Melvin Simon Productions

Melvin Simon Productions was a short lived film production company of the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded by real estate magnate Melvin Simon.

History

Simon got into filmmaking in 1976 when he was having a social game of golf with producer Harry Saltzman who needed money for a film he wanted to make called The Micronauts. Simon loaned him the rest of the money; the film was not made, but Saltzman repaid the loan by selling his house and Simon decided to get into filmmaking.[1]

Simon totally financed The Chicken Chronicles which was distributed by AVCO Embassy and gave an early lead role to Steve Guttenberg.

The company's first major motion picture was Somebody Killed Her Husband, Farrah Fawcett Majors' first film since leaving Charlie's Angels, which he funded in mid 1977.[2] The budget was $5 million.[3]

Albert S. Ruddy secured finance for the $4.5 million Matilda from Simon and a British company, the Film Finance Group; Ruddy was to make two more movies for this partnership, including a film about the Rough Riders.[4]

Melvin Simon's major movie was The Stunt Man for director Richard Rush. In November 1977 Milton Goldstein left Avco Embassy to become chief operating officer.[5]

In February 1978 Simon signed a deal with Stanley Kramer to make The Runner Stumbles.[6] He invested $1.6 million in When You Coming Back Red Ryder?[7]

In June 1978 the Los Angeles Times called Simon "the hottest, most sought after source of filmmaking money in the business." He had three films about to be released, seven completed or being edited, and six either shooting or about to star.[1]

"All my decisions are made on instinct," said Simon. "They tend to be neither logical or deductive but they work."[1]

By this stage three films Simon was associated with had come out. The Chicken Chronicles was a flop. However Simon had a part interest in Rabbit Test and Manitou which were lucrative.[1] Somebody Killed Her Husband was a box office disappointment but Simon made a profit of $2 million from pre-selling it. He also made a small profit from Matilda due to pre-selling it, although it flopped when released. When You Coming Back Red Ryder was a disappointment.[8]

The next run of films were Dominique, Tilt, Love at First Bite, Wolf Lake, Cloud Dander, The Runner Stumbles, The Stunt Man and two Canadian films, Blood and Guts and The Third Walker. The company struggled to find distribution for several of these.[8]

By April 1979 six films of Simon had been released and he had spent an estimated $25–30 million.[8] They then financed My Bodyguard.[9]

Tilt performed poorly. The company's first big hit was Love at First Bite which they financed for over $3 million and earned $30 million. It was sold to AIP and Simon was looking for an arrangement with a Hollywood major.[10][11][12]

20th Century Fox

In September 1979 20th Century Fox agreed to pick up all Melvin Simon's movies made in 1979 and 1980 in a deal worth an estimated $10 million. Excluded from the deal were films made before 1979 - The Runner Stumbles, Cloud Dancer and The Stunt Man. Films that were covered included The Man with Bogart's Face, Zorro the Gay Blade, [11]

Mel Simon films started flopping regularly at the box office: The Runner Stumbles, Cloud Dancer. However they had a huge hit with When a Stranger Calls.[13]

In April 1980 the company announced it would make ten films over the next two years to be distributed by Fox. These would include Zorro the Gay Blade and Escape which became UFOria.[14]

The Stunt Man was eventually released by Fox to excellent reviews. However the majority of the films flopped, notably Zorro the Gay Blade and the company started to wind back its operations.[15]

The company had a huge hit with Porky's which it co financed with a Canadian company. In April 1982 Simon announced he would make films in partnership with Alan Landsburg[16]

However, there were several more flop movies and Simon decided to leave the industry. "I did about 25 movies and I got out of it, thank God - it didn't cost me any money ultimately," Simon told a paper in 2002.[17]

Filmink magazine later wrote "Simon’s legacy as a movie financier is actually very good – he just lacked a library of past titles to provide him with a diversified cash flow to ride out the bad times (every independent suffers from this problem)."[18]

Films

Distributed by Avco Embassy

Distributed by Warner Bros

Canadian Films

Distributed by AIP
  • Matilda (1978) - put up half the film's budget of $5 million made a profit of $450,000 from presales[8]
  • Love at First Bite (1979) - starring George Hamilton - cost $3 million, earned $44 million[20]
  • Seven (1979) - directed by Andy Sidaris - budget $2 million

