 Logo used since 1987 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film and television animation production |
| Predecessor | John Charles Walters Company |
| Founded | January 4, 1986 |
| Founder | James L. Brooks |
| Headquarters | FOX Studios lot, 10201 West Pico Boulevard Bldg 41/42, Los Angeles CA 90064[1] , United States |
Key people | Richard Sakai (president)[2] |
| Products | The Simpsons |
| Website | www |
Gracie Films, Inc. is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks on January 4, 1986. The company is primarily known for producing its long-running flagship animated series The Simpsons. The company's headquarters is located on the Fox Studios lot at 10201 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Overview
James L. Brooks, who had previously founded John Charles Walters Company, founded Gracie Films at 20th Century Fox on January 4, 1986, with Polly Platt as executive vice president. Named for comedian Gracie Allen, the company was established to "provide real writers with a vehicle to get their movies made".[3] Its primary distributor is currently Sony Pictures Entertainment, though it continues to produce The Simpsons at Fox's studio in Century City, Los Angeles.
According to Simpsons Confidential, Brooks gave The Simpsons' writing staff free rein, as he firmly believed they were the most important part of the process,[4] and "in the legal battles over The Simpsons, it was Fox that was being sued, not Gracie Films".[5] The company also coordinates international distribution and dubbing for The Simpsons,[6] "[finding] voices for dubbing that would match those of the original American actors as closely as possible."[7] Gracie Films’ main production office is at the Sidney Poitier building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. In 1989, Gracie Films had struck a deal with ABC.[8]
Logo
Gracie Films' production logo depicts noisy patrons in a movie theatre being shushed by a woman in the back row, while the theatre lights dim out and the company logo appears on a projector. This is occasionally changed or parodied in episodes of The Simpsons,[9] particularly in the annual Treehouse of Horror Halloween episodes.[10][better source needed]
Filmography
Television series
| Years active | Title | Genre | Creator(s) | Co-production company(s) | Network(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–1990 | The Tracey Ullman Show | Sketch comedy | James L. Brooks Jerry Belson Ken Estin Heide Perlman |
Klasky Csupo (animation production) 20th Television |
Fox |
| 1989–present | The Simpsons | Animated sitcom | Matt Groening | 20th Television (1989–2021) 20th Television Animation (2021–present)[11] | |
| 1991–1992 | Sibs | Sitcom | Heide Perlman | Columbia Pictures Television | ABC |
| 1993–1994 | Phenom | Sam Simon Dick Blasucci Marc Flanagan |
Columbia Pictures Television ELP Communications | ||
| 1994–1995 2000–2001 (revival) |
The Critic | Animated sitcom | Al Jean Mike Reiss |
Columbia Pictures Television | ABC (1994) Fox (1995) AtomFilms/Shockwave.com (revival) |
| 2001 | What About Joan? | Sitcom | Ed. Weinberger | Columbia TriStar Television | ABC |
Television episodes
| Title | Series | Director | Writer | Original air date | Network | Co-production company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Simpsons Guy" | Family Guy | Peter Shin | Patrick Meighan | September 28, 2014 | Fox | Fuzzy Door Productions |
Feature films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Co-production company(s) | Distributor(s) | Box office | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Broadcast News | James L. Brooks | 20th Century Fox | $67.3 million | [12] | |||
| 1988 | Big | Penny Marshall | Gary Ross Anne Spielberg |
James L. Brooks Robert Greenhut |
$151.7 million | [13] | ||
| 1989 | Say Anything... | Cameron Crowe | Polly Platt | $20.7 million | [14] | |||
| The War of the Roses | Danny DeVito | Michael J. Leeson | James L. Brooks Arnon Milchan |
$160.2 million | [15] | |||
| 1994 | I'll Do Anything | James L. Brooks | James L. Brooks Polly Platt |
Columbia Pictures | Sony Pictures Releasing | $10 million | [16] | |
| 1996 | Bottle Rocket | Wes Anderson | Owen C. Wilson Wes Anderson |
Polly Platt Cynthia Hargrave |
$560,069 | [17] | ||
| Jerry Maguire | Cameron Crowe | James L. Brooks Richard Sakai Laurence Mark Cameron Crowe |
TriStar Pictures Vinyl Films |
$273.6 million | [18] | |||
| 1997 | As Good as It Gets | James L. Brooks | Story by: Mark Andrus Screenplay by: Mark Andrus James L. Brooks |
James L. Brooks Bridget Johnson Kristi Zea |
TriStar Pictures | $314.1 million | [19] | |
| 2001 | Riding in Cars with Boys | Penny Marshall | Morgan Upton Ward | James L. Brooks Laurence Mark Sara Colleton Richard Sakai Julie Ansell |
Columbia Pictures | $35.7 million | [20] | |
| 2004 | Spanglish | James L. Brooks | Julie Ansell James L. Brooks Richard Sakai |
$55 million | [21] | |||
| 2007 | The Simpsons Movie | David Silverman | James L. Brooks Matt Groening Al Jean Ian Maxtone-Graham George Meyer David Mirkin Mike Reiss Mike Scully Matt Selman John Swartzwelder Jon Vitti |
James L. Brooks Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Scully Richard Sakai |
20th Century Fox Animation | 20th Century Fox | $536.4 million | [22] |
| 2010 | How Do You Know | James L. Brooks | Julie Ansell James L. Brooks Laurence Mark Paula Weinstein |
