Screen Gems is the name of several businesses owned by Sony/Columbia Pictures over the film studio's history.
The original incarnation of Screen Gems was founded in 1940, as an in-house animation unit for Columbia, taking over from the outsourced work from Charles Mintz's studio (though the name dated back to the mid 1920s, as Columbia's slogan of the time, "Gems of the Screen"; this was itself a reference to a popular song, "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean"). It lasted until 1946 (although its product kept coming out as late as 1949). For more information on this era, see Columbia Cartoons.
Columbia wasn't done with the Screen Gems name yet, however. In 1948, two years after the name was stripped of its cartoon studio status, the name returned to use as the name for Columbia's television unit. It started off distributing Columbia films on TV, but later began making its own series, such as The Donna Reed Show, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Monkees and The Partridge Family. It also distributed most of the early shows from Hanna-Barbera (most notably The Flintstones). During this time, Screen Gems gave birth to its iconic Vanity Plates. The first came to be known as the Dancing Sticks, a collection of animated straight lines of different colors. The second was the S filmstrip. The version used during this era was notorious for being Nightmare Fuel, giving it the nickname, the "S From Hell".
The big reason for the Screen Gems name being used for Columbia's TV shows was because the then-new novelty had a negative stigma from the then-floundering movie studios, most of which wanted no part in the potentially threatening medium; before Columbia, only Paramount Pictures had actually dipped its toes into the novelty. For that reason, they used a different name to obscure the relationship to the movie studio; Twentieth Century Fox did a similar thing by calling their TV department "TCF Television Productions, Inc." until 1958. However, by 1974, virtually all of the fear of TV by the studios had been dead for almost two decades, and they had made their own TV production departments (and even before then, two of the logos that predated the "S from Hell" featured the Torch Lady herself, making the link with Columbia very obvious, despite the different name). This meant that the Screen Gems name had little purpose anymore, and Columbia decided it was time to retire the Screen Gems name...
...that was, until 1999. By this point, Columbia/SPE had given rise to three additional brand names for film production: TriStar Pictures, Triumph Films (by that point relegated to direct-to-video fare), and art-house unit Sony Pictures Classics. Deciding that three brands wasn't enough, the company decided to revive the Screen Gems name for "films that fall between the wide-release movies traditionally developed and distributed by Columbia Pictures and those released by Sony Pictures Classics," mostly of the action/thriller genre. They are essentially Sony/Columbia's answer to Miramax/The Weinstein Company's Dimension Films. Under this new regime, Screen Gems enjoys a healthy lifestyle, releasing several successful films, including the Underworld series and films based on Resident Evil.
Thanks to its successes, it can be assured that the Screen Gems name is back and here to stay.
There's also the matter of EUE/Screen Gems — back in 1959, Columbia purchased EUE, one of the first production companies devoted entirely to creating TV commercials. This unit was then merged into Screen Gems, becoming known as EUE/Screen Gems
. Under Columbia ownership, EUE/Screen Gems expanded from commercial production into the just-as-lucrative field of owning and renting studio facilities for films and television. After Columbia was bought by Coca-Cola in the early 1980s, longtime division head George Cooney purchased the EUE assets and turned it into a separate company (albeit still using the Screen Gems name and logo); as an independent company, EUE/Screen Gems is one of the biggest names when it comes to studio space, filming and the infrastructure necessary to create media (owning studios in Miami, Atlanta and Wilmington, NC; the latter was previously Dino De Laurentiis' studio lot, then got purchased by Carolco Pictures after DEG went under...then passed into EUE's hands after Carolco themselves went under).
Notable films released by Screen Gems (for products from the past two eras, see Columbia Cartoons and Columbia Pictures):
- About Last Night... (2014)
- Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004)
- Arlington Road (1999)
- Armored (2009)
- Attack the Block (2011)
- Battle Of The Year (2013)
- Black and White (1999)
- Boogeyman (2005)
- Brightburn (2019)
- The Brothers Solomon (2007)
- Burlesque (2010)
- Carrie (2013)
- The Cave (2005)
- Country Strong (2010)
- The Covenant (2006)
- Deliver Us from Evil (2014)
- Dear John (2010)
- Death at a Funeral (2010)
- D.E.B.S. (2004)
- Don't Breathe (2016)
- Don't Breathe 2 (2021)
- Easy A (2010)
- The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
- Fired Up! (2009)
- First Sunday (2008)
- The Forsaken (2001)
- Friends with Benefits (2011)
- Ghosts of Mars (2001)
- Girlfight (2000)
- The Grudge (2020)
- Half Past Dead (2002)
- Hostel (2005)
- In the Cut (2003)
- Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
- Keep Watching (2017)
- Lakeview Terrace (2008)
- Legion (2010)
- Lone Star State of Mind (2002)
- Love Again (2023)
- The Machine (2023)
- The Medallion (2003)
- The Messengers (2007)
- Missing (2023)
- Monster Hunter (2020) (2020)
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
- The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008; with Lionsgate)
- No Good Deed (2014)
- Obsessed (2009)
- The Perfect Guy (2015)
- The Pope's Exorcist (2023)
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
- Priest (2011)
- Prom Night (2008)
- Quarantine (2008)
- Resident Evil:
- Resident Evil Film Series:
- Resident Evil (2002)
- Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
- Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
- Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
- Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
- Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
- Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
- Resident Evil Film Series:
- The Roommate (2011)
- Searching (2018)
- Slackers (2002)
- Slender Man (2018)
- Snatch. (2000)
- The Stepfather (2009)
- Stomp The Yard (2007)
- Straw Dogs (2011)
- Swept Away (2002)
- Takers (2010)
- Tarot 2024
- Think Like a Man (2012)
- This Christmas (2007)
- Two Can Play That Game (2001)
- Ultraviolet (2006) (2006)
- The Underworld franchise (2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016)
- Untraceable (2008)
- Vacancy (2007)
- The Vow (2012)
- The Wedding Ringer (2015)
- When a Stranger Calls (2006 remake)
- When the Bough Breaks (2016)
- You Got Served (2004)
Tropes applying to their oeuvre and the company:
-
Critic-Proof: While many of their films get negatively panned by critics and audiences, and Not Screened for Critics, the box office gross can be more successful. Some films like Don't Breathe and Searching are the exception, while their box office performances are very high. - Lifetime Movie of the Week: Obviously for the notorious case, such as the thriller films.
- Not Screened for Critics: Exactly.
- Production Posse: Not only was former Screen Gems exclusive Glenn S. Gainor mostly involved in the company films, but he also served as unit production manager often.
- Moreover, production designer Jon Gary Steele and costume designer Maya Lieberman are frequent collaborators of Screen Gems. They were involved in many films in the 2007-2011 period. (Such as Vacancy, Quarantine (2008), Obsessed, Armored, Death At A Funeral (2010 remake), Takers and The Roommate.
