A film studio is three things at once: a library, a lot, and a slate. The library may be a century deep; the lot may be 400 acres in California or a single building in Tokyo; and the slate — the films a studio chooses to make — is remade every time a chairman changes. This guide maps all three, studio by studio, in the month the map itself changed.
On Oct. 6, 2026, Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and renamed the combined company Skydance. Two of the founding majors of Hollywood — Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures — now answer to one parent, one chairman and chief executive, David Ellison, one co-chief executive, Ynon Kreiz, and one pair of film chiefs, Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein. Warner Bros.' film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy departed at the closing. A fortnight later, Netflix parted with its film chairman, Dan Lin, leaving the largest commissioner of films in the world briefly without a film chief: incoming chief content officer Peter Rice oversees the division on an interim basis, and the vacancy is printed in this guide as a vacancy.
The list covers 30 studios in six sections: the Hollywood majors, the streamer film arms, the independents and mini-majors of the United States, Europe, Asia and the national champions, and two context entries — Eon Productions, which held James Bond from 1962 until creative control passed to Amazon MGM Studios in February 2025, and Shaw Brothers, retained for history and labelled legacy throughout. Labels are treated by one consistent rule: Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm are covered inside the Disney entry, with their own chiefs named; Focus Features inside Universal; New Line Cinema and DC Studios inside Warner Bros.; and so on through every group in the guide. For each studio: its parent as it stands in late 2026, its chairman and film chief verified individually, its lot or headquarters and its size where published, what it makes and how it works, its labels and imprints in full, its signature franchises in words, its published scale dated and sourced or stated as not published, its offices, its public access routes, and its sources.
THE HOLLYWOOD MAJORS
1. WALT DISNEY PICTURES — BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1923 · Major · North America
Parent / ownership: The Walt Disney Company — listed in New York; Josh D'Amaro became CEO on 18 March 2026, succeeding Bob Iger; Dana Walden became President and Chief Creative Officer the same day
Leadership: Studio chairman: Alan Bergman, Chairman, Disney Entertainment — Studios (overseeing all film studios, production, marketing and distribution; reporting to Walden from March 2026). Film chiefs by label: David Greenbaum, President, Disney Live Action and 20th Century Studios; Kevin Feige, President, Marvel Studios; Pete Docter (Chief Creative Officer) and Jim Morris (President), Pixar; Dave Filoni, President and Chief Creative Officer, and Lynwen Brennan, Co-President, Lucasfilm (from January 2026, succeeding Kathleen Kennedy); Jared Bush and Clark Spencer, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Makes: Family, fantasy, adventure and franchise features across live action and animation, released theatrically worldwide and then on Disney+ and Hulu
Specialties: Labels and imprints in full: Walt Disney Pictures (live action); Walt Disney Animation Studios; Pixar Animation Studios; Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; 20th Century Studios; Searchlight Pictures (specialty/prestige); Disney Nature
Signature franchises: Marvel Cinematic Universe; Star Wars; Indiana Jones; Toy Story, Inside Out and the Pixar slate; Frozen, Moana and the Disney Animation slate; Avatar (20th Century); Pirates of the Caribbean; The Lion King
Scale: Disney led the worldwide box office among studios through the mid-2020s; a single audited annual release count for the film group alone is not published — Disney reports studio content sales at segment level in its annual report
Lot / headquarters: 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA (Walt Disney Studios lot) · Lot size: 51 acres for the Burbank lot (company-published) · Offices: Burbank (HQ and lot); Emeryville, California (Pixar); Atlanta and Vancouver (Marvel and live-action production); London; Sydney (Disney Studios Australia, formerly Fox Studios Australia)
Website: thewaltdisneycompany.com · Contact: Press and studio information via thewaltdisneycompany.com; consumer contact via Disney support pages · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No unsolicited screenplay submissions (agent/manager submission only, industry standard). Public access: the Walt Disney Studios lot is not open for general public tours; D23 fan events and studio-adjacent experiences are the published public route
Founded 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; Walt Disney Pictures is the flagship live-action label of a studio group built by acquisition — Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Lucasfilm (2012) and 20th Century Fox (2019). The only studio operating four billion-dollar label universes — Disney Animation/Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century — under one distribution and parks-and-consumer-products system
Leadership structure changed twice in 2026: the D'Amaro/Walden succession at company level (18 March) and Filoni/Brennan at Lucasfilm (January). Both are printed with their dates.
2. WARNER BROS. PICTURES — BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1923 · Major · North America
Parent / ownership: Skydance (Skydance Corporation) — Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on 6 October 2026, at about $110 billion including debt (about $81 billion equity value; WBD shareholders received about $31 per share in cash); the combined company renamed itself Skydance and moved to the NYSE ticker SKYD. David Ellison is Chairman and CEO; Ynon Kreiz (former Mattel chairman and CEO) is Co-CEO from 5 October 2026, running day-to-day operations and integration while Ellison leads strategy, creative and technology
Leadership: Parent chairman/CEO: David Ellison (above). Film chiefs: Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, Co-Chairs of the combined film group, took control of every film label — Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures, DC Studios, New Line Cinema and Paramount's labels — on the 6 October closing. Departed: Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, Co-Chairs and Co-CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group since 2022, exited at the closing (reported 1–3 October 2026; their contracts ran through 2030). Staying, per closing-week reporting: James Gunn and Peter Safran, Co-CEOs, DC Studios (agreements run through 2027)
Makes: Theatrical features across every genre — franchise tentpoles, director-led dramas and comedies, horror (New Line) and animation (Warner Bros. Pictures Animation) — distributed worldwide and then to HBO Max
Specialties: Labels and imprints in full: Warner Bros. Pictures; New Line Cinema; DC Studios; Warner Bros. Pictures Animation; Castle Rock Entertainment (library/affiliate); Turner Entertainment library distribution
Signature franchises: Harry Potter and the Wizarding World; DC — Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman; The Lord of the Rings (New Line); Dune (with Legendary); Barbie; A Minecraft Movie; The Conjuring universe; Mad Max; The Matrix
Scale: Combined Skydance commitment, made in the September 2026 settlement with 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild: at least 30 theatrical films a year across the combined company in each of the first two years after closing, rising thereafter, each with a minimum 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros.' own dated slate into 2029 was reported at 39 films at the closing
Lot / headquarters: 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, CA (Warner Bros. Studios Burbank) · Lot size: About 110 acres for the main Burbank lot (company-published); Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, UK, is the group's principal UK production base · Offices: Burbank (HQ and lot); Leavesden, Hertfordshire, UK; New York; Tokyo; Sydney; Toronto
Website: warnerbros.com · Contact: Studio and press contact routes via warnerbros.com; Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood bookings via the tour site · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood (paid, daily, Burbank) and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London — The Making of Harry Potter (Leavesden). Submissions: agented only; no unsolicited scripts
Founded 1923 by Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner; the studio of Casablanca, the Harry Potter films and the DC library. From 6 October 2026 it sits inside the combined Skydance company (see Parent). A 1923 major whose identity is now administered jointly with its historic rival Paramount — the two lots, libraries and logos are being kept distinct under one film leadership, per closing-week statements
OWNERSHIP STATE AT PRESS TIME (22 Oct 2026): the merger is CLOSED, not pending — closed 6 October 2026 after federal antitrust review and the September settlement. What remains pending is integration: label-level leadership below Goldberg/Greenstein, the unification of HBO Max and Paramount+ 'over time', and the DC Studios decision due when Gunn/Safran agreements expire in 2027.
3. UNIVERSAL PICTURES — UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1912 · Major · North America
Parent / ownership: NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast Corporation (listed, Philadelphia). NBCUniversal chairman in October 2026 reporting: Donna Langley (see Leadership)
Leadership: Studio chairman: Dame Donna Langley — Chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment in 2026 sources (BAFTA Fellowship citation, February 2026; TheWrap, October 2026), having previously held Chairman, NBCUniversal Studio Group and Chief Content Officer, with the filmed-entertainment group (Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation) under her. Film chiefs by label: Peter Kujawski, Chairman, Focus Features. GAP: a current (2026) holder of the standalone title President, Universal Pictures was not confirmed in sources checked — printed as a named gap, not filled
Makes: Theatrical features from tentpole franchises to filmmaker-led originals, plus family animation (Illumination, DreamWorks Animation) and specialty film (Focus Features), with a slate-wide minimum 45-day theatrical window announced in 2026
Specialties: Labels and imprints in full: Universal Pictures; Focus Features (specialty); Illumination (animation, in partnership); DreamWorks Animation; Working Title Films (London production label); Blumhouse (first-look production partnership — see its own entry); Amblin Partners distribution partnership
Signature franchises: Jurassic World; Fast & Furious; Despicable Me and Minions (Illumination); The Super Mario Bros. Movie (with Nintendo/Illumination); Wicked; How to Train Your Dragon; Kung Fu Panda and Shrek (DreamWorks); The Bourne films; Fifty Shades (Focus/Universal)
Scale: Universal was the top-grossing studio worldwide in 2023 and a top-two studio in most recent years on Comscore-reported market share; the studio does not publish a fixed annual release-count commitment — figure not published
Lot / headquarters: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA (Universal Studios Lot) · Lot size: About 391 acres for the Universal City property including the studio lot and theme park (company-published) · Offices: Universal City (HQ and lot); London (Working Title; international HQ functions); Tokyo; Sydney; production bases at Shepperton and Sky Studios Elstree via partnerships, UK
Website: universalpictures.com · Contact: Studio information and press routes via nbcuniversal.com and universalpictures.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: Universal Studios Hollywood studio tour (the original 1964 tram tour) and Universal theme parks worldwide. Submissions: agented only
Founded 1912 by Carl Laemmle — the oldest continuously operating Hollywood major. Home of the classic Monsters, Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park and the Christopher Nolan partnership that produced Oppenheimer. The filmmaker-first major: long-term house deals (Nolan, Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw, Blumhouse) and, in 2026, the industry-facing move back to longer theatrical windows after pioneering premium video-on-demand in 2020
Langley's exact corporate title varies by source and date (Studio Group chair/CCO in the 2023 structure; 'Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment' in 2026 BAFTA and trade sources). The guide prints the 2026 form and flags the variance here.