Columbia Pictures | Sony Pictures Releasing | $48.7 million | [23] | |
| 2016 | The Edge of Seventeen | Kelly Fremon Craig | James L. Brooks Richard Sakai Julie Ansell |
H. Brothers Tang Media Productions Virgin Produced |
STX Entertainment | $19.4 million | [24] | |
| 2018 | Icebox | Daniel Sawka | Julie Ansell James L. Brooks Richard Sakai |
Endeavor Content HBO Films |
HBO | N/a | [25] | |
| 2023 | Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. | Kelly Fremon Craig | James L. Brooks Julie Ansell Richard Sakai Kelly Fremon Craig Judy Blume Amy Lorraine Brooks Aldric La'auli Porter |
Lionsgate | $21.5 million | [26] | ||
| 2025 | Ella McCay | James L. Brooks | James L. Brooks Richard Sakai Julie Ansell Jennifer Brooks |
20th Century Studios | $4.5 million | [27] | ||
| 2027 | The Simpsons Movie 2 | TBA | TBA | TBA | 20th Century Animation | 20th Century Studios | TBA | [28] |
Theme parks
| Year | Title | Director | Co-production company(s) | Distributor(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Simpsons Ride | Mike B. Anderson and John Rice |
Blur Studio Film Roman Reel FX Creative Studios |
Universal Creative | Located in Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. |
Shorts
| Year | Title | Director | Co-production company(s) | Distributor(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Longest Daycare | David Silverman | 20th Century Fox Animation AKOM Film Roman |
20th Century Fox | Shown with Ice Age: Continental Drift. |
| 2020 | Playdate with Destiny | 20th Century Animation AKOM |
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Shown with Onward. | |
| 2021 | The Force Awakens from Its Nap | 20th Television | Disney+ | Exclusive Disney+ short film. | |
| The Good, the Bart, and the Loki | 20th Television Animation AKOM | ||||
| Plusaversary | |||||
| 2022 | When Billie Met Lisa | 20th Television Animation | |||
| Welcome to the Club | |||||
| The Simpsons Meet the Bocellis in "Feliz Navidad" | |||||
| 2023 | Rogue Not Quite One | Walt Disney Pictures (logo only) / 20th Television Animation | |||
| 2024 | May the 12th Be with You | 20th Television Animation | |||
| The Most Wonderful Time of the Year |
References
- ^ Gracie Films official website with headquarters address (Retrieved 24 December 2022)
- ^ "Richard Sakai / Variety". Variety. 17 December 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
- ^ Alisa Perren, Indie, Inc.: Miramax and the Transformation of Hollywood in the 1990s, p. 159, at Google Books
- ^ John Ortved, Simpsons Confidential, p. 30, at Google Books
- ^ John Ortved, Simpsons Confidential: The uncensored, totally unauthorised history of the world's greatest TV show by the people that made it, p. 126, at Google Books
- ^ Michela Ardizzoni, Chiara Ferrari (eds.), Beyond Monopoly: Globalization and Contemporary Italian Media, p. 101, at Google Books
- ^ Chiara Francesca Ferrari, Since When Is Fran Drescher Jewish?: Dubbing Stereotypes in The Nanny, The Simpsons, and The Sopranos, p. 73, at Google Books
- ^ "Golden" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1989-12-04. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ Gray, Jonathan (2012). Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality. Routledge. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-134-23320-5.
- ^ "Gracie Films - Treehouse of Horror Variant (1990-present)". August 4, 2016 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Disney Launches 20th Television Animation, Promotes Veteran Exec Marci Proietto to Run New Unit Responsible for 'The Simpsons' & 'Family Guy'". 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office : Appealing to All 'Generations'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "Big (1988)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
- ^ Box Office Information for Say Anything.., BoxOfficeMojo.com; retrieved April 4, 2013.
- ^ "The War of the Roses". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ "I'll Do Anything". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ "Bottle Rocket". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- ^ "Jerry Maguire". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for December 26–28, 1997". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ "Riding in Cars with Boys". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ "Spanglish". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ "Top Single Day Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 28, 2007.
- ^ "How Do You Know (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- ^ "The Edge of Seventeen (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
- ^ "HBO Films Acquires Immigration Drama Icebox". Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 5, 2020). "Hot Book Package: James L. Brooks, Kelly Fremon Craig On Judy Blume's 'After You There God? It's Me, Margaret'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (November 20, 2023). "James L. Brooks New Film Ella McCay Sets All-Star Ensemble That Includes Emma Mackey, Woody Harrelson, Jamie Lee Curtis And Albert Brooks As 20th Century Boards Project". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
- ^ @20thcentury (September 29, 2025). "Woohoo! The Simpsons are coming to theaters with an all-new movie on July 23, 2027!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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