The Montecito Picture Company, LLC (formerly Ivan Reitman Productions and Northern Lights Entertainment) is an American film production company founded in 1976 by film director Ivan Reitman and joined in 1998 by studio executive Tom Pollock. It is located in the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, California, United States, in a building labeled as "Ghost Corps," where the vehicle from Ghostbusters is parked outside. Montecito is a city in California in Santa Barbara County.
History
Ivan Reitman Productions/Northern Lights Entertainment (1976-1998) In 1976, Ivan Reitman was left as production manager for the Canadian film studio Cinépix to pursue independent production, making American films under the in-name only banner Ivan Reitman Productions. The first project was National Lampoon's Animal House for Universal Pictures, so Reitman fulfilled his obligations to Cinépix by directing the Canadian film Meatballs after the success of Animal House, and became a smash success.
The company hit its stride after the success of Animal House, by obtaining the rights to the publication Heavy Metal. The eventual film was released in 1981 by Columbia Pictures. Reitman begin producing and directing films under the banner with Stripes and Ghostbusters for Columbia Pictures, two of the biggest hits the company conceived for the studio.
in 1983, the company produced its 3D film Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone with the Canadian studio Cinépix, for Columbia Pictures, and became the company's most expensive flop at that time, being overcrowded by the success of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Afterwards, he was granted attention to Universal Pictures, by directing three biggest films Legal Eagles, Twins and Kindergarten Cop.
After the success of Twins, the company signed a production deal with Universal Pictures, and it was renamed to Northern Lights Entertainment, which unlike Ivan Reitman Productions, was named, which was named for the aurora Northern Lights in the Arctic region.
The company's first films produced under the production name were Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Beethoven. The success gave Northern Lights the decision to produce a sequel Beethoven's 2nd, and it became a hit. In 1993, the company purchased the rights to the Inspector Gadget cartoon to adapt into film for Universal Pictures, but it was never realized after Disney bought out DIC Entertainment.
In 1994, the company developed its first primetime television pilot First Gentlemen, but it eventually never went to series. The company teamed up with Universal Cartoon Studios to do a cartoon version of the Beethoven films, called Beethoven: The Animated Series. In 1997, the company ended its production deal with Universal Pictures in hopes of seeking a new deal.
The Montecito Picture Company (1998-present) In 1998, it was renamed to and registered as The Montecitco Picture Company, and hired Universal executive Tom Pollock, who was studio chief when the company was Northern Lights Entertainment, to run the company along with Ivan Reitman.
Under the new Montecitco banner, the company was originally started off with a deal at PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, and the deal called on for the financing and producing of several motion pictures and it was intended for 3 to 5 pictures.
Ultimately, the deal collapsed after Universal Pictures (which Pollock previously ran from 1986 to 1996) took control of PolyGram's assets and Montecito signed a first look deal with DreamWorks Pictures instead in 1999. The deal ended up being renewed in 2000. On March 9, 2000, it extended its pact with writer/director Todd Phillips, after the success of the hit movie Road Trip.
In 2006, the company signed a financing deal with Merrill Lynch to form a new financing company to supply Montecito, Cold Spring Pictures.
After several years at DreamWorks, on February 18, 2009, the company signed a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures. The deal ended on March 16, 2013, and in 2015, the company moved into offices on the Sony lot. Tom Pollock, who worked with the company since 1998, died in August 2020, and Ivan Reitman died in February 2022.
