Universal Pictures
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Film |
| Founded | April 30, 1912 (as Universal Film Manufacturing Company) |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters |
Universal City, California, United States Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
|
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Revenue |
 US$4.239 billion (2011) |
|
US$27 million (2011) |
|
| Owner | Comcast |
| Parent | NBCUniversal |
| Divisions | |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | universalpictures |
Universal Studios (known professionally as Universal Pictures and also simply referred to as Universal) is an American film studio owned by Comcast through the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. The company was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour, and is the 2nd oldest surviving film studio in the United States, the world's fourth oldest after Gaumont, Pathé and Nordisk Film, and the oldest in terms of the overall film market. Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City. Universal Studios is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" studios.
Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the day's takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition, and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.
...
Wikipedia