4. PARAMOUNT PICTURES — HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1912 · Major · North America
Parent / ownership: Skydance (Skydance Corporation) — see the Warner Bros. Pictures entry for the full verified closing record: acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery completed 6 October 2026 at about $110 billion including debt; combined company renamed Skydance, NYSE: SKYD; Ellison Family and RedBird Capital Partners are the largest shareholders
Leadership: Parent chairman/CEO: David Ellison, Chairman and CEO; Ynon Kreiz, Co-CEO (from 5 October 2026). Film chiefs: Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, Co-Chairs of Paramount Pictures (appointed in the 2025 Skydance–Paramount merger as co-chairs of the studio), whose remit expanded on 6 October 2026 to every film label in the combined company (see Warner Bros. entry). Former studio chief Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures from 2021, departed in the 2025 merger transition
Makes: Theatrical franchise features, family films (Paramount Animation / Nickelodeon Movies) and director-led titles, distributed worldwide and then to Paramount+
Specialties: Labels and imprints in full: Paramount Pictures; Paramount Animation; Nickelodeon Movies; Paramount Players (dormant as a releasing label in recent years — status not separately published); Republic Pictures library
Signature franchises: Mission: Impossible; Top Gun; Star Trek; Transformers (with Hasbro); Sonic the Hedgehog; A Quiet Place; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; SpongeBob SquarePants; Paw Patrol; The Godfather (library)
Scale: Combined-company commitment (September 2026 settlement): at least 30 theatrical films a year across Skydance in the first two years after closing. Paramount's own pre-merger plan (August 2025) was to rise from 8 films a year toward 15, then 20 — superseded by the combined commitment, printed here for the record
Lot / headquarters: 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA (Paramount Studios lot) · Lot size: About 65 acres (company-published) — the last major studio lot in Hollywood proper · Offices: Hollywood (HQ and lot); New York; London; production at the Burbank Warner lot is a sister-company facility from October 2026, not a Paramount office
Website: paramountpictures.com · Contact: Studio tours and press routes via paramountpictures.com and paramount.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: Paramount Pictures Studio Tour (paid, daily, Hollywood lot). Submissions: agented only; no unsolicited material
Founded 1912 (as Famous Players Film Company; the Paramount name followed) — the studio of The Godfather, the Star Trek and Mission: Impossible franchises, and the last major lot still in Hollywood itself. Skydance Media merged into Paramount in 2025, creating Paramount Skydance; that company then acquired Warner Bros. Discovery (see Parent). The mountain logo now flies over two historic majors at once: Paramount and Warner Bros. remain separate releasing labels under one parent and one film leadership — a structure without precedent among the classic studios
OWNERSHIP STATE AT PRESS TIME (22 Oct 2026): CLOSED and renamed — the parent is Skydance Corporation, not Paramount Skydance, from 6 October 2026. Pending items are integration matters only (streaming unification, label staffing below co-chair level, $6 billion cost-saving programme reported at closing).
5. SONY PICTURES / COLUMBIA PICTURES — CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1918 · Major · North America
Parent / ownership: Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation (listed in Tokyo and New York) via Sony Corporation of America
Leadership: Studio chairman: Ravi Ahuja, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment (in post from January 2025; official Sony biography). Film chief: Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group (in post since 2015; multi-year contract extension reported by Screen Daily/Deadline; oversees Columbia, TriStar, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Animation, Imageworks, International Productions and Sony Pictures Classics), with Sanford Panitch, President, Motion Picture Group
Makes: Theatrical features across franchise, comedy, drama, genre and animation, plus the specialty slate of Sony Pictures Classics; films are then licensed to streaming partners (Netflix holds the US pay-one window) rather than to a house streamer
Specialties: Labels and imprints in full: Columbia Pictures; TriStar Pictures; Screen Gems (genre); Sony Pictures Animation; Sony Pictures Imageworks (animation/VFX); Sony Pictures Classics (specialty); 3000 Pictures; Sony Pictures International Productions; Stage 6 Films
Signature franchises: Spider-Man (including the Marvel Studios co-productions and the animated Spider-Verse films); Jumanji; Ghostbusters; Bad Boys; Venom; The Karate Kid / Cobra Kai universe; Men in Black; Resident Evil; 28 Days/Years Later (with Danny Boyle/Columbia)
Scale: Sony Pictures revenue was about $10.2 billion in FY2024 (Sony Group segment reporting, including television and networks — a film-only figure is not broken out). Ahuja told the FT Business of Entertainment Summit, 24 September 2026, that Sony has 'no interest in getting bigger' and will keep licensing to streamers — the arms-dealer model, stated on the record
Lot / headquarters: 10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA (Sony Pictures Studios — the historic former MGM lot) · Lot size: About 44 acres (company-published) · Offices: Culver City (HQ and lot); New York; London; Tokyo; Mumbai (Sony Pictures Networks India is a sister television business); Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and Crunchyroll sit in Sony Pictures' experiences/anime portfolio
Website: sonypictures.com · Contact: Senior-management and press routes via sonypictures.com/corp; studio tour bookings via sonypicturesstudiostours.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: Sony Pictures Studio Tour (paid, Culver City). Submissions: agented only
Columbia Pictures was founded in 1918 (as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn; Columbia name from 1924) and bought by Sony in 1989. Sony Pictures Entertainment is the only major without a general-entertainment streaming service of its own — it licenses films to rival streamers after theatrical and home windows. The theatrical-first major without a streamer: Rothman's CinemaCon 2026 address urged exhibitors toward longer windows, shorter pre-shows and lower ticket prices — the clearest public statement of the model
Rothman is, at press time, the longest-serving film chief of a Hollywood major (since 2015). One trade report in closing-week Paramount coverage put 17 months remaining on his contract — printed in the README as an unverified horizon, not in the leadership line.
THE STREAMER FILM ARMS
6. NETFLIX FILM — LOS GATOS AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1997 · Streamer film arm · North America
Parent / ownership: Netflix, Inc. — listed on Nasdaq; co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters
Leadership: IN TRANSITION at press time. Film chief: VACANT — Dan Lin, Chairman, Netflix Film (in post from April 2024), departed on 19 October 2026 (Reuters, company-confirmed). Interim: Peter Rice, incoming Chief Content Officer (succeeding Bela Bajaria; appointment announced 15 October, effective 26 October 2026), will oversee the film division until a new head is announced. Speculation linking former Warner Bros. chiefs De Luca and Abdy to the vacancy is UNCONFIRMED (Deadline reported the rumour unfounded) and is not printed as fact
Makes: Original features in every genre and language for day-and-date streaming release, with limited theatrical engagements for selected titles and awards contenders; feature animation is a stated growth area (KPop Demon Hunters, 2025–26)
Specialties: Units in full: Netflix Film (English-language features); Netflix international/local-language film teams by territory; Netflix Animation (feature animation); documentary features under Netflix Documentary
Signature franchises: No theatrical-style franchise slate is the model; recurring film series include Knives Out (Glass Onion and sequels), Extraction, Enola Holmes, The Old Guard, Happy Gilmore 2, KPop Demon Hunters (animated feature and Academy Award winner under Lin's tenure, per Reuters)
Scale: Volume not published as a single annual film count in sources checked; Netflix reports engagement and revenue at company level (about 300 million paid memberships worldwide claimed in 2025 reporting). A 6% workforce reduction (about 1,000 roles) was announced the week of 14 October 2026
Lot / headquarters: No studio lot. Offices: 100 Winchester Circle, Los Gatos, CA (corporate HQ) and 5808 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA (content HQ). Lot size: not applicable / not published · Lot size: Not applicable — Netflix rents production stages worldwide (including its own Netflix Studios at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and Albuquerque, New Mexico) · Offices: Los Gatos and Los Angeles (HQ functions); New York; London; Berlin; Madrid; Mexico City; Mumbai; Seoul; Tokyo; production hubs at Fort Monmouth and Albuquerque
Website: netflix.com · Contact: Press centre via netflix.com/tudum and the Netflix media centre; no public film-submission route — projects arrive via agencies and production partners · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No public studio tours and no unsolicited submissions. Public programmes: Tudum fan events and Netflix Bites / Netflix House experiential venues are the published audience routes
Netflix was founded in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service; its original-film arm dates from 2015 (Beasts of No Nation) and grew to an industry-leading volume of English- and local-language features released primarily on the service, with selective theatrical runs. Its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming assets (about $82.7 billion enterprise value) was rejected by the WBD board in favour of Paramount's in early 2026. The largest film commissioner in the world by volume operates without a lot, a theatrical distribution arm or a franchise-first slate — and, in the week this guide closed, without a film chief
The Lin/Rice transition is dated precisely because it moved during compilation: Lin's exit was announced 19 October 2026 and Rice's CCO term begins 26 October 2026 — after this guide's press date, so Rice is printed as incoming/interim, not as in post.