Filmography
Year Title Director Co-produced by Distributed byas Ivan Reitman Productions1978National Lampoon's Animal HouseJohn LandisMatty Simmons ProductionsUniversal Pictures1981Heavy MetalGerald PottertonGuardian Trust Company/Canadian Film Development Corporation/Famous Players/Potterton ProductionsColumbia PicturesStripesIvan Reitman1983Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden ZoneLamont JohnsonCinépix1984GhostbustersIvan ReitmanBlack Rhino Productions/The Brillstein Company1986Legal EaglesUniversal Pictures1987Big ShotsRobert MandelLorimar Film Entertainment20th Century Fox1988Casual Sex?Geneviève RobertUniversal PicturesFedsDan GoldbergWarner Bros. PicturesTwinsIvan ReitmanUniversal Pictures1989Ghostbusters IIBlack Rhino Productions/The Brillstein CompanyColumbia Pictures1990Kindergarten CopImagine EntertainmentUniversal Picturesas Northern Lights Entertainment1992Stop! Or My Mom Will ShootRoger SpottiswoodeUniversal PicturesBeethovenBrian Levant1993DaveIvan ReitmanWarner Bros. PicturesBeethoven's 2ndRod DanielUniversal Pictures1994JuniorIvan Reitman1996The Late ShiftBetty ThomasHBO PicturesHBOSpace JamJoe PytkaWarner Bros. Feature Animation/David Falk-Ken Ross ProductionsWarner Bros. Pictures1997Private PartsBetty ThomasRysher EntertainmentParamount PicturesCommandmentsDaniel TaplitzGramercy PicturesUniversal PicturesFather's DayIvan ReitmanSilver PicturesWarner Bros. Pictures1998Six Days, Seven NightsTouchstone Pictures/Caravan Pictures/Roger Birnbaum ProductionsBuena Vista Picturesas The Montecito Picture Company 2000 Road Trip Todd Phillips DreamWorks Pictures 2001 Evolution Ivan Reitman DreamWorks PicturesColumbia Pictures 2002 Killing Me Softly Chen Kaige Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures(straight-to-video) 2003 Old School Todd Phillips DreamWorks Pictures 2004 EuroTrip Jeff Schaffer 2006 Trailer Park Boys: The Movie Mike Clattenburg Trailer Park Productions Alliance AtlantisScreen Media Films 2007 Disturbia D. J. Caruso Cold Spring Pictures DreamWorks PicturesParamount Pictures 2009 Hotel for Dogs Thor Freudenthal Nickelodeon Movies/Cold Spring Pictures/The Donners Company The Uninvited The Guard Brothers Cold Spring Pictures/Vertigo Entertainment I Love You, Man John Hamburg De Line Pictures Post Grad Vicky Jenson Fox Atomic/Cold Spring Pictures 20th Century Fox Up in the Air Jason Reitman Cold Spring Pictures Paramount Pictures Chloe Atom Egoyan Sony Pictures ClassicsStudioCanal 2011 No Strings Attached Ivan Reitman Cold Spring Pictures/Spyglass Entertainment Paramount Pictures 2012 Hitchcock Sacha Gervasi Cold Spring Pictures Fox Searchlight Pictures 2014 Draft Day Ivan Reitman OddLot Entertainment Summit Entertainment 2016 Ghostbusters Paul Feig Village Roadshow Pictures/LStar Capital/Pascal Pictures/Feigco Entertainment Columbia Pictures 2017 Baywatch Seth Gordon Uncharted/Contrafilm/Vinson Pictures/Flynn Picture Company/Seven Bucks Productions Paramount Pictures Father Figures Lawrence Sher Alcon Entertainment Warner Bros. Pictures2020 A Babysitter's Guide to Monster HuntingRachel TalalayWalden MediaNetflixGodmotheredSharon MaguireWalt Disney PicturesDisney+ 2021 Ghostbusters: AfterlifeJason ReitmanGhost Corps/Bron CreativeColumbia Pictures
Television series
Year Title Creator(s) / Developer(s) Co-produced by Networkas Ivan Reitman Productions1979Delta HouseDouglas Kenney/Harold Ramis/Chris MillerMatty Simmons Productions/Universal TelevisionABCas Northern Lights Entertainment1994BeethovenJoe AnsolabehereUniversal Cartoon StudiosCBS1997Mummies Alive!Louis GassinDIC Entertainment, L.P./Claster Television IncorporatedFirst-run syndicationas The Montecito Picture Company 2001–2002 Alienators: Evolution Continues Louis Gassin DIC Entertainment, L.P./DreamWorks Television/Columbia TriStar Television/Dentsu, Inc. Fox Kids
References
External links IMDb Credits