June 19, 1918; 106 years ago (1918-06-19) (as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales Corporation) January 10, 1924; 100 years ago (1924-01-10) (as Columbia Pictures) Los Angeles, California, United States
Formed in 1918 as CBC Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their partner Joe Brandt, the studio started out very small. It eventually adopted the "Columbia" name in 1924 and became better known and successful under president Harry Cohn and film director Frank Capra making Western movies, comedy movies, and short films.[3] After Harry Cohn died,[4] the studio went under hard times in the 1960s and 1970s before being bought by the Coca-Cola Company in 1982.[5][6] It created a side project with CBS and HBO that became TriStar Pictures and started making more successful films again such as the Ghostbusters movies and The Karate Kid.
Coca-Cola spun off Columbia into its own company again in 1987, which at that point had fully bought TriStar and other companies such as Merv Griffin's company, which was known for making Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!.[7] In 1989, Sony Corporation decided to buy Columbia Pictures Entertainment, which included both Columbia and TriStar.[8][9] Under Sony, Columbia moved into the former MGM studios after years of sharing space with Warner Bros. Columbia and TriStar continued making their own movies and TV shows before combining under the Sony name in 1999.[10]
At one point, one of the only ways that Columbia was still making money in the 1960s and 70s was through its TV department,[5] which was originally the first version of Screen Gems and later renamed Columbia Pictures Television. TV shows that Columbia made through Screen Gems/CPT included I Dream of Jeannie, Days of Our Lives, Seinfeld, and Walker, Texas Ranger. The TV department was eventually renamed "Columbia TriStar Television" and is now known as Sony Pictures Television, and the "Columbia" name is now only tied to movies.