7. AMAZON MGM STUDIOS — CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 2010 · Streamer film arm / mini-major · North America
Parent / ownership: Amazon.com, Inc. — listed on Nasdaq
Leadership: Studio head: Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. Film chief: Courtenay Valenti, Head of Film, Streaming and Theatrical. Film production chiefs (announced 20 October 2026): Julie Rapaport and Alana Mayo, each Head of Film, Production & Development, each overseeing roughly half a slate of about 30 films a year between them (Mayo also runs Orion Pictures)
Makes: Theatrical features (a stated commitment of 15 theatrical films a year by 2027, reiterated at CinemaCon 2026) plus streaming features for Prime Video — more than 30 films a year across both, per Valenti's 20 October 2026 memo
Specialties: Labels and imprints in full: Amazon MGM Studios; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM); United Artists; Orion Pictures; Amazon MGM Studios Distribution (theatrical distribution joint operations); Prime Movies
Signature franchises: James Bond (creative control from February 2025; next film in development with director Denis Villeneuve, producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman, screenwriter Steven Knight — casting unannounced at press time); Rocky/Creed; The Addams Family / Wednesday universe (television-led); Project Hail Mary; Masters of the Universe; The Beekeeper
Scale: More than 30 films a year across theatrical and streaming (Valenti memo, 20 October 2026); 15 theatrical films a year by 2027 is the published theatrical commitment (CinemaCon 2026)
Lot / headquarters: The Culver Studios, 9336 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA (headquarters campus) · Lot size: About 14 acres for The Culver Studios campus (published campus figure) · Offices: Culver City (HQ); Los Angeles; New York; London; Tokyo (Amazon MGM Studios Japan); production at Pinewood and other UK stages for Bond and tentpoles
Website: amazonmgmstudios.com · Contact: Press releases and studio information via amazonmgmstudios.com and mgm.com; no public submissions route · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No general public lot tours at Culver Studios. Submissions: agented and via production partners only
Founded 2010 as Amazon Studios; Amazon bought MGM for $8.45 billion (closed March 2022) and renamed the combined studio Amazon MGM Studios in 2023, restoring a theatrical releasing arm built on the MGM, United Artists and Orion libraries. In February 2025 it took creative control of the James Bond franchise in a joint venture with Eon/Danjaq (see Eon entry). A technology company's studio run on theatrical principles: it restored MGM's lot identity, built its own distribution, and holds the Bond franchise — the asset that justified the MGM purchase
The Rapaport/Mayo structure (20 Oct 2026) is the freshest leadership item in this guide and post-dates most printed studio directories.
8. APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS — CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 2019 · Streamer film arm · North America
Parent / ownership: Apple Inc. — listed on Nasdaq; Services division under Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President, Services
Leadership: No separate studio chairman. Worldwide Video co-heads: Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht (co-heads of Worldwide Video since 2017, reporting to Eddy Cue). Film chief: Matt Dentler, Head of Features (named in Screen Daily's account of the executive team in place for more than seven years, 2025–26)
Makes: A small, talent-led slate of original features — typically a handful of wide theatrical releases a year through distribution partners (F1 via Warner Bros.) plus streaming-first features on Apple TV
Specialties: Apple Original Films (features); Apple Originals (series, sibling division); Skydance and A24 output/first-look partnerships in earlier years of the service
Signature franchises: Deliberately not franchise-built; signature titles: CODA; Killers of the Flower Moon; Napoleon; F1: The Movie; The Tragedy of Macbeth; Finch; Greyhound
Scale: Release count and film budgets are not published as a slate figure; Apple reports the studio inside Services revenue at company level
Lot / headquarters: 8600 Hayden Place, Culver City, CA (Apple Studios) and Apple Park, Cupertino, CA (corporate HQ) · Lot size: Not published · Offices: Culver City and Cupertino (HQ functions); London (European creative, under Jay Hunt, Creative Director, Europe); New York
Website: tv.apple.com · Contact: Press information via apple.com/newsroom and tv.apple.com; no public submissions route · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No studio tours or public programmes specific to the film arm; no unsolicited submissions
Apple Studios was founded in October 2019 as the in-house production company for Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+); Apple Original Films is its feature division. CODA (2021) made Apple the first streamer to win the Academy Award for Best Picture; F1: The Movie (2025) passed $630 million in worldwide theatrical grosses through partner distribution. The prestige model at its purest: few films, named directors, theatrical releases borrowed from partner studios, and a parent for whom film is a services strategy rather than a standalone profit centre
Apple dropped the '+' from Apple TV branding in 2025 — the service is 'Apple TV' in current company usage, printed so here.
INDEPENDENTS & MINI-MAJORS — UNITED STATES
9. LIONSGATE — SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1997 · Mini-major · North America
Parent / ownership: Lionsgate Studios Corp. — listed in New York (studio business; the Starz business trades separately since the 2025 separation)
Leadership: Studio chairman (company): Jon Feltheimer, Chief Executive Officer (with Michael Burns, Vice Chairman). Film chief: Adam Fogelson, Chairman, Motion Picture Group (in post since January 2024; confirmed in the studio's fiscal Q3 2026 and Q1 FY2027 earnings calls, February and August 2026)
Makes: Mid-budget theatrical features built on a risk-mitigated model — foreign pre-sales, tax incentives and co-financing cover much of each budget before domestic release — plus a large television studio (sibling division)
Specialties: Labels and imprints in full: Lionsgate (main label); Summit Entertainment; Good Universe (partnership); faith-based releases under the studio's Kingdom Story Company partnership; Lionsgate Premiere (day-and-date, catalogue-led)
Signature franchises: John Wick; The Hunger Games; Saw; Now You See Me; The Expendables; Rambo (new interpretation completed production 2026); Highlander (in development); The Housemaid; Michael (the Michael Jackson biopic, 2026)
Scale: Motion picture segment revenue rose 23% year on year to $652 million in the fiscal quarter reported in 2026 results coverage, on The Housemaid and Now You See Me: Now You Don't; annual theatrical release counts vary by slate and are not published as a commitment
Lot / headquarters: 2700 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA (headquarters; Lionsgate owns no backlot) · Lot size: Not applicable — no studio lot; production is stage-rented worldwide · Offices: Santa Monica (HQ); New York; London; Toronto/Vancouver (origins); production bases wherever incentives lead (Georgia, UK, Australia among recent bases)
Website: lionsgate.com · Contact: Corporate and press routes via lionsgate.com; investor relations via Lionsgate Studios · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No lot tours (no lot). Submissions: agented only. Public route: Lionsgate-owned experiential attractions (John Wick Experience, Las Vegas) are consumer-facing, not studio access
Founded 1997 in Vancouver by Frank Giustra and built by acquisition (Summit Entertainment, 2012, among others) into the leading independent mini-major. The studio business separated from Starz in 2025 as Lionsgate Studios Corp. (NYSE: LION). The mini-major model itself: franchise economics without a conglomerate parent, a 20,000-title library as ballast, and — in 2026 — a Michael Jackson biopic the company projects as its first billion-dollar worldwide release
Company figures quoted are Lionsgate Studios' own earnings-call figures, labelled as such.
10. A24 — NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
Founded 2012 · Independent · North America
Parent / ownership: A24 Films LLC — private; minority investment rounds include Neuberger Berman (2022, at a valuation above $2.5 billion) and a 2024 round led by Thrive Capital (reported valuation about $3.5 billion) — valuations are reported figures, not company-published
Leadership: Studio chairman: Daniel Katz, Chairman (co-founder). Chief executive: David Fenkel, CEO (co-founder). Film chief: Noah Sacco, Head of Film (with the studio since its first year; profiled in The New Yorker, 2025, as A24's head of film)
Makes: Filmmaker-led features it finances, produces or acquires — typically 15–25 releases a year in recent slates — plus television, and (since 2023) consumer and live ventures including the Cherry Lane Theatre
Specialties: Divisions in full: A24 (features); A24 Television; A24 International; A24 Music; A24 All Access (AAA24 membership); 2AM (management/production venture)
Signature franchises: Deliberately original-led rather than franchise-led; signature titles: Ex Machina; Moonlight; Lady Bird; Hereditary; Uncut Gems; Everything Everywhere All at Once; The Whale; Past Lives; The Brutalist; Marty Supreme
Scale: More than 150 films released by the mid-2020s (company-adjacent profiles); a dated annual release count and any box-office-share figure are not company-published
Lot / headquarters: 1245 Broadway, New York, NY (headquarters; earlier address 31 West 27th Street). No studio lot · Lot size: Not applicable — no lot · Offices: New York (HQ); Los Angeles; London (A24 International functions)
Website: a24films.com · Contact: Contact and membership (AAA24) routes via a24films.com; no public phone or submissions portal is published · Phone: Not published
Access: No unsolicited submissions policy is published; projects arrive via agencies, festivals and producer relationships. Public programmes: AAA24 membership, the A24 zine/podcast programme and Cherry Lane Theatre performances
Founded 20 August 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges, named for the Italian motorway Katz was driving when he decided to found it. Built on low budgets, filmmaker freedom and digital-first marketing, it became the defining independent studio of its generation: Moonlight and Everything Everywhere All at Once both won Best Picture. A studio run as a brand: the logo itself sells tickets to its audience, its marketing is made in-house, and its executives historically avoid the spotlight the films receive
Katz/Fenkel titles (chairman/CEO) rest on reference listings rather than a company-published leadership page — A24 publishes no executive roster. Flagged as a sourcing limit in the README.
