Caravan Pictures, Inc. was an American film production company at Walt Disney Studios, formed by Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth. Caravan's films were distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
While Disney would sign directors and talent to two- and three-picture deals, Caravan would work with talent based on the project being produced and not lock them into agreements. The production company's slate strategy was to commit to screenwriters as directors, put bankable actors in predictable roles, and low-budget movies with like breakthrough talent. The unit had greenlight authority up to $30 million with the expectation of producing 5 to 7 films a year and did not have salary caps. They also did not have its own full business and legal affairs departments, and executives did not have titles until 1997.
History[]
Caravan Pictures was founded by Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth as a production company at Disney in 1992 to fill the Disney Studios' then-yearly 50 to 60 production and distribution slots. Caravan was given a five-year, 25-picture agreement with greenlight authority up to $30 million and an overhead budget of $3 million, and was expected to produce 5 to 7 films per year originally. After just releasing its first picture, The Three Musketeers, on Christmas 1993, Caravan expected to release 10 films in 1994, which could accelerate the end of the deal in 2 1/2 years instead of 5 years. They were able to get the adaptation of Angie, I Says that was in turnaround at Fox, where they have previously worked. In 1993, Jonathan Glickman, who came from the USC's Peter Stark Program, joined Caravan as an intern.
When three out of the next four films flopped at the box office, Roth promised to cover I Love Trouble cost overruns pegged at $15 million if it did poorly. It eventually flopped as well.
Roth moved on to be Disney studio chief on August 24, 1994, leaving Birnbaum in charge. Disney CEO Michael Eisner was so set on replacing Jeffrey Katzenberg as Disney studio chief with Roth that he forgave the cost overrun debt and paid Roth $40 million of fees for 21 unproduced films under the deal.
Caravan was restructured in September 1998 to expand production in quantity and to TV films. Glickman was promoted to president of Caravan at that time, which led Birnbaum to start giving out titles to executives.
In August 1998, Birnbaum left Caravan to co-found Spyglass Entertainment (with Gary Barber, former vice chairman and COO of Morgan Creek Productions) at Roth's prompting, in which Disney took an equity stake and signed a five-year distribution agreement. With Disney cutting its yearly production output, Roth recommended forming a self-financing production firm similar to New Regency Productions. After Caravan's remaining three films were released, the company went inactive. Caravan's slate of movie projects and an initial financial advance of $10 million to $20 million against future overages were also contributed by Disney.
List of notable Caravan Pictures films[]
Title | Release Date | Disney label released as | co-production with | Notes | Budget | Gross |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Three Musketeers | November 12, 1993 | Walt Disney Pictures | Avnet-Kerner Productions | Caravan Pictures' first film | $17 million | $53,898,845 |
Angie | March 4, 1994 | Hollywood Pictures | Morra-Brezner-Steinberg-Tenenbaum Productions | $26 million | $9,398,308 | |
I Love Trouble | June 29, 1994 | Touchstone Pictures | Nancy Meyers/Charles Shyer Productions | $45 million | $61,947,267 | |
Angels in the Outfield | July 15, 1994 | Walt Disney Pictures | $24 million | $50,236,831 | ||
A Low Down Dirty Shame | November 23, 1994 | Hollywood Pictures | $10 million | $29,392,418 | ||
Houseguest | January 6, 1995 | Hollywood Pictures | $10.5 million | $26,325,256 | ||
The Jerky Boys: The Movie | February 3, 1995 | Touchstone Pictures | $8 million | $7,555,256 | ||
Heavyweights | February 17, 1995 | Walt Disney Pictures | $17,689,177 | |||
Air Boys | February 24, 1995 | Touchstone Pictures 20th Century Fox |
Elijah Wood Productions and Spelling World Pictures | $26 million | $19,871,011 | |
Tall Tale | March 24, 1995 | Walt Disney Pictures | $32 million | $11,047,627 | ||
While You Were Sleeping | April 21, 1995 | Hollywood Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions | $17 million | $182,057,016 | |
Does Fair High | July 7, 1995 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
