MTV Entertainment Studios is the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

production arm of

MTV Entertainment Group Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...

, a subsidiary of the

Paramount Media Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...

division of

Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

. Founded in 1991 as MTV Productions, it is a consolidation of the former MTV Films group established in 1996 and the MTV Production Development/MTV Studios group of 2003–2021, it has produced original television shows like ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, ...

'', ''

Æon Flux ''Æon Flux'' is an American avant-garde science fiction adventure animated television series that aired on MTV from November 30, 1991, until October 10, 1995, with film, comic book, and video game adaptations following thereafter. It premiered ...

'', '' Jackass'', ''

My Super Sweet 16 ''My Super Sweet 16'' is an American reality television series documenting the lives of teenagers, usually in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, generally with wealthy parents who throw lavish, excessive and expensive coming-of-age ce ...

'', ''

Daria ''Daria'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis, Susie Lewis Lynn. The series ran from March 3, 1997, to January 21, 2002, on MTV. It focuses on the title character, Daria Morgendorffer, ...

'', ''

Celebrity Deathmatch ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' is an adult stop-motion claymated series created by Eric Fogel and produced by John Worth Lynn Jr. for MTV. A parody of sports entertainment programs, ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' depicted various celebrities engaging in ...

'', ''

Clone High ''Clone High'' (occasionally referred to in the United States as ''Clone High USA'') is an adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence. The show centers on a high school populated by the c ...

'' and ''

The Real World Real World or The Real World may also refer to: * Real life, a phrase to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds Television * ''The Real World'' (TV series), 1992–2017 * "The Real World" (''Stargate Atla ...

'' and films such as ''

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

'', ''

Joe's Apartment ''Joe's Apartment'' is a 1996 American musical black comedy film written and directed by John Payson (in his feature directorial debut), based on his 1992 short film of the same name, and starring Jerry O'Connell and Megan Ward. The first MTV Films ...

'' and ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy ...

''. Its films are released by fellow Paramount Global division

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. The MTV Films unit was once part of

Paramount Players Paramount Players is an American film production label of Paramount Pictures, focusing on "contemporary properties" while working with other Paramount Global brands. The name alludes to the company's earliest origins as Famous Players Film Compa ...

until 2020.

History

MTV Productions originally started in 1991, and went into expansion two years later, with

Doug Herzog Doug Herzog (born July 16, 1959) is an American television executive. He was formerly the president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, he oversaw MTV, VH1, Logo, Comedy Central, Palladia, TVLand and Spike, Herzog has been credited wi ...

serving as president of the unit. Its expansion was to produce shows for theatrical release, broadcast TV and cable, syndication and the international marketplace. MTV then signed a two-picture deal with

Geffen Pictures The Geffen Film Company (also known as The Geffen Company, The Geffen Film Company, Inc., and later Geffen Pictures) was an American film distributor and production company founded by David Geffen, the founder of Geffen Records, and future co-fou ...

to start making motion pictures afterwards. Only one movie came out of the deal due to the 1994 acquisition of

by MTV's parent company

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

, ''

'', based on a short aired on MTV, came out on July 26, 1996, which grossed $4.6 million on a $13 million budget, making it a box office bomb. Shortly afterwards, MTV Productions tried for an entertainment strip ''Real Time'', to be distributed by

Viacom Enterprises Viacom Productions (formerly Viacom Enterprises) was a television production arm of Viacom International. The division was active from 1974 until 2004, when the company was folded into Paramount Network Television 10 years following Viacom's acq ...

, which was owned by MTV's parent Viacom, and scheduled on air for the 1994–95 season, but it was never materialized. Shortly after Viacom bought out Paramount Pictures, Paramount began to distribute material from MTV and Nickelodeon, with their respective movie divisions. Shortly after ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'' was cancelled, Paramount began distributing and producing MTV's ''

The Jon Stewart Show ''The Jon Stewart Show'' is a late night talk show that was hosted by comedian Jon Stewart. The program premiered on MTV in 1993 as a 30-minute daily offering and became one of the network’s more popular shows. Through a series of events t ...

