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Gaumont SA () is a French film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France." Contactez-nous ." Gaumont Film Company. Retrieved on 2 March 2010. Founded by the engineer-turned-inventor Léon Gaumont (1864–1946) in 1895, it is the oldest extant film company in the world, established before other studios such as Pathé (founded in 1896), Titanus (1904), Nordisk Film (1906), Universal, Paramount, and Nikkatsu (all founded in 1912).Richard Abel, The Ciné Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896–1914, University of California Press, 1994, p. 10,
Gaumont predominantly produces, co-produces, and distributes films, and in 2011, 95% of Gaumont's consolidated revenues came from the film division." 2011 Gaumont Revenue statement" The company is also a producer of TV series through Gaumont Télévision and animation through Gaumont Animation as well as its existing French production features. Gaumont is run by Nicolas Seydoux (chairman) and Sidonie Dumas (CEO).
In 1908, Gaumont released La Fantasmagori, directed by Émile Cohl, considered the first animated film.
Gaumont also launched into movie theaters around 1908. In 1911, Gaumont opened the largest cinema in the world, the Gaumont-Palace, which was located in Paris and had up to 6,400 seats. It was demolished in 1973.
In 1913, Louis Feuillade, artistic director of the company, persuaded Léon Gaumont to acquire the rights to the Fantômas series of novels. The adaptation was a significant success. Louis Feuillade's Fantômas, regarded as the first cinematic serial, marked a major turning point in film history. The series not only enabled the Gaumont company to compete with Pathé, the global leader in cinema at the time, but also launched the popularity of the cinematic serial and played a key role in popularizing suspense and detective thrillers, genres that were relatively uncommon at the time.
From 1914 to 1915, Léonce Perret took over as artistic director of Gaumont after Louis Feuillade's departure for the front.
Louis Feuillade was demobilized in 1915 due to heart problems. He took the opportunity to return to the Gaumont studio. At the same time, competitor Pathé was preparing to release its cinematic serial The Perils of Pauline and in France (after the huge success of the French saga in the United States). Léon Gaumont then commissioned Louis Feuillade to create a series to counter that of Charles Pathé, which gave birth to the director's most iconic work: Les Vampires, a cinematic serial of ten episodes, released at a rate of one per month Filming conditions, in the midst of the First World War, were particularly difficult: the actors could be mobilized at any moment. Gaumont and Louis Feuillade adapted by masking secondary characters, or by killing off protagonists whose actors were going to be mobilized. The script was created day by day to be able to adjust. Les Vampires became one of Gaumont's biggest successes and popularized the archetype of the femme fatale throughout the world, notably thanks to the character of Irma Vep (an anagram of the word "vampire"), played by the actress Musidora.
The company manufactured its own equipment and mass-produced films until 1907, when Louis Feuillade became the artistic director of Gaumont. When World War I broke out, he was replaced by Léonce Perret, who continued his career in the United States a few years later. Finally, Louis Feuillade returned to Gaumont during the First World War after being demobilized in 1915. In 1909 the company participated in the Paris Film Congress, a failed attempt by European producers to create a cartel similar to that of the MPPC in the United States.
Gaumont opened foreign offices and acquired the theatre chain Gaumont British, which later notably produced several films directed by Alfred Hitchcock such as The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938). Along with its competitor Pathé Frères, Gaumont dominated the motion picture industry in the world until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
After World War I, Gaumont suffered economic losses owing to increased competition from American Hollywood productions. In 1925, the studio's output decreased to only three films. In addition, Gaumont was unable to keep pace with the cost of technological changes (e.g., the advent of sound movies).
In 1927, Warner Bros appropriated the invention of talking pictures with the film The Jazz Singer, while Léon Gaumont had succeeded in making sound films as early as 1902 with his invention, the chronophone, which Alice Guy used extensively by shooting hundreds of phonoscenes. Thanks to the patents he had filed at the time, the Gaumont company filed a complaint against Warner Bros, and after a legal battle lasting nearly 20 years, won the case.
