164:
company survived, these three (and other) filmmakers had much to gain from it. All three of the founding filmmakers went on to display rather arcane choices in material for their next films. All could have benefited from a collegial give and take with their peers. Further, the basic structure of the company was valid -- perhaps ahead of its time. It made sense for a studio to assign a portion of its filmmaking program to directors who would function with a high degree of autonomy. It also made sense to extend them a substantial piece of the gross receipts in return for a commitment to tight budgets. Indeed, several efforts to emulate this business plan have been advanced (most recently with a group that included Steven
Soderbergh). Nothing, however, has ever taken shape.
74:
I thought it was a great idea... The money we could make was limited to a certain amount, which I thought was perfectly good, but
Friedkin felt he wanted more money, and more money for the budget. Our deal was, we could make any picture we wanted, as long as it was three million or under, which was a
163:
The chief problem with the
Directors' Company... was that it was never really a company. The three filmmakers involved in its founding... relished the basic precepts of the enterprise, but, as true '70s mavericks, resisted serious involvement in its operation... Which was a shame because, had the
75:
lot of money in those days. We could also produce a movie for someone else if it wasn’t more than $ 1.5 million. We didn’t even have to show them a script! It was a great deal, and I wish I could get one like it again. That kind of freedom is worth gold, I think. It was a shame.
50:
chairman of the Gulf and
Western Corporation who owned Paramount. Friedkin, Coppola and Bogdanovich were all coming off hit films and Bludhorn wanted to work with them. Friedkin says Bludhorn made the deal with the directors without informing Paramount's
70:(Friedkin); he also said the company aimed to make 12 pictures in all and would possibly move into television. A board of directors consisting of three Paramount executives and three company directors would pass judgement on the films. Bogdanovich:
82:, a vice-president of Paramount at the time, was given the job of supervising the Directors Company. Each filmmaker was allowed to have a protege who could make a film for the company; Bogdanovich chose
396:
155:
ended the
Directors Company. Friedkin says another reason was because of tensions created because the adversarial position he took against Bogdanovich over
259:
299:
115:, which was a major critical success. It performed moderately well at the box office, but was not as financially successful as
278:
144:, thinking it was not commercial enough, and felt Yablans encouraged the director to make it in part to end the company.
104:
when
Coppola brought them the script, but neither Friedkin or Bogdanovich were enthusiastic about it, so they passed.
315:
401:
58:
Nonetheless in 1972 Yablans announced the
Directors Company would make three films, each under $ 3 million –
38:. The directors were allowed to make any film they wished provided they kept within a certain budget.
332:
353:
23:
8:
191:
123:
flopped at the box office and
Friedkin did not end up making any movies for the company.
35:
295:
212:
175:
27:
183:
47:
31:
303:
390:
52:
83:
377:
98:. According to William Friedkin, the company had the opportunity to make
91:
79:
100:
107:
The
Directors Company got off to a strong start with the release of
46:
According to
Friedkin, the idea for the Directors Company came from
111:, which was a critical and commercial success. It was followed by
136:
140:. He also says he was strongly opposed to Bogdanovich making
381:
126:
Friedkin later said he was proud to be associated with
55:, who was strongly opposed to the idea of the company.
22:
was a short-lived film production company formed by
388:
90:. Bogdanovich later said that he wanted to help
397:Film production companies of the United States
346:
86:, who suggested the younger director make
285:, 6 December 2004, accessed 16 April 2013
225:
223:
221:
94:make a movie about James Murray, star of
245:"3 FILMS ANNOUNCED BY DIRECTORS GROUP".
34:in the early 1970s in association with
389:
273:
271:
218:
288:
325:
316:"William Friedkin: Exorcising Joe!"
268:
13:
14:
413:
371:
260:Alex Simon, "Peter Bogdanovich",
234:, Harper Collins 2013 p 314-318".
232:The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir
159:. Bart later wrote in 2004 that:
16:American film production company
134:, thinking it was a rip-off of
309:
253:
238:
206:
168:
1:
199:
7:
151:and internal fighting over
10:
418:
249:. Sep 6, 1972. p. 40.
41:
147:The financial failure of
333:"IMDb, The Conversation"
296:"Between Action and Cut"
262:The Hollywood Interview
265:accessed 16 April 2013
166:
77:
378:The Directors Company
213:The Directors Company
161:
72:
20:The Directors Company
402:Francis Ford Coppola
306:accessed 3 June 2013
68:The Bunker Hill Boys
24:Francis Ford Coppola
230:"William Friedkin,
302:2012-12-06 at the
215:at Everything2.com
36:Paramount Pictures
279:"Three's Company"
130:but did not like
28:Peter Bogdanovich
409:
365:
364:
362:
360:
350:
344:
343:
341:
339:
329:
323:
313:
307:
294:John Gallagher,
292:
286:
275:
266:
257:
251:
250:
242:
236:
235:
227:
216:
210:
184:The Conversation
153:The Conversation
132:The Conversation
113:The Conversation
64:The Conversation
48:Charles Bludhorn
32:William Friedkin
417:
416:
412:
411:
410:
408:
407:
406:
387:
386:
374:
369:
368:
358:
356:
354:"Boxofficemojo"
352:
351:
347:
337:
335:
331:
330:
326:
314:
310:
304:Wayback Machine
293:
289:
276:
269:
258:
254:
244:
243:
239:
229:
228:
219:
211:
207:
202:
171:
62:(Bogdanovich),
44:
17:
12:
11:
5:
415:
405:
404:
399:
385:
384:
373:
372:External links
370:
367:
366:
345:
324:
308:
298:, August 2004
287:
267:
252:
247:New York Times
237:
217:
204:
203:
201:
198:
197:
196:
188:
180:
170:
167:
66:(Coppola) and
43:
40:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
414:
403:
400:
398:
395:
394:
392:
383:
379:
376:
375:
355:
349:
334:
328:
322:16 April 2013
321:
317:
312:
305:
301:
297:
291:
284:
280:
274:
272:
264:
263:
256:
248:
241:
233:
226:
224:
222:
214:
209:
205:
194:
193:
189:
186:
185:
181:
178:
177:
173:
172:
165:
160:
158:
154:
150:
145:
143:
139:
138:
133:
129:
124:
122:
118:
114:
110:
105:
103:
102:
97:
93:
89:
85:
81:
76:
71:
69:
65:
61:
56:
54:
53:Frank Yablans
49:
39:
37:
33:
29:
25:
21:
357:. Retrieved
348:
336:. Retrieved
327:
319:
311:
290:
282:
277:Peter Bart,
261:
255:
246:
240:
231:
208:
192:Daisy Miller
190:
182:
174:
162:
157:Daisy Miller
156:
152:
149:Daisy Miller
148:
146:
142:Daisy Miller
141:
135:
131:
127:
125:
121:Daisy Miller
120:
116:
112:
108:
106:
99:
95:
88:Daisy Miller
87:
84:Orson Welles
78:
73:
67:
63:
59:
57:
45:
19:
18:
320:Bizarre Mag
169:Filmography
391:Categories
200:References
176:Paper Moon
128:Paper Moon
117:Paper Moon
109:Paper Moon
92:King Vidor
80:Peter Bart
60:Paper Moon
101:Star Wars
96:The Crowd
300:Archived
283:Variety
137:Blow Up
42:History
359:6 July
338:6 July
195:(1974)
187:(1974)
179:(1973)
30:, and
382:IMDb
361:2014
340:2014
380:at
393::
318:,
281:,
270:^
220:^
119:.
26:,
363:.
342:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.