Raybert Productions was a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

that operated in the 1960s, founded by

Bob Rafelson Robert Jay Rafelson (February 21, 1933 – July 23, 2022) was an American film director, writer, and producer. He is regarded as one of the key figures in the founding of the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s. Among his best-known films as a ...

and

Bert Schneider Berton "Bert" Jerome Schneider (May 5, 1933December 12, 2011) was an American film and television producer. He was responsible for several topical films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the road film ''Easy Rider'' (1969), directed ...

. Its principal works were the

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

'' (and the group of the same name), and the 1969 movie ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

'' (co-produced with

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

's Pando Company). Raybert was also the predecessor to BBS Productions, a

New Hollywood The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence. They influenced the types o ...

production company founded by Rafelson, Schneider, and Schneider's childhood friend

Stephen Blauner Jules Stephen Blauner (September 19, 1933 – June 16, 2015), commonly known as Steve Blauner, was Bobby Darin's manager,(16 December 1994)King of the Hip ''San Jose Mercury News'', Retrieved November 16, 2010 ("Bobby Darin never put down any musi ...

. BBS Productions' best known film is ''

The Last Picture Show ''The Last Picture Show'' is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film directed and co-written by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from the semi-autobiographical 1966 novel ''The Last Picture Show'' by Larry McMurtry. The film's ensemble cast includes T ...

''.

History of Raybert Productions

Wishing to break into movie production, but lacking experience, Rafelson and Schneider used their

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

connections to get the chance to produce a

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

for a television series. Adapting what they saw in the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

' movies '' A Hard Day's Night'' and ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help! ( ...

'', and throwing in ideas of their own, Schneider and Rafelson developed ''The Monkees'' as the misadventures of an as-yet undiscovered rock band, with songs by the (originally) fictional band as

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

music, and as a

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...

for promotion and merchandising. The original edit of their pilot episode (filmed late in 1965, with music provided by

Boyce and Hart Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; February 18, 1939) were a prolific American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is ...

) rated poorly with a test audience, but a re-edit scored one of the highest ratings ever, and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

bought a season's worth of episodes.

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

, the television wing of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, had a

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

department, with ties to some of the best

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

talent in the US (including

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

songwriters), and were able to provide top-notch songs for the show, while

Colgems Records Colgems Records was a record label that existed from 1966 to 1971. History Colgems was a joint venture between Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, and RCA Victor to issue records by The Monkees and other artists affiliated ...

was set up to issue records from ''The Monkees'' and other productions. When the Monkees became a hit in both television and popular music, Rafelson and Schneider in turn became famous. They used their success to achieve their initial goal of producing movies. The first, called ''

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

'', also starred the Monkees, and was intended to lift both producers and stars to a new level. Unfortunately there was a falling-out between the two sides, with only

Peter Tork Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees and a co-star of the TV ...

showing up for the first day of filming, and by the time the completed movie was ready for release, the television series had been cancelled (after two seasons and two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

), and the Monkees phenomenon appeared to be winding down. Schneider and Rafelson distanced themselves from the band even during the shoot (pointedly playing records by other groups around the set), and promptly involved themselves in other projects, including ''Easy Rider''.

History of BBS Productions

After producing ''

Five Easy Pieces ''Five Easy Pieces'' is a 1970 American drama film directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Carole Eastman (as Adrien Joyce) and Rafelson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. The film tells the story ...

'' in 1969, the two partners took on a third partner,

, naming their expanded company BBS Productions (for Bert, Bob and Steve). Blauner, who'd also been involved with the Monkees series (even getting a name-check in one episode, as a gangster), later produced ''

New Monkees ''New Monkees'' is the name of both an American pop rock music group and a 1987 syndicated television show featuring the group. Overview Background The 20th anniversary of ''The Monkees'' TV series in 1986 generated enough interest that ''Ne ...

'' in the 1980s, under the name Straybert Productions. On December 31, 1971, BBS sold all of its outstanding shares of its stocks to Columbia Pictures.COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. v. SCHNEIDER
leagle.com July 26, 1977, Retrieved on August 31, 2014 ''

'' (1971) and '' Hearts and Minds'' ( 1974 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature) were but two distinctly iconoclastic features from BBS Productions among some of the most influential and enduring classics of the early 1970s

era which anticipated the rise of American

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

through the 1980s and '90s.

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

starred in three others—''

'' (1970), ''

A Safe Place ''A Safe Place'' is a 1971 American drama film written and directed by Henry Jaglom and starring Tuesday Weld, Orson Welles, and Jack Nicholson. Plot A young woman, named Noah, lives alone in a small apartment New York City. She is a mentally di ...

'' (1971), and ''

The King of Marvin Gardens ''The King of Marvin Gardens'' is a 1972 American drama film. It stars Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Scatman Crothers. It is one of several collaborations between Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson. The majority of the film is set ...

'' (1972)—as well as co-wrote ''

Drive, He Said ''Drive, He Said'' is a 1971 American independent film directed by Jack Nicholson, in his directorial debut, and starring William Tepper, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Robert Towne, and Henry Jaglom. Based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Jeremy ...

'' (1971), which was his directorial debut.

Home video releases

A multi-disc boxed set entitled ''America Lost and Found: The BBS Story'' was released by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

on Blu-ray and DVD in 2010. The set included the films ''

'', ''

'', and ''

''. The set, which "originated as a 'New Hollywood' set under the auspices of

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...

", marks the first time that either ''Drive, He Said'' or ''A Safe Place'' have ever been released on home video in any format.

References

{{Authority control Film production companies of the United States The Monkees 1960s in film 1970s in film 1960s in American cinema 1970s in American cinema