11. NEON — NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
Founded 2017 · Independent · North America
Parent / ownership: Private — longstanding backing from The Friedkin Group / 30West (significant shareholders and board members). In July 2026 Neon sold a significant (undisclosed-size) stake to Department M, the production company of Mike Larocca and Michael Schaefer, for growth capital and to launch Neon TV; financial terms not disclosed
Leadership: Studio chairman/CEO: Tom Quinn, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (remains CEO after the July 2026 Department M transaction; Neon has no separate chairman in sources checked). Film chiefs: Michael Schaefer, Chief Content Officer (from July 2026, ex-Department M/New Regency); Jeff Deutchman, President of Acquisition, Production and Development for Film (continuing, reporting to Schaefer)
Makes: Acquires, produces and distributes auteur and international features for the US market, typically a curated slate of roughly a dozen theatrical releases a year; launched Neon TV (television division) in July 2026
Specialties: Neon (main label); Neon TV (from 2026); genre releases are handled inside the main label rather than under a separate imprint in current practice
Signature franchises: No franchise slate by design; signature titles: Parasite; Anora; Anatomy of a Fall; Titane; Triangle of Sadness; It Was Just an Accident; Sentimental Value; Longlegs; I, Tonya
Scale: 57 Academy Award nominations and 11 wins in its first nine years, and more than $500 million in domestic box office (SXSW London 2026 speaker biography, company-supplied); annual release counts are not published as a commitment
Lot / headquarters: New York, NY headquarters (street address not published in sources checked). No studio lot · Lot size: Not applicable — no lot · Offices: New York (HQ); Los Angeles
Website: neonrated.com · Contact: Contact route via neonrated.com; acquisitions are festival/market-based, no public submissions portal · Phone: Not published
Access: No tours or public submissions. Public route: festival premieres and the company's theatrical releases themselves
Founded 2017 by Tom Quinn, formerly of Radius-TWC. Neon became the American home of world cinema's top prize-winners: Parasite and Anora both won Best Picture as Neon releases, and its Cannes Palme d'Or streak reached seven consecutive winners in May 2026 (Fjord). The Palme d'Or streak — seven consecutive Cannes winners distributed in America by one small company — is a record without parallel for an independent distributor
The Department M stake size and price were not disclosed by either party — printed as not disclosed, not estimated.
12. BLUMHOUSE — LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 2000 · Independent · North America
Parent / ownership: Blumhouse — private, majority controlled by founder Jason Blum; Atomic Monster (James Wan) merged into Blumhouse in 2024; Universal holds a long-term first-look/distribution relationship, not ownership
Leadership: Studio chairman/CEO: Jason Blum, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (no separate chairman and no separate film chief are published — Blum is both; printed as the company's own structure). James Wan, founder of Atomic Monster, is a Blumhouse board member and creative partner under the 2024 merger
Makes: Low- and mid-budget horror and thriller features (most under $10 million before marketing, by the company's stated model) for theatrical release via Universal and streaming partners, plus genre television
Specialties: Blumhouse (features); Blumhouse Television; Atomic Monster (James Wan's label, inside Blumhouse since 2024); BH Tilt (earlier digital label, dormant)
Signature franchises: Paranormal Activity; Insidious; The Purge; Sinister; Halloween (2018 trilogy); Five Nights at Freddy's; M3GAN; The Black Phone; Get Out and Us (Jordan Peele productions released under the model)
Scale: Company-reported cumulative box office for Blumhouse films passed $5 billion worldwide in the early 2020s (company statements of that period); a current dated total is not published
Lot / headquarters: Los Angeles, CA (headquarters; street address not published in sources checked). No studio lot · Lot size: Not applicable — no lot; films shoot on location and rented stages worldwide · Offices: Los Angeles (HQ); production offices follow shoots
Website: blumhouse.com · Contact: Contact route via blumhouse.com; submissions are not accepted unsolicited (agency/producer routes only) · Phone: Not published
Access: No tours. Public programmes: Blumhouse of Horrors / Halloween Horror Nights haunted-house collaborations at Universal parks are the consumer-facing route
Founded 2000 by Jason Blum as Blumhouse Productions; the Paranormal Activity model — micro-budget genre films with wide theatrical release through studio partners (principally Universal) — made it the most profitable film model of its era. Blumhouse Television and the Atomic Monster merger (completed January 2024) widened it into a genre studio group. Budget discipline as identity: filmmakers trade upfront fees for creative control and a share of success, a contract structure Blum has described publicly for two decades
Leadership beyond Blum/Wan is not published in an official roster in sources checked — named gap.
13. LEGENDARY ENTERTAINMENT — BURBANK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 2000 · Mini-major / independent · North America
Parent / ownership: Legendary Entertainment — private; owned by company management together with Apollo Global Management funds following the October 2024 buyout of Dalian Wanda Group's stake
Leadership: Film chief: Mary Parent, Chair, Worldwide Production (long-serving; the studio's senior film executive in sources checked). GAP: the chief executive/chairman line after the 2024 buyout was not confirmed in a current official roster in sources checked — Joshua Grode served as CEO to 2024; his successor arrangement is printed as a named gap, not filled
Makes: Event features developed and produced in-house and released through distribution partners — Warner Bros. (Dune, MonsterVerse, A Minecraft Movie) above all — plus television (Legendary TV) and comics
Specialties: Legendary Pictures (features); Legendary Television; Legendary Comics; Legendary East (China-facing arm, reduced in recent years — current scope not published)
Signature franchises: Dune (with Warner Bros.); the MonsterVerse — Godzilla and Kong; A Minecraft Movie; Pokémon: Detective Pikachu; Pacific Rim; Warcraft; Jurassic World (co-financing origins)
Scale: Dune: Part Two (2024) grossed about $711 million worldwide and A Minecraft Movie (2025) approached $1 billion (box-office reporting); annual slate counts are not published as a commitment
Lot / headquarters: Burbank, CA headquarters (street address not published in sources checked). No studio lot · Lot size: Not applicable — no lot; Dune and MonsterVerse productions base at studios in Jordan, Hungary, the UK and Australia · Offices: Burbank (HQ); London; production bases follow tentpole shoots
Website: legendary.com · Contact: Contact route via legendary.com; no public submissions portal · Phone: Not published
Access: No tours or unsolicited submissions (partner/agency routes)
Founded 2000 by Thomas Tull as Legendary Pictures, a co-financing and production company that became a studio in its own right (the MonsterVerse, Dune). Wanda Group acquired it in 2016; Apollo Global Management took a minority stake in 2022; in October 2024 Legendary management bought out Wanda's remaining stake, returning the company to management/Apollo ownership. The co-financier that became an author: Legendary's two active universes (Dune, MonsterVerse) are both literary/monster properties it developed itself rather than inherited library IP
CEO-line gap is this entry's honest limit; Parent's production chairmanship is the verifiable film leadership.
14. ANNAPURNA PICTURES — LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 2011 · Independent · North America
Parent / ownership: Annapurna — private, founded and owned by Megan Ellison
Leadership: Studio chairman/CEO: Megan Ellison, Founder (no separate chairman, CEO or film chief titles are published in sources checked — Ellison leads the company; film-division leadership below her is a named gap)
Makes: A small slate of prestige features, produced and released with partners (its own distribution venture with MGM, United Artists Releasing, ended in the Amazon era), plus animation and interactive titles
Specialties: Annapurna Pictures (features); Annapurna Television; Annapurna Animation; Annapurna Interactive (games); Annapurna Theatre
Signature franchises: Original-led by design; signature titles: Zero Dark Thirty; Her; Phantom Thread; If Beale Street Could Talk; Booksmart; Nimona (animation); Stray (games)
Scale: Release counts and financial figures are not published
Lot / headquarters: Los Angeles, CA (headquarters; street address not published in sources checked). No studio lot · Lot size: Not applicable — no lot · Offices: Los Angeles (HQ); New York (theatre/interactive functions)
Website: annapurna.com · Contact: Contact route via annapurna.com; no public submissions portal · Phone: Not published
Access: No tours or unsolicited submissions
Founded 2011 by Megan Ellison to finance director-led films the majors would not (Zero Dark Thirty, Her, American Hustle). After a period of retrenchment, Annapurna operates as a cross-media company — film, television, animation (Nimona), theatre and the celebrated Annapurna Interactive games label (Stray). A single patron's taste as a studio strategy — the modern heir to the independent-producer tradition, extended across film, games and theatre under one name
Film-slate volume since 2023 is small and partner-released; the entry reflects operating status, not the 2017–19 distribution venture.
15. NEW REGENCY — LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1982 · Independent · North America
Parent / ownership: New Regency Productions — private, Milchan family owned
Leadership: Studio chairman: Arnon Milchan, Founder and Chairman. Film chief/CEO line: Yariv Milchan has served as Chairman and CEO of New Regency in company listings of recent years — a 2026-dated confirmation was not found in sources checked, so the CEO line is printed as last-published, not current-verified (named gap)
Makes: Prestige and commercial features financed and produced in-house, released through studio distribution partners; television via New Regency Television partnerships
Specialties: New Regency (features and television); historical co-ventures (Regency Enterprises) are library structures, not current labels
Signature franchises: Original- and book-led; signature titles: Pretty Woman; L.A. Confidential; Fight Club; 12 Years a Slave; Birdman; The Revenant; Bohemian Rhapsody; The Creator; the Mr. & Mrs. Smith property
Scale: Financial figures and annual release counts are not published
Lot / headquarters: Los Angeles, CA (headquarters; street address not published in sources checked). No studio lot · Lot size: Not applicable — no lot · Offices: Los Angeles (HQ); London
Website: newregency.com · Contact: Contact route via newregency.com; no public submissions portal · Phone: Not published
Access: No tours or unsolicited submissions
Founded 1982 by Arnon Milchan (as Embassy International Pictures; New Regency from 1991). The producer-financier behind Pretty Woman, L.A. Confidential, Fight Club, The Revenant and Bohemian Rhapsody, releasing for decades through Warner Bros. and then 20th Century/Fox partners. Four decades of one family's producer-financier model surviving every distribution regime — studio pacts, the Fox sale and the streaming era — without selling the company
Leadership currency is this entry's stated limit (see Leadership).
