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Private company

The Filmgroup

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

Film production company (1959–1968)

The Filmgroup was an American film production and distribution company founded by Roger and Gene Corman in 1959. Roger Corman used it to make and distribute his own movies, as opposed to ones he was making for American International Pictures. (The reason is that AIP required films to be shot using union crews; working on his own, Corman could save money by going non-union.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1959Founded1

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The Filmgroup was an American film production and distribution company founded by Roger and Gene Corman in 1959. Roger Corman used it to make and distribute his own movies, as opposed to ones he was making for American International Pictures. (The reason is that AIP required films to be shot using union crews; working on his own, Corman could save money by going non-union.) The company ultimately folded in 1968, however, lessons from running the company helped Corman make a success later of New World Pictures. Filmgroup also produced early feature work of Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Charles B. Griffith, Curtis Harrington, Jack Hill, Monte Hellman, Robert Towne and Jack Nicholson.2

The story

Corman established his own company, Palo Alto Productions, in 1954, which was responsible for his first two movies. Filmgroup came out of a desire for Corman to move into distribution.

In February 1959, Filmgroup announced they would release ten films. Their first movies were High School Big Shot (1959) and T-Bird Gang (1959) produced by Stanley Bickman. Corman would also buy films made by independent distributors, in addition to several films from the Soviet Union, which he would re-dub and have additional scenes shot and added to.

Gene Corman left the company in 1963 to join 20th Century-Fox and Corman handed over distribution of his films to American International Pictures. The company soon wound up.

Because Roger Corman often neglected to copyright his movies, most of these films are in the public domain.

From Wikipedia’s article on The Filmgroup, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • film

Listed on Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1968Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1959Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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