Struck by mounting debts in the early 1930s and the effects of the Great Depression, Gaumont declared bankruptcy in 1935. In 1937, the studio ceased production and operated only as a theater and distribution company. The company was purchased by the French corporation Havas in 1938, was renamed Société Nouvelle des Etablissements Gaumont, and reopened its film production studio. During the later years of World War II, Gaumont was affected by the financial ruin of France's economy as well as the physical destruction of its facilities. The company ceased production until 1947. During that time, Gaumont partnered with Compagnie Parisienne de Location de Films to produce and distribute films and co-marketed together, until CPLF was renamed to Gaumont Distribution. However, the global interest in French New Wave films in the 1950s, as well as the permissiveness within French films (e.g., nudity), allowed French productions to successfully compete against an American cinema that was still burdened by conservative moral codes. The period was to see the return to prominence of Gaumont Studios.
In the 1960s, Gaumont's production division recovered with the success of Les Tontons Flingueurs, as well as numerous successful films starring the famous French actor Louis de Funès.
In 1970, media tycoon and French old money heir millionaire Nicolas Seydoux started managing Gaumont and becomes a vice-president at the company. Within two years he puts into place a restructuring phase and halted its productions, with Seydoux imposing his veto on certain projects. he personally owned 60% of the shares and 70% of the votes. It was likely that the new policy imposed was to change its production structure, with less "mainstream" films. Although he had a significant number of box-office hits, Alain Poiré had his place in danger, following the failure of Rum Runners, which was a costly production.
In 1972, Schlumberger put up Gaumont for sale: Rum Runners didn't help recoup its losses. Ambitious producer Jean-Pierre Rassam intended to acquire Gaumont with Seydoux and Toscan du Plantier and had promised various projects to bail out the company, but the balance sheet of his company Ciné qua non did not play into this his favor between the budget overruns or commercial failures of the films Chinese in Paris, Don't Touch the White Woman! and Lancelot du Lac.. The Schlumberger group sells its shares, estimated at 40%, to Nicolas Seydoux and Daniel Toscan du Plantier.
With these events, Nicolas Seydoux succeeds his brother Jérome Seydoux at the front of the company. The policy he undertook reconciled popular films and those with a more restricted audience: Alain Poiré ultimately remained in his position, to continue the production of major popular films, and Seydoux appointed Daniel Toscan du Plantier as its general manager. René Bonnell, Gaumont's distribution director from 1978 to 1982, explains that Seydoux had to coexist a Tuscan du Plantier, who arrived in 1976-1977 and who wanted to change everything, with a more traditional Poiré. On the economic level, Poiré was the financial support of the group thanks to all its big successes ( La Boum, La Chèvre, the Belmondo films etc.), and their theatrical runs in the halls was modernized by Nicolas Seydoux. Concerning Toscan, that the economic balance of his interventions was proven, but he was the essential complement, young, open, to a house which needed this touch of madness. A house whose imaginary value, apart from balance sheet values, was increased by this extraordinary abundance around Tuscan.
Between 1974 and 2000, the production division achieved numerous successes, producing and distributing French films that went on to become cult classics, such as the trilogy "Now Where Did the 7th Company Get to ?" which parodies the total defeat of French troops against German troops during the beginning of the Second World War, the first films of Luc Besson, which were shot in English and most of them with an American cast, such as Subway, , The Big Blue, The Fifth Element or even La Femme Nikita. Gaumont also produces a huge number of cult comedies in France, notably La Chèvre, Les Visiteurs, Le Grand Blond avec Une Chaussure noire ans Le retour du Grand Blond and The Dinner Game ("Le Dîner de Cons") not to be confused with the American remake "Dinner for Schmucks" which is not produced by Gaumont and which received negative feedback.
In this period, Gaumont bought shares in some media assets. In 1978, the company became the part-owner of a US cable channel, Telefrance USA, followed in 1981 by a share in Le Point, a conservative magazine. In 1983, its US cable outlet ceased due to a lack of an interested buyer, while at the same time, the company was reporting losses, causing the shutdown of its Italian branch (due to the emergence of private television stations) as well as the sale of its Brazilian branch. In 1986, it was part of the Gilbert Gross-led consortium that set up TV6, the channel closed down after one year on air due to the complex political scenario after the 1986 legislative elections, where the two new channels (the other being La Cinq) were granted without a legal tender. Gaumont's share in Le Point, by then at over 80%, was sold to Générale Occidentale in September 1993.
In the 1990s, the company operated TV and multimedia divisions, which was divested at the end of the 1990s. The television division was sold to company executive Christian Carret, who turned it into GTV,.. while the multimedia division's animation unit were sold to management and renamed Xilam,. and the multimedia division continued producing video games until 2004.
