Castle Hill Productions
Industry
| Film
,
television
|
---|
Founded
| 1978
; 46 years ago
(
1978
)
|
---|
Founder
| Julian Schlossberg
|
---|
Defunct
| 2009
; 15 years ago
(
2009
)
|
---|
Fate
| Sold to Westchester Films (later purchased by Shout! Factory)
|
---|
Successor
| Westchester Films
|
---|
Headquarters
| New York City, New York
|
---|
Castle Hill Productions
was an independent television and film distribution company handling classic and independent films whose library spans eight decades.
History
[
edit
]
Founded in 1978 by
Julian Schlossberg
, Castle Hill Productions revived and restored over 200 classic motion pictures, many of which were originally
United Artists
releases and inherited from the family and/or estates of the films' original producers under the Caidin Film Company.
As the company grew, Castle Hill acquired the rights to many films by
John Cassavetes
, such as
Faces
and
A Woman Under the Influence
. Both Schlossberg and
Gena Rowlands
(Cassavetes' widow), through their company,
Faces Distribution
, have worked hard to revive the films for today's audiences in order for them to better appreciate the late director's work.
Castle Hill also bought the rights to many of the films of
Elia Kazan
and
Orson Welles
. In addition to their classic films, the company also distributed contemporary films (usually up to ten a year), and has been involved in in-house production, creating
documentaries
on filmmakers and news events.
The highest grossing contemporary film distributed by Castle Hill Productions was
Left Luggage
, bringing in $1,113,208.
[1]
Closure and holdings
[
edit
]
In 2009, Castle Hill closed. Most of their holdings sold to another independent company,
Westchester Films
, managed by Schlossberg.
Most distribution rights to the Castle Hill library are handled by either
Warner Bros.
,
Criterion
(via
Janus Films
), or
Image Entertainment
.
In 2014, the Westchester/Castle Hill holdings were purchased by entertainment distribution company
Shout! Factory
.
[2]
Key distributed films of Castle Hill
[
edit
]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]