Warner Bros. Pictures
The company was founded by four brothers - Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner - in April 1923, though film productions can be traced back to 1918. The two eldest brothers opened their own theatre in 1903. In 1904, they founded Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company to distribute films. It wasn't until 1918 that they bought their first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War One, their first national film, "My Four Years in Germany", based upon a popular book at the time, was released. On April 4th 1923, they incorporated the company. By 1924, the company was one of the biggest and most successful independent film studio in Hollywood, competing against the big studios at the time (Paramount, MGM and First National). The company was a pioneer with sound in film. They established the Viatphone which began, in 1926, making films with music and sound effects. In 1928, Warner Bros. released "Lights of New York", the first all-talking feature. Due to its success, the movie industry converted entirely to sound and by the end of 1929, all the major studios were making sound films. In 1929, the studios released "On with the Show" which was the first all-colour, all-talking film. This, along with the release of "Gold Diggers of Broadway", sparked a colour-film revolution. During the 40s and 50s, there was a lot of money lost due to failed attempts at things like 3D, but also a lot of gain at the signing of very important film stars of the period. By the mid-1960s, motion picture production was in decline and in 1966, the company was sold to Seven Arts Productions. Jack Warner remained on the board of the company until his death in 1978. In 2004, Warner Bros. became the first studio in history to gross more than $2 billion internationally in a single year and in 2009, they set studio and industry records, raking in $2.13 billion in domestic receipts and $4.01 billion worldwide. It is currently owned by the company Time Warner.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world and the second oldest surviving film studio in the United States. It is the last major film studio headquartered in the Hollywood district of LA. In 1912, Adolph Zukor, Daniel and Charles Frohman founded the Famous Players Film Company. By 1913, they had completed 5 films. Their success was halted when Jesse Lasky opened Lasky Feature Play Company in the same year. In 1914, both companies were releasing films through Paramount Pictures Corporation, a start-up company founded by W.W. Hodkinson. This was the first successful nation-wide distributor. In 1916, Hodkinson was bought out and the three companies merged together. It became the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. By 1932, all the original founders had been removed by Zukor. In 1933 however, the company went into receivership and in 1935, the company went bankrupt. In 1936, a new president was seated and Zukor became chair of the board. It was at this time that it became Paramount Pictures, Inc. During the 1920s and 30s, the company made 60 to 70 films a year. The 20s emphasised stars and the 30s emphasised the talking films. When the government ruled out 'pre-booking' of films before they were made, in 1940, the company cut back on production from 71 to 19 films annually during the war years. In 1948, the studios were split. The production company went to Universal Paramount Theaters. In 1966, after years of money struggles, the company was sold and managed to regain prosperity. During the 70s, the company emerged into television and their chain of successes ran into the 80s and 90s. During the late 90s and early 2000s, the company won three Academy Awards for 'Best Picture'. These were for "Titanic", "Braveheart" and "Forrest Gump". Since then the company have continued to create films. In 2014, it became the only Hollywood studio to distribute it's works entirely digitally. After many changes of ownership, the company Viacom, has had majority shares in Paramount since February of 2016.
20th Century Fox
The founders of Twentieth Century Picture (Joseph Schenck and Darryl Zanuck) fought for a merger with the then struggling Fox Film, under president Sidney Kent. William Fox, the founder of Fox Film, had lost control of the company in 1930 after an actor died in a plane crash and many others got dropped due to drug and alcohol abuse. The new company, 20th Century-Fox started trading in May of 1935. Schenk became chairman and CEO while Kent remained president and Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production. The new company created a specialist school with 18 month courses which could result in a sixth month contract with the company which could be renewed to up to 7 years. In 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. After the war, and with the advent of television, audiences slowly drifted away. Twentieth Century-Fox held on to its theaters until a court-mandated "divorce"; they were spun off as Fox National Theaters in 1953. That year, Twentieth Century-Fox took a gamble. The two film sensations of 1952 had been Cinerama, which required three projectors to fill a giant curved screen, and 'Natural Vision' 3D, which got its effect with the use of polarized glasses. Fox mortgaged its studio to buy rights to a French anamorphic projection system which gave a slight illusion of depth without glasses. In 1953, this was introduced as CinemaScope and was very successful. By the early 1960s the company in trouble as it had a lot of money problems. The main thing that solved these issues was the release of "The Sound of Music" in 1965. It became one of the biggest box-office hits and won 5 Academy Awards. With financial stability came new owners, when Fox was sold for more than $700 million in 1981 to investors Marc Rich and Marvin Davis. By 1985 Rich was a fugitive, and Davis bought out his interest in Fox for $116 million. Over the next 20 years, the network expanded to become extremely profitable for News Corp. Since 2000, the company has been the main international distributor of MGM and United Artists releases. In 2012, Rupert Murdoch announced that News Corp. would be split into two publishing and media-oriented companies - a new News Corporation and 21st Century Fox, which includes Fox Entertainment Group and 20th Century Fox. The highest grossing film ever, Avatar, was created by 20th Century Fox.
Blumhouse Productions
Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company, founded by Jason Blum in 2000. They produce low-budget horror movies, such as the "Paranormal Activity" and "Insidious" franchises. They began to get credit in 2009 with the release of Paranormal Activity. The film was made for $15,000 and grossed $193 million worldwide, after being released by Paramount Pictures. Another low budget film was Insidious which grossed $97 million on a budget of $1.5 million. The company was nominated for an Academy Award with the film "Whiplash" and has a 10 year first-look deal with Universal.
