Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is an American film, television, and comic book producer. He is the chairman of
Platinum Studios
Platinum Studios, Inc. is a media company based in the United States. It controls a library of thousands of comic-book characters, which it seeks to adapt, produce, and license for all forms of media. The company has released films and/or telev ...
, an entertainment company that controls a library of comic-book characters and adapts them for film, television and other media. Through Platinum Studios he is affiliated with Moving Pictures Media Group. He is also the founder and former president of
Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included '' ...
, and is a former senior executive vice president for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
.
[Yanes, Nicholas]
“Interview: Scott Rosenberg on Platinum Studios, Cowboys & Aliens, and the Future of the Comic Book Industry,”
SciPulse.net (May 4, 2011).
As a producer with Platinum Studios, Rosenberg has released films and television programming with
Universal Studios
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to:
* DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin
** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio
** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...
,
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
,
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
, and
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...
. He has also developed film and television with several others including
The Walt Disney Company
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 ...
,
Time-Warner’s New Line Films,
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 ...
and
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 ...
.
Biography
Early career
Rosenberg began his career in the comic-book industry at age 13 when he started a
mail order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
* Sending an order form in the mail
* Placing a telephone call
* Placing a ...
company.
[Ehrenreich, Ben]
"PHENOMENON; Comic Genius?" ''New York Times'' magazine (November 11, 2007).
/ref> Rosenberg graduated from the University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
.
Sunrise Distribution and Malibu Comics
In the mid-1980s, Rosenberg ran the small Commerce, California
Commerce is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,823 at the 2010 census, up from 12,568 at the 2000 census. It is usually referred to as the City of Commerce to distinguish it from the ...
-based comics distributor
A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plugs ...
Sunrise Distribution. In 1986, income from his distribution business allowed Rosenberg to finance Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included '' ...
; and in 1987, he also pumped money into a number of other independent publishers, including Eternity Comics
Eternity Comics was a California-based comic book publisher active from 1986 to 1994, first as an independent publisher, then as an imprint of Malibu Comics. Eternity published creator-owned comics of an offbeat, independent flavor, as well as so ...
, Aircel Comics
Aircel Comics (Aircel Publishing) was a comic book publisher founded by Barry Blair, in Ottawa, Ontario in 1985. In 1988, it merged with American publisher Eternity Comics, itself an imprint of Malibu Comics, and in the late 1980s was taken over b ...
, and Adventure Comics
''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...
.
Malibu's first launch, ''Ex-Mutants
''Ex-Mutants'' was a comic book series created by writer David Lawrence and artist Ron Lim along with editor David Campiti in 1986. It was first published by Eternity Comics and then Pied Piper Comics' black-and-white imprint, Amazing Comics (cont ...
'', as Rosenberg once said in an interview, "turned out to be a hit" and "all on a $400 marketing budget." During his time at Malibu, Rosenberg led comic spin-offs
Spin-off may refer to:
*Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity
* Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
into toys, television, and feature films, including the billion-dollar film and television franchise ''Men in Black
In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi-government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses t ...
'', based on the Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics
...
/Malibu comic '' The Men in Black'' by Lowell Cunningham
Lowell Cunningham (born c. 1958/1959) is an American comic book author. He is best known for creating the comic book '' The Men in Black'', which later became the basis for a media franchise.
Early life
Lowell Cunningham was raised in Franklin, T ...
.
Sunrise began to suffer cash-flow issues in 1987, and abruptly folded in 1988 during the "black-and-white implosion" and went out of business. This left a number of small publishers without the cash flow to continue, and they, too, went out of business.
In 1992, Rosenberg brokered a deal in which seven top-selling artists defected from Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
to form Image Comics
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...
