Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. is an international, non-theatrical, film distributor and licensor. Founded in 1937, it is privately owned and operated by the Swank family. It is one of the world's largest non-theatrical distributors of motion pictures for public performance. Based in

Sunset Hills Sunset Hills is a city in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,496 at the 2010 census. Geography Sunset Hills is located at 38°32'8" North, 90°24'14" West (38.535570, -90.403759). According to the United Sta ...

, a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of St. Louis, Swank also maintains a sales office in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Swank represents major

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, ...

and independent movie studios to distribute movies licensed for public performance to non-theatrical venues.

Studios represented

* A24 Films * CBS Films *Cohen Media *

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 ...

* DreamWorks Pictures *

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* Hollywood Pictures * Image Entertainment * Lionsgate * Magnolia Pictures *

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Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey Weinstein, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was ...

*Monterey Media *

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* Relativity Media *

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* Summit Entertainment *

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* TriStar Pictures *

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* other independent studios

Public performance licensing

Swank Motion Pictures provides both public performance licensing rights and licensed movies to numerous non-theatrical markets. *Public performance: any performance, display, exhibition, showing, etc. of a copyrighted piece of work that occurs outside of a home. *Non-theatrical: any venue, other than a theater, that is outside of the home.

Non-theatrical venues

* U.S. colleges and universities * Worldwide cruise lines * Parks and recreation facilities * K–12 schools * Libraries * Correctional facilities * Museums * Film societies * Restaurants * Bars * Churches, synagogues and other faith-based organizations * Businesses * Trade shows and conventions * Healthcare facilities * American military hospitals * Motor coaches * Amtrak trains * Clubs * Camps and other outdoor venues

History

Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. was founded in 1937 by P. Ray Swank and began operations in St. Louis as a "portable projection service." This period predated such familiar entertainment standards as color film, 35mm slides, audiotape 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 ...

. The company's projection service consisted of providing short entertainment films and slides, the motion picture projector, sound system and lantern slide projector. These services, along with the equipment operators, were provided at locations where customers were conducting meetings. These local organizations, civic groups, schools and churches relied on Swank to "set up and run the show" for their entertainment. Over the years the needs for equipment and the actual movie separated, and, in turn, so did the company. The two divisions became known as Swank Motion Pictures, which provided the licensed movie content, and Swank Audio Visuals, which provided the audiovisual equipment. The audiovisual division gradually migrated to working primarily with hotels as an in-house service. Swank Audio Visuals was sold by the Swank family in the 2000s. Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. continues to distribute licensed motion pictures to non-theatrical markets both domestically and internationally.

Divisions of Swank Motion Pictures, Inc.

* Digital Campus * Motorcoach Movies * Movie Licensing USA * On-Board Movies * Residence Life Cinema * Swank Films Distribution France * Swank Filmverleih, Germany * Swank Motion Pictures

External links

* {{official
mpaa.com: public performance law
Film distributors of the United States