The company was founded by four brothers - Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner - in April 1923, though film productions can be traced back to 1918. The two eldest brothers opened their own theatre in 1903. In 1904, they founded Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company to distribute films. It wasn't until 1918 that they bought their first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War One, their first national film, "My Four Years in Germany", based upon a popular book at the time, was released. On April 4th 1923, they incorporated the company. By 1924, the company was one of the biggest and most successful independent film studio in Hollywood, competing against the big studios at the time (Paramount, MGM and First National). The company was a pioneer with sound in film. They established the Viatphone which began, in 1926, making films with music and sound effects. In 1928, Warner Bros. released "Lights of New York", the first all-talking feature. Due to its success, the movie industry converted entirely to sound and by the end of 1929, all the major studios were making sound films. In 1929, the studios released "On with the Show" which was the first all-colour, all-talking film. This, along with the release of "Gold Diggers of Broadway", sparked a colour-film revolution. During the 40s and 50s, there was a lot of money lost due to failed attempts at things like 3D, but also a lot of gain at the signing of very important film stars of the period. By the mid-1960s, motion picture production was in decline and in 1966, the company was sold to Seven Arts Productions. Jack Warner remained on the board of the company until his death in 1978. In 2004, Warner Bros. became the first studio in history to gross more than $2 billion internationally in a single year and in 2009, they set studio and industry records, raking in $2.13 billion in domestic receipts and $4.01 billion worldwide. It is currently owned by the company Time Warner.
Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world and the second oldest surviving film studio in the United States. It is the last major film studio headquartered in the Hollywood district of LA. In 1912, Adolph Zukor, Daniel and Charles Frohman founded the Famous Players Film Company. By 1913, they had completed 5 films. Their success was halted when Jesse Lasky opened Lasky Feature Play Company in the same year. In 1914, both companies were releasing films through Paramount Pictures Corporation, a start-up company founded by W.W. Hodkinson. This was the first successful nation-wide distributor. In 1916, Hodkinson was bought out and the three companies merged together. It became the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. By 1932, all the original founders had been removed by Zukor. In 1933 however, the company went into receivership and in 1935, the company went bankrupt. In 1936, a new president was seated and Zukor became chair of the board. It was at this time that it became Paramount Pictures, Inc. During the 1920s and 30s, the company made 60 to 70 films a year. The 20s emphasised stars and the 30s emphasised the talking films. When the government ruled out 'pre-booking' of films before they were made, in 1940, the company cut back on production from 71 to 19 films annually during the war years. In 1948, the studios were split. The production company went to Universal Paramount Theaters. In 1966, after years of money struggles, the company was sold and managed to regain prosperity. During the 70s, the company emerged into television and their chain of successes ran into the 80s and 90s. During the late 90s and early 2000s, the company won three Academy Awards for 'Best Picture'. These were for "Titanic", "Braveheart" and "Forrest Gump". Since then the company have continued to create films. In 2014, it became the only Hollywood studio to distribute it's works entirely digitally. After many changes of ownership, the company Viacom, has had majority shares in Paramount since February of 2016.
The founders of Twentieth Century Picture (Joseph Schenck and Darryl Zanuck) fought for a merger with the then struggling Fox Film, under president Sidney Kent. William Fox, the founder of Fox Film, had lost control of the company in 1930 after an actor died in a plane crash and many others got dropped due to drug and alcohol abuse. The new company, 20th Century-Fox started trading in May of 1935. Schenk became chairman and CEO while Kent remained president and Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production. The new company created a specialist school with 18 month courses which could result in a sixth month contract with the company which could be renewed to up to 7 years. In 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. After the war, and with the advent of television, audiences slowly drifted away. Twentieth Century-Fox held on to its theaters until a court-mandated "divorce"; they were spun off as Fox National Theaters in 1953. That year, Twentieth Century-Fox took a gamble. The two film sensations of 1952 had been Cinerama, which required three projectors to fill a giant curved screen, and 'Natural Vision' 3D, which got its effect with the use of polarized glasses. Fox mortgaged its studio to buy rights to a French anamorphic projection system which gave a slight illusion of depth without glasses. In 1953, this was introduced as CinemaScope and was very successful. By the early 1960s the company in trouble as it had a lot of money problems. The main thing that solved these issues was the release of "The Sound of Music" in 1965. It became one of the biggest box-office hits and won 5 Academy Awards. With financial stability came new owners, when Fox was sold for more than $700 million in 1981 to investors Marc Rich and Marvin Davis. By 1985 Rich was a fugitive, and Davis bought out his interest in Fox for $116 million. Over the next 20 years, the network expanded to become extremely profitable for News Corp. Since 2000, the company has been the main international distributor of MGM and United Artists releases. In 2012, Rupert Murdoch announced that News Corp. would be split into two publishing and media-oriented companies - a new News Corporation and 21st Century Fox, which includes Fox Entertainment Group and 20th Century Fox. The highest grossing film ever, Avatar, was created by 20th Century Fox. 
Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company, founded by Jason Blum in 2000. They produce low-budget horror movies, such as the "Paranormal Activity" and "Insidious" franchises. They began to get credit in 2009 with the release of Paranormal Activity. The film was made for $15,000 and grossed $193 million worldwide, after being released by Paramount Pictures. Another low budget film was Insidious which grossed $97 million on a budget of $1.5 million. The company was nominated for an Academy Award with the film "Whiplash" and has a 10 year first-look deal with Universal. 