EUROPE
16. STUDIOCANAL — PARIS (ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX), FRANCE
Founded 1984 · National champion / European major · Europe
Parent / ownership: Canal+ S.A. — listed in London since the December 2024 Vivendi split; StudioCanal is its film and television studio subsidiary
Leadership: Studio chairman: Maxime Saada, Chairman of the Canal+ management board / CEO of Canal+ (group level). Film chief: Anna Marsh, Chief Executive Officer of StudioCanal since 2019 — additionally Deputy CEO of Canal+ and, from 1 March 2025, Chief Content Officer of Canal+ (Canal+ management-board release)
Makes: European and English-language features it develops, finances, produces and distributes directly in France, the UK, Germany, Australia/New Zealand and other home markets, selling rights elsewhere; family film is a signature strength
Specialties: StudioCanal (main label); StudioCanal UK; StudioCanal GmbH (Germany); StudioCanal Australia; StudioCanal Kids & Family; Sixth Dimension (European genre label, launched 2025); Paddington and Company; production stakes including Tandem Productions, Bambú Producciones (33%), Dutch FilmWorks (majority) and Lucky Red (51%)
Signature franchises: Paddington (three films; a fourth in development, announced CinemaCon 2026); Shaun the Sheep (with Aardman); Bridget Jones (UK distribution/production role); The Hunger Games (UK/German distribution heritage); library franchises: Terminator 2, Basic Instinct, Stargate (original film)
Scale: Worldwide box office has tripled since 2022 on Paddington in Peru, Back to Black and Beating Hearts (company statements, 2025–26); a fixed annual release count is not published
Lot / headquarters: Paris/Issy-les-Moulineaux headquarters (Canal+ group campus; exact studio street address as published by the group). No backlot · Lot size: Not applicable — no backlot; about 9,000 titles in the library and 13 production companies in Europe and the US (company figures, September 2025) · Offices: Paris (HQ); London; Munich/Berlin; Sydney; Los Angeles (US outpost launched 2024); Amsterdam (Dutch FilmWorks)
Website: studiocanal.com · Contact: Contact and catalogue routes via studiocanal.com and canalplusgroup.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No public tours. Submissions via producers/agents and its production companies; the Canal+/StudioCanal programmes at festivals and markets are the industry route
Tracing to Canal+ Productions (1987) and Le Studio Canal+ (1990), StudioCanal is the film arm of the Canal+ group — Europe's largest film library business, with direct distribution in its home markets and production companies across Europe and the United States. The European major built like an American one — its own distribution in five-plus markets, a 9,000-title library and a family franchise (Paddington) that anchors a slate of French and British films
Founding date is given as 1984 in current company listings (the Canal+ channel's founding year); the film subsidiary's own line runs 1987/1990 — both are printed here rather than smoothed.
17. PATHÉ — PARIS, FRANCE
Founded 1896 · National champion / European major · Europe
Parent / ownership: Pathé — private, controlled by Jérôme Seydoux and the Seydoux family interests
Leadership: Studio chairman: Jérôme Seydoux, Chairman of Pathé. Film chief: Ardavan Safaee — styled President of Pathé Films in most sources and Chairman of Pathé Films in Pathé's November 2025 release appointing Ben Browning as President of Global Film and Co-CEO of Pathé UK (both report through Safaee). The title variance is flagged, not smoothed
Makes: Large-scale French features and English-language films it fully finances or co-produces (The Count of Monte-Cristo; the two-part De Gaulle, 2026), French distribution, international sales, and exhibition through its own cinemas
Specialties: Pathé Films (production/distribution); Pathé UK; Pathé International (sales); Pathé Cinémas (exhibition); Emotion Pictures (English-language venture with Vendôme Pictures and Merit France, launched 2026)
Signature franchises: The Three Musketeers (two-part saga); The Count of Monte-Cristo; Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom (co-production); CODA (fully financed by Pathé; Best Picture winner as an Apple release); De Gaulle (two-part, 2026)
Scale: The Count of Monte-Cristo took nearly 10 million admissions in France and about $110 million worldwide (Screen Daily); annual slate counts and circuit screen totals vary by year and are printed per-source, not as a single commitment
Lot / headquarters: Paris headquarters (2 Rue Lamennais area, 8th arrondissement, as historically published). No backlot · Lot size: Not applicable — no backlot; the exhibition arm operates roughly 1,000+ screens in Europe and Africa (company reporting, by market) · Offices: Paris (HQ); London (Pathé UK); Amsterdam and other circuit capitals; production partnerships in Los Angeles via Emotion Pictures
Website: pathe.com · Contact: Contact routes via pathe.com and pathe.fr (cinemas); industry sales via Pathé International at markets · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public route: Pathé cinemas themselves (including flagship Paris venues). Submissions: producer/agent routes; no public portal
Founded 1896 by Charles, Émile, Théophile and Jacques Pathé — with Gaumont, one of the two founding companies of world cinema. Today's Pathé, rebuilt under Jérôme Seydoux, combines French production and distribution leadership with one of Europe's largest cinema circuits (France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Africa). Producer, distributor, sales agent and exhibitor in one 1896 house — Pathé can open its own films in its own cinemas, a vertical integration the Hollywood majors gave up generations ago
Safaee title variance (President vs Chairman of Pathé Films) is a genuine source conflict, flagged in the README.
18. GAUMONT — PARIS (NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE), FRANCE
Founded 1895 · National champion · Europe
Parent / ownership: Gaumont — listed in Paris (Euronext); controlled by the Seydoux family's Cinépar holding (Nicolas Seydoux)
Leadership: Studio chairman: Nicolas Seydoux, Chairman of Gaumont. Film chief/chief executive: Sidonie Dumas, Chief Executive Officer (Directrice générale) of Gaumont (long-serving; the company's senior film executive in sources checked — a 2026-dated reconfirmation was not found, printed as last-published)
Makes: French features for theatrical release, international co-productions, and television series in France and Los Angeles; catalogue licensing from a 130-year library
Specialties: Gaumont (features); Gaumont Télévision (France and US); Gaumont Animation (heritage label, reduced scope — current status not separately published)
Signature franchises: The Intouchables; Lupin (television, with Netflix); Narcos (television); The Fifth Element and Léon: The Professional (library); OSS 117 series heritage
Scale: Financial and slate figures are published in Gaumont's Euronext filings at group level; a film-only annual count is not published
Lot / headquarters: Neuilly-sur-Seine headquarters, Paris area. No backlot (the historic Gaumont studios are long closed) · Lot size: Not applicable — no backlot; catalogue of more than 1,500 titles (company-published) · Offices: Paris/Neuilly (HQ); Los Angeles (television); Cologne heritage office
Website: gaumont.com · Contact: Contact route via gaumont.com; catalogue and sales at industry markets · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No tours or public submissions portal; producer/agent routes
Founded 1895 by Léon Gaumont — the oldest continuously operating film company in the world. Gaumont today is a French production and catalogue house (Intouchables/The Intouchables, the world's top-grossing French-language film of its era) with television production in France and the United States (Narcos). Cinema's first company, still independent and still family-controlled — its archive runs from 1895 actualities to a Netflix-era television hit
Dumas currency is flagged as last-published rather than 2026-verified in the README named gaps.
19. CONSTANTIN FILM — MUNICH, GERMANY
Founded 1979 · National champion · Europe
Parent / ownership: Constantin Film AG — a subsidiary of Highlight Communications AG / Highlight Event and Entertainment AG (listed in Switzerland); supervisory-board chairman Bernhard Burgener
Leadership: Film chief / studio chairman: Oliver Berben, Chairman of the Executive Board of Constantin Film (succeeded Martin Moszkowicz on 1 March 2024; Moszkowicz continues as a producer with the company) — official Highlight/Constantin management-board release
Makes: German-language theatrical features and series (about 10–15 theatrical films a year, roughly three-quarters German-language, per Moszkowicz's published account of the model) plus English-language franchise films; distribution across Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Specialties: Constantin Film Produktion; Constantin Film Verleih (distribution); Constantin Television; Rat Pack Filmproduktion and other production labels in the group
Signature franchises: Resident Evil (six-film series and reboots); Fack ju Göhte (Germany's defining comedy series); The Fantastic Four (2000s films); Perfume and Downfall (signature single titles); Hagen / Die Nibelungen (2024 event film and series); Wrong Turn heritage
Scale: 10–15 theatrical productions a year (company leadership statements); German market-share leadership in multiple years per German Federal Film Board (FFA) reporting — a single current share figure is not published in sources checked
Lot / headquarters: Feilitzschstrasse 6, 80802 Munich (headquarters, company-published). No backlot · Lot size: Not applicable — no backlot; productions base at Bavaria Studios, Munich, and stages across Europe · Offices: Munich (HQ); Berlin; Los Angeles (long-standing office); Vienna/Zurich via distribution
Website: constantin-film.de · Contact: Contact route via constantin-film.de; press via the company's Munich office pages · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No public tours. Submissions via producers/agents; Constantin runs published talent and writers' initiatives in Germany from time to time (programme-specific)
Founded 1979 (as Constantin Filmproduktion, successor to the 1950s Constantin distribution house) and built by Bernd Eichinger and then Martin Moszkowicz into Germany's leading producer-distributor — German-language box-office leadership and English-language franchises (Resident Evil) under one roof. Germany's national champion runs both halves of the business its market rewards: broad German comedy and literary event films at home, and globally franchised genre pictures in English
The 1979 founding is the modern company's; the Constantin name in German distribution dates to 1950 — both facts are in the History line.
