Task 2.2 (Production Company Background)

In this task I have decided to look at the production companies Paramount and MGM films, I have chosen these two companies as I feel they are a big part of the film industry and their logos have developed as time has gone on. In this task I will give a brief history on each company and discuss how their logos have changed.



The first production company I am going to look at is Paramount. The company consists of several film labels including Paramount Pictures, MTV film, Nikelodeon movies, Paramount Vantage and Paramount Classics.

In June 1916 The Jesse L. Lasky Company merged with the famous players to form the Famous players - Lasky Corporation, this inturn produced the 'Paramount Pictures' label. Paramount had previously been owned by Gulf +Western, however it is now currently owned by Viacom.

Over the years the logo has changed significantly. One obvious change is the use of colour, the first logo lacked colour and was black and white. It then changed to a blue colour especially from the year 1975-1987. The logo then uses natural colours which wouuld normally be associated with mountains to its present date logo.

Another change which has been made to the logo over time is the size of the writing and what the writing says. In the first logo it states 'A Paramount Picture' and the text takes up a lot of the space in the logo the text then gets smaller and from 1975-1987 the stars are more clear and the text says A Gulf -Western company. The most recent logo has the starts very small around the text and the mountain is the main feature, which everyone now recognises as the "Paramount" production company.



Founded in 1924, MGM films (Metro Goldwyn Mayer studio) is the second company I am going to look at. 1924 was when Marcus Loew gained control of Metro pictures, Goldwyn pictures corporation and Louis B. Mayer pictures which then became Metro Goldwyn Myer.

MGM has many different owners including Quadrangle Group, Sony Corporation of America and Comcast.

Throughout the years the logo has stayed almost the same however the most obvious change is the colour, the first logo is very musty in colour and then over the years becomes more vibrant and the last logo has brighter colours of gold. The lion used in the logo is also refferred to as 'Leo the Lion'.

Paramount and MGM have co produced the film Yours, Mine and ours (2005)