Polygram

Made films the shows talk about.

Counted as studio. The films the hosts said they were behind, which the two lists below run through too: The Game (1997); Mank (2020).

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Citizen Kane (1941): 2 lines

  1. lineage (visual influence) · through Mank (2020), which they were behind as studio that nearly made Mank in the 1990s, got cold feet over the black and white: Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: David's interview with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt). Messerschmidt told the interviewer he wanted low, deep-focus photography evoking Citizen Kane, not noir.
    “He's like, no, I want to do it low to the ground, lots of deep focus, evoking citizen Kane.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:13:08 · David Sims (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (subject / source) · through Mank (2020), which they were behind as studio that nearly made Mank in the 1990s, got cold feet over the black and white: Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the host's read). Mank is partly inspired by Pauline Kael's essay on who truly authored Citizen Kane.
    “it's in part inspired by that very famous Pauline Kale, story raising Kane, about the true authorship of Citizen Kane”
    The Big Picture · Emergency Mailbag: The Oscars Are Streaming and Hollywood Is Fighting Over Trolls | The Big Picture · 0:58:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)

Seven (1995): 2 lines

  1. unmapped (R-rated proof) · through The Game (1997), which they were behind as distributor: Seven ⇒ The Game (the host's read). Se7en's hit status as an R-rated film convinced the backers to fund The Game.
    “I think convinced, um, people like, okay, like, you can make an R-rated movie a hit.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:33:16 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (commercial lead-in) · through The Game (1997), which they were behind as distributor: Seven ⇒ The Game (the host's read). Se7en's success gave Fincher an absurd budget for The Game.
    “this is better for me because now I can make this movie at an absurd budget.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:47:35 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

A Christmas Carol (2009): 1 line

  1. unmapped (template) · through The Game (1997), which they were behind as distributor: A Christmas Carol ⇒ The Game (the maker said so: reading Fincher's quotes in the dossier JJ put together). Fincher's own framing, as quoted in the dossier, is that The Game is A Christmas Carol and Nick is Scrooge.
    “it's a Christmas carol.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:47:52 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

Jack Fincher: 1 line

  1. lineage (script origin) · through Mank (2020), which they were behind as studio that nearly made Mank in the 1990s, got cold feet over the black and white: Jack Fincher ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: Fincher's own account as read from the dossier (outlet not named)). Fincher's father wrote the original Mank script, which David set aside until years later.
    “I'm handed this script that my dad wrote about all powerful directors ruining storytelling”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:48:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

The Lost Weekend (1945): 1 line

  1. craft (visual echo) · through Mank (2020), which they were behind as studio that nearly made Mank in the 1990s, got cold feet over the black and white: The Lost Weekend ⇒ Mank (the host's read). The election-night drunk sequence in Mank is called self-consciously reminiscent of The Lost Weekend.
    “almost self-consciously reminiscent of the last the lost weekend”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 2:03:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Succession (2018): 1 line

  1. unmapped (looks like) · through The Game (1997), which they were behind as distributor: The Game ⇒ Succession (the host's read). Jokes that the opening home-movie footage is ripped off by Succession.
    “ripped it right off”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:35:58 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Studio (3) everyone in studio

What was said about them, by kind

industry (1)

  1. industry (distributor): Polygram → The Game. The Game was Polygram's main attempt at a blockbuster distributor.
    “No, this was basically their main attempt at becoming a blockbuster distributor themselves.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:33:30 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

unmapped (1)

  1. unmapped (ownership): Polygram → Propaganda Films. Polygram invested in Propaganda Films and eventually bought it outright.
    “They eventually bought propaganda outright.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:43:24 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

None.