Silver Screen Partners refers to four limited partnerships organized as an alternative funding source for film production originally formed by American investor Roland W. Betts as a collaboration with cable television network HBO in 1983. The managing general partner for the partnerships was Silver Screen Management, Inc.

Silver Screen Partners entered into an agreement with The Walt Disney Company beginning in 1985 to collaborate with the Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Touchstone Pictures, and Hollywood Pictures studios to produce works such as The Great Mouse Detective; Return to Oz; The Black Cauldron; Volunteers; Down and Out in Beverly Hills; Three Men and a Baby; Good Morning, Vietnam; Cocktail; Oliver & Company; Dead Poets Society; Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; Turner & Hooch; The Little Mermaid; Pretty Woman; Dick Tracy; The Rescuers Down Under; Beauty and the Beast; and Encino Man. Despite a string of successful films, Silver Screen Partners became defunct in 1992.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush was a member of Silver Screen Management, Inc.'s board of directors from 1983 to 1993. When Bush first ran for president in 2000, his membership on the board was scrutinized by the media over his attacks on Hollywood's perceived "pervasiveness of violence", particularly regarding the financing of the cult thriller film The Hitcher.

History The original Silver Screen Partners L.P. was organized by New York film investment broker Roland W. Betts to fund movies for HBO on April 19, 1983, and officially formed in Delaware on June 8 of that year. The limited partnerships (13,000) sold through EF Hutton were oversubscribed and raised $83 million. HBO made a 50 percent guarantee on their investment for exclusive cable rights. Another 40% was guaranteed by Thorn EMI, a British firm, for foreign distribution and foreign TV and videocassette markets. Additional income was lined up for domestic videocassette sales. HBO's film division was just starting out so film output was slow. For the Silver Screen/HBO films, the partnership was active in the process from selecting film pitches and negotiating release dates with the distributor. In 1984, the first HBO/Silver Screen movie, Flashpoint, was released through TriStar Pictures as were all the HBO/Silver Screen films.

Silver Screen Partners II, L.P. began financing films for The Walt Disney Company in 1985 with $193 million from 20,000 limited partners. Silver Screen was hands-off with Disney given its name and new management team led by Michael Eisner, formerly at Paramount. HBO was expecting that Silver Screen would return to them for its third limited partnership. However, in January 1987, Silver Screen Partners III began financing movies for Disney with $300 million raised, the largest amount raised for a film financing limited partnership by EF Hutton.

Silver Screen's fourth limited partnership, Silver Screen Partners IV, was also set up to finance Disney's studios. On October 23, 1990, The Walt Disney Company formed Touchwood Pacific Partners which supplanted the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary source of funding.

In 1991, Silver Screen Partners III, L.P. was among a group of production companies were sued for copyright infringement over Who Framed Roger Rabbit's "End Title" song.

Structure The partnerships paid for the movie's production costs and shared in the gross dollars in all markets from theater to television. Limited partners received their return before the production company could defray any of their expenses. This is preferred by investors as it guarantees some return if the film fails or has budget overrun and from the producer's overhead. Profits from a single film cannot be used to cover losses on other films, making the partnership somewhat risky.

