Legend Films is a

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

-based company founded in August 2001. The company specializes in the conversion of

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s, both new release and catalog titles, and commercials from their native 2D format into

3-D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...

format utilizing proprietary technology and software. The company started business providing

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

and colorization of classic

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

films for

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

and theatrical release. Legend3D has performed 3D conversion on a number of high-profile projects including feature film work for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

and Sony Pictures Imageworks, as well as commercial work for HP,

Fanta Fanta is an American-owned German brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are more than 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as ...

, New Balance and M&M/Mars, television work on television show '' Chuck'' and for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and special feature work for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's " This Is It" concerts. Legend3D also continues to support its legacy business, Legend Films Home Entertainment Distribution, produces and distributes DVDs of films and video content that have been colorized from their original black-and-white format. They spun off RiffTrax on July 3, 2012. RiffTrax is a business from the stars of ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...

'', that offers humorous audio commentaries. RiffTrax are available in MP3 files for films and DVDs for titles in the Legend Films library.

Company history

Legend Films' founder, Barry Sandrew, Ph.D. pioneered and patented the first all digital colorization technology in 1987 and then reinvented the process in 2000 by patenting the most advanced colorization technology that largely automates the process (Image sequence enhancement system and method – US Patent 7181081 2. Some of the works being colorized by Legend are films that have fallen into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

and are now copyrighted only in their colorized form in the United States, while their original copyright on the black-and-white version is still in force. Other movies in the Legend Films library are titles color produced in revenue sharing partnerships with the original copyright holder. Legend has colorized films owned by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, ac ...

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and Paramount Home Entertainment. In less than three years, Legend Films has restored and colorized over 100 feature films in high definition or film resolution. In 2006, comedian and former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' host

Michael J. Nelson Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964) is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's origin ...

was appointed Chief Content Producer and established the RiffTrax business. Legend Films now does most of its work in Carlsbad, California and Patna, India.

Notable releases

Legend Films has collaborated with

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

, Jane Russell, Terry Moore and Ray Harryhausen on independent releases. A colorized version of '' Holiday Inn'' was met by positive response from the family of

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

. On April 20, 2004, Legend Films released a colorized version of '' Reefer Madness'' featuring intentionally unrealistic color schemes, playing up on the film's

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

appreciation. A colorized version of ''

Plan 9 from Outer Space ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and had a theatrical preview screening on March 15 ...

'' was screened at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. With the cooperation of director

Richard Elfman Richard Elfman (born March 6, 1949) is an American actor, musician, director, producer, screenwriter, journalist, author and magazine publisher. Early life Richard Elfman was born in the Watts district of inner-city Los Angeles. His mother, B ...

, Legend released a colorized version of the 1982 film '' Forbidden Zone'' on July 29, 2008. This version was also made available online at Rifftrax, however without any commentary as Rifftrax creative felt the film was weird enough. In December 2008, it was announced that Legend will release a colorized 3-D version of ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...

'' coproduced by PassmoreLab. The 3-D version will receive a full theatrical release in Europe, and a limited theatrical release in the United States. According to Barry Sandrew, the film was the first entirely live action 2-D film to be converted to 3-D. In late 2008, Legend colorized part 3 of the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' story '' Planet of the Daleks''; the remaining episodes exist in color, but part 3 was wiped and only a black-and-white film version remained. The resultant colorized footage was combined with color information that was recovered from the Chroma Crawl color recovery process, and was released on DVD in November 2009. According to founder Barry Sandrew, Legend Films does not plan to colorize titles that were shot in black-and-white for artistic purposes, unless the original creators of the works participated in the color design.

References

External links

Legend3DLegend FilmsRiffTrax
{{Authority control Mass media companies established in 2001 DVD companies of the United States Film distributors of the United States

Company history

Notable releases

See also

References

External links