Associated Film Distribution

Associated Film Distribution was a short lived British film distribution company. It was set up in the 1970s by ITC Entertainment and EMI Films to distribute their films in the US.

Michael Deeley, head of EMI ate the time, opposed the move. He thought it was motivated by Sir Lew Grade's belief that his films had failed in the US due to poor distribution.

The company was launched in 1978 with $40 million in capitalisation. It aimed to distribute 12 films a year. The initial slate included:

• The Story of Maria Callas directed by Zeffereli
• two films from Alan Carr, Cafe Society and a musical
• The Wife directed by John Schlesinger
• an Ingmar Bergman film
• Movie Movie Two - a sequel to Movie Movie (never made)
• Saturn 3
• French Vanilla directed by Stanley Donen (never made)
• The Muppet Movie
• Escape to Athena
• Firepower
• Vengeance with Sophia Loren
• Raise the Titanic
• The Legend of the Lone Ranger
• The Chinese Bandit (never made)
• Eleanor Roosevelt's Niggers
• The Golden Gate from the novel by Alistair Maclean (never made)
• Green Ice
• The Gemini Contenders and The Scarletti Inheritance from novels by Robert Ludlum
• Trans Siberian Express^[1]

Universal

The company wound up in 1981, having enjoyed only one hit, The Muppet Movie. It was absorbed by Universal.^[2][3]

Sidney J. Sheinberg, president of MCA who owned Universal, said the agreement went for three years involved all the movies that A.F.D. had ready for distribution including:

• The Last Unicorn;
• Hard Country;
• On Golden Pond
• The Great Muppet Caper
• Honky Tonk Freeway;
• The Legend of the Lone Ranger
• Green Ice
• Barbarosa.

Grade said, "If we had ordinary pictures, I doubt that Universal would have wanted us."^[3]

Select Filmography

• Escape to Athena (1979)
• Can't Stop the Music (1980)
• The Jazz Singer (1980)
• Inside Moves (1980)
• The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
• From the Life of Marionettes (1980)
• Borderline (1980)

References