List of notable Silver Screen Partners films

Title Release date Co-Production with Budget Gross Footloose February 17, 1984 Paramount Pictures Flashpoint August 31, 1984 HBO Films Heaven Help Us February 8, 1985 Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend March 22, 1985 Touchstone Pictures $14,972,297 Return to Oz June 21, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures $25,000,000 $11,137,801 The Black Cauldron July 24, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Productions $21,288,692 My Science Project August 9, 1985 Touchstone Pictures $4,122,748 Volunteers August 16, 1985 HBO Films The Journey of Natty Gann September 27, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures N/A $9,708,373 Sweet Dreams October 2, 1985 HBO Films One Magic Christmas November 22, 1985 Walt Disney Pictures N/A $13,677,222 Head Office January 3, 1986 HBO Films Down and Out in Beverly Hills January 31, 1986 Touchstone Pictures $14 million $91,411,255 The Hitcher February 21, 1986 HBO Films Odd Jobs March 1986 Off Beat April 11, 1986 Touchstone Pictures $4,117,061 Ruthless People June 27, 1986 $71,233,101 The Great Mouse Detective July 2, 1986 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $14 million $38,625,550 Tough Guys October 3, 1986 The Bryna Company and Touchstone Pictures $18 million $21,458,229 The Color of Money October 17, 1986 Touchstone Pictures $13,800,000 $76,728,982 Outrageous Fortune January 30, 1987 $25 million $65,864,741 Tin Men March 6, 1987 $11,000,000 $25,411,386 Ernest Goes to Camp May 22, 1987 $3,500,000 $23,509,382 Benji the Hunted June 17, 1987 Walt Disney Pictures and Mulberry Square Productions $22,257,624 Adventures in Babysitting July 1, 1987 Touchstone Pictures $7 million $34,368,475 Stakeout August 5, 1987 $28,215,000 $65,673,233 Can't Buy Me Love August 14, 1987 Touchstone Pictures and The Mount Company $31,623,833 Hello Again November 6, 1987 Touchstone Pictures $20,419,446 Three Men and a Baby November 25, 1987 $15 million $167,780,960 Good Morning, Vietnam December 23, 1987 $13 million $123,922,370 Shoot to Kill February 12, 1988 $29,300,090 D.O.A. March 18, 1988 $3.5 million $12,706,478 Return to Snowy River April 15, 1988 Walt Disney Pictures, Burrowes Film Group and Hoyts Film Partnership $13,687,027 Big Business June 10, 1988 Touchstone Pictures $20 million $40,150,487 Who Framed Roger Rabbit June 22, 1988 Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Entertainment $50,587,000 $329,803,958 Cocktail July 29, 1988 Touchstone Pictures and Interscope Communications $6,000,000 $171,504,781 The Rescue August 5, 1988 Touchstone Pictures $5,855,392 Heartbreak Hotel September 30, 1988 $5,509,417 The Good Mother November 4, 1988 $14 million $4,764,606 Ernest Saves Christmas November 11, 1988 $6,000,000 (estimate) $28,202,109 Oliver & Company November 18, 1988 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $74,151,346 Beaches December 21, 1988 Touchstone Pictures and All Girl Productions $57,041,866 Three Fugitives January 27, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $15,000,000 $40,586,886 Disorganized Crime April 14, 1989 Touchstone Pictures and Kouf/Bigelow Productions $20 million $7,724,000 Dead Poets Society June 9, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $16.4 million $235,860,116 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids June 23, 1989 Walt Disney Pictures $18 million $222,724,172 Turner & Hooch July 28, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $42 million $71,079,915 Cheetah August 18, 1989 Walt Disney Pictures $5 million$8,153,677 An Innocent Man October 6, 1989 Touchstone Pictures and Sandollar Productions $20,047,604 Gross Anatomy October 20, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $25 million $11,604,598 The Little Mermaid November 17, 1989 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $40 million$211,343,479 Blaze December 13, 1989 Touchstone Pictures $18 million $19,131,246 Where the Heart Is February 23, 1990 $22 million $1,106,475 Pretty Woman March 23, 1990 $14 million $463,407,268 Ernest Goes to Jail April 6, 1990 $9,000,000 $25,029,569 Spaced Invaders April 27, 1990 $5,000,000 $15,369,573 Fire Birds May 25, 1990 $14,760,451 Dick Tracy June 15, 1990 $46 million $162,738,726 Betsy's Wedding June 22, 1990 $36 million $19,740,070 Taking Care of Business August 17, 1990 Hollywood Pictures $14 million $20,005,435 Mr. Destiny October 12, 1990 Touchstone Pictures $19 million $15,379,253 The Rescuers Down Under November 16, 1990 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $27,931,461 Three Men and a Little Lady November 21, 1990 Touchstone Pictures $71,609,321 Green Card December 23, 1990 $29,888,235 White Fang January 18, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures and Hybrid Productions Inc. $14 million $34,793,160 Run February 1, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $4,409,328 Scenes from a Mall February 22, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $3 million $9,563,393 The Marrying Man April 5, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $26 million $12,454,768 Oscar April 26, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $35 million $23,562,716 One Good Cop May 3, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $11,276,846 Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken May 24, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures and Pegasus Entertainment $7,294,835 The Rocketeer June 21, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and The Gordon Company $42,000,000 $62,000,000 The Doctor July 24, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $24 million $38,120,905 V.I. Warshawski July 26, 1991 Hollywood Pictures $11,128,309 True Identity August 23, 1991 Touchstone Pictures $15 million $4,693,236 Deceived September 27, 1991 $30 million $28,738,096 Ernest Scared Stupid October 11, 1991 $9,600,000 $14,143,280 Beauty and the Beast November 22, 1991 Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation $25 million $418,460,691 Blame It on the Bellboy March 6, 1992 Hollywood Pictures $3,104,545 Newsies April 10, 1992 Walt Disney Pictures $15 million $2,819,485 Encino Man May 22, 1992 Hollywood Pictures $7 million $40.7 million

Notes

References

External links

Silver Screen Partners - D23 SEC Filings for Silver Screen Partners L. P. SEC Filings for Silver Screen Partners II L. P. SEC Filings for Silver Screen Partners III L. P. SEC Filings for Silver Screen Partners IV L. P.