Universal Studios

At least one version of corporate history claims that the twenty-year-old Irving Thalberg rose so quickly because he told subordinates that he alone spoke for Carl Laemmle in making production decisions, while the others were more concerned with battling among themselves. Honda took the idea even further, producing the championship-winning RC211V, powered by a V5 cylinder engine. For several years some of these junior partners carried considerable weight within Universal; inevitably factions and rivalries were the rule. Yamaha had gone ahead with an inline four layout, whilst Suzuki and Ducati went for (differently-designed) V-Four layouts. Among those early film-production studios (and their proprietors) were:. Aprilia continued this trend, taking advantage of lighter minimum weights with the introduction of their RS3 MotoGP bike - featuring three cylinders in an Inline triple layout, the bike had the least number of cylinders on the Grand Prix paddock. In the early years of Universal, the company absorbed a number of small firms. For example, they progressed with development of a V-Twin 500 cc Grand Prix bike when other teams were moving to V-Four configurations for what some believed was better & more usable power outputs.

Movie Not Listed. The company is also notable for choosing somewhat unpopular engine configurations. For example, for Waterworld in 1995, the sea level on earth rises, covering the land as the Universal title moves into place. Aprilia also feature in the off-road racing world, with their 450cc V-Twin motocrosser producing respectable results (including race wins) in both off-road (Motocross) and on-road (Supermoto) categories. There have been occasional modifications to the logo to match the picture. The RS3 did, however, feature many advanced technologies either not seen or only being seen now in other MotoGP bikes - technologies including throttle by wire and pneumatic valve actuation systems. Added to this was a dramatic, swelling theme by Jerry Goldsmith. However, their 500 cc Grand Prix bike was less competitive, and their MotoGP effort - dubbed the RS3 - was technically advanced but difficult to ride and performed poorly in the championship.

This was tweaked a bit in 1997 to add lights on earth and highlights on the rotating letter-wrap. They were extremely successful in the smaller displacement categories, winning numerous races & championships in the 125 cc Grand Prix and 250 cc Grand Prix classes. Using CGI, the new introduction simulates a satellite-eye view of earth; as the point-of-view pulls back, a classically-styled "UNIVERSAL" moves into place like a belt. Aprilia Racing saw varying successes. To celebrate the company's seventy-fifth anniversary, the logo got a digital makeover in 1990. It contests many formulae, including the FIM 125 cc World Championship, the FIM 250cc World Championship, the now-defunct FIM 500cc World Championship, and from 2002-2004 the FIM MotoGP World Championship. Added at the bottom of the screen was the sub-head, "AN MCA COMPANY." Earlier on this was used for widescreen where the logo is slower and UNIVERSAL blurs in then A & Pictures are sandwiched on it. Despite being a relatively small company by global motorcycling standards, Aprilia is very active in motorcycle racing.

When the "International" portion of the name was dropped in 1963, the logo was updated to a more stylized revolving globe inside a whirling Van Allen Belt, with the name "UNIVERSAL" centered over it. The founder, Ivano Beggio, is the Honorary President. Following the 1946 merger with International Pictures, a new, more conventional logo was introduced, with a realistic representation of earth shown underneath the new name "Universal-International" in a dignified type font. With the acquisition by Piaggio, the newly nominated President of Aprilia is Roberto Colaninno (President of Piaggio & C.), and the Managing Director is Rocco Sabelli. With new management in the mid-1930s came a completely new logo; introduced in 1937, a highly stylized glass globe, surrounded by twinkling stars, rotated to display the name "UNIVERSAL PICTURES." This logo quickly conveyed a message of "new management" while tapping into the modern movement in design. SpA, to form the world’s fourth largest motorcycle group with 1.5 billion Euro in sales, an annual production capacity of over 600,000 vehicles, and a presence in 50 countries. At the end of the movie The End is on the globe then it read " It's A UNIVERSAL PICTURE". As of 2004 Aprilia was acquired by Piaggio & C.

