California Pictures was originally founded in 1944 by Howard Hughes and Academy Award winner Preston Sturges. The two joined forces and created an independent production company which allowed California Pictures to welcome the rise of independent producers during the late 1940's.
California Pictures was reincorporated in 2008 by Steven Istock and is based at Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood, California. The company is focused on creating great movies and television content with dynamic characters, strong and personally identifiable themes and powerful journeys for a worldwide audience.
The company also advises various companies and producers on financial architecture. This involves structuring debt and equity finance, examining production and project budgets, cashflow, casting selections, packaging, resource allocation and distributor interest in all stages of production and distribution.
California Pictures produces and distributes motion picture content worldwide. The company is focused on creating and distributing great feature films, documentaries and future television content with dynamic characters, strong and personally identifiable themes and powerful journeys for a worldwide audience. Read the LA Splash article and listen to our interviews featuring pre-Cannes film market activities and upcoming projects. The company was founded We are based in California on the Paramount Pictures Studios lot
With over 40 years of experience developing, producing, distributing and financing motion pictures and companies, we are available to act as an advisor and consultant for your next film or television project or corporate and personal media investment. We are experienced in story writing, script development, corporate finance, production and distribution from the inception of an idea to distribution of the media content worldwide. This advisory and consulting work includes helping structure equity and debt financing, reviewing and preparing project budgets, cash flow forecasts, obtaining actor talent, resource allocation, distributor interest and timelines in all states of production and distribution.
California Pictures is one of the entertainment companies that welcomes unsolicited material from completed films to scripts and stories in development. We love great passion and creative ideas with a focus on commercial distribution. Call or write us to learn more about submitting your work. We respect your privacy and terms and conditions for submitting do apply so please Contact us to learn more about submitting your work.
We have an exhibitor booth at the major film markets including Cannes, the American Film Market and Hong Kong. We also frequently attend Sundance, Berlin, Toronto and Mipcom film festivals and markets. Between the markets we proactively meet and work with media buyers worldwide. Depending on the details of the project or media asset to be created or monetized we can help identify, structure and close debt and equity finance in addition to providing standard distribution services. Contact us if we can help you with asset creation or finance including reviewing film and media asset libraries and potential acquisitions.