A Band Apart
| LLC | |
| Industry | Film and Television |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, USA |
A Band Apart Films was a production company created by Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender, which was active from 1991 to 2006. Its name is a play on the French New Wave classic, Bande à part ("Band of Outsiders") by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, whose work was highly influential on the work of the company's members. Thanks in part to the popularity of Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez's films, the company quickly gained cult-like status within Hollywood.
History
Tarantino formed A Band Apart in 1991,[1] naming it after his favorite Godard film, Bande à part.[2] The company's logo was a stylized image of the robbers from Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino's debut film. Subsequently, several legal entities within the company were named after the film's characters. Mr. Pink LLC was for music video production budgets, and Mr. Brown LLC was for commercials.
In addition to Tarantino, members of the company included Robert Rodriguez, John Woo, Tim Burton, Steve Buscemi, Darren Aronofsky, John Landis, Joseph McGinty Nichol, Nigel Dick, Andy Dick, Marcel Langenegger, Wayne Isham, Scott Gillen, Coodie & Chike, Osbert Parker, Chris Applebaum, Luc Besson, Adam Christian Clark, Andre 3000, Christopher Morrison and Michael Palmieri.
The company catapulted to fame with the 1994 release of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, which was considered by some critics to be the most influential American film of the decade.[3] In the summer of 1995, the company added a division for commercial and music video production, adding a third co-owner Michael Bodnarchek.[4]
Company closure
A Band Apart closed in June 2006. Feature film work now goes through owner Lawrence Bender's other production company, Lawrence Bender Productions. Some A Band Apart members have found new roots at Holmes Defender of the Faith, which does most of its business in music videos and television commercials. While the company is listed as studio for the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds and credited in the 2007 Grindhouse movies, it is unclear whether the company was reformed for the films.
Movies and TV shows produced
- True Romance (1993)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- The Whiskey Heir (1995)
- White Man's Burden (1995)
- Four Rooms (1995)
- Curdled (1996)
- From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
- Jackie Brown (1997)
- Good Will Hunting (1997)
- Metallica: Cunning Stunts (1998)
- From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999)
- Debtors (1999)
- From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000)
- Stark Raving Mad (2002)
- Lost in Oz (2002)
- When Incubus Attacks (2002)
- Undisputed (2002)
- Kill Bill (2003, 2004)
- Voces inocentes (2004)
- Build or Bust (TV) (2005)
- Death Proof (2007, soundtrack only)
- Inglourious Basterds (2009)
References
- ↑ Alan Barnes; Marcus Hearn (1996). Tarantino A to Zed: the films of Quentin Tarantino. B.T. Batsford. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7134-7990-4. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ↑ Jerome Charyn (23 May 2006). Raised by wolves: the turbulent art and times of Quentin Tarantino. Da Capo Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-56025-858-2. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ↑ "The All-Time Greatest 100 Films", Time Magazine 2005.
- ↑ "City Pages Article", City Pages Archived February 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. 2007
External links
- A Band Apart at the Internet Movie Database
- An Archive of the Company's Website circa 2001
- City Pages feature on Michael Bodnarchek, co-founder of A Band Apart