An updated logo was introduced in 1929, as a biplane circling the globe "wiped" into place the words "A UNIVERSAL PICTURE". Most of the major motorcycle magazines picked it for the best bike of the year. Universal has used an image of planet Earth as their logo since the early 1920s. Most recently, in 2003, Aprilia launched the RSV Mille Tuono which was essentially an RSV Mille with motorcross-style high handlebars and only a small headlight fairing. As presently structured, GE owns 80% of NBC Universal, with Vivendi holding the remaining 20%, with an option to sell its share in 2006. In 2000 Aprilia launched the 50cc DiTech (Direct Injection Technology) two stroke engine for scooters which provides high milage and low emissions, and also the RST Futura; true sport tourer, and the ETV 1000 Caponord; an "Adventure Touring Motorcycle" (also known by some as a "Trailie.") Both of these latter two motorcycles used a variation of the Rotax a 1000cc V-Twin. The reorganized "Universal" film conglomerate has enjoyed several financially successful years. In 1999 Aprilia entered World Superbike Championship racing with its RSV Mille, and during 2000, Aprilia acquired Moto-Guzzi and Laverda, both historic heritage Italian marques.

remained the name of the production subsidiary; and while some expressed doubts that regimented, profit-minded GE and high-living Hollywood could coexist, so far the mix seems to be working. Both bikes used a variation of a Rotax 1000cc engine. The resulting media super-conglomerate was re-named NBC Universal, while Universal Studios Inc. In 1998 Aprilia launched what is its current flagship model the RSV Mille, a 1000cc V-Twin Superbike, and the Falco, a 1000cc V-Twin sport tourer with emphasis on sport. Subsequently burdened with debt, Vivendi sold its majority share in Universal (including the studio and theme parks) to GE in 2004, parent of NBC. Also in 1995 Aprilia launched the two stroke RS 125 and RS 250 sports bikes. (These same properties would be bought back later at greatly inflated prices.) Seeing a way out, in June 2000, Seagram sold itself to French water-utility and media company Vivendi and the media conglomerate became Vivendi/Universal, while the music-related subsidiaries of MCA were sold to Geffen Music, thus effectively ending the existence of MCA. In 1995, Aprilia commission Philippe Starck to design the Motò which was shown in New York’s Modern Art Museum.

sold Universal's television holdings (including cable network USA) to Barry Diller. Later Aprilia launced additional scooters such as the Leonardo, the SR and the Gulliver, to name a few. To raise money, Seagram head Edgar Bronfman, Jr. In 1993 Aprilia launched a large diameter wheel scooter reusing the name Scarabeo with a four-stroke, four-valve engine. to enter the lucrative videotape sales industry; but the up-and-down profit in Hollywood was no substitute for a secure cash-cow like whiskey. In 1992, Aprilia introduced the Amico LK and the twin cylinder Pegaso 125, both with catalytic converters. Hoping to build a media empire around Universal, Seagram bought Polygram and other entertainment properties, and created MCA/Universal Home Video Inc. Also in the 1990s, Aprilia entered the scooter market starting in 1990 with Italy’s first all-plastic scooter, the Amico.

This provided a cash infusion, but the clash of cultures was too great to overcome, and, in frustration, five years later Matsushita sold control MCA/Universal to the Canadian liquor-distributor Seagram. Many world champions started on Aprilia such as Biaggi, Capirossi, Gramigni, Locatelli, Sakata and Rossi. At this time, the production subsidiary was renamed Universal Studios Inc. Since then, Aprilia has 124 times won 125 and 250 cc class Grand Prix, 15 Road Racing World Championship titles, and 16 European speed titles. Anxious to expand its broadcast and cable presence, in 1990 Lew Wasserman, now head of MCA, sought a rich partner, of MCA/Universal to Matsushita Electric, the Japanese electronics manufacturer. Also in 1992, Tommy Ahvala won the World Trials Championship on an Aprilia Climber. There would be other film hits like E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park, but overall the film business was still hit-and-miss. In 1992 Aprilia rider Alessandro Gramigni won the World 125 Road Racing Championship title.

Weekly series production was the workhorse of the company. In 1990 Aprilia launched the Pegaso 600, a road bike derived from off-road mechanics. Though Universal's film unit did produce occasional hits, among them Airport, The Sting, American Graffiti, and a blockbuster that restored the company's fortunes, Jaws, Universal in the 1970s was primarily a television studio. Two seasons later, on August 30, 1987, at San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Loris Reggiani’s AF1 won the first World Speed Championship. An innovation of which Universal was especially proud was the creation in this period of the ninety-minute, made-for-television movie. In 1985 Aprilia rider Philippe Berlatier contended for the trials world championship reaching fifth place, and Loris Reggiani rode an Aprilia GP 250 with Rotax engine to sixth place in the road racing World Championship. Television now carried the load, as Revue-MCA dominated the American networks, particularly NBC (which later merged with Universal to form NBC Universal-see below), where for several seasons it provided up to half of all prime time shows. In 1986 Aprilia launched the AF1; a small sports model, and the Tuareg; a large tanked bike for African rallies.

