.
- Konow, Peter (2012). Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred-Year History of Classic Horror Films. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 479. ISBN 9780312668839.
- Jenni Olson, Bruce Vilanch (2004). The Queer Movie Poster Book. Chronicle Books. p. 122. ISBN 9780811842617.
- "Vidmark Acquires Six ABC Telefilms; Eyes 'Moonlighting'". Variety. 1986-04-02. p. 39.
- Bierbaum, Tom (1987-08-12). "HV Outfit Vidmark On Theatrical Scene With Pickups, In-Houser". Variety. pp. 20, 22.
- "Vidmark stock trading". Variety. 1990-07-04. p. 6.
- "Vidmark | Movies & TV | Roku Channel Store". Roku. Retrieved February 22, 2018.