20. LEONINE STUDIOS — MUNICH, GERMANY
Founded 2019 · National champion · Europe
Parent / ownership: Mediawan & Leonine Studios — the combined European group formed in 2024; Leonine is its German arm (KKR and Mediawan founders among the group's backers)
Leadership: Film chief / studio head: Fred Kogel, Chief Executive Officer of Leonine Studios (founder; confirmed as the group's German leader in trade coverage of the Mediawan combination). A separate Leonine film-division chairman is not published — Kogel is both studio head and film chief for this guide's purposes
Makes: German theatrical distribution of international studio titles (John Wick: Chapter 4, The Hunger Games prequel among them), German productions and co-productions (2–5 commercially focused films a year in earlier published accounts), and large-scale television/streaming series for German and global buyers
Specialties: Leonine Distribution; Wiedemann & Berg Film and Television; i&u TV (non-fiction); Odeon Fiction and other group production labels
Signature franchises: School of Magical Animals (German family series); Girl You Know It's True (Milli Vanilli); distribution franchises in Germany: John Wick, The Hunger Games, Knives Out (territory rights vary by title)
Scale: 23 theatrical releases in the year described in Screen Daily's German-studio survey (2023 slate); current-year counts are published per slate, not as a standing commitment
Lot / headquarters: Munich headquarters (company campus; street address as published by the company). No backlot · Lot size: Not applicable — no backlot · Offices: Munich (HQ); Berlin; Cologne; Paris via Mediawan group
Website: leonine-studios.com · Contact: Contact route via leonine-studios.com; distribution and licensing at industry markets · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No tours or public submissions portal; producer/agent routes
Formed 2019 by Fred Kogel from the merger of Tele München Group, Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg, with KKR backing; it united with France's Mediawan in the Mediawan–Leonine group (2024), creating a European production and distribution champion releasing studio-scale slates in the German market. The newest national champion in this guide — assembled by acquisition in five years into Germany's studio-scale distributor-producer, then merged into a Franco-German group
Slate figures date to the cited survey year and are labelled as such.
21. NORDISK FILM — VALBY, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Founded 1906 · National champion · Europe
Parent / ownership: Egmont Group — the Danish media foundation group (Nordisk Film has been Egmont-owned since 1992)
Leadership: Studio chairman/CEO: Allan Mathson Hansen, Chief Executive Officer of Nordisk Film (with the company since 1989; CEO since 2008; confirmed as CEO in current Nordisk/Egmont releases). No separate film chief is published at group level — production is led through Nordisk Film Production's own management (named gap for the film-division line)
Makes: Nordic features and series (Nordisk Film Production and partners including Zentropa, in which it holds a stake), distribution of its own and partner titles across the Nordics, exhibition through Nordisk Film Cinemas, and games through Nordisk Games
Specialties: Nordisk Film Production; Nordisk Film Distribution; Nordisk Film Cinemas; Nordisk Games; Nordisk Film Shortcut (post/VFX, reorganised 2025–26); partner labels including Zentropa (stake)
Signature franchises: Department Q (Nordic crime series); The Keeper of Lost Causes lineage; A Fortunate Man and Danish literary adaptations; distribution of Lionsgate/Summit and FilmNation titles in the Nordics (territory partnerships)
Scale: About 20–25 films a year across its production companies (company statements in trade coverage); Nordic cinema-chain and distribution shares are published per market by national film institutes, not as one group figure
Lot / headquarters: Mosedalvej 14, 2500 Valby, Copenhagen (the historic Nordisk Film studios site, company-published) · Lot size: The Valby lot is a working studio and visitor site; a published lot acreage was not found in sources checked — not published · Offices: Copenhagen/Valby (HQ and lot); Oslo; Stockholm; Helsinki; Malmö; games studios across Europe
Website: nordiskfilm.com · Contact: Press contact published on nordiskfilm.com (Head of Press, Egmont/Nordisk Film); general contact via the site · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: Nordisk Film's Valby site runs published visitor experiences and tours (Filmtour and exhibitions) — the most open historic lot in this guide. Submissions via production companies/producers
Founded 6 November 1906 by Ole Olsen — the oldest film studio in the world still continuously active, and the fourth-oldest founded (after Gaumont, Pathé and Titanus). Its polar-bear-on-the-globe trademark predates the Hollywood majors' logos; today it spans Nordic production, distribution, cinemas and games. A working 1906 studio that is also a cinema chain, a distributor and a games investor — and whose Valby backlot still makes films on the ground where Danish cinema began
Film-division chief below Hansen is a named gap (see Leadership).
22. MEDUSA FILM — ROME, ITALY
Founded 1984 · National champion · Europe
Parent / ownership: MFE – MediaForEurope (the former Mediaset group, listed in Milan/Madrid); Medusa operates inside the group's Italian business alongside RTI
Leadership: Film chief: Giampaolo Letta, Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Medusa Film (long-serving; the company's senior film executive in Italian trade sources). Studio chairman at group level: Fedele Confalonieri is Chairman of MFE (group, not film-division, level). A 2026-dated reconfirmation of the Medusa line was not found in sources checked — printed as last-published (named gap on currency)
Makes: Italian commercial features it produces/co-produces and distributes, plus Italian theatrical distribution of acquired international titles; television film supply to the group's networks
Specialties: Medusa Film (distribution and production); Medusa's comedy and auteur slates run under the main label; no separate current imprint structure is published
Signature franchises: The Checco Zalone comedies (Sole a catinelle; Quo Vado?; Tolo Tolo); the Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo comedies; library of Italian popular cinema since 1984
Scale: Quo Vado? (2016) grossed about €65 million in Italy, among the highest Italian releases of all time (Italian box-office records, Cinetel); annual counts/shares are published per season by Cinetel/ANICA, not as a company commitment
Lot / headquarters: Rome headquarters (Viale Aventino area, as historically published). No backlot · Lot size: Not applicable — no backlot; Italian production bases at Cinecittà and studios nationwide · Offices: Rome (HQ); Milan (group functions)
Website: medusa.it · Contact: Contact route via medusa.it and the MFE group site; industry sales at markets · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No tours or public submissions portal; producer/agent routes
Founded 1984 and long the theatrical arm of the Mediaset group (now MFE – MediaForEurope), Medusa is Italy's defining commercial distributor-producer: the Checco Zalone comedies it released (Quo Vado?, Tolo Tolo) sit at the top of the Italian all-time box-office table. The Italian popular audience in one company: Medusa's comedies repeatedly out-gross Hollywood tentpoles in their home market, a national-champion pattern France and Germany recognise and few other markets match
Leadership currency is this entry's stated limit (see Leadership and README).
ASIA & THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
23. TOHO — TOKYO (CHIYODA), JAPAN
Founded 1932 · National champion · Asia
Parent / ownership: Toho Co., Ltd. — listed in Tokyo; the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group is its corporate family
Leadership: Studio chairman/CEO: Hiro Matsuoka, Director, President and CEO (Toho Group Integrated Report 2026, officers as of 30 September 2026). Film chief: Minami Ichikawa, Senior Managing Director and Head of Motion Picture Group, Entertainment Unit (same official report); Taichi Ueda, Executive Officer in charge of Production & Acquisitions, Motion Picture Group
Makes: Japanese live-action and anime features it produces, acquires and distributes; exhibition through TOHO Cinemas (first in Japan by box-office revenue, per company statements); stage productions through its theatre origins; international expansion via TOHO Global and the GKIDS acquisition (North American animation distribution, closed 2025)
Specialties: Toho (live action); TOHO animation (label); TOHO Cinemas (exhibition); TOHO Global / Toho International (overseas); GKIDS (US subsidiary); Toho Stage
Signature franchises: Godzilla (from 1954; Godzilla Minus One won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects); Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (distribution, with Aniplex/Ufotable); Detective Conan (distribution); Doraemon (distribution); Jujutsu Kaisen (production committee/distribution); Your Name and the Makoto Shinkai films (distribution)
Scale: Record results for the year to February 2026: operating revenue of ¥360.63 billion and a third consecutive year of record operating profit (company integrated reporting and trade analysis) — driven substantially by distributed titles, a distinction the entry preserves
Lot / headquarters: Toho Studios, Seijo, Setagaya, Tokyo (production lot); corporate HQ in Hibiya/Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo · Lot size: Toho Studios Seijo is about 7–8 hectares in published studio profiles (trade-published, not in the integrated report) — printed as trade-published · Offices: Tokyo (HQ and Seijo lot); Los Angeles (Toho International); Shanghai and other Asian offices; GKIDS in New York
Website: toho.co.jp · Contact: Corporate and IR routes via toho.co.jp (English IR site); cinema information via tohotheater.jp · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: TOHO Cinemas nationwide; Toho Studios is not a public tour lot (Godzilla-themed attractions run at partner parks/museums). Submissions via production committees and partners
Founded 1932 as Tokyo-Takarazuka Theatre Company by Ichizo Kobayashi. Toho is Japan's defining studio group — producer-distributor, the country's leading exhibitor by revenue (TOHO Cinemas), and the house of Godzilla (1954) and the Kurosawa classics (Seven Samurai, Rashomon-era distribution and production). Producer, distributor and exhibitor at national scale with a 70-year monster: Godzilla is at once Toho's founding franchise, its Oscar winner and its international calling card
Revenue figure is group operating revenue (all segments), labelled as such; film-only profit is in the integrated report's segment data.
