Paramount Vantage
 | |
| Division | |
| Industry | Film |
| Fate | Closed |
| Founded |
May 15, 1998 (as Paramount Classics) June 19, 2006 (as Paramount Vantage) |
| Founders |
David Dinerstein Ruth Vitale |
| Defunct | December 2013 |
Key people |
John Lesher (President) Nick Myer (Co-President) |
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Owner | Viacom |
| Parent | Paramount Pictures |
| Website |
www |
Paramount Vantage (originally known as Paramount Classics) was the specialty film division of Paramount Pictures (which, in turn, has Viacom as its parent company), charged with producing, purchasing, distributing and marketing films, generally those with a more "art house" feel than films made and distributed by its parent company.
Paramount Classics was launched in 1998 and released such art house fare as The Virgin Suicides, You Can Count on Me, Sunshine, Mostly Martha, Winter Solstice, and three Patrice Leconte films (Girl on the Bridge, The Man on the Train, Intimate Strangers). Although film journalist David Poland felt "Ruth Vitale and David Dinerstein have proven to have wonderful taste heading up Paramount Classics",[1] the duo was fired in October 2005.[2]
In 2006, the Paramount Vantage brand branched off from Paramount Classics, which was relaunched in 2007 as a distributor of "smaller, review-driven films including foreign-language acquisitions and documentaries."[3]
In 2007, Paramount Vantage partnered with Disney subsidiary Miramax Films on two of the year's most highly regarded movies, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Both films garnered eight nominations at the Academy Awards, with There Will Be Blood winning the awards for Best Cinematography and Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, while No Country for Old Men won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem, and Best Picture.
Despite its critical success, Paramount Vantage continually failed to deliver the financial returns Paramount Pictures expected. Only No Country for Old Men made a profit, while films that should have generated significant returns failed to deliver through either poor or excessive marketing.[4]
In June 2008, Paramount Pictures consolidated Paramount Vantage’s marketing, distribution, and physical production departments into the parent studio, while retaining the Paramount Vantage brand to develop and acquire specialty product with dedicated creative staff.[5]
The company was entirely shut down in 2013 prior to their last film, Nebraska, released in November 15.
Paramount Classics releases
| Name | Release date | Production company(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Trekkies | March 12, 1999 | |
| Get Real | April 30, 1999 | |
| Cabaret Balkan | July 23, 1999 | |
| The Adventures of Sebastian Cole | August 6, 1999 | co-production with Cuplan Productions LLC |
| Train of Life | November 12, 1999 | |
| Where's Marlowe? | November 12, 1999 | |
| Deterrence | March 10, 2000 | |
| The Virgin Suicides | May 12, 2000 | |
| Passion of Mind | May 26, 2000 | |
| Sunshine | June 9, 2000 | |
| Girl on the Bridge | July 28, 2000 | |
| You Can Count on Me | November 17, 2000 | |
| The Gift | January 19, 2001 | co-production with Lakeshore Entertainment |
| Company Man | March 9, 2001 | co-production with Pathé |
| Savage Souls | May 20, 2001 | co-production with Paramount Pictures |
| Bride of the Wind | June 8, 2001 | |
| An American Rhapsody | August 24, 2001 | |
| Our Lady of the Assassins | September 7, 2001 | |
| My First Mister | October 12, 2001 | |
| Focus | November 2, 2001 | |
| Sidewalks of New York | November 21, 2001 | |
| Mean Machine | February 22, 2002 | |
| Festival in Cannes | March 3, 2002 | |
| The Triumph of Love | May 10, 2002 | |
| The Emperor's New Clothes | June 14, 2002 | |
| Who Is Cletis Tout? | July 26, 2002 | |
| Mostly Martha | August 16, 2002 | |
| Just a Kiss | September 27, 2002 | |
| Bloody Sunday | October 4, 2002 | |
| The Way Home | November 15, 2002 | |
| Till Human Voices Wake Us | February 21, 2003 | |
| House of Fools | April 25, 2003 | |
| The Man on the Train | May 9, 2003 | |
| Northfork | July 11, 2003 | |
| And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen | August 8, 2003 | |
| The Singing Detective | October 24, 2003 | |
| The Machinist | January 18, 2004 | |
| The Reckoning | March 5, 2004 | |
| The United States of Leland | April 2, 2004 | |
| Love Me If You Dare | May 11, 2004 | |
| I'll Sleep When I'm Dead | June 16, 2004 | |
| Intimate Strangers | July 30, 2004 | |
| Mean Creek | August 20, 2004 | |
| Enduring Love | October 29, 2004 | |
| Fade to Black | November 5, 2004 | |
| Schultze Gets the Blues | February 18, 2005 | |
| Winter Solstice | April 8, 2005 | |
| Mad Hot Ballroom | May 13, 2005 | co-production with Nickelodeon Movies and Just One Productions |
| After You... | June 3, 2005 | |
| Hustle & Flow | July 22, 2005 | |
| Asylum | August 12, 2005 | |
| Neil Young: Heart of Gold | February 10, 2006 | |
| Ask the Dust | March 17, 2006 | co-production with Pathé |
| An Inconvenient Truth | May 24, 2006 | |
| Broken Bridges | September 8, 2006 | |
| Arctic Tale | July 25, 2007 | |
| Beneath | August 7, 2007 | |
| The Kite Runner | December 14, 2007 | |
| Shine a Light | April 4, 2008 |
Paramount Vantage releases
| Release date | Film title | Academy Awards and notes |
|---|---|---|
| October 27, 2006 | Babel | US distribution only, co-production with Paramount Pictures, Anonymous Content, Zeta Film and Central Films
|
| January 20, 2007 | Year of the Dog | |
| March 2, 2007 | Black Snake Moan | |
| June 22, 2007 | A Mighty Heart | |
| September 21, 2007 | Into the Wild |
|
| November 9, 2007 | No Country for Old Men |
|
| November 16, 2007 | Margot at the Wedding | |
| December 26, 2007 | There Will Be Blood |
|
| January 25, 2008 | How She Move | |
| February 1, 2008 | The Eye | |
| May 2, 2008 | Son of Rambow | |
| May 30, 2008 | The Foot Fist Way | |
| July 25, 2008 | American Teen | |
| September 19, 2008 | The Duchess |
|
| December 26, 2008 | Revolutionary Road |
|
| December 31, 2008 | Defiance |
|
| August 14, 2009 | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. | |
| August 21, 2009 | The Marc Pease Experience | |
| September 4, 2009 | Carriers | |
| October 2, 2009 | Capitalism: A Love Story | |
| August 8, 2010 | Middle Men | |
| September 24, 2010 | Waiting for "Superman" | |
| October 1, 2010 | Case 39 | |
| October 28, 2011 | Like Crazy | |
| March 16, 2012 | Jeff, Who Lives at Home | co-production with Indian Paintbrush |
| December 21, 2012 | Not Fade Away | |
| November 15, 2013 | Nebraska | co-production with Filmnation Entertainment
|