Focus Features is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures that produces and distributes art house films. Formed in 2002 and headquartered in Universal City, California, it has produced thriller films like Eastern Promises, 21 Grams, and The American that are in the spirit of the filmmakers' short coursework film. The document analyzes three potential production companies - Focus Features, New Line Cinema, and Miramax Films - and concludes that Focus Features would be the best choice because its films emphasize suspense and tension over gore or comedy, and feature thought-provoking plots and developed characters.

1. PRODUCTION COMPANIES Production company research x3 – which company would you decide to make your film and why?

2. Focus Features Focus Features is a subsidiary of NBC’s Universal Pictures, and is the art house division. It is both producer as well as distributor for its own films (such as the successful Brokeback Mountain, and also distributes foreign films. Formed in 2002, its headquarters are in Universal City, California, U.S. Some of the thriller like films it has produced that would be in the spirit of our own short for coursework are: Eastern Promises, 21 Grams and The American.

3. New Line Cinema New Line Cinema was founded in 1967 in America by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne – only later did it become an independent film studio. In 1996 the studio became a subsidiary of Time Warner before later merged with Warner Bros. in 2008. The original idea behind the studio was to provide art house and foreign films to students on college campuses in the U.S. Some of its notable thriller and horror films are: Se7en, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Final Destination and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

4. Miramax Films Miramax Films is another art house (and independent) film production company which has produced and distributed its own as well as foreign films over 31 years. Founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, it was bought in 1993 by the Walt Disney Company. Its headquarters are in New York, and was recently sold in 2010 by Disney to Filmyard Holdings LLC. It was originally founded with the intention of producing those independent films which otherwise may not have gained funding or aid by the major studios who had denied them because they considered their ideas not very commercial and more difficult to cater to a wider audience. Some of its well known thriller films are: Kill Bill, There Will Be Blood, and Halloween.

5. CONCLUSION Overall, I would choose the Focus Features company to make our short. All of them are art house and independent film producers which is well suited to a thriller-like film which isn’t very commercial and can be hard to market to a wide audience, which is what we need. I chose it over Miramax Films because that has more of a comedic theme to its slashers, and over New Line Cinema because that focuses more on the gore and horror than the actual suspense and tension of the thriller genre. In addition to that, Focus Features has more thought-provoking plotlines in the films it produces as well as more original ideas, and complex plots with more developed characters and so I believe it to be the ideal choice for our picture.