24. TOEI — TOKYO (GINZA, CHUO), JAPAN
Founded 1951 · National champion · Asia
Parent / ownership: Toei Company, Ltd. — listed in Tokyo; Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is its separately listed animation subsidiary
Leadership: Studio chairman/CEO line: Fumio Yoshimura has served as President of Toei in company listings of recent years — a 2026-dated official roster was not retrieved in sources checked, so the presidency is printed as last-published and flagged in the README. Animation chief (subsidiary): Kenji Ebato has served as President of Toei Animation in recent listings — same currency caveat
Makes: Japanese live-action features (period, action and franchise films), tokusatsu series and films, and — via Toei Animation — theatrical anime features and series for the world market
Specialties: Toei (live action); Toei Animation; Toei Video; Toei Satellite; T-Joy (exhibition joint venture); Toei Kyoto Studio Park (visitor business)
Signature franchises: One Piece (Toei Animation — among the highest-grossing media franchises in the world); Dragon Ball (animation); Kamen Rider; Super Sentai / Power Rangers source series; Slam Dunk (The First Slam Dunk, 2022); Pretty Cure; Saint Seiya
Scale: Group and animation financials are published in Tokyo filings; a single film-slate count is not published. The First Slam Dunk grossed more than $270 million worldwide (box-office reporting)
Lot / headquarters: Toei Studios Kyoto (Uzumasa) and Tokyo studio facilities; corporate HQ in Ginza, Tokyo · Lot size: Toei Studios Kyoto is about 11 hectares in published studio profiles (trade-published); it doubles as the Toei Kyoto Studio Park visitor attraction · Offices: Tokyo (HQ); Kyoto (studios and park); Toei Animation offices in Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, Manila (production) and Shanghai
Website: toei.co.jp · Contact: Corporate routes via toei.co.jp and corp.toei-anim.co.jp (animation); no public submissions portal · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: Toei Kyoto Studio Park (paid, open daily, with studio sets and performances). Submissions via industry routes
Founded 1951 as Toyo Eiga, renamed Toei the same year. Toei built post-war Japanese popular cinema (yakuza and period films), created the tokusatsu tradition (Kamen Rider, Super Sentai — the source of Power Rangers) and, through Toei Animation (1956), some of the world's most durable anime franchises. Live action and animation under one 1951 roof — and a Kyoto lot that is simultaneously a working period-film studio and a theme park where visitors watch the productions being made
Leadership currency is this entry's principal named gap — roles are printed as last-published, with the caveat in the line itself.
25. STUDIO GHIBLI — KOGANEI, TOKYO, JAPAN
Founded 1985 · National champion / animation studio · Asia
Parent / ownership: Nippon Television Holdings, Inc. — listed in Tokyo; NTV acquired a 42.3% stake and management control in October 2023, making Ghibli its subsidiary while the studio retains creative autonomy under the published arrangement
Leadership: President: Kenichi Yoda (in post from 22 June 2026, succeeding Hiroyuki Fukuda — announced May 2026; Yoda, a former Yomiuri Shimbun culture journalist, accepted the studio's 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities on its behalf). Chairman: Toshio Suzuki (co-founder; chairman since the 2023 transition). Honorary Chairman: Hayao Miyazaki (co-founder). Creative leadership rests with Miyazaki and Goro Miyazaki; no film has been announced as in production at press time — the studio's next feature is not published
Makes: Hand-crafted animated features at long intervals (14 features from Miyazaki/Takahata and successors across four decades), the Ghibli Museum (Mitaka) and Ghibli Park (Aichi, opened 2022) as its public works, and catalogue distribution worldwide (GKIDS in North America, now a Toho-group company)
Specialties: Studio Ghibli (features); Ghibli Museum (Mitaka, with the Mitaka City / Tokuma memorial foundation structure); Ghibli Park (operated with Aichi Prefecture partners)
Signature franchises: No sequels by tradition; signature titles: My Neighbor Totoro; Grave of the Fireflies; Princess Mononoke; Spirited Away; Howl's Moving Castle; Ponyo; The Tale of the Princess Kaguya; The Boy and the Heron (2023, Academy Award winner)
Scale: Release counts are by design minimal — one feature every several years in the current era; financial figures are consolidated inside NTV group reporting and not broken out
Lot / headquarters: Koganei, Tokyo (studio; street address published by the company for business mail). No public lot · Lot size: Not applicable — a single-studio building operation of about 200 people (Euronews, October 2026, company-adjacent figure) · Offices: Koganei, Tokyo (sole studio); museum in Mitaka; park in Nagakute, Aichi
Website: ghibli.jp · Contact: Contact route via ghibli.jp; museum tickets via the museum's published Lawson system (advance, dated) — no walk-up sales · Phone: Not published
Access: No studio tours and no unsolicited submissions (the studio develops internally). Public access: Ghibli Museum (advance dated tickets) and Ghibli Park
Founded 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki after Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Ghibli's hand-drawn features — My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away (the only Japanese film to win the Academy Award for Animated Feature in its era, and Japan's top-grossing film for two decades) — made it the world's most admired animation studio. It became a Nippon Television subsidiary in October 2023. The anti-scale studio: about 200 people, no franchise plan, no announced next film — and an influence on world animation, and a 2026 Princess of Asturias Award, out of all proportion to its output
Yoda's presidency (June 2026) is the freshest leadership fact in the Asia section and is sourced to the studio's own transition reporting and Euronews' October 2026 interview.
26. CJ ENM — SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
Founded 1995 · National champion · Asia
Parent / ownership: CJ ENM Co., Ltd. — listed in Seoul (KOSDAQ), part of the CJ Group chaebol
Leadership: Chief executive: Yoon Sang-hyun has served as CEO of CJ ENM in company listings since 2024 — a 2026-dated reconfirmation was not found in sources checked (printed as last-published). A separate film-division chief title is not published in English-language company sources checked — named gap
Makes: Korean features it finances and distributes (the Parasite and Decision to Leave model), global co-productions, and — through its Fifth Season (formerly Endeavor Content) holding — international television and film production; exhibition via CJ CGV (sister division)
Specialties: CJ ENM film division; CJ CGV (exhibition); Fifth Season (US-based production, majority-held); Studio Dragon (television drama, listed affiliate); TVING (streaming joint venture)
Signature franchises: Parasite (Korean distribution and investment); the Korean hits CJ backed across two decades — Memories of Murder, The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Korea's top-grossing film), Veteran; K-pop and format businesses sit elsewhere in CJ ENM
Scale: Segment figures are published in CJ ENM filings; a film-only annual release count is not published in English sources checked
Lot / headquarters: Seoul headquarters (CJ ENM Center, Mapo). No single backlot; Korean production bases at studios in Paju and nationwide · Lot size: Not published · Offices: Seoul (HQ); Los Angeles (Fifth Season and US film functions); Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Asian offices; CGV cinemas across Asia
Website: cjenm.com · Contact: Corporate routes via cjenm.com; industry business at markets (CJ's Busan and Cannes market presence) · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No public tours or submissions portal; producer/market routes
Founded 1995 as CJ Entertainment, the film business of the CJ group — the company that industrialised modern Korean cinema (it backed Bong Joon Ho from Barking Dogs Never Bite to Parasite, which it distributed in Korea) and operates the CJ CGV cinema chain. Its entertainment and commerce businesses merged as CJ ENM in 2018. The complete Korean model in one group — financier-distributor of the Parasite generation, owner of the country's defining cinema chain and of a Hollywood production company
English-language sourcing for CJ ENM's film-division leadership is thin — the gap is named rather than filled from Korean-language listings the guide could not verify.
27. BONA FILM GROUP — BEIJING, CHINA
Founded 1999 · National champion · Asia
Parent / ownership: Bona Film Group — listed in Shenzhen (since 2022; previously Nasdaq-listed 2010–2016 before privatisation)
Leadership: Studio chairman/CEO: Yu Dong, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (the company's defining executive in all company listings). A separate film-division chief is not published — Yu is chairman and film chief in one for this guide
Makes: Chinese features it produces and distributes — main-melody event films, action and drama — plus cinema exhibition and artiste management
Specialties: Bona Film Group (production/distribution); Bona cinemas (exhibition); Hong Kong production partnerships run under the main label
Signature franchises: The Battle at Lake Changjin I & II; Operation Red Sea; The Captain; Chinese Doctors (the 'Chinese Pride' trilogy lineage); The Taking of Tiger Mountain; Overheard series; Bodyguards and Assassins
Scale: Lake Changjin grossed about ¥5.77 billion (about $900 million) in China (official box-office records); annual slate counts are published per year in Chinese filings, not as a standing commitment in English sources
Lot / headquarters: Beijing headquarters (company-published address in filings). No backlot · Lot size: Not applicable — no backlot; Bona also operates a cinema circuit (Bona cinemas) in Chinese cities · Offices: Beijing (HQ); Hong Kong; Los Angeles (historical office — current scope not published); cinemas across China
Website: bonafilm.cn · Contact: Contact route via bonafilm.cn and Shenzhen filings; no public submissions portal · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: No public tours or submissions portal
Founded 1999 by Yu Dong as Polybona Films — China's first private film distributor licensed nationally, and builder of the 'main melody' blockbuster model: patriotic event films (The Battle at Lake Changjin, China's top-grossing film on release) made at commercial scale, alongside Hong Kong action cinema partnerships (John Woo, Tsui Hark). China's private-sector pioneer turned national champion: Bona proved a private company could make the state's signature stories into the country's biggest commercial hits
English-language primary sourcing for Bona is limited; figures used are official Chinese box-office records reported internationally.
