The Asylum

American film studio and distributor

    • David Michael Latt (President)
    • David Rimawi (CEO)
    • Paul Bales (COO)
DivisionsFaith FilmsWebsitetheasylum.cc

The Asylum is an American independent film production and distribution company that focuses on low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and scripts very similar to those of current blockbusters in order to lure customers. These titles have been dubbed "mockbusters" by the press.[1][2][3][4] Its titles are distributed by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, GT Media, and as of 2015, Cineverse.

The studio is best known for producing the Sharknado film series and the Syfy original series Z Nation.

History

1997–2009

The Asylum was founded in 1997 by David Latt, David Rimawi, and Sherri Strain.[5] Rimawi and Strain had been fired by Village Roadshow, and Latt was working for an education software company called Chimera Multimedia.[5] Latt and Rimawi had previously worked together on the 1992 film Sorority House Party, and together with Strain, launched The Asylum as a film distribution company.[5][6] The Asylum's first release was Bellyfruit in 1999, a comedy drama about a teen pregnancy.[7] The company's initial goal was to distribute low-budget drama films like Bellyfruit to video rental chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, but their approach changed in the early 2000s, as video rental chains were more interested in direct-to-video horror films.[8] The Asylum struggled to break into the distribution market, as larger companies like Lionsgate Films would routinely offer filmmakers more money.[8] This led to a change in their business model in 2002, with a focus on in-house productions.[5] Their goal was to produce one film per month, starting with the 2002 crime thriller King of the Ants.[5] Strain left the company in 2002, and was replaced by former Screen Actors Guild employee Paul Bales.[7]

According to Film International, The Asylum's 2004 first hit film was Vampires vs. Zombies in 2004.[7] Although the film was marketed as an adaptation of the 1872 novella Carmilla, Vampires vs. Zombies's poster bore a striking resemblance to Freddy vs. Jason's poster, which came out the year before.[7] Film International writer Wheeler Winston Dixon described Vampires vs. Zombies as The Asylum's first mockbuster, a film that closely resembles another film with a similar title and premise, in order to capitalize on its popularity.[7] Around the same time, Latt began working on an adaptation of the 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, but learned that Steven Spielberg was also working on a film adaptation of the novel.[6] Latt was prepared to end production until Blockbuster ordered 100,000 copies of the film, roughly seven to eight times the normal order for Asylum films.[8][9] Latt's film, titled H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, was released on June 28, 2005, one day before Spielberg's film.[7]

Inspired by the success of H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, The Asylum started producing low-budget films to capitalize on the popularity of similar major studio films.[5] The Asylum marketed their films as "tie-ins", although journalists and critics often referred to them as rip-offs or mockbusters.[6][9] Among the company's early releases within this business model were King of the Lost World (based on King Kong), Snakes on a Train (based on Snakes on a Plane), The Da Vinci Treasure (based on The Da Vinci Code), and Transmorphers (based on Transformers).[8][9] In 2008, The Asylum increased their meager production budget, and partnered with Syfy for a television release of The Day the Earth Stopped, based on The Day the Earth Stood Still.[7] 20th Century Fox filed a cease and desist letter against The Asylum for the similarities between The Day the Earth Stopped and The Day the Earth Stood Still, although nothing came of the letter.[5][10] Film titles are usually not protected under United States trademark law, which allows The Asylum to produce films with similar titles so long as they can argue that they did not try to deceive consumers.[10][11] Although The Asylum had mostly stayed out of legal issues, in 2012 they were successfully sued by Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures in separate cases for film similarities. This forced the studio to rename its films American Battleship (based on Battleship) to American Warships, and Age of the Hobbits (based on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) to Clash of the Empires.[6]

2010–present

With the rise of video on demand (VOD) services in the early 2010s, The Asylum focused on digital distribution.[8] Since VOD services would often categorize their films in alphabetical order, The Asylum added numbers or typographical symbols to the beginning of their film titles in order to been seen first, such as #1 Cheerleader Camp and 2-Headed Shark Attack.[8] The Asylum also released the film #HoldYourBreath in 10 AMC Theatres, as VOD services prioritized films with theatrical releases.[8][12] Pluto TV became the studio's largest source of revenue, with an entire channel dedicated to Asylum films.[5] Another VOD service, Tubi, commissioned The Asylum to produce 12 original films after the surprise popularity of the film Titanic II.[5] Rimawi estimated that by 2012, 70 percent of the studio's films were original ideas.[8]