'' for the syndication market. In 1994, the Paramount Television Group and MTV Productions signed a deal to develop projects commissioned by MTV, and gave Paramount the right of first refusal on projects developed by MTV. By 1995, David Gale was named head of MTV Films. MTV developed its first feature film in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, ''

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do America'' is a 1996 American adult animated comedy film based on the MTV animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head''. The film was co-written and directed by series creator Mike Judge, who reprises his roles fro ...

'', based on the MTV cartoon ''

'', which grossed $63.1 million on a $12 million budget. For the 1997–98 television season, MTV Productions has briefly dabbled into network television production, in conjunction with

Paramount Network Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its na ...

, sister sibling of Viacom, to produce the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

comedy ''

Jenny Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

'', the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

(then-sister of

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 ...

) comedy ''

Hitz ''Hitz'' is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 26 until November 11, 1997. The series follows two record industry executives ( Rick Gomez and Claude Brooks) and their boss (Andrew Dice Clay) at Hitower Records in Los Angeles. Cast ...

'', and the WB drama ''

Three 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

'', but none of them got success beyond its first season. On August 21, 1998, MTV Films has released another film, ''

Dead Man on Campus ''Dead Man on Campus'' is a 1998 black comedy film starring Tom Everett Scott and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. It centers on the urban legend that a student gets straight As if their roommate commits suicide (''see'' pass by catastrophe). Two failing ...

'', which starred

Tom Everett Scott Thomas Everett Scott (born September 7, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film ''That Thing You Do!'', the protagonist in ''An American Werewolf in Paris'', and notable roles in ...

and

Mark-Paul Gosselaar Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar (; born March 1, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles, most notably as Zack Morris in ''Saved by the Bell''. In 1991, he won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in an Off-Pri ...

, which met negative reviews from critics, and it was a box office bomb, grossing $15.1 million on a $14 million budget. MTV Films made its next feature film project, '' 200 Cigarettes'', released on February 26, 1999, which was a box office bomb, grossing $6.8 million on a $6 million budget. In 2001, MTV produced ''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...

'' under the VH1 Films branding, which grossed $60.7 million on a $28 million budget. In 2003, MTV announced a theatrical feature film adaptation of ''

'', with creator

Eric Fogel Eric Fogel (born May 11, 1969) is an American director, writer, animator, producer, and voice actor who is best known as the creator of ''Celebrity Deathmatch''. He also created cult shows '' The Head'', '' Starveillance'' and ''Glenn Martin, ...

as writer, producer, and director, but it was cancelled by the end of the year before production could begin due to MTV being less interested in animation. On August 21, 2006, Nickelodeon Movies,

Comedy Central Films Comedy Central Films was the motion picture production arm of the adult-oriented comedy television cable channel Comedy Central. The studio produces comedy films aimed at a mature audience and based on Comedy Central shows. Many of which were di ...

, and MTV Films became full labels of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group. By 2017,

was created as a joint venture with MTV Films,

Nickelodeon Movies Nickelodeon Movies is the film production arm of American children's network Nickelodeon and the family film distribution label of Paramount Pictures launched on February 25, 1995 and based in Los Angeles, California. The division has earned n ...

, and

BET Films Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

. In 2019, MTV Studios launched MTV Documentary Films, a label producing and acquiring documentary features. In 2020, MTV Films was folded into MTV Studios. The following year, MTV Studios became MTV Entertainment Studios, encompassing content for and based on all of

's brands.

Films

Theatrically released

Direct-to-video

Streaming

Upcoming films

Television

Television series

Television specials

Television movies

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mtv Films Film production companies of the United States Television production companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1996 Paramount Global subsidiaries Companies based in California Paramount Pictures