28. YASH RAJ FILMS — MUMBAI, INDIA
Founded 1970 · National champion · Asia
Parent / ownership: Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd. — private, owned by the Chopra family
Leadership: Studio chairman: Aditya Chopra, Chairman and Managing Director. Chief executive: Akshaye Widhani, Chief Executive Officer (appointed 2022; the company's first CEO from outside the family, promoted from its finance/music leadership). No separate film chief title is published — creative authority rests with Aditya Chopra (named structure, not a gap)
Makes: Hindi features produced in-house and released through YRF's own distribution network in India and the diaspora markets, plus music (YRF Music), home entertainment and the studio-for-hire business at YRF Studios
Specialties: Yash Raj Films (features); YRF Studios (facilities); YRF Distribution; YRF Music; YRF Television (reduced scope); Yash Raj Films USA and UK distribution arms
Signature franchises: YRF Spy Universe — Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai, War, Pathaan, Tiger 3; Dhoom trilogy; Mardaani; Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (library flagship, still in theatrical run in Mumbai since 1995)
Scale: Pathaan (2023) grossed more than ₹1,000 crore worldwide (about $130 million), the studio's biggest release (Indian box-office reporting); annual release counts (typically 3–6 films) are slate-published, not a standing commitment
Lot / headquarters: Yash Raj Films Studios, Andheri West, Mumbai (integrated studio complex, company-published) · Lot size: About 20 acres for the Andheri studio complex (trade-published) · Offices: Mumbai (HQ and lot); New York and London/Dubai distribution offices for diaspora markets
Website: yashrajfilms.com · Contact: Contact routes via yashrajfilms.com; YRF Studios facility bookings via the studio pages; casting/submissions only through published casting calls · Phone: Not published in sources checked
Access: Public access: YRF Studios hosts published tours/events from time to time (programme-specific); casting calls are published per production. No unsolicited screenplay submissions
Founded 1970 by Yash Chopra after leaving his brother's company; YRF defined popular Hindi cinema for two generations (Chandni, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge — in continuous Mumbai release since 1995, Lamhe, Darr) and, under Aditya Chopra, industrialised it: India's first integrated studio lot at Andheri, its own distribution and music arms, and the YRF Spy Universe (Pathaan, the Tiger films, War). India's complete studio: production, lot, music, distribution and a shared spy universe — built by one family across 55 years without conglomerate or streamer ownership
Widhani's CEO appointment (2022) is the key governance fact; a 2026-dated reconfirmation was not separately retrieved — flagged in README.
CONTEXT ENTRIES
29. EON PRODUCTIONS — LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Founded 1961 · Context entry — franchise house · Europe
Parent / ownership: Eon Productions Ltd. — private, Broccoli family (Danjaq); James Bond intellectual property is co-owned by Danjaq/Eon interests and Amazon MGM Studios under the February 2025 joint venture
Leadership: Producers/principals: Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (the franchise's producers for three decades) — who STEPPED BACK from producing Bond in February 2025, when Amazon MGM Studios took full creative control under a new joint venture to house the Bond IP, with all parties remaining co-owners. Eon's published UK filing put the consideration for the sale of its Bond interest and associated companies (B24/B25 Ltd.) at $20 million (Deadline, from Eon's earnings report). The next Bond film is being produced by Amy Pascal and David Heyman for Amazon MGM, directed by Denis Villeneuve, written by Steven Knight
Makes: James Bond films (sole remit for six decades) and occasional non-Bond productions and stage work by its principals
Specialties: Eon Productions; Danjaq (holding/licensing company for Bond rights)
Signature franchises: James Bond — 25 Eon films from Dr. No (1962) to No Time to Die (2021), more than $7 billion in worldwide box office across the series (series reporting)
Scale: One film every several years by design; no slate figures are published
Lot / headquarters: Eon House, Piccadilly, London (historically published); Bond productions base at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire · Lot size: Not applicable — Eon owns no lot; Pinewood is its production home · Offices: London (HQ); Pinewood production base; Los Angeles liaison via partners
Website: 007.com · Contact: Official Bond site 007.com is the public route; Eon publishes no general contact or submissions route · Phone: Not published
Access: No tours or submissions. Public route: 007.com and Bond exhibitions (e.g., Bond in Motion) run by partners
Founded July 1961 by Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to produce Dr. No (1962) — one company, one franchise, 25 James Bond films across six decades. Eon is included as a context entry because its February 2025 transaction redefined the Bond franchise's control (see Parent/Leadership) and with it the Amazon MGM entry above. The longest single-franchise stewardship in cinema — a family company that held creative control of Bond from 1962 to 2025, longer than any studio held any comparable property
CONTEXT ENTRY: Eon no longer controls the franchise it created; it is retained in the guide because no account of the world's studios in 2026 is complete without the transaction that moved Bond to a streamer-owned major.
30. SHAW BROTHERS — HONG KONG (TSEUNG KWAN O; HISTORICALLY CLEARWATER BAY), CHINA (HONG KONG SAR)
Founded 1925 · Context entry — legacy studio · Asia
Parent / ownership: Shaw Brothers heritage sits with the Shaw family interests and Television Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB) — Shaw Brothers Pictures' name has been used for occasional modern productions/distribution ventures, but there is no continuous studio operation comparable to its 1958–85 peak. Printed as a legacy entry, not an operating studio
Leadership: No current film-studio leadership exists to verify: Sir Run Run Shaw (1907–2014) was the studio's defining chairman; TVB-era Shaw Brothers ventures were led within the TVB group. Any current 'studio chief' attribution would be a guess and is therefore not printed — this is the guide's clearest named gap, by design
Makes: Historically: up to 40+ films a year at peak across Mandarin and Cantonese production. Today: catalogue licensing and occasional name-licensed ventures — current output is not published as a studio slate
Specialties: Historically: Shaw Scope productions; martial-arts (wuxia/kung fu) units; melodrama and Huangmei opera films. No current imprint structure
Signature franchises: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin; Five Deadly Venoms; Come Drink with Me; One-Armed Swordsman; the Movietown catalogue of roughly 1,000 features (published estimates vary — printed as approximate)
Scale: Historical only: the catalogue is commonly put at about 1,000 titles; peak annual output exceeded 40 films (studio histories)
Lot / headquarters: Historic Movietown, Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong (the lot survives in altered/media use); Shaw Studios, Tseung Kwan O (a separate modern facility company using the Shaw name) · Lot size: Movietown was about 46 acres at its peak (published studio histories) · Offices: Hong Kong (heritage/TVB); no current international studio offices
Website: shawbrothers.hk · Contact: Catalogue/licensing enquiries route via TVB/Shaw heritage pages where published; no submissions route exists · Phone: Not published
Access: No public tours of a working studio (none operates). Public route: the Hong Kong Film Archive's Shaw holdings and retrospectives, and the catalogue's streaming availability via licensees
Founded 1925 in Shanghai by the Shaw brothers (Runje, Runme, Runde and Run Run Shaw) and rebuilt in Hong Kong from 1957 around Movietown, Clearwater Bay — for two decades Asia's largest private studio, whose martial-arts and melodrama output (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin; Come Drink with Me) shaped popular cinema across Asia and, through exported kung-fu films, the world. Feature production wound down in the mid-1980s as the family's focus moved to television (TVB). Movietown was Hollywood's studio system perfected in Hong Kong — resident stars, standing sets and a film a week — and its kung-fu exports remain the foundation layer of global action cinema
LEGACY CONTEXT ONLY — included at the brief's request on the stated basis: historically indispensable, not a current operating peer of the other 29 entries. Nothing in this entry should be read as describing a functioning 2026 studio.
NAMED GAPS
Netflix's film chairmanship was vacant at press time — Dan Lin departed on Oct. 19, 2026, and Peter Rice oversees film on an interim basis from his incoming chief-content-officer appointment, effective Oct. 26 — and is printed as vacant, without speculation. The standalone presidency of Universal Pictures could not be confirmed in 2026 sources; Donna Langley's chairmanship and Peter Kujawski's Focus Features chairmanship are verified in their place. Legendary Entertainment's chief-executive line after its October 2024 buyout of the Wanda stake is not confirmed in a current official roster; Mary Parent, its chair of worldwide production, is the verified film leadership. Leadership at Toei, Medusa Film, Gaumont, CJ ENM's film division, New Regency and Nordisk Film's film division is printed as last-published, with the caveat carried in each entry. No studio in this guide publishes a general phone number in the sources checked, so the phone field reads "not published" throughout rather than carrying unverified switchboard numbers. Shaw Brothers has no operating studio and no current leadership, and its entry says so.
Compiled October 2026 from official company releases, integrated reports and filings, and reputable trade press. Company figures are labelled as such and dated; ownership and leadership reflect sources at the Oct. 22, 2026 press date. The master data file (CSV) accompanies this guide in the LIKE® Film department records.