 | |
| Company type | Production company Film distributor |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motion picture / television entertainment |
| Founded | 1971[1][2] |
| Founder | Rayland Jensen |
| Defunct | 1988 to 1990[1] |
| Fate | Closed by parent company |
| Successor | Library: Paramount Pictures |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Owner | Schick (1971–1980)[1] Taft Broadcasting (1980–1987)[3] Independent (2000–present)[4] |
| Website | www |
Sunn Classic Pictures, also known asSunn International Pictures,Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, andTaft International Pictures was an independent[4] U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971.[1][2] The company was notable for family films and documentaries, and was purchased byTaft Broadcasting in 1980.
Sunn Classic was located inPark City, Utah,[5] with offices in nearbySalt Lake City;[3] its company name added an extra "n" to the word "Sun" to differentiate them from a publisher of pornographic books.[6] The founder,Rayland Jensen, previously handled distribution of American National Enterprises' 1968 release,Alaskan Safari, which spent five years at the North American box office.[1] In 1971, Jensen began his new company at the request of employees from theSchick razor company,[1] at the time a subsidiary ofWarner-Lambert.[7] The founding executives were Jenson,Patrick Frawley (of Schick), andCharles E. Sellier Jr.
During its tenure, Sunn Classic spent US$85,000 in pre-production research on each of its films, conducting phone surveys and interviews with potential viewers. According to Bruce A. Austin, "Sunn identified as its marketworking-class families who rarely went to the movies more than twice a year". In the midst of the research, it released films with anMPAA rating of G, and in heavily marketed limited engagements. Through a process calledfour wall distribution (or "four-walling"), the company would rent theaters to show its films, and retained all of the box office receipts.[2][8]
Sunn Classic specialized in family entertainment such as 1974'sThe Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,[4][8] and its subsequentspin-off television series on theNBC network.[1]The Outer Space Connection was released in 1975. This documentary was produced byAlan Landsburg but was distributed by Sunn Classic. By 1977, domestic sales forGrizzly Adams reached upwards of US$24 million; another Sunn release,In Search of Noah's Ark, made US$26 million.[2]
For 1977'sThe Lincoln Conspiracy,[2] the company departed from its normal four wall distribution strategy to demand up-front guarantees from theatres.[9][10] Among its other titles were 1979'sIn Search of Historic Jesus[11] and 1983'sCujo.
The company also ran a television unit in tandem with its film department.[3] Most of the company's 1970's productions were produced byCharles E. Sellier Jr and several were directed by a youngJames L. Conway and both would go on to long careers in the entertainment industry.
In July 1980,[12] the company and two Schick divisions were purchased by Cincinnati-basedTaft Enterprises[13] for over US$2.5 million.[3][12] Eventually, the new owner christened Sunn Classic asTaft International Pictures.[11] The group became part of the Taft Entertainment Company.[14] However, afterCarl Lindner Jr. purchased Taft in 1987 and restructured it into Great American Broadcasting, the studio ceased operations. By the 2000s, the media and property assets of the original Sunn Classics were under new management.[4]
Jensen and another fellow employee, Clair Farley, formed Jensen Farley Pictures to take over the theatrical distribution assets; one of their early releases was 1981'sPrivate Lessons.[15][16]
Currently Sunn Classic's library is owned byParamount Skydance Corporation subsidiaryParamount Pictures throughMelange Pictures. However, very few films from that library have seen a DVD or Blu-ray release; those that have are mostly the later larger-budgeted Taft productions such asCujo,Hangar 18, andThe Boogens although some of their TV shows likeThe Life and Times of Grizzly Adams have been released on DVD, under theCBS DVD banner due to CBS' ownership of the television side of the library. The home video rights to the Sunn Classic catalog are currently licensed toKino Lorber, having prior been licensed to Olive Films andLionsgate.
A partial list of films produced:
From 1977 to 1982 the company produced a series of television films with theClassics Illustrated brand (Schick Sunn Classic Pictures executivePatrick Frawley owned the rights toClassic Illustrated during this period):
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