On 2 February 2000, Philippe Binant, technical manager of Digital Cinema Project at Gaumont, realized the first digital cinema projection in Europe Cahiers du cinéma, n°hors-série, Paris, April 2000, p. 32. with the Texas Instruments prototype projector. From 1993 to early 2004, Gaumont and Disney had a partnership for producing films for theater distribution.
In 2001, Gaumont spun off the cinema division into a joint venture with Pathé since known as Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé. Gaumont owned a 34% stake in the entity, which controls a large cinema network in France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. As of 2011, this stake was worth €214 million." 2011 Gaumont Annual Report p.54 " In 2004, Gaumont continued its development with Pathé to set up another joint venture, Gaumont-Pathé Archives. Gaumont owns 57.5% of this entity, which contains newsreels, documentaries, and silent movies from the 20th and 21st centuries. From early 2004 to 2007, the company had a partnership with Sony for producing films and for theater and DVD distribution worldwide. And for many years, Gaumont's home video division was a joint venture with Sony Pictures. Currently, Gaumont distributes its films through Paramount Home Media Distribution on video in France. At the end of 2007, Gaumont took over the French animation studio Alphanim for €25 million and renamed it Gaumont Alphanim. As of 2013, it is known as Gaumont Animation.
Gaumont produced in 2006 and 2009 two French films that have since become cult classics, and . While they are parodies of James Bond, they became cult films because they go beyond simple parody, combining retro spy adventure with politically incorrect satire and biting humor.
On 16 December 2010, Gaumont acquired a 37.48% stake in the share capital of the Légende company and its subsidiaries for €6.6 million. Légende is a full-length film and television series production and distribution company managed by Alain Goldman. As of 2011, the Légende stake is worth €6.3 million." Gaumont 2010 Report" 2011 was the year that Gaumont opened its Gaumont International Television division in Los Angeles.Keslassy, Elsa. Alphanim Inks DreamWorks Deal, Rebrands. March 11, 2013. Variety. Retrieved August 5, 2013. In 2011, Gaumont co-produced and co-distributed The Intouchables, which became France's highest-grossing movie of all time.Keslassy, Elsa. Gaumont ups TV activity. February 25, 2012. Variety. The international release of The Intouchables was equally successful, trumping previous international blockbusters such as Harry Potter and Transporters in Germany." 'The Intouchables' Overtakes 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' at German Box Office" Intouchables is the highest-grossing foreign-language movie (any language other than English) beating the previous record of $275 million by the Japanese Spirited Away. The film was a major catalyst for Gaumont's boosting fourth-quarter 2011 cinema sales to €47.9 million, up 651% year on year." Gaumont Q4 revenues" The film's success turned a half-year 2011 loss to a record annual €26 million profit. The Intouchables currently has a box office of $361 million.
In 2012, Gaumont acquired the production company Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF) for €3.1 million. The company was previously run and created by cinema legend Louis Malle. As part of the acquisition, Gaumont now owns the entire Malle collection, including Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, Atlantic City, and Au Revoir les Enfants." Gaumont press release" In February 2012, Gaumount restarted its television division which had been defunct for about ten years. On 2 May 2016 according to Deadline Hollywood, Gaumont teamed with Lionsgate Films, and seven other international companies to launch the Globalgate Entertainment consortium. Globalgate will produce and distribute local-language films in markets around the world. Lionsgate said it had partnered with international entertainment executives Paul Presburger, William Pfeiffer and Clifford Werber to launch Globalgate. In 2019, Gaumont was replaced by TF1 Studio as Globalgate's new French member. On 1 March 2017, Gaumont sold its 34% stake in Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé to Pathé for $400 million in order to focus on production.
In January 2018, it was announced that the company's first office, in Cologne, would open in July 2018. The office was to focus on development and production of premiere drama programming, according to film producer and new manager Sabine de Mardt.
One month later in February of that same year following Gaumont's launch of its German production unit in Germany, Gaumont launched a British television production division and second office based in London, England marking its second expansion and a return to the British production industry after selling its division Gaumont-British in 1940s with former Kudos producer Alison Jackson leading the UK division.
