Malpaso Productions is Clint Eastwood's

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

. It was established in 1967 as The Malpaso Company by Eastwood's financial adviser Irving Leonard for the film '' Hang 'Em High'', using profits from the ''

Dollars Trilogy ''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Weste ...

''. Leonard served as President of the Malpaso Company until his death on December 13, 1969.

Name origins

The name is derived from

Malpaso Creek Malpaso Creek is a small, coastal stream south of Carmel in Monterey County, California, United States. It is generally regarded as the northern border of Big Sur in central coastal California. A low grade bituminous coal deposit was found in up ...

(Spanish for "bad step", or "misstep"), located south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Eastwood had received U.S. Army basic training at nearby

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay of the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...

, where he remained as a lifeguard until discharged in 1953. On December 24, 1967, Eastwood bought five parcels totaling of land along Malpaso Creek from Charles Sawyer. He later added more land until he owned . The land bordered the south bank of Malpaso Creek from the eastern side of Highway 1 to the coastal ridge. He sold it to Monterey County in 1995 for $3.08 million. Near the coast, a trail and later a road ran from Carmel to Big Sur during the 1800s. The creek has very steep side slopes and there was only one crossing (a ford only above sea level) until the Malpaso Creek Bridge was built in 1935 as part of Highway 1.

Founding

When Eastwood agreed to take the role of The Man with No Name in ''

A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...

'' in 1964, his agent told him that it would be a "bad step" for his career. The ''

'' was surprisingly successful. After filming '' Where Eagles Dare'' in 1968, Eastwood grew irritated about the money he considered wasted during these big productions. He wanted more creative control over his films and decided to form his own production company. He thought the choice of "Malpaso" was appropriate. Irving Leonard, Eastwood's financial adviser, organized the company for Eastwood following the success of and using the earnings from the ''Dollars Trilogy''. The first feature they produced was the 1968 film '' Hang 'Em High''. Leonard served as President of the Malpaso Company and associate producer of Eastwood's films from ''Hang 'Em High'' until his death in 1969. Eastwood is known for very tight

shooting schedule A shooting schedule is a project plan of each day's shooting for a film production. It is normally created and managed by the assistant director, who reports to the production manager managing the production schedule The production schedule is a ...

s, finishing his films on schedule and on budget, or earlier and under budget, typically in much less time than most production companies. Few film production companies such as Malpaso Productions have been involved with one studio for releasing its motion pictures.

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...

has served as the distributor of many of Clint Eastwood's produced, directed and starred films, a relationship that has lasted for nearly half a century and resulted in more than 40 features.

Filmography

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

References

{{Authority control 1967 establishments in California American companies established in 1967 Clint Eastwood Companies based in Burbank, California Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1967 Film production companies of the United States