Distributed by Columbia

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

No Theatrical

Distributed by Blossom

Distributed by Universal
  • UFOria (filmed 1981, released 1985)

References
  1. Mel Simon--Film Financier Extraordinaire: Simon--Film Financier Extraordinaire Mel Simon Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 11 June 1978: q1.
  2. FILM CLIPS: 'Husband' Upcoming for Farrah Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 20 Aug 1977: c8
  3. Fawcett-Majors Gets Unglamorous for a Film Role: CALENDAR F.F.M.: 'Something Going on Behind the Phenomenon' Taylor, Clarke. Los Angeles Times 5 Feb 1978: m1.
  4. FILM CLIPS: Round 1 for a Boxing Kangaroo Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 8 Oct 1977: b6.
  5. FILM CLIPS: 'Discovering' Vivien Leigh Kilday, Greg. Los Angeles Times 7 Nov 1977: e10.
  6. CRITIC AT LARGE: High Noon for Stanley Kramer Incomplete Source Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times 24 Feb 1978: oc_c1.
  7. FILM CLIPS: Peckinpah Still Leading 'Convoy'? FILM CLIPS Kilday, Gregg. Los Angeles Times 15 Mar 1978: f9.
  8. FILM CLIPS: Mr. Simon Goes to Hollywood SCHREGER, CHARLES. Los Angeles Times (2 Apr 1979: f9.
  9. FILM CLIPS: Distribution Game: Picking 'Meatballs' SCHREGER, CHARLES. Los Angeles Times 18 Apr 1979: f11.
  10. SPOTLIGHT: Movie Mogul Melvin Simon: His 'Love at First Bite' Is a Hit By HOLLIS ALPERT. New York Times 6 May 1979: 133.
  11. Fox Plans To Handle Simon Films: Distribution Pact Covers 1979-80 A Spoof of Zorro By ALJEAN HARMETZ Special to The New York Times. 14 Sep 1979: D5.
  12. WHERE'S THE SCRATCH FROM 'BITE'? SCHREGER, CHARLES. Los Angeles Times 24 Aug 1980: r1.
  13. Marketing a Movie Is More Than Selling Jell-o: The Selling of Films By DAN YAKIR. New York Times 6 Jan 1980: D16.
  14. 'NEW' COMPANY TO BACK 10 MOVIES SCHREGER, CHARLES. Los Angeles Times 30 Apr 1980: g6.
  15. HOLLYWOOD SHIVERS IN A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE HARMETZ, ALJEAN. New York Times,20 Dec 1981: A.1..
  16. At the Movies Harmetz, Aljean. New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]23 Apr 1982: C.8.
  17. Mel Simon, Pacers co-owner, dies at 82 Davies, Tom. Journal - Gazette17 Sep 2009: B.5.
  18. Vagg, Stephen (March 10, 2020). "Ten Billionaires Who Were Stung by Hollywood". Filmink.
  19. Baumoel, Lois (April 17, 1978). "Joan Rivers Says Teamwork Helped 'Rabbit Test' Meet Tight Schedule". BoxOffice. SE8.
  20. B is for Low Budget and Big Box Office Bucks, So Sam Arkoff is Proud to Be Called Hollywood's King of the B Pictures. Archived 2014-05-23 at the Wayback Machine People Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  21. SPOTLIGHT: MOVIE MOGUL MELVIN SIMON: HIS 'LOVE AT FIRST BITE' IS A HIT By HOLLIS ALPERT. New York Times 6 May 1979: 133
  22. 'Red Ryder,' Deep in the Gut of Texas: 'Red Ryder': At Work in the Gut of Texas Christon, Lawrence. Los Angeles Times 21 May 1978: n48.
  23. "It's a Scream for Three Unknowns: UNKNOWNS". Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1979: p. G23.
  24. MOVIES: STANLEY KRAMER--GUESS WHO'S COME TO SEATTLE? Warga, Wayne. Los Angeles Times 18 Nov 1979: l33.
  25. by Tom Buckley; George Segal sheds light on light comedy. New York Times 15 Aug 1980: C.6.
  26. WE'RE TALKING GROSS, TACKY AND DUMB Brown, Peter H. Los Angeles Times 20 Jan 1985: 6.
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