ABSTRACT
The chapter examines Orion Pictures’ business practices as these were established by an executive team led by Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin that had previously managed and had once co-owned United Artists. Focusing primarily on the early years (1978–1983) of Orion’s history, the chapter aims to compare this company’s business practices to those of the pre-Transamerica-owned United Artists upon which Orion was modelled. The chapter argues that Orion was successful in replicating pre-Transamerica UA’s modus operandi, which enabled Orion to quickly establish itself in the market, attract key talent and experience some critical and commercial success. This success was sufficient for Orion to remain competitive in the increasingly conglomerate environment of 1980s Hollywood. In an era characterised by a wave of corporate mergers for almost all the major studios and an increasing emphasis on blockbuster and high-concept films, Orion’s approach to the film business bucked the trend. Despite some commercial success, this approach proved unsustainable and Orion was squeezed out of the market in December 1991. However, it did remain consistent to the principles of its closely-knit management team which, the chapter argues, makes Orion a true successor to United Artists after the latter was sold to Kirk Kerkorian in 1981 and became lost in a barrage of corporate manoeuvres that often involved Kerkorian’s other Hollywood major, MGM. Such an argument has significant repercussions for periodising the history of United Artists.