But it was too late, since the audience was no longer there, and by 1968, the film-production unit began to downsize. In 1985 Aprilia launched a 125 STX and 350 STX. And so, with MCA in charge, for a few years in the 1960s Universal became what it had never been: a full-blown, first-class movie studio, with leading actors and directors under contract; offering slick, commercial films; and a studio tour subsidiary (launched in 1964). In 1985, Aprilia started outsourcing engines for some models to the Austrian company Rotax. As a last gesture before getting out of the talent agency business, virtually every MCA client was signed to a Universal contract. In 1984 Aprilia launched an improved model called STX, and an enduro, called the ET 50. remained a subsidiary only engaged in export/international release of Universal product. In 1983 Aprilia launched to St 125 road bike.

Universal-International Pictures Inc. In 1981 Aprilia introduced the TL320 trials machine. The actual, long-awaited takeover of Universal Pictures by MCA finally took place in mid-1962, and the production subsidiary reverted in name to Universal Pictures, while the parent company became MCA/Universal Pictures Inc. In the 1980s Aprilia added enduro, trials and road bikes of between 50 and 600 cc. The studio lot was upgraded and modernized, while MCA clients like Doris Day, Lana Turner, and Cary Grant were signed to Universal Pictures contracts. In 1978 Alborghetti closed the season with two third places in individual races and sixth place in the World Championship. Although MCA owned the studio lot, but not Universal Pictures, it was increasingly influential on Universal's product. In 1977 Ivan Alborghetti from Milan, Italy won the Italian 125 and 250 cc motorcross championships on Aprilias.

After a period of complete shutdown, a moribund Universal agreed to sell its (by now) 360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA in 1958, for $11 million. Produced until the end of the 1970s, the Scarabeo came in 50 and 125 cc versions. Talent agent MCA had also become a powerful television producer, renting space at Republic Studios for its Revue Productions subsidiary. Aprilia later produced a motocross bike in 1970 called the Scarabeo. The combination of the studio/theater-chain break-up and the rise of television saw the mass audience drift away, probably forever. The first production Aprilia mopeds were named Colibrì, Daniela and Packi. By the late 1950s, the motion picture business was in trouble. Alberto’s son, Ivano Beggio, took over the helm of the company in 1968 and he constructed a 50 cc "motorcycle" with a dozen or so collaborators.

This kind of arrangement would become the rule for many future productions at Universal, and eventually at other studios as well. Aprilia was founded immediately after the Second World War by Cavaliere Alberto Beggio, as a bicycle production factory at Noale, Italy in the province of Venice. When one of those films, Winchester '73 proved to be a hit, Stewart became a rich man. . Wasserman's deal gave Stewart a share in the profits of three pictures in lieu of a large salary. It is most recently best known for its flagship 1000 cc V-Twin Superbike, the RSV Mille. Leading actors were increasingly free to work where and when they chose, and in 1950 MCA agent Lew Wasserman made a deal with Universal for his client James Stewart that would change the rules of the business. Aprilia started as a scooter manufacturer, but has more recently come to be known for its race-winning sportsbikes.

case. Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle company, which in recent times bought the historical Moto-Guzzi and Laverda brands. Paramount Pictures, et al. Forum for aprilia enthusiasts. vs. Aprilia. Though Decca would continue to keep picture-budgets lean, they were favored by changing circumstances in the film business, as other studios let their contract-actors go in the wake of the 1948 U.S.

At this point Rank lost interest and sold his shares to the investor Milton Rackmil, whose Decca Records would take full control of Universal in 1952. By the late 1940s, Goetz was out, and the studio reverted once more to the low-budget fare it knew best. While there were to be a few hits like The Egg & I, The Killers, and Naked City, the studio still struggled. William Goetz, a founder of International, was made head of production at the re-named (as Universal-International Pictures Inc.) production arm of the Universal Pictures complex (distribution and copyright control remained under the name of Universal Pictures Company Inc.; Universal-International Pictures additionally served Universal as an import-export subsidiary, and copyright holder for the production arm's films), and he set out an ambitious schedule.

