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| Company type | Production company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motion pictures Television |
| Founded | December 12, 1969; 55 years ago (1969-12-12) |
| Founder | Francis Ford Coppola George Lucas |
| Headquarters | , |
| Owner | Francis Ford Coppola Roman Coppola Sofia Coppola |
| Website | zoetrope |
American Zoetrope (also known asOmni Zoetrope from 1977 to 1980 andZoetrope Studios from 1980 until 1990) is a privately run American film production company, centered inSan Francisco,California and founded byFrancis Ford Coppola andGeorge Lucas.
Opened on December 12, 1969,[1] the studio has produced not only the films of Coppola (includingApocalypse Now,Bram Stoker's Dracula andTetro), but also George Lucas's pre-Star Wars filmTHX 1138, as well as many others by avant-garde directors such asJean-Luc Godard,Akira Kurosawa,Wim Wenders andGodfrey Reggio. American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses ofHDTV.[2]
Four films produced by American Zoetrope are included in theAmerican Film Institute's Top 100 Films. American Zoetrope-produced films have received 15Academy Awards and 68 nominations.
Initially located in a warehouse at 827[3][4][5]Folsom Street on the second floor ofThe Automatt building, the company's headquarters have, since 1972,[6] been in the historicSentinel Building, at 916Kearny Street inSan Francisco'sNorth Beach neighborhood.
Coppola named the studio after azoetrope he was given in the late 1960s by the filmmaker and collector of early film devices, Mogens Skot-Hansen.[7] "Zoetrope" is also the name by which Coppola's quarterly fiction magazine,Zoetrope: All-Story, is often known.
In 1980, the company boughtGeneral Service Studios inHollywood,California, and becameZoetrope Studios, to produce and distribute films, as did laterDreamWorks studio.[8][9]
In 1999, it signed a deal withMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer for a first-look financing and production agreement.[10] In 2000, it signed a ten-year financing pact with VCL Film + Medien to handle foreign sales of their own titles.[11]
By 2007, ownership of American Zoetrope had been passed to Coppola's son and daughter, directorsRoman Coppola andSofia Coppola.[12]
In 2010, Lionsgate announced a deal to distribute American Zoetrope films, including classics likeThe Conversation andApocalypse Now, in North America on DVD, Blu-ray, electronic-sell-through, VOD as well as broadcast distribution rights.[13] The only movies from the Coppola canon that won't be released as part of the pact areThe Godfather trilogy, which is owned by Paramount.[14]
Zoetrope.com, the Coppola family's website, was created around 1996[15] and became an online community for writers. In 2016, Francis Ford Coppola announced its relaunch as a "virtual studio".[16]
In 2024, American Zoetrope earned its firstTony Award for Best Musical as one of the producers of the 2023 stage musical adaptation ofThe Outsiders.[17]
| Year | Title | Creator | Company | Credit | Network | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Outsiders | characters by: S.E. Hinton developed by: S.E. Hinton Joe Byrne Jeb Rosebrook | Zoetrope Studios | Production Company | Fox | co-production with Papazian-Hirsch Entertainment | |
| 1997 | The Odyssey | Andrei Konchalovsky based onOdyssey by: Homer | American Zoetrope | Production Company (as American Zoetrope San Francisco) | NBC | miniseries; co-production withHallmark Entertainment | [18] |
| 1998 | Moby Dick | Anton Diether Franc Roddam Benedict Fitzgerald based onMoby-Dick by: Herman Melville | Production Company | USA Network | miniseries; co-production withHallmark Entertainment,Nine Network Australia and USA Pictures | [18] | |
| 1998–2001 | First Wave | Chris Brancato | Sci-Fi Channel | co-production withSugar Entertainment | [18] | ||
| 2003 | Platinum | John Ridley Sofia Coppola | UPN | co-production withThe Greenblatt/Janollari Studio,International Famous Players Radio Picture Corporation andEye Productions | [26] | ||
| 2004–2007 | The 4400 | René Echevarria Scott Peters | USA Network | co-production withRenegade 83,Viacom Productions (season 1),Paramount Network Television (season 2) andCBS Paramount Network Television (seasons 3–4) | |||
| 2014–2018 | Mozart in the Jungle | based on Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music by: Blair Tindall developed by: Roman Coppola Jason Schwartzman Alex Timbers Paul Weitz | Amazon Video | co-production with Depth of Field, Picrow andAmazon Studios | [18] |
In the building lobby, Coppola operates a small Italiancafé, Cafe Zoetrope, featuringInglenook Estate wine and memorabilia from his films.[27] Earlier, the building had been the location ofEnrico Banducci's "hungry i" nightclub.
The neighborhood is well known for its cafes and its writers. Coppola wrote much of the screenplay forThe Godfather in the nearbyCaffe Trieste andLawrence Ferlinghetti'sCity Lights Books is located up Columbus Avenue from the Sentinel Building.
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