SCREEN GEMS BACK AS SONY FILM LABEL.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer Sony Pictures Entertainment announced Monday that it is dusting off the Screen Gems See Legato. See also GEMMS. name to create a new label for distributing low- and midbudget movies. Sony, which has registered middle-of-the pack performance at the box office this year after dominating in 1997, said Screen Gems is designed to market those films more effectively. ``Screen Gems will provide a haven for a type of film that falls between those currently released by our highly valued Sony Pictures Classics and the wide-release movies that are more traditionally developed and released by Columbia Pictures,'' said John Calley, the studio's chairman and chief executive officer, in written comments. ``By creating a new label with a targeted marketing capability for movies that fall into this in-between category, we are in a unique position among the larger studios,'' said Calley, who has been credited with reviving the movie business at the Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. studio in recent years. ``We were convinced that these movies have not had the concentrated marketing efforts needed to capture their full potential in the past.'' Two of Sony's rivals have registered strong performance in specialized spe·cial·ize v. spe·cial·ized, spe·cial·iz·ing, spe·cial·iz·es v.intr. 1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study. 2. distribution operations aimed mostly at the youth market: Disney's Miramax and Time Warner's New Line Cinema. The move comes when studios are trying to control costs by focusing on two types of films: pricey Pricey Term used for an unrealistically low bid price or unrealistically high offer price. pricey Of, relating to, or being an unrealistically high offer. An offer to sell a security at $50 when the current market price is $47 is pricey. potential blockbusters, with high-price stars, that can draw mass audiences; and low-budget films aimed at a specific audience, such as teen-agers. Despite being inexpensive to make, genre films such as low-brow comedies and slasher-horror films can be hugely profitable. Projects such as Miramax's ``Scream'' films, Disney's ``The Waterboy'' and 20th Century Fox's ``There's Something About Mary'' have become hits. But some analysts say the horror market may have become glutted glut v. glut·ted, glut·ting, gluts v.tr. 1. To fill beyond capacity, especially with food; satiate. 2. To flood (a market) with an excess of goods so that supply exceeds demand. . ``Urban Legend'' and ``I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,'' two of Sony's most recent horror films horror film n → película de terror or miedo horror film horror n → film m d'épouvante horror film horror n , grossed an adequate $36 million each, while ``Apt Pupil'' managed only $8.5 million. Screen Gems is expected to become operational over the next six months. It will acquire and market films for a broader audience than that attracted by the Classics art-house fare, such as ``Central Station'' and ``Dancing at Lughnasa Dancing at Lughnasa (see also Lughnasa, the ancient pagan ritual) is a play by Brian Friel set in Ireland's County Donegal in August 1936. Set in the fictional town of Ballybeg (Baile Beag - small town .'' The Screen Gems name was first used in 1948 for the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. In 1974, Screen Gems became Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television (CPT) was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems (SG). The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974. History Early years CPT was home to the popular daytime soap operas Days of our Lives . |
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