In the film industry, four wall distribution (also known as
four-walling) is a process through which a studio or distributor rents
movie theaters for a period of time and receives all of the box office
revenue. The four walls of a movie theater give the term its name.
Companies engaging in this practice were common in the United States
during the late 1960s and 1970s; one of them was the Utah-based Sunn
Classic Pictures.Four wall distribution is termed after the four walls
of a movie theater. In this process, a film company spends at least
one or two weekends renting a movie theater from the facility's owner
(for a flat fee), and paying for every seat. The company receives all
of the box office revenue, while the theater keeps sales from popcorn
and concessions. By contrast, ticket sales are shared between theaters
and distributors on normal releases.Use of the four-wall technique has
been generally uncommon, except during the late 1960s and 1970s when a
host of U.S. companies engaged in this method. They tended to operate
in states such as Utah, Oregon, Florida and Texas, but this practice
was not utilized in major markets like New York City, Los Angeles, and
Chicago.An early entrant in this field was American National
Enterprises (ANE), which was set up in 1965 by three Utah
residentsâ€"Russel Niehart, Robert Crosier and Frank Olson. One of the
distributor's first releases was Alaskan Safari, a 1968 nature
documentary whose viewership exceeded over 5.5 million patrons over a
five-year run. Rayland Jensen handled distribution of the film; in
1971, at the request of employees from the Schick razor company, he
and other ANE members established their own outlet, Sunn Classic
Pictures. Like its predecessor, Sunn also specialized in four-walled
releases, among them a 1973 re-issue of Chariots of the Gods; 1974's
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams; 1976's In Search of Noah's Ark;
and 1977's The Lincoln Conspiracy.
four-walling) is a process through which a studio or distributor rents
movie theaters for a period of time and receives all of the box office
revenue. The four walls of a movie theater give the term its name.
Companies engaging in this practice were common in the United States
during the late 1960s and 1970s; one of them was the Utah-based Sunn
Classic Pictures.Four wall distribution is termed after the four walls
of a movie theater. In this process, a film company spends at least
one or two weekends renting a movie theater from the facility's owner
(for a flat fee), and paying for every seat. The company receives all
of the box office revenue, while the theater keeps sales from popcorn
and concessions. By contrast, ticket sales are shared between theaters
and distributors on normal releases.Use of the four-wall technique has
been generally uncommon, except during the late 1960s and 1970s when a
host of U.S. companies engaged in this method. They tended to operate
in states such as Utah, Oregon, Florida and Texas, but this practice
was not utilized in major markets like New York City, Los Angeles, and
Chicago.An early entrant in this field was American National
Enterprises (ANE), which was set up in 1965 by three Utah
residentsâ€"Russel Niehart, Robert Crosier and Frank Olson. One of the
distributor's first releases was Alaskan Safari, a 1968 nature
documentary whose viewership exceeded over 5.5 million patrons over a
five-year run. Rayland Jensen handled distribution of the film; in
1971, at the request of employees from the Schick razor company, he
and other ANE members established their own outlet, Sunn Classic
Pictures. Like its predecessor, Sunn also specialized in four-walled
releases, among them a 1973 re-issue of Chariots of the Gods; 1974's
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams; 1976's In Search of Noah's Ark;
and 1977's The Lincoln Conspiracy.
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