American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope (also known as Zoetrope Studios from 1979 until 1990) is a privately run American film production company, centered in San Francisco, California and founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.
Production company | |
Industry | Motion pictures Television |
Founded | December 12, 1969 |
Founder | Francis Ford Coppola |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Francis Ford Coppola George Lucas |
Owner | Roman Coppola Sofia Coppola |
Website | zoetrope |
Opened on December 12, 1969,[1] the studio has produced not only the films of Coppola (including Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Tetro), but also George Lucas's pre-Star Wars films (THX 1138, American Graffiti), as well as many others by avant-garde directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Akira Kurosawa, Wim Wenders and Godfrey Reggio. American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV.
Four films produced by American Zoetrope are included in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Films. American Zoetrope-produced films have received 15 Academy Awards and 68 nominations.
Formation
Initially located in a warehouse on Folsom Street, the company's headquarters have since 1972[2] been in the historic Sentinel Building, at 916 Kearny Street in San Francisco's North Beach neighbourhood.
Coppola named the studio after a zoetrope he was given in the late 1960s by the filmmaker and collector of early film devices, Mogens Skot-Hansen. "Zoetrope" is also the name by which Coppola's quarterly fiction magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story, is often known.
In 1980, it became Zoetrope Studios, and it was decided that they will planning on to produce and distribute films, in the same way the later DreamWorks studio does.[3]
American Zoetrope is now owned entirely by Coppola's son and daughter, directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola,[4] while a majority of the film library is now owned by Lionsgate.
Zoetrope Virtual Studio
It also administers the Zoetrope Virtual Studio, a complete motion picture production studio for members only. Launched in June 2000 after more than four years work, it brings together departments for screenwriters, directors, producers and other filmmaker artists, plus new departments for other creative endeavours, offering e-collaborative tools. Filmmaker members can workshop a wide range of film arts, including music, graphics, design and film & video.
Filmography
Feature films
Television series
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 on Odyssey by: Homer |
American Zoetrope | Production Company (as American Zoetrope San Francisco) | NBC | miniseries; co-production with Hallmark Entertainment | [5] |
1998 | Moby Dick | Anton Diether Franc Roddam Benedict Fitzgerald based on Moby-Dick by: Herman Melville |
Production Company | USA Network | miniseries; co-production with Nine Network Australia and USA Pictures | [5] | |
1998-2001 | First Wave | Chris Brancato | Sci-Fi Channel | co-production with Sugar Entertainment | [5] | ||
2003 | Platinum | John Ridley Sofia Coppola |
UPN | co-production with The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio, International Famous Players Radio Picture Corporation and Eye Productions | [12] | ||
2004-2007 | The 4400 | René Echevarria Scott Peters |
USA Network | co-production with Renegade 83, Viacom Productions (season 1), Paramount Network Television (season 2) and CBS 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 and Amazon Studios | [5] |
Cafe Zoetrope
In the building lobby Coppola operates a small Italian café, Cafe Zoetrope, featuring Inglenook Estate wine and memorabilia from his films.[13]
The neighborhood is well known for its cafes and its writers. Coppola wrote much of the screenplay for The Godfather in the nearby Caffe Trieste and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books is located up Columbus Avenue from the Sentinel Building.
References
- Fog City Mavericks. Starz, Englewood, CO, USA. June 15, 2011. Television.
- "American Zoetrope: Films". www.zoetrope.com. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- "Forerunner to Dreamworks, Coppola's risky Zoetrope Studios bucked system". Variety. November 11, 1997. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- Coppola stated this in an interview with Harry Knowles for Ain't It Cool News published on May 8, 2007.
- "American Zoetrope: Films", zoetrope.com. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- American Zoetrope [us]
- Zoetrope Studios [us]
- "Last Days in the Desert". Cinefex. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- Goldsmith, Jill (March 3, 2020). "Tribeca Sets Feature Lineup Of Films For 2020 Fest". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 15, 2019). "Sofia Coppola And Bill Murray To Reteam For 'On The Rocks', Apple & A24's First Film". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- McNary, Dave (October 30, 2018). "Film News Roundup: Andrew Garfield Joins Gia Coppola's Romance Movie 'Mainstream'". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/arts/television-review-dynasty-with-a-hip-hop-beat.html
- "Cafe Zoetrope". Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2012.