Picturehouse (company)

Picturehouse
TypePrivate
IndustryEntertainment
Founded
  • 2005; 18 years ago (2005) (original company)
  • 2013; 10 years ago (2013) (revived studio)
FoundersBob Berney
Defunct2008; 15 years ago (2008) (original company)
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, United States
Key people
Bob Berney (CEO)
Jeanne R. Berney (COO)
ParentTime Warner (2005–2008)
Independent (2013–present)
WebsitePicturehouse.com

Picturehouse is an American independent entertainment company owned by CEO Bob Berney and COO Jeanne R. Berney. Based in Los Angeles, the company specializes in film marketing and distribution, both in the U.S. and internationally. Its releases have included La Vie en Rose (2007), which earned an Academy Award for Best Actress for Marion Cotillard, Metallica Through the Never (2013), and Adam Wingard’s Sundance Film Festival selection The Guest (2014), an Independent Spirit Award nominee starring Dan Stevens.

History

Formed by Bob Berney in 2005, Picturehouse was a joint venture created by Time Warner subsidiaries, New Line Cinema and HBO Films to acquire, produce and distribute independent films. Berney, who guided the acquisition, marketing and distribution of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Passion of the Christ, among other notable releases, ran the company from its inception.

Over the next two years, Picturehouse released features such as Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion, starring Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin; Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which was acquired at script stage and went on to earn six Academy Award nominations and wins in three categories; La Vie en Rose, which garnered Marion Cotillard an Academy Award for Best Actress; and Sergei Bodrov’s Genghis Khan biopic Mongol, a nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 2008, Time Warner's consolidation resulted in Warner Bros. exiting the independent business to concentrate on big-budget “tentpole” releases. This prompted the closure of marketing and distribution operations at both New Line Cinema and Picturehouse, costing 70 employees their jobs.

In 2013, Berney and his wife Jeanne acquired the Picturehouse logo and trademark from Warner Bros. and relaunched the label as an independent theatrical distribution company. Initial releases included Adriana Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap, starring Ashley Judd, and Christian Keller’s Gloria, with Sofía Espinosa.

In August 2020, the company released Fatima, directed by Marco Pontecorvo and starring Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Visnjic, Harvey Keitel and Sônia Braga. The film tells the story of a 10-year-old shepherd, Lúcia dos Santos, and her two young cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who report having seen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, circa 1917. Their revelations inspire believers but anger officials of both the Catholic Church and the secular government, who try to force them to recant their story. As word of their prophecy spreads, tens of thousands of religious pilgrims flock to the site to witness what became known as the Miracle of the Sun.

In September 2021, Picturehouse announced that it would release Becoming Cousteau, a documentary that uses previously unseen archival footage to chronicle the life and career of the adventurous oceanographer and filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who coinvented scuba diving and foretold the impact of pollution on climate change. Directed by Liz Garbus, the film was released on October 22, 2021.

Filmography

2000s

Original seal, distributed by New Line Home Entertainment and HBO Video (now Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)

Release Date Title Ref.
July 22, 2005 Last Days
September 16, 2005 The Thing About My Folks
October 19, 2005 Ushpizin
January 27, 2006 A Cock and Bull Story
April 14, 2006 The Notorious Bettie Page
June 9, 2006 A Prairie Home Companion
November 9, 2006 Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?
November 10, 2006 Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
December 29, 2006 Pan's Labyrinth
March 9, 2007 Starter for 10
June 1, 2007 Gracie
June 8, 2007 La Vie en Rose
August 3, 2007 El Cantante
August 10, 2007 Rocket Science
August 17, 2007 The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
September 14, 2007 Silk
January 11, 2008 The Orphanage
February 8, 2008 Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days and 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland
February 29, 2008 (DVD) The Fox and the Child
March 28, 2008 Run Fatboy Run
June 6, 2008 Mongol
July 2, 2008 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
September 12, 2008 The Women
January 20, 2009 (DVD) Amusement

2010s

Revived seal, distributed by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date Title Ref.
October 4, 2013 Metallica: Through the Never
September 17, 2014 The Guest
July 17, 2015 Gloria
October 9, 2015 Big Stone Gap

2020s

Release Date Title Ref.
August 28, 2020 Fatima
October 22, 2021 Becoming Cousteau
August 19, 2022 The Territory
April 14, 2023 Wild Life
October 13, 2023 The Mission

This page was last updated at 2023-12-31 15:10 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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