| Industry | Independent film |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991; 33 years ago (1991) |
| Founder | Bingham Ray Jeff Lipsky |
| Defunct | 1999; 25 years ago (1999) |
| Fate | Sold to USA Networks and merged with Gramercy Pictures, Interscope Communications and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment |
| Successor | USA Films Focus Features |
| Parent | Universal Studios (1997–1999) |
| Subsidiaries | Rogue Pictures |
October Films, Inc. was a major U.S. independent film production company and distributor founded in 1991 by Bingham Ray and Jeff Lipsky as a means of distributing the 1990 film Life Is Sweet.
A series of mergers and acquisitions began when Universal Studios (then a division of the Seagram Company) bought a majority stake in October Films in 1997. Universal then sold its shares to Barry Diller in 1999, who renamed the company USA Films and merged it with Interscope Communications and Gramercy Pictures. Vivendi then acquired USA Films, who in 2002 acquired Good Machine and merged it with USA Films, forming Focus Features.
Filmography
1990s
| Release Date | Films | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| October 25, 1991 | Life Is Sweet | |
| August 21, 1992 | The Living End | |
| September 4, 1992 | The Tune | |
| June 25, 1993 | Chain of Desire | |
| October 8, 1993 | Ruby in Paradise | |
| February 11, 1994 | The Cement Garden | |
| March 30, 1994 | Cronos | |
| May 6, 1994 | Kika | |
| August 19, 1994 | Killing Zoe | |
| October 26, 1994 | The Last Seduction | |
| January 31, 1995 | The Silence of the Hams | |
| May 5, 1995 | Search and Destroy | |
| September 1, 1995 | Nadja | |
| October 6, 1995 | The Addiction | |
| November 10, 1995 | The Kingdom | |
| November 17, 1995 | When Night Is Falling | |
| December 7, 1995 | Man with a Gun | |
| April 26, 1996 | Cemetery Man | |
| May 10, 1996 | Someone Else's America | |
| June 18, 1996 | Haunted | |
| August 14, 1996 | Small Faces | |
| August 21, 1996 | Girls Town | |
| September 27, 1996 | Secrets & Lies | |
| November 1, 1996 | The Funeral | |
| November 13, 1996 | Breaking the Waves | |
| February 21, 1997 | Lost Highway | |
| April 18, 1997 | Traveller | |
| April 25, 1997 | Female Perversions | |
| August 8, 1997 | Career Girls | |
| October 8, 1997 | Year of the Horse | |
| November 14, 1997 | Kiss or Kill | |
| February 20, 1998 | The Apostle | |
| May 1, 1998 | Still Breathing | |
| May 6, 1998 | The Kingdom II | |
| June 12, 1998 | High Art | |
| August 7, 1998 | Safe Men | |
| August 1998 | The Naked Man | |
| September 18, 1998 | A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries | |
| October 9, 1998 | The Celebration | |
| January 15, 1999 | Hilary and Jackie | |
| February 5, 1999 | The Last Days | |
| April 2, 1999 | Cookie's Fortune | |
| April 30, 1999 | Three Seasons | |
| June 18, 1999 | The Phantom of the Opera | |
| July 9, 1999 | Autumn Tale | |
| August 27, 1999 | The Muse | |
| September 10, 1999 | Black Cat, White Cat | distributed by USA Films |
| September 17, 1999 | Sugar Town | distributed by USA Films |
| September 24, 1999 | Lucie Aubrac | distributed by USA Films |
| November 5, 1999 | Rosetta | distributed by USA Films |
| December 15, 1999 | Topsy-Turvy | distributed by USA Films |
2000s
| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| March 3, 2000 | Agnes Browne | distributed by USA Films |
| March 10, 2000 | Condo Painting | distributed by USA Films |
| April 28, 2000 | The Idiots | distributed by USA Films |
| May 5, 2000 | Up at the Villa | distributed by USA Films |
| May 26, 2000 | Joe Gould's Secret | distributed by USA Films |
| June 21, 2000 | Boricua's Bond | copyright holder; distributed by USA Films |
| August 30, 2000 | Alice and Martin | distributed by USA Films |
| October 20, 2000 | A Room for Romeo Brass | distributed by USA Films |
| October 20, 2000 | Cherry Falls | copyright holder; distributed by USA Films |
| March 2, 2001 | Series 7: The Contenders | copyright holder; distributed by USA Films |
| April 27, 2001 | One Night at McCool's | distributed by USA Films |
| June 8, 2001 | Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? | distributed by USA Films |
| August 10, 2001 | Session 9 | copyright holder; distributed by USA Films |
Distributor
- Rebro Adama (1990) (1992)
- Tous les matins du monde (1991) (1992)
- Two Mikes Don't Make a Wright (1992) (1993)
- Un coeur en hiver (1992) (1993)
- Bad Behaviour (1993)
- The War Room (1993)
- Dellamorte Dellamore (1994) (1996)
- Le Colonel Chabert (1994)
- Moving the Mountain (1994) (1995)
- Pao Da Shuang Deng (1994) (1995)
- Mécaniques célestes (1995) (1996)
- Badkonake sefid (White Balloon) (1995) (1996)
- Hollow Point (1996)
- Natural Enemy (1997)
- Kicked in the Head (1997)
- 24 7: Twenty Four Seven (1997) (1998)
- The Peacekeeper (1997)
- The Death Train (1998)
- Touch of Evil (1958) (1998)
- Thick as Thieves (1998)
- Il testimone dello sposo (1998) (1999)
- Conte d'automne (1998) (1999)
- Trippin' (1999)
- Detour (1999)
References
- "Are the U.S.A.'s Independent Films a Distinct National Cinema?". TheFilmJournal.com. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- Eller, Claudia (1997-05-01). "Universal Says It Will Acquire October Films". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
- "Interscope Communications". Audiovisual Identity Database. 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
External links
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