. Rosenberg signed the artists to a label deal which made Malibu the publisher of record
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
for the first comics from Image, giving the upstart creator-run publisher access to the distribution channels. This subsequently led to Scott Rosenberg and his Malibu Comics breaking all sales records for independent comics; in 1992 Malibu grabbed almost 10% of the American comics market share, temporarily moving ahead of industry giant DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
. Malibu Comics' creator-friendly approach, savvy marketing, and willingness to take chances with new types of characters and stories made it the top independent comics publisher in the United States. By the middle of 1993, Image's financial situation was secure enough to publish its titles independently, and per the agreed upon distribution agreement with Malibu, ventured out on its own.
During this period, Rosenberg also worked with Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
software to develop the then-leading standard for the computer coloring of comic books.
Rosenberg sold Malibu to Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
in 1994. As part of the deal, Rosenberg was given the title senior executive vice president of Marvel.[Press release]
Scott Rosenberg Leaves Marvel; Acquires 50 Percent of Platinum Studios
''The Free Library'' (Jan. 16, 1997).
Platinum Studios
Rosenberg left Marvel in January 1997, and purchased half of Platinum Studios
Platinum Studios, Inc. is a media company based in the United States. It controls a library of thousands of comic-book characters, which it seeks to adapt, produce, and license for all forms of media. The company has released films and/or telev ...
from European rights agent Ervin Rustemagić
Ervin Rustemagić (born 1952) is a Bosnians, Bosnian comic book publisher, distributor, and rights agent, born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and currently based in Slovenia. He is the founder of Strip Art Features (SAF) in Sarajevo, as well ...
. Platinum produces based on two distinctive categories: Those from the "Macroverse Bible," a multi-thousand-page bible of related comic characters created by Rosenberg, including titles such as ''Cowboys & Aliens
''Cowboys & Aliens'' is a 2011 American science fiction Western action film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer. The film is based on the 2006 P ...
'', and properties acquired from other companies or creators such as '' Dylan Dog: Dead of Night'' and ''Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
''. Rustemagić left Platinum Studios in 2000. The company’s comic publishing philosophy is for the original publishers or rights holders to continue publishing their comics with Platinum Studios handling all other rights and development. Comics have been published based on Platinum’s properties continuously since inception, whether by Platinum itself or the original rights holders. Film productions in 2009–2011 were ''Cowboys & Aliens'' and ''Dylan Dog''.
Platinum Studios posted net losses of $4.3 million in 2006 and $5.1 million in 2007, and grew to a revenue of $10.5 million.["Business Update, and Outlook: Platinum Studios Reports Fiscal 2007 Financial Results,"]
''Reuters'' (Apr. 1, 2008). The company became a public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
, trading continuously since February 2008.
In early 2012, Platinum Studios moved to new offices in West Los Angeles. In 2014, 27 million shares of Platinum were acquired by KCG Holdings.[MacDonald, Heidi]
"Is a holding company acquiring what is left of Platinum Studios?,"
''The Beat'' (Mar. 4, 2014).
Filmography
Producer
* ''Ultraforce
The Ultraforce is a fictional superhero group that appears in American comic books published by Malibu, and later Marvel. The purpose of the group was to protect the public and keep other "Ultras" (superheroes) from becoming unruly. The group con ...
'' (1995)
* ''Men in Black
In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi-government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses t ...
'' (1997) (Special Thanks)
* ''Night Man
''Night Man'' is a superhero television series, developed by Glen A. Larson, that aired in syndication from September 15, 1997 to May 17, 1999. The series is loosely based on the character from ''The Night Man'' comic book published, through the ...
'' (1997)
* ''Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
'' (2002–2004)
* '' Dylan Dog: Dead of Night'' (2011)
* ''Cowboys & Aliens
''Cowboys & Aliens'' is a 2011 American science fiction Western action film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer. The film is based on the 2006 P ...
'' (2011)
References
External links
*
"Scott Mitchell Rosenberg: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer"
biography at Platinum Studios official site. Archived fro
the original
on November 5, 2015.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Scott Mitchell
Living people
American film producers
American television producers
Place of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)
Comic book publishers (people)
University of Denver alumni