The logo for the Sharknado series

The Asylum's biggest success came in 2013 with the film Sharknado, which is about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and drops them over Los Angeles.[5] The over-the-top premise went viral, with over 387,000 mentions on social media.[13] Today co-hosts held a dramatic reading of some of the film's lines, and the mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti joked about it on Twitter.[13] Sharknado spawned five sequels, and when combined with merchandising and licensing sales, nearly quadrupled The Asylum's revenue from three years earlier.[12] According to Bales, "Up until that point, even with the notoriety that we had, if you'd speak to anyone and be like, 'Hey, I'm a filmmaker, have you seen anything I've made?' the answer would be, 'No,' but with Sharknado we became known."[5] Latt added, "We still talk about how to exploit it in every production meeting."[5]

In response to the popularity of Sharknado, Syfy commissioned The Asylum to produce a zombie television series called Z Nation, the studio's first foray into episodic content.[5] Loosely based on The Asylum film Rise of the Zombies, Z Nation revolves around a group of survivors who escort a man who is immune to the zombie virus to the last known Centers for Disease Control research lab.[5][14] Journalists often compared Z Nation to The Walking Dead, especially given The Asylum's mockbuster business model.[15][16] Z Nation ran for five seasons on Syfy, and was followed by the spinoff series Black Summer on Netflix.[5][14] Bales felt that the production costs for Z Nation were too high, and decided that The Asylum's next potential series, titled Crisis Earth, would be written as three separate low-budget films that can then be cut into six individual episodes.[5] The script for Crisis Earth went up for sale at the 2022 American Film Market.[5]

Lawsuits and legal issues

In 2008, 20th Century Fox threatened legal action against The Asylum over The Day the Earth Stopped, a film capitalizing on The Day the Earth Stood Still.[10]

Similarly, in May 2012, Universal Pictures filed a lawsuit against The Asylum for their film American Battleship, claiming infringement on their film, Battleship.[4][17] As a result, The Asylum changed their title to American Warships.

In 2013, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and The Hobbit producer Saul Zaentz commenced legal action against The Asylum for their film Age of the Hobbits (later called Lord of the Elves), claiming that they were "free-riding" on the worldwide promotional campaign for Peter Jackson's forthcoming films. The Asylum claimed its film is legally sound because its hobbits are not based on the J. R. R. Tolkien creations.[18] The lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order preventing The Asylum from releasing the film on its scheduled release date.[4][19]

In 2021, several of The Asylum's executive producers, David Rimawi, David Michael Latt, Paul Bales and Steve Graham, were placed on the Writers Guild of America West's "Strike/Unfair List" for lack of payment on Z Nation residuals.[20]

Output

Television

The Asylum had been producing Z Nation for the Syfy Network since late 2014. The show is about a group that attempts to get the only known person with immunity to a zombie virus from New York to the last operating lab in California. According to show-runner Karl Shaefer, the show is intended to bring "a sense of hope to the horror of the apocalypse".[21] Ratings for Z Nation have been unexpectedly high; there have been about 1.6 million views per episode,[22] and the series ran for 5 seasons.[23][24]

An eight-episode spin-off of Z Nation, Black Summer, was ordered by Netflix. It focuses on a mother (Jaime King) who is searching for her daughter during the worst summer of the zombie apocalypse. The show eschews the comedy elements of the parent series and focuses instead on horror themes. In November 2019, Netflix renewed the series for a second season of eight episodes which released in June 2021.[25]

The Asylum maintains a channel on streaming service Pluto TV, which showcases its movies.[26]

Films

As of 2009, The Asylum's usual budget for a production was "well under a million dollars", and films would typically break even after about three months.[27][28] The company's productions have been called B movies and "mockbusters".[9][2] Latt prefers the term "tie-ins" to "mockbusters", stating that The Asylum's productions, even those that capitalize on major releases, contain original stories.[9] Latt states that the company plans its productions around the word of mouth of the financial prospects of upcoming films.[2] The Asylum's films are usually released on video shortly before the theatrical release of a major studio film with similar themes or storylines.[2]

The Asylum has also produced films with strong religious themes.[9] For example, The Apocalypse was initially developed as a straightforward disaster film in the style of Deep Impact, but Latt states that certain buyers wanted the company to develop a religious film.[9] As a result, the company consulted priests and rabbis in order to incorporate faith-based elements.[9] The division Faith Films was created in order to distribute titles with such themes.[9] Sunday School Musical was produced after The Asylum staff attended a seminar for marketing to a Christian audience where the seminar's host suggested that the perfect film would be a Christian version of High School Musical.[3]