Among the most notable films produced by Gaumont are the serials Louis Feuillade's Judex (1916), Louis Feuillade's Les Vampires (1915) and Louis Feuillade's Fantômas (1913), the comic Onésime series, starring Ernest Bourbon; and the comic Bébé series, starring five-year-old René Dary. The two biggest films to which Gaumont owns the rights are Jean-Marie Poiré's Les Visiteurs, with a box-office of $98 million, and the 2011 blockbuster Intouchables by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, with a box office of $427 million. 17 February 2018
Gaumont also produced and distributed numerous films starring the famous French actor Louis de Funès, including Le Grand Restaurant (1966), Hibernatus (1969), La Folie des Grandeurs (1970) or the Fantômas from the 60s : Fantômas (1964), Fantomas se déchaîne (1964) and Fantomas contre Scotland Yard (1967)
Abel Gance, a director and the early animator Emile Cohl worked for the studio at one time or another. The company has also produced television shows, including seven animated series: , Space Goofs, The Magician, Dragon Flyz, F Is for Family, and Sky Dancers (the second and third are based on their respective toy lines), and the very popular Oggy and the Cockroaches. The company also produced two series through its American unit Gaumont International Television: Hannibal and Hemlock Grove. The studio has been described as a mini-major studio.
Gaumont opened its first production office dedicated to television series production in 1963.
In January 2000 in order for Gaumont to refocus on its film production and cinema multiplex businesses, Gaumont sold off its remaining shares of its former television company GTV Productions (the original Gaumont Television) to its president Christian Charret alongside French television production company Tele Images whom merged it with GTV Productions as it became a subsidiary of Tele Images whilst retaining the GTV name as Tele Images began distributing GTV's series and its programming library worldwide through Tele Images' distribution division Tele Images International.
Throughout the decades the logo has been redesigned several times, but the daisy has always remained present, even though its significance has been largely forgotten. Following Gaumont-Franco-Film-Aubert's bankruptcy, Société Nouvelle des Établissements Gaumont recovered the 1906 monogram, though it wasn't until 1942, when the company returned to production with Le journal tombe à cinq heures that the company introduced a new logo. After the war, it absorbed its distribution subsidiary, Compagnie Parisienne de Location de Films (CPLF), by combining the globe from the company as part of its new identity. On screen, Gaumont Distribution adopted a theme composed by Marc Lanjean, film composer and cousin of company director Alain Poiré.
In 1970, Gaumont commissions a new animated logo at the Ciné-Télé-Réalisations (CTR) laboratories. The opening logo began with the globe from its predecessor, surrounded by sun rays resembling petals of a daisy. The theme was composed by François de Roubaix, who was also working for L'homme orchestre for the company, which he wanted to use as debut. He created an initial four-note fanfare, with brass instruments and timpany, but Gaumont found it "too dry". He then created a second one, using eighteen strings, two trumpets, a bassoon and a timpani. It had three variations, the first of which ended up being selected. The rejected versions included a second version with a chorus following the climax of the jingle (which François wanted to use), composed of three men and four women, and a third one, based on the choral version, added drum beats at the end. To de Roubaix's surprise, the new logo did not appear on L'Homme orchestre, as he planned, appearing on screen only a few months later..
For the company's landmark centennial in 1995, Gaumont adopted a redesign of its logo designed by Les Quatre Lunes. On screen, a retrospective of all the firm's previous emblems appears, with music by Bertrand Burgalat, ending in space with the new logo revealed. A lawsuit broke out between the composer and the firm. The company's opening logo changed in 2003, created by the Bronx agency: a boy climbs a hill with a flower at its top, and picks the daisy, which flies away, grows and unfolds into a red rosette in a starry sky, with the company's name appearing. The music was made at the Laplage studio, arranged by Chassol.
The latest redesign is from 2010, and takes up the principle of the halo of petals: the red daisy has twelve irregular petals which take the form of a luminous halo around the letter G. The logo, made by Lorène Bruant for the Les Quatre Lunes agency, is inspired by the praxinoscope to create dynamism and adopts a tailor-made, sans-serif typography. Designed for the screen again by the Bronx agency, it is accompanied by the first bars of the well-known aria (cavatina) Casta Diva from the opera Norma composed by Vincenzo Bellini.
On 5 July 2017, the Dassault and Bolloré families withdrew their shares from Gaumont, falling below the 10% voting power limit and 5% capital limit at the company. GAUMONT : la famille Dassault et BOLLORE sont sortis du capital à l'occasion de l'offre de rachat
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