HOMEWORK: Please read and view these clips, along with the directors Ed Wood & Roger Corman (see post below for details) and post a forum response for Thursday.
From IMDB.com:
"By the early 1950's, Samuel Z.
Arkoff was a brash lawyer scratching out a living by representing his
in-laws and the Hollywood fringe, which included many of now-infamous
director/angora-clad transvestite Edward D. Wood Jr.'s social circle.
Arkoff was physically imposing and capable of scaring anyone who opposed
him. One of his clients was Alex Gordon, a screenwriter who had
submitted an unsolicited script to Realart Pictures, an outfit that was
profitably re-releasing 20-year old movies, often under new titles
conjured up by it's owner, Jack Broder.
One such film,
Man Made Monster (1941), had just been re-issued as
The Atomic Monster,
coincidentally the same title of Gordon's screenplay. Zarkoff, smelling
blood in the water, paid Mr. Broder a visit and incredibly, obtained a
$500 settlement. Broder's sales manager, James H. Nicholson was
dumbfounded by Zarkoff's ability to extract a dime out of his
tightfisted boss and proposed a partnership. American Releasing
Corporation was founded in 1954 and their first release was a low-budget
feature by 29-year old producer Roger Corman. Made for less than
$50,000, it netted $850,000 and Corman was brought into the fold as a
silent partner.
By 1955 the company was renamed
American International Pictures, or simply AIP within the industry.
Initially focusing on westerns on the premise that locations came cheap,
and although profitable, Arkoff was unhappy with the returns and
solicited theater owners for advice on what types of films filled seats.
By the mid-1950's, thanks to television, the audience numbers had
dwindled considerably with the key demographic now teenagers and young
adults, who craved horror movies and drive-ins. AIP jumped into the
horror genre with both feet and made a fortune. Under the aegis of
Nicholson and Arkoff, the company survived in a constricting industry by
catering to the whims of the teenage trade and adapting to trends.
AIP's
long (350-plus) roster of kitsch classics, running the gamut from
horror to rock'n'roll, from juvenile delinquency to Italian musclemen,
and from Edgar Allan Poe to Annette Funicello, have formed their own
unique niche in film history. His company became infamous for clever
advertising schemes that were often more entertaining than AIP's movies.
Arkoff never tolerated egos and his films were more often than not,
profitable, thanks to tight budgets and a sharp understanding of the
target market. After Nicholson's 1972 resignation, Arkoff assumed full
control of the company and remained in charge until the 1979 merger with
Filmways prompted his own departure. He then became the head of Arkoff
International Pictures."
