Universal Studios or Universal Pictures is a Hollywood movie studio which was created the August 8th 1912 by Carl Laemmle (1867-1939). Carl Laemmle Jr. took the direction of the studio in 1929. It is under its direction that the studio produced traditional cinema of horror such as Frankenstein , Dracula and the Mummy . Since 1915, Carl Lamele had allowed visitors to enter the studios.

In 1946, it amalgamates with International Pictures .

Universal was repurchased by Decca Records in 1952, then by MCA in 1962. The firm started to thrive under the direction of Lew Wasserman and launched out in the production of programs for television. Review Studios, subsidiary of MCA, was then one of the principal companies of American televisions and produced successful series like Leave It to Beaver , Alfred Hitchcock presents and Wagon Train . Revue Studios was renamed Universal Television and specialized in the production of the detective series or action such as Dragnet , Columbo , Baretta , K 2000 , Code Quantum and New York District .

The July 15th 1964, the studios is partly transformed into amusement park, they are the Universal Studios Hollywood. In 1988 the project of a second park in Florida was announced, they are the Universal Studios Florida.

In the Years 1990, time of great fusions in the field of the media, Wasserman tried to bind an alliance with Matsushita Electric for 6,6 billion dollars (the parent company, inter alia, of Panasonic). The monetary contribution made it possible the firm to keep its independence but the Japanese and American managers of the two companies never arrived to really getting along. Matsushita désengagea finally of Universal in 1995 with the profit of the group Seagram.

Seagram launched out then in races to acquisitions to build a conglomerate of media around Universal. The market not sharing the optimism of the leaders of Seagram, the course of the company never took off. In 1998, Universal Television was resold with the USA Network and was renamed Studios the USA. In 2002, Universal absorbed the USA Network and restores the name of Universal Television.

In June 2000, Universal Pictures was integrated by Vivendi SA, within the Universal Pictures Group, to form the new Vivendi Universal group. The company was then associated with Studio Canal, the cinematographic production company dependant on Canal+.

In May 2004, Universal Pictures was repurchased by General Electric and was integrated into the new conglomerate of media NBC Universal.

See too

• Universal Studios Florida
• Universal Studios Hollywood
• Strike Entertainment

External bond

• http://www.universalstudios.com/

Simple: Universal Studios