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Recorded Picture Company is a British filmproduction company founded in 1974 by producerJeremy Thomas.
Recorded Picture Company (RPC) is an independent production company that makes feature films for worldwide theatrical release.Jeremy Thomas founded the London-based company in 1974, and remains chairman. Its first production,The Shout directed byJerzy Skolimowski, went on to win the Grand Prix de Jury at theCannes Film Festival in 1978. Thomas has since produced or executive-produced over 60 films through RPC, of which all but one have obtained North American theatrical release.[citation needed]
RPC is a director-driven company, and has close relationships with a number of leading directors includingBernardo Bertolucci,Phillip Noyce,Terry Gilliam,Stephen Frears,David Cronenberg andTakeshi Kitano. Its films have achieved commercial success and critical acclaim, with the best-known being Bertolucci'sThe Last Emperor, winner of nineAcademy Awards including 'Best Picture'. Other notable productions include Bertolucci'sStealing Beauty andLittle Buddha, Cronenberg'sNaked Lunch andCrash,Sexy Beast byJonathan Glazer,Brother by Kitano, andMerry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence byNagisa Oshima. RPC's films have garnered numerous prizes at Cannes and other major festivals and awards ceremonies.[citation needed]
Jeremy Thomas later remembered forging the reputation of the company in the 1970s:
At the beginning I didn't really understand what I was doing. I didn't understand business terms and I probably didn't understand taste or cultural terms, but it was about now I was beginning to refine what I was trying to do. I was trying to think what sort of films that I wanted to make, what sort of audiences I was trying to find. And I am the type of independent producer, I am looking for a film to make my next film and to make profits and successful films, but I am not working in the arena of super profits. I am not working in an industrialised process. I am making global films but not films for a globalised market.[1]
RPC's releases include Bertolucci'sThe Dreamers, Terry Gilliam'sTideland,Wim Wenders'Don't Come Knocking,Richard Linklater'sFast Food Nation, andJon Amiel'sCreation, about the life ofCharles Darwin starringPaul Bettany andJennifer Connelly, which was the Opening Gala of the 2009Toronto International Film Festival. 2010 sawTakashi Miike's samurai epic13 Assassins and Jerzy Skolimowski'sEssential Killing had their world premieres in Competition at theVenice International Film Festival, with both films going on to feature in Official Selection at Toronto. In 2012, Miike'sHara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai premiered in Competition at theCannes International Film Festival, the first 3D film ever to do so.
Recent releases include David Cronenberg'sA Dangerous Method, which premiered at Venice and Toronto Film Festivals in 2012, and the epic adventureKon-Tiki, based onThor Heyerdahl's best-selling book, which was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2012. The company premieredJim Jarmusch's vampire opusOnly Lovers Left Alive In Competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the black comedyDom Hemingway written and directed byRichard Shepard at the 2013Toronto International Film Festival, the dark fantasyTale of Tales byMatteo Garrone In Competition at the 2015 Cannes Film festival, the sci-fi period thrillerHigh-Rise byBen Wheatley at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival, andBlade of the Immortal by Takashi Miike which had its world premiere In Selection at Cannes 2017. Upcoming projects include titles fromMatteo Garrone andJulien Temple. RPC's head of development Alainée Kent works closely on the slate with Thomas.[2]
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