Mutual Film Company, LLC is an American film

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

based in Hollywood, California. The company was initially founded by financer Gary Levinsohn in 1989 as Classico Entertainment, before combining with

The Mark Gordon Company The Mark Gordon Company (formerly The Meledandri/Gordon Company) is an American production company owned by Mark Gordon. It is notable for their output, including feature films, like ''Speed'', many of Roland Emmerich's films Gordon produced lik ...

in 1995 to form Cloud Nine Entertainment. Mutual is a film financier that was involved in the co-production of feature films. Mutual notably co-produced and financed several feature films for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

and

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

History

Classico Entertainment

In 1989, following the shutdown of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Gary Levinsohn launched his own company Classico Entertainment and it served as a sales agent of Dino de Laurentiis Communications. In 1994, Classico signed a deal with Atlas Entertainment, whereas Classico could finance films for the company.

Mutual Film Company

In 1995, film producers Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn decided to merge their own companies into Cloud Nine Entertainment, a production company that would be involved in the co-production and financing of feature films. The company opened its office at

Raleigh Studios Raleigh Studios is a studio facility located in Hollywood, Los Angeles and has been under the ownership of Raleigh Enterprises since 1979. The location has been active since 1915. Before Raleigh, the studio was run by the Famous Players Film Comp ...

on Melrose Avenue near the

lot in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

. Following Cloud Nine's establishment, the company created an international sales division, and finalized a multi-year equity partnership with four companies — the United Kingdom's

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, Germany's Tele-München, Japan's Toho-Towa/ Marubeni and France's UGC-PH. These four companies financed 60% (15% each) of the films' budgets, in exchange for distribution rights in their respective territories and equity stakes in the films on a worldwide basis. The company's first film under the new regime was 1997's '' The Relic''. Eighteen months after forming Cloud Nine, Gordon and Levinsohn renamed the company to Mutual Film Company. The new name was meant to reflect the joint venture and the profits it would share with its international investors. Mutual notably financed films for

and

. On several occasions, films developed by Mutual, such as ''

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller ( Tom Hanks) ...

'' (1998) and '' The Patriot'' (2000), were financed by major studios. In 2000, three of Mutual's partners, Tele Munchen Gruppe,

, and

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

, negotiated with a banking consortium led by Union Bank of California and secured a $200 million revolving credit line that would allow Mutual to produce and finance films without approval from a major film studio. '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'', released in 2001, became the second highest-grossing film produced by Mutual (after ''Saving Private Ryan''), while its sequel, subtitled '' The Cradle of Life'', underperformed. Mutual's investors left the company, citing the poor box office performances of the many films produced. In September 2000, Gordon left Mutual to relaunch his own company, the Mark Gordon Company. Film producer Don Granger joined the company, working alongside Levinsohn.

Filmography

Mutual Film Company has produced 21 films. Of these, only two of them, ''Blue Ice'' and ''The Ripper'' were

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

productions. Note that in some cases the distributor or distributors are also co-producers. The box office column reflects the worldwide gross for the theatrical release of the films in

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

s. ¹ Released as a made-for-television film
² Uncredited

References

{{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1989 Film production companies of the United States