Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing movie studios.
Paramount Pictures can trace its beginning to the creation in May 1912 of the Famous Players Film Company. Founder Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "Famous Players in Famous Plays"). By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success.
That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature show Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, later known as Samuel Goldwyn. The Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a suitable location site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first film, The Squaw Man.
Company Description
When entertainment is paramount, many people turn to Paramount Pictures Corporation. A subsidiary of media firm Viacom, the company produces and distributes films through Paramount Pictures (Shutter Island) and Paramount Vantage (Capitalism: A Love Story). It maintains the Paramount Pictures library of some 3,500 films, including classic hits from the Star Trek, Godfather, and Indiana Jones series, and releases about a dozen new titles annually. Paramount Pictures distributes movies on video and DVD through Paramount Home Entertainment. The studio ceased to own former subsidiary DreamWorks in 2008. Paramount was founded as Famous Players Film Company by Adolph Zukor in 1912; it was acquired by Viacom in 1994.
Following is a listing of some of the benefits and work/life programs that are available to our Paramount Pictures' employees:
Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Disability and Personal
Accident Insurance
401(k) Investment Plan
Dependent Care Plan
Flexible Spending Account
Same Sex Domestic Partner Benefits
Employee Assistance Programs
Work/life Programs - lunch 'n learn seminars, commuter and rideshare programs
Employee Screenings
Excellent onsite services which includes childcare center, fitness center, credit union, car wash, custom framing shop, dry cleaners, shoe repair, barber, florist, hospital... and many more to discover on our 64 acre studio lot!
For all current (or active) Paramount employees interested in applying for a listed job opening, please visit the 'Inside the Gates' intranet site > On The Job > Human Resources > Career Opportunities > Internal Application Process
Pros
You are in the industry at one of the larger movie studios in the business. Everything is located in one central area on the lot. Although the bulidings and lot may be a bit old, it's because all the money is spent on production.
There were a lot of smart people in my group that had come to entertainment after working in other high exposure jobs. They were very nice, approachable and easy to talk to (an abberation from your typical industry person). Additionally, its located near a lot of food like west hollywood, koreatown, downtown. Also, you get a lot of free stuff and awesome holiday parties.
Cons
Salary - Paramount typically paid lower than average salaries, however, i believe that has been changed since i left. Nonetheless, we worked long hours on salary and were never properly compensated for it other than ordering dinner. In this economic and job anemic environment, maybe you can do that, but back when i was there and the grass was still green, it was a pain to deal with.
Financially, paramount, maybe this is systematic to the entire industry, but was a struggling company. With revenues not as large as before and large conglomerates trying to shed wasteful investments, you can be rest assured they're going to start cutting at the studios.
In the age of a downward economy, companies have a captive audience of employees who are staying put in their roles and producing the work required. Volumes of predictions have been made that speculate the quantity of employees who will turn the tide in search of new opportunities. The focus on the issue of employee retention is paramount to employers who want to have continuity of talent value especially of high performers. So doing this work well begs the question of what do employees want?
The default thinking of management on the topics is to offer earned discretionary bonuses to high performers. Research from McKinsey’s Quarterly has shown that money is the most expensive way to motivate people. Moreover companies that try to link their retention intentions to compensation found that it rarely enhances “stay” motivation to the extent desired. Its value is effective only in the short term. High performers may appreciate bonuses tied to their doing their jobs well, but it falls within a natural expectation of reward for the effort. These studies have indicated that retention affinity equals perception minus expectation.
So looking at the equation of retention even further, what do employees expect from an employer to motivate them to stay? First of all, a one-size-fits-all retention plan is usually unsuccessful in persuading a diverse group of key employees to stay. Instead, companies should tailor retention approaches to the mind-sets and motivations of specific employees. Studies have continuously pointed to the value of recognition as the top motivator for employees, so much so, they will search out companies that offer the most of it for them. Praise from one’s manager, attention from leaders, frequent promotions, opportunities to lead projects, and chances to join fast-track management programs are some frequently used approaches that offer great reception from many employees. The chance to network with the senior staff members and develop leadership skills during the execution of an organization large initiative can signal to high-potential employees that they have a promising future in the organization.
Grey also broke up the famous UIP international distribution company, the most successful international film distributor in history, after a 25-year partnership with Universal Studios and has started up a new international group. As a consequence Paramount fell from #1 in the international markets to the lowest ranked major studio in 2006 but recovered in 2007 if the DreamWorks films, acquired by Paramount but still distributed internationally by Universal, are included in Paramount's market share. UIP still does business in smaller markets.
Grey also launched a Digital Entertainment division to take advantage of emerging digital distribution technologies. This led to Paramount becoming the second movie studio to sign a deal with Apple Inc. to sell its films through the iTunes store. They also signed an exclusive agreement with the failed HD DVD consortium and subsequently gave up the guarantees they had received and will now release in the Blu-ray format.
Also, in 2007, Paramount sold another one of its "heritage" units, Famous Music, to Sony/ATV Music Publishing (best known for publishing many songs by The Beatles, and for being co-owned by Michael Jackson), ending a nearly-eight decade run as a division of Paramount, being the studio's music publishing arm since the period when the entire company went by the name "Famous Players." An additional legacy unit, Famous Players Theaters (Canada) was sold in 2006 to its competitor Cineplex Odeon Corporation. These theaters had been in the company since the days of silent movie. When the 1954 Paramount Consent Decree forced divestiture by the studios, it did not apply outside the US so Paramount kept its Canadian theater subsidiary.
Paramount Pictures can trace its beginning to the creation in May 1912 of the Famous Players Film Company. Founder Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "Famous Players in Famous Plays"). By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success.
That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature show Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, later known as Samuel Goldwyn. The Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a suitable location site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first film, The Squaw Man.
Company Description
When entertainment is paramount, many people turn to Paramount Pictures Corporation. A subsidiary of media firm Viacom, the company produces and distributes films through Paramount Pictures (Shutter Island) and Paramount Vantage (Capitalism: A Love Story). It maintains the Paramount Pictures library of some 3,500 films, including classic hits from the Star Trek, Godfather, and Indiana Jones series, and releases about a dozen new titles annually. Paramount Pictures distributes movies on video and DVD through Paramount Home Entertainment. The studio ceased to own former subsidiary DreamWorks in 2008. Paramount was founded as Famous Players Film Company by Adolph Zukor in 1912; it was acquired by Viacom in 1994.
Following is a listing of some of the benefits and work/life programs that are available to our Paramount Pictures' employees:
Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Disability and Personal
Accident Insurance
401(k) Investment Plan
Dependent Care Plan
Flexible Spending Account
Same Sex Domestic Partner Benefits
Employee Assistance Programs
Work/life Programs - lunch 'n learn seminars, commuter and rideshare programs
Employee Screenings
Excellent onsite services which includes childcare center, fitness center, credit union, car wash, custom framing shop, dry cleaners, shoe repair, barber, florist, hospital... and many more to discover on our 64 acre studio lot!
For all current (or active) Paramount employees interested in applying for a listed job opening, please visit the 'Inside the Gates' intranet site > On The Job > Human Resources > Career Opportunities > Internal Application Process
Pros
You are in the industry at one of the larger movie studios in the business. Everything is located in one central area on the lot. Although the bulidings and lot may be a bit old, it's because all the money is spent on production.
There were a lot of smart people in my group that had come to entertainment after working in other high exposure jobs. They were very nice, approachable and easy to talk to (an abberation from your typical industry person). Additionally, its located near a lot of food like west hollywood, koreatown, downtown. Also, you get a lot of free stuff and