American International Pictures
Film production company / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing films from 1955 until 1980, a year after its acquisition by Filmways in 1979.
 Current logo used since 2020 | |
| Formerly | American Releasing Corporation (1954–56) |
|---|---|
| Type | Label |
| Industry | Film |
| Founded | April 2, 1954; 69 years ago (1954-04-02) (original) October 7, 2020; 2 years ago (2020-10-07) (relaunch) |
| Founders | |
| Defunct | 1980; 43 years ago (1980) (original) |
| Fate | Acquired by, and folded into Filmways |
| Successor | Filmways Pictures (original) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | Motion pictures |
| Owner | MGM Holdings, Inc. (Amazon) |
| Parent | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (2020–present; relaunch) |
It was formed on April 2, 1954, as American Releasing Corporation (ARC) by former Realart Pictures Inc. sales manager James H. Nicholson and entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff[1] and their first release was the 1953 UK documentary film Operation Malaya. It was dedicated to releasing low-budget films packaged as double features, primarily of interest to the teenagers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
The company eventually became a part of Orion Pictures, which in turn, became a division of MGM. On October 7, 2020, four decades after the original closure, MGM revived AIP as a label for acquired films for digital and theatrical releases, with MGM overseeing across streaming platforms and United Artists Releasing handling theatrical distribution in North America until 2023.