Davis Entertainment (also known as Davis Entertainment Company) is an American
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
production company, founded by
John Davis in 1984.
Davis's three divisions–feature film, independent film, and television–develop and produce film and television projects for the major studios, independent distributors, networks and cable broadcasters. The company itself has enjoyed a long-standing first-look production deal at
20th Century Studios
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, although it also produces projects for all studios and mini-majors.
History
The company was founded in 1984 by filmmaker
John Davis and it was incorporated in
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
on December 2, 1985. The company was officially established on May 21, 1986, in order to produce mid-to-high budget action films that were financed entirely by a studio, starting with ''
Predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill t ...
'', a co-production with
Lawrence Gordon Productions and
Silver Pictures
Silver Pictures is an American film production company founded by Hollywood producer Joel Silver in 1980. The Silver Pictures logo, also called The Chip, is modeled on a block pattern that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the exteriors of the ...
, and a series of other films that were planned for release by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
. It was decided that it would be done independently with co-investors, and it would help anticipate the expansion of telefilms and sitcoms.
On February 18, 1987, Davis Entertainment partnered with
Mark L. Lester of his Mark Lester Films company in order to handle the development of action-adventure films which were produced by the company, directed by Mark L. Lester, and it was independently financed by the two companies. The films that were made by the Lester/Davis alliance had ranked in the $5–10 million range, and would expect the co-venture to handle the production of two films before the yearend.
In 1994, it launched its first foray into interactive games, and launched Catapult Entertainment, Inc. to produce its interactive video games. That same year, Davis Entertainment Company signed a production deal with
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
to develop feature films.
In 1995, Davis Entertainment launched its art-house division Davis Entertainment Classics, which was subsequently renamed Davis Entertainment Filmworks in 2002. In 1998, Davis Entertainment struck a deal with
20th Century Fox Television to produce television shows for its networks, both broadcast and cable.
In 2007, Michael Dorman joined its television division. At the same time, they signed a development pact with Fox Television Studios to produce series for television.
In 2011, John Fox, a former employee of 20th Century Fox, joined the company.
In 2013, it signed a deal with
Sony Pictures Television to develop television shows for platforms, broadcast, cable and streaming.
Filmography
Theatrical films
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Upcoming
Direct-to-video films
1990s
2000s
Television movies
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Television series
2010s
2020s
Highest-grossing films
References
Further reading
*
External links
Box office grosses for Davis Entertainment releases(The Numbers)
{{Authority control
Mass media companies established in 1984
Film production companies of the United States
Television production companies of the United States
American independent film studios
Companies based in Nevada