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Good Machine

Good Machine Productions was an American independent film production, film distribution, and foreign sales company started in the early 1990 by its co-founders and producers, Ted Hope and James Schamus. David Linde joined as a partner in the late 1990s and also started the international sales company Good Machine International.[1] They sold the company to Universal Pictures,[2] where it was then merged with USA Films and Universal Focus to create Focus Features.[3] Hope, along with the heads of production development and business affairs (Anthony Bregman, Anne Carey, and Diana Victor) then went on to form the independent production company This Is That Productions. Schamus and Linde became co-presidents of Focus Features.[4]

Industry

1990 (1990)

2003 (2003)

Merged with USA Films and Universal Focus

,
United States

James Schamus
Vivendi (2000–2003)

Universal Studios (2000–2003)

Good Machine International

In 2001, the Museum of Modern Art celebrated the tenth anniversary of Good Machine's work, commemorating their support of international and domestic filmmakers.[5]

Background[edit]

Good Machine was involved in production and/or distribution of a number of films, including Ang Lee's The Ice Storm and Ride with the Devil; Hal Hartley[6] projects such as Flirt (1995),[7] Edward Burns's The Brothers McMullen and Todd Solondz's Happiness.[8]

History[edit]

Launched in 1990 from a small loft space in lower Manhattan by writer/producer/Columbia professor James Schamus and his partner, Ted Hope, Good Machine produced many important independent films over the years, among them Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995) and The Wedding Banquet (Ang Lee, 1993). The company survived by doing line producing for hire and keeping overhead costs low. Many films were commercially successful thanks to centrist marketing strategies. David Linde joining in 1997 and creating the foreign sales company gave Schamus, Hope and Linde greater control of Good Machine's products, increased financing sources, and provided information about what people in the marketplace wanted.[9] In 1997, it was announced that Good Machine would become the foreign sales agent of films produced and distributed by October Films, in order to acquire worldwide rights of the films.[10] In 1998, it struck a deal with Universal.[11] Previously, the company had a one-time production deal with 20th Century Fox, which was signed in 1996.[12] It was dismantled in 2002, when it merged with Focus Features.[13]

Disbandment[edit]

In 2003, Good Machine was acquired by Universal Pictures.[14] James Schamus and David Linde remained with Universal, serving as co-presidents of Focus Features.[15]


Ted Hope chose to part with the company to form the This is that Corporation[16] (This Is That Productions) with Good Machine Director of Development Anne Carey, Director of Production Anthony Bregman, and Director of Business Affairs Diana Victor. Under the This Is That banner they produced films such as Adventureland, The Savages, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.[17]

(1991) — US distribution

The Hours and Times

(1991) — coproduced with Allarts

Keep It for Yourself

(1991) ― coproduced with Central Motion Pictures

Pushing Hands

(1992) — coproduced with Fine Line Features

Simple Men

(1993) ― coproduced with Central Motion Pictures

The Wedding Banquet

(1994) ― coproduced with Central Motion Pictures

Eat Drink Man Woman

(1994) — coproduced with Genre Films

What Happened Was

(1995) – coproduced with Videography Prods.

The Brothers McMullen

(1995)

Flirt

(1995) — coproduced with American Playhouse and Channel Four Films

Safe

(1996) — coproduced with Marlboro Road Gang Productions and South Fork Pictures

She's the One

(1996) — coproduced with Channel Four Films, Zenith Productions, Pandora Film, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Makido Films (France), Electric, and TEAM Communications Group

Walking and Talking

(1997)

The Ice Storm

(1997) — Sony Pictures Classics

The Myth of Fingerprints

(1997) — coproduced with Strand, Kardana/Swinsky Films, and Good Fear

Office Killer

(1998) — Good Machine Releasing

Happiness

(1998) — coproduced with Polygram Filmed Entertainment Group, Marlboro Road Gang, and South Fork Pictures

No Looking Back

(1998) — Good Machine International

Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl

(1999) — coproduced with Swinging T Productions

The Lifestyle

(1999) — coproduced with USA Films

Ride with the Devil

(1999) — coproduced with Fine Line Features

Trick

(2000) — Good Machine International; coproduced with Asian Union Film & Entertainment, China Film Co-Productions Corporation, Sony Pictures Classics, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Edko Films, and Zoom Hunt Productions

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

(2000) — Sony Pictures Classics

The Tao of Steve

(2001) — coproduced with FilmFour, Grosvenor Park Productions, and Odeon Film

Buffalo Soldiers

(2001) — co-produced with StudioCanal

Human Nature

(2001) — coproduced with Eastern Standard Film Company and GreeneStreet Films

In the Bedroom

(2001) — coproduced with Blow Up Pictures

Lovely & Amazing

(2001) — coproduced with Working Title Films, Gramercy Pictures, Mike Zoss Productions, and Constantin Film

The Man Who Wasn't There

(2001) — coproduced with Killer Films and New Line Cinema

Storytelling

(2001) — Good Machine International

Y Tu Mamá También

(2002) — coproduced with Columbia Pictures, Intermedia, and Propaganda Films

Adaptation

(2002) — coproduced with HBO Films

The Laramie Project

(2003) — coproduced with Dark Horse Entertainment, and HBO Films

American Splendor

(2003) — coproduced with Marvel Enterprises, and Valhalla Motion Pictures

Hulk

Contemporary Independent Film