Private company

Cinemation Industries

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

American film studio and distributor

Cinemation Industries was a New York City-based film studio and distributor owned, run and founded by exploitation film producer Jerry Gross.2 It ceased to exist in 1975.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1965Founded1
  • HeadquartersNew York City1

Cinemation Industries was a New York City-based film studio and distributor owned, run and founded by exploitation film producer Jerry Gross.2

The story

Gross released Girl on a Chain Gang (1966) and achieved success with Cinemation's release of sexploitation films such as Inga and Fanny Hill (both 1968). Among other films, the company has distributed exploitation films such as Shanty Tramp (1967), Teenage Mother (1967), and The Cheerleaders (1973) as well as two blaxploitation films The Black Six (1974), and The Black Godfather (1974).

The company, however, also distributed unexpected smash hit independent films like Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) and Ralph Bakshi's Fritz the Cat (1972). Other films released by the distributor include Peter Fonda's Idaho Transfer (1973), Freddie Francis' Son of Dracula (1974), Alain Resnais' Stavisky (1975), and the film version of Oh! Calcutta! (1972). It handled the American rights for the Italian animated feature The Magic Bird, originally titled Putiferio va alla guerra.

The company went bankrupt in late 1975, and all of its films in its catalog have been distributed by other companies. Jerry Gross resurfaced (after reportedly working as a clerk at a 7-Eleven store) a few years later with a new company, the Jerry Gross Organization.

From Wikipedia’s article on Cinemation Industries, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1975Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1965Founded Founded1

Sources

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