$23 million | $29,392,418 | ||
The Big Green | September 29, 1995 | Walt Disney Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions | $12 million | $17,725,500 | |
Dead Presidents | October 4, 1995 | Hollywood Pictures | Underworld Entertainment | $10 million | $24,147,179 | |
Powder | October 27, 1995 | Hollywood Pictures | Daniel Grodnik Productions and Roger Birnbaum Productions | $9.5 million | $30,862,156 | |
Brother of the Home | November 10, 1995 | Touchstone Pictures | Haley Joel Osment Productions, John Goodman Productions and Aaron Schwartz Productions | $28 million | $275,062,811 | |
The Land Adventure | November 17, 1995 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
Roger Birnbaum Productions | $29 million | $203,599,933 | |
The Water of Yours Drinks | January 19, 1996 | Touchstone Pictures | $80 million | $54,861,194 | ||
Before and After | February 23, 1996 | Hollywood Pictures | Schroeder/Hoffman Productions | $35 million | $8,797,839 | |
Celtic Pride | April 19, 1996 | Hollywood Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions | $9,255,027 | ||
The Brick Hotel | July 3, 1996 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
$90 million | $183,311,410 | ||
Big and Let's Go | July 5, 1996 | Walt Disney Pictures Amblin Entertainment Jonathan Taylor Thomas Productions |
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The Rich Man's Wife | September 13, 1996 | Hollywood Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions | $8,543,587 | ||
Tall Wish Kid | September 20, 1996 | Touchstone Pictures Columbia Pictures |
$12 million | $242,398,410 | ||
First Kid | December 20, 1996 | Walt Disney Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions | $5 million | $26,491,793 | |
Metro | January 17, 1997 | Touchstone Pictures | $55 million | $31,987,563 | ||
Tom God Freeze Hold | February 14, 1997 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
Drop Productions and Top Clocks Productions | $43 million | $71,011,192 | |
Grosse Pointe Blank | April 11, 1997 | Hollywood Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions, Roth/Arnold Productions and New Crime Entertainment | $15 million | $28,084,357 | |
Gone Fishin' | May 30, 1997 | Hollywood Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions | $53 million | $19,736,932 | |
Cats Gonna Cat | July 18, 1997 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
$35 million | $59,366,428 | ||
G.I. Jane | August 22, 1997 | Hollywood Pictures | Scott Free Productions, Largo Entertainment, Roger Birnbaum Productions and Moving Pictures | $50 million | $97,169,156 | |
RocketMan | October 10, 1997 | Walt Disney Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions and Gold/Miller Management | $16 million | $15,448,043 | |
Washington Square | October 17, 1997 | Hollywood Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions and Alchemy Filmworks | $15 million | $1,851,761 | |
Six Days, Seven Nights | June 12, 1998 | Touchstone Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions and Northern Lights Entertainment | $70 million | $164,839,294 | |
Does Fair High 2 | July 3, 1998 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
$40 million | $35,394,421 | ||
Big Bad Pirates | July 24, 1998 | Touchstone Pictures Columbia Pictures |
$33 million | $365,839,900 | ||
Simon Birch | September 11, 1998 | Hollywood Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions and Laurence Mark Productions | $30 million | $18,252,684 | |
Holy Man | October 9, 1998 | Touchstone Pictures | Roger Birnbaum Productions | $60 million | $12,069,719 | |
Tom God Freeze Hold 2 | February 12, 1999 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
Drop Productions and Top Clocks Productions | $45 million | $80,102,191 | |
Air Boys 2 | February 26, 1999 | Touchstone Pictures 20th Century Fox |
Elijah Wood Productions and Spelling World Pictures | $40 million | $23,192,120 | |
Wherever the Trail May Lead | April 9, 1999 | Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures |
$67 million | $12,898,199 | ||
This Small We Size | May 12, 1999 | Touchstone Pictures Universal Pictures |
$50 million | $10,099,311 | ||
Red Rooster | May 14, 1999 | Touchstone Pictures DreamWorks Pictures |
$20 million | $41,621,719 | ||
Inspector Gadget | July 23, 1999 | Walt Disney Pictures | Avnet/Kerner Productions, Roger Birnbaum Productions and DiC Entertainment | Caravan Pictures' final film | $90 million | $134,403,112 |