Warner Independent Pictures was the specialty division of film studio Warner Bros. Entertainment. Established in August 2003, its first release was 2004's Before Sunset. The division financed, produced, acquired and distributed feature films largely budgeted under $20 million.
The use of independent in its name is not literal, as it is a division of Warner Bros., itself a division of media conglomerate Time Warner. Mark Gill was the division's first President. After a controversial departure, Gill was replaced by former Warner Bros. production executive Polly Cohen served as President of this division until fall 2008 when the company was officially shut down. While well-versed in big-budget motion picture production, it was widely believed Ms. Cohen did not have strong enough backgrounds in independent film, or in the marketing/publicity aspects of film distribution to hold that role. This led to a lackluster slate and output, after a successful initial run under Gill.
In February 2008, Warner Bros. announced that it would merge New Line Cinema into the parent studio. New Line's "independent" group Picturehouse was expected to be merged into Warner Independent as part of this process. On May 8, 2008, however, it was announced that both of these specialty divisions would be shut down.
Famous quotes containing the words warner, independent and/or pictures:
“It is fortunate that each generation does not comprehend its own ignorance. We are thus enabled to call our ancestors barbarous.”
—Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900)
“In the great department store of life, baseball is the toy department.”
—Los Angeles Sportscaster. quoted in Independent Magazine (London, Sept. 28, 1991)
“There is no one kind of thing that we ‘perceive’ but many different kinds, the number being reducible if at all by scientific investigation and not by philosophy: pens are in many ways though not in all ways unlike rainbows, which are in many ways though not in all ways unlike after-images, which in turn are in many ways but not in all ways unlike pictures on the cinema-screen—and so on.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)