Paramount Vantage

Paramount Vantage

Type	subsidiary
Founded	1998 (as Paramount Classics) 2006 (as Paramount Vantage)
Founder(s)	David Dinerstein Ruth Vitale
Key people	John Lesher (President) Nick Myer (Co-President)
Industry	Motion pictures
Owner(s)	Viacom
Parent	Paramount Motion Picture Group

Paramount Vantage (originally known as Paramount Classics) is the specialty film division of Paramount Pictures (which in turn is part of Viacom), charged with producing, purchasing, distributing and marketing films, generally those with a more "art house" feel than films made and distributed by its parent company.

Paramount Classics was launched in 1998 and released such art house fare as The Virgin Suicides, You Can Count on Me, Sunshine, Mostly Martha, Winter Solstice, and three Patrice Leconte films (Girl on the Bridge, Man on the Train, Intimate Strangers). Although film journalist David Poland felt "Ruth Vitale and David Dinerstein have proven to have wonderful taste heading up Paramount Classics," ^[1], the duo was fired in October 2005. ^[2]

In 2006, the Paramount Vantage brand branched off from Paramount Classics, which was relaunched in 2007 as a distributor of "smaller, review-driven films including foreign-language acquisitions and documentaries." ^[3]

In 2007, Paramount Vantage co-produced No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood with Miramax Films. The partnership paid off when both films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 80th Academy Awards, with the former film winning. The two won a combined six awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis in Blood and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem in No Country.

Despite its critical success, Paramount Vantage continually failed to deliver the financial returns Paramount Pictures expected. Only No Country for Old Men made a profit, while films that should have generated significant returns failed to deliver through either poor or excessive marketing. ^[4]

In June 2008, Paramount Pictures consolidated Paramount Vantage’s marketing, distribution, and physical production departments into the parent studio, while retaining the Paramount Vantage brand to develop and acquire specialty product with dedicated creative staff. ^[5]

Additional Paramount Classic releases

• Northfork
• Bloody Sunday
• Mean Creek
• The Machinist
• Mad Hot Ballroom (production only; distributed by Nickelodeon Movies)
• Hustle & Flow
• Ask the Dust
• An Inconvenient Truth

Paramount Vantage releases

See also

• Paramount Pictures
• Go Fish Pictures

References

v • d • e Cinema of the United States A–Z of films · Films by year · Academy Awards · Actors · Animators · Box office · Cinema and Theatre Chains · Cinematographers · Critics · Directors · Editors · Festivals · Film series · Golden Globes · Hollywood · Movie theatres · Producers · Production companies · Score composers · Screen Actors Guild Awards · Screenwriters · Silent films · Stunt performers · AFI 100 Years · National Film Registry