The Asylum productions sometimes feature more overt sexuality or graphic violence than their major studio counterparts, because The Asylum's releases are not in competition with films rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association.[2] Rolf Potts of The New York Times described Transmorphers as having "no recognizable actors, no merchandising tie-ins and a garbled sound mix. Also unlike Transformers, it has cheap special effects and a subplot involving lesbians."[9]

The 2008 release Death Racers featured the hip hop group Insane Clown Posse and wrestler Scott "Raven" Levy in major roles.[29] In 2009, the Asylum released its first 3D picture, Sex Pot.

References

  1. ^ Borrelli, Christopher (July 3, 2009). "Bizarro Blockbusters". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Movie 'Mockbusters' Put Snakes on Trains". National Public Radio. December 8, 2007. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Solomon, Dan (August 23, 2011). "How to Make a Mockbuster (In Five Easy Steps)". Adult Swim. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c Somma, Brandon (January 4, 2013). "Masters of the Mockbuster:What The Asylum Is All About". The Artifice. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Ritman, Alex (November 1, 2022). "AFM: How The Asylum Used Schlock and Awe to Create a B-Movie Empire". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Katz, David (July 11, 2013). "From Asylum, the People Who Brought You (a Movie Kinda Sorta Like) Pacific Rim". GQ. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Dixon, Wheeler Winston (July 25, 2013). "Inside The Asylum: The Outlaw Studio That Changed Hollywood". Film International. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Pomerantz, Dorothy (October 22, 2012). "Schlock And Awe". Forbes. Vol. 190, no. 7. pp. 50–52. ISSN 0015-6914.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Potts, Rolf (October 7, 2007). "The New B Movie". The New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Belloni, Matthew (November 11, 2008). "Commentary: Fox takes action against 'Day the Earth Stopped'". Associated Press. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Harris, Dana; Maxwell, Erin (August 14, 2009). "Asylum's 'mockbusters' turn profit". Variety. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Tate, Ryan (July 19, 2013). "B-Movie Boom: Sharknado Studio Stirs Whirlwind of Profit". Wired. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Stelter, Brian (July 12, 2013). "'Sharknado' Tears Up Twitter, if Not the TV Ratings". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Haring, Bruce (December 22, 2018). "'Z Nation' Canceled By Syfy After Five Seasons, Announced Online". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  15. ^ O'Connell, Mikey (October 21, 2014). "Syfy Renews Zombie Drama 'Z Nation'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  16. ^ Moylan, Brian (September 12, 2014). "SyFy's Z Nation: the poor man's Walking Dead". The Guardian. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "Someone Finally Decides to Sue The Asylum: Universal Not Happy About Battleship Knock-Off". Internet Movie Database.
  18. ^ "The Hobbit producers sue 'mockbuster' film company". BBC. November 8, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  19. ^ Fritz, Ben (December 10, 2012). "'Hobbit' knockoff release blocked by judge". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  20. ^ "'Z Nation' Producers Placed on WGA Strike/Unfair List" Deadline Hollywood
  21. ^ Venable, Nick (April 7, 2014). "The Asylum's Zombie Series Z Nation Scares Up 13-Episode Order From Syfy". Cinema Blend. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  22. ^ Hibberd, James (September 15, 2014). "'Z Nation' ratings tie 'Walking Dead' (if you move the decimal point)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  23. ^ Surette, Tim (October 21, 2014). "Syfy Renews Z Nation for Season 2 Because Z Nation Has Zombies in It". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  24. ^ Petski, Denise (November 29, 2016). "'Z Nation' Renewed For Fourth Season By Syfy".
  25. ^ Long, Christian (July 19, 2018). "Black Summer: Z Nation spin-off starring Jaime King headed to Netflix". SYFY WIRE.
  26. ^ "Pluto TV". Pluto TV.
  27. ^ Patterson, John. "Seeking Asylum: the rise of Hollywood's Z-movies" The Guardian, July 30, 2009.
  28. ^ Latt, David. 'Interview, 'Front Row', BBC Radio 4, July 16, 2010.
  29. ^ McLendon, Gary (September 16, 2008). "Henrietta actor has had varied life". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. Accessed September 27, 2008.

External links

  • Official website
  • AsylumInternational YouTube channel
  • TheAsylumNet YouTube channel
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  • United States
  • Poland