While trying to improve the quality of the studio's output, he instigated a merger in 1946 with a struggling American independent production company, International Pictures. Arthur Rank bought a one-fourth interest in Universal in 1945. After the War, looking to expand his American presence, the British entrepreneur J. During the war years Universal did have a co-production arrangement with producer Walter Wanger and his partner, director Fritz Lang, but their pictures were a small bit of quality in a schedule dominated by the likes of Cobra Woman and Frontier Gal.

Fields, and Marlene Dietrich. Low and medium budget fare dominated through the years of World War II, when the studio's most popular stars were the many cast-off Paramount players like Mae West, W.C. Only the films of young singer Deanna Durbin were given reasonably high budgets, under the control of Joe Pasternak upon his emigration from Europe; if any one star can be said to have kept Universal in business during the early 1940s, it was Durbin, despite her often being woefully miscast as a young teenager when she was, clearly, a fully adult woman. By the start of World War II, the company was concentrating on small-budget production of the fare that had once been Universal's sidelines: westerns, melodramas, serials and sequels to the studio's horror classics.

Gone were the big ambitions, and though Universal had few big names under contract, those it had been cultivating, like William Wyler and Margaret Sullavan, now left. The Laemmles were unceremoniously removed from all association with the company, and the new owners instituted severe cuts in production budgets. When production dragged on, a cash-strapped studio could not repay the loan, and the bank foreclosed, claiming the pledged collateral, the Laemmle family's stock in (and therefore control of) Universal Pictures Company Inc. Throughout its twenty-plus years' existence, Universal had never borrowed money; to complete production on "Show Boat" the studio turned to the Standard Chartered Bank for a $750,000 production loan.

His intentions to upgrade production resulted in, in 1935, a lavish, all-star remake of Show Boat. This would prove to be a costly production for the studio, and for the Laemmle family. held fast to distribution, studio and production operations. The theater chain was scrapped, but Laemmle Jr. Taking on the task of modernizing and upgrading a film conglomerate in the depths of the depression was risky, and for a time Universal slipped into receivership.

Other Laemmle productions of this period include Imitation of Life and My Man Godfrey. also created a successful niche for the studio, beginning a long-running series of horror classics, among them Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy. Laemmle, Jr. His early efforts included the 1929 version of Show Boat, the first color musical; King of Jazz; and All Quiet on the Western Front, winner of the "Best Picture" award for 1930.

saw what his father could not, and acted at once to bring Universal up to date, by buying and building theaters, converting the studio to sound production, and upgrading the quality of production. To his credit, Laemmle, Jr. benefitted from one of the greatest acts of nepotism in Hollywood history when his father handed him the keys to — and control of — Universal City as a twenty-first birthday gift in 1928. Carl Laemmle, Jr.

Nazi persecution and a change in ownership for the parent Universal Pictures organization resulted in the dissolution of this subsidiary. In the USA, Universal Pictures did not distribute any of this subsidiary's films, but at least some of them were exhibited through other, independent, foreign-language film distributors based in New York, without benefit of English subtitles. With the advent of sound, these productions were made in the German language or, occasionally, Hungarian or Polish. This unit produced 3-4 films per year until 1936, migrating to Hungary and then Austria in the face of Hitler's increasing domination of central Europe.

In 1926, Universal also opened a production unit in Germany, Deutsche Universal-Film AG, under production direction of Joe Pasternak. Mayer company. For a few years in the early twenties the young producer Irving Thalberg tried to improve the quality of Universal's output, but he left in 1923 for a better opportunity with the Louis B. Content with a market in small towns, its product was primarily melodramas, cheap westerns, and serials.

By the early 1920s, as the other studios soared, Universal was decidedly in the second rank. He also financed all of his own films, refusing to take on debt. Unlike rivals Adolph Zukor, William Fox and Marcus Loew, Laemmle chose not to develop a theater chain. Despite Laemmle's role as an innovator, as a studio head he was extremely cautious, and within a few years the rapidly expanding film business had passed him by.

Studio management now became the third facet of Universal's operations, with the studio incorporated as a distinct subsidiary organization. Following the westward trend of the industry, in 1915, Laemmle opened the world's largest motion-picture production facility, Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre (0.9 km²) converted farm just over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. By naming the stars of films, he was able to attract many of the leading players of the time, and created the star-system which helps sell films today. Though dodging the Edison trust, the new Universal company was an immediate success, in part because Laemmle broke with Edison's custom of refusing credit to actors.

