MPI Media Group is an American producer, distributor and licensor of theatrical film and home entertainment. MPI's subsidiaries include MPI Pictures, MPI Home Video, Gorgon Video, and the horror film distributor Dark Sky Films. The company is located in Orland Park, Illinois, and was founded in 1976 by brothers Malik & Waleed Ali.MPI website: ''About MPI Media Group''
Retrieved 2012-12-03 MPI also owns the stock footage archive WPA Film Library, which offers one of the industry's largest collections of music performances, newsreels, political coverage and pop culture footage and the British Pathe Newsreel Archive. The company was originally started in 1976 as Maljack Productions, Inc. The company branched out into video distribution in 1983. One of the first titles,

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' movie '' A Hard Day's Night'', which honored the movie's 20th anniversary was an instant best seller on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Videocassette Top 40. Maljack had branched out into the vintage TV show genre with ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...

'' serving as one of the first titles to come out of the MPI Home Video label. They eventually became a leader in the vintage television show industry, along with

Paramount Home Video Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, originally Paramount Home Video, and operating as the namesake film studio since 2022) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures. The division oversees Para ...

. In 1984, Maljack introduced the Gorgon Video line. In 1985, Maljack released a series of videocassettes featuring the lost episodes of the vintage

Jackie Gleason Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed a style and characters from growin ...

TV show ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It f ...

''. Maljack also released shows via licensing agreements with such distributors like

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

, as well as ''

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...

''. In 1986, Maljack Productions, Inc. (MPI) released the David Selznick-produced

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

documentary ''Reagan's Way'', which was originally commissioned for French TV. Also, in 1986, Doc Projects Inc. had signed a deal with Maljack Productions in order to release its first documentary, ''Great Crimes of the Century''. In 1987, Maljack Productions, Inc. was officially shortened to MPI. In 1987,

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

's Honker Home Video had signed a distribution deal with MPI in order to release their titles on videocassette.

MPI Home Video releases

Film & documentaries

* ''Reagans' Way'' (1986) *''Dark Shadows: Behind the Scenes'' (made in 1991 & released in 2001) * ''Dark Shadows 30th Anniversary Tribute'' (made in 1996 & released in 2001) * ''

Catfight Catfight (also girl fight) is a term for an altercation between two women, often characterized as involving scratching, shoving, slapping, choking, punching, kicking, wrestling, biting, spitting, hair-pulling, and shirt-shredding. It can also be ...

'' (2016) * '' Reunion'' (2020) * ''Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story'' (2021) *Other films here (https://mpimedia.com/productions/)

TV series

* ''

A Touch of Frost ''A Touch of Frost'' is a British television detective mystery drama series starring David Jason produced by Yorkshire Television (later ITV Studios) for ITV from 6 December 1992 until 5 April 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. ...

'' * ''

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, which h ...

'' * ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

'' * '' The Big Easy'' * ''

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' is the final set of twelve (out of a total of fifty-six) Sherlock Holmes short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle first published in the ''Strand Magazine'' between October 1921 and April 1927. T ...

'' * ''

The Cisco Kid The Cisco Kid is a fictional character found in numerous film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way", published in ''Everybody's Maga ...

'' * '' Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters'' * ''

Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American Gothic fiction, Gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulatio ...

'' * ''

The Doris Day Show ''The Doris Day Show'' is an American sitcom which was originally broadcast on CBS from September 1968 until March 1973, remaining on the air for five seasons and 128 episodes. The series is remembered for its multiple format and cast chang ...

'' * ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her Pediatrics, pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage childr ...

'' * ''

Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempt ...

'' * ''

The Girls Next Door ''The Girls Next Door'' (also known as ''The Girls of the Playboy Mansion'') is a reality television series which focused on the lives of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends who lived with him at the Playboy Mansion. The series was created by executive ...

'' * ''

Here's Lucy ''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's third ...

'' * '' The Color Honeymooners'' * ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is an 1897 science fiction novel by British writer H. G. Wells. Originally serialised in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a s ...

'' * ''

The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British television sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, created, written, and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in th ...

'' * ''

My Favorite Martian ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. ''My Favorite Martian'' was th ...

'' * ''

My Living Doll ''My Living Doll'' is an American science-fiction sitcom starring Bob Cummings and Julie Newmar. The series was aired on CBS from September 27, 1964, to March 17, 1965. It was produced by Jack Chertok and filmed at Desilu studios by Jack Cherto ...

'' * ''

Petticoat Junction ''Petticoat Junction'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley; her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, an ...

'' * '' Pulling'' * '' The Rich Little Show'' * ''

The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the ''Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' ...

'' * ''

The Mothers-in-Law ''The Mothers-in-Law'' is an American sitcom featuring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as two women who were friends and next-door neighbors until their children's elopement made them in-laws. The show aired on NBC television from September 1967 to ...

'' * ''

The Vice Vice is a stock character of the medieval morality plays. While the main character of these plays was representative of every human being (and usually named Mankind, Everyman, or some other generalizing of humanity at large), the other character ...

'' * Lucille Ball TV specials

References

External links

Official site

MPI Home Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:MPI Media Group Home video companies of the United States Companies based in Cook County, Illinois Orland Park, Illinois 1976 establishments in Illinois