Film production and distribution were the Universal company's activities. Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. While Laemmle was the primary figure in Universal, by absorbing several smaller firms he acquired a number of partners, among them Mark Dintinfass, Charles Baumann and Adam Kessel, and Pat Powers. That company quickly evolved into the "Independent Moving Picture Company", or IMP; and a further reorganization in 1911 saw IMP reincorporate as the "Universal Film Manufacturing Co.," on June 8, 1912, introducing the word "universal" into the organization's name.

Soon Laemmle and other disgruntled nickelodeon owners saw that a way to avoid paying Edison was to produce their own pictures, and in June 1909, Laemmle and partners started the Yankee Film Company. Using Edison's patent on the electric motor used in cameras and projectors, the trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition, and also held a monopoly on distribution. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for any trust-produced film they showed. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, he gave up dry-goods to buy the first of several nickelodeons.

One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the take for the day. On a 1905 buying trip to Chicago, he was struck by the popularity of nickelodeons. Carl Laemmle partnered with Abe Stern and Julius Stern to create Universal Pictures. The founder of Universal, Carl Laemmle, was an German Jewish immigrant who had settled in Wisconsin, where he managed a clothing store.

The longest-lived Hollywood film production company, Universal Pictures can trace its origins back to the creation in 1909 of a predecessor, the Yankee Film Company. . Distribution and other corporate, administrative offices are based in New York City. Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal, has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles and Burbank.

Los Angeles Library Photo Collection "Nestor Studios" . Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills - map Providencial and Water Development. Los Angeles Library Photo Collection "Bird-Eye View of Universal City" 1911. Putnam's Sons, 1931, illustrated.

G.P. The Life and Adventures of Carl Laemmle. Drinkwater, John. New York: Vintage, 1994.

Movie-Made America. Skalr, Robert. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. When Hollywood Had a King.

Bruck, Connie. New York: Crown Publishers, 1998. The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA and the Hidden History of Hollywood. McDougal, Dennis.

New York: Fireside, 1989. The Hollywood Studios. Mordden, Ethan. New York: Pantheon Books, 1989.

The Genius of the System. Schatz, Thomas. Rex Motion Picture Co., William Swanson. Powers Motion Picture Co., Pat Powers, president.

The New York Motion Picture Company, Charles Baumann and Adam Kessel, proprietors. Nestor Motion Picture Company, David Horsley. Champion Motion Picture Co., Mark Dintinfass, president. Miami Vice (2006).

Nanny McPhee (2006). Curious George (2006). Two for the Money (2005). The Skeleton Key (2005).

Serenity (2005). The Producers (2005). Prime (2005). The Perfect Man (2005).

Munich (2005). King Kong (2005). Kicking & Screaming (2005). Jarhead (2005).

Cinderella Man (2005). The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). Van Helsing (2004). Ray (2004, distribution).

Meet the Fockers (2004). In Good Company (2004). Friday Night Lights (2004). The Chronicles of Riddick (2004).

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). The Bourne Supremacy (2004). Seabiscuit (2003). The Rundown (2003).

Peter Pan (2003). Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). Love Actually (2003). Hulk (2003).

Honey (2003). The Cat in the Hat (2003). Bruce Almighty (2003). American Wedding (2003).

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). 8 Mile (2002). The Bourne Identity (2002). Jurassic Park III (2001).

American Pie 2 (2001). The Mummy Returns (2001). A Beautiful Mind (2001, distribution). Erin Brockovich (2000, distribution).

End of Days (1999). American Pie (1999). The Mummy (1999). The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).

Daylight (1996). Casino (Film) (1995). Balto (1995). Apollo 13 (1995).

Junior (1994). We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993, distribution). Schindler's List (1993). Jurassic Park (1993).

Carlitos Way (1993). Scent of a Woman (1992). Child's Play 3 (1991). Kindergarten Cop (1990).

Child's Play 2 (1990). Back to the Future Part III (1990). An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1990). Back to the Future Part II (1989).

The Land Before Time (1988 plus sequels). Jaws: The Revenge (1987). An American Tail (1986). The Breakfast Club (1985).

Back to the Future (1985). Sixteen Candles (1984). Scarface (1983). Jaws 3-D (1983).

The Thing (1982). Sophie's Choice (1982). Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

E.T. Conan the Barbarian (1982). On Golden Pond (1981). The Blues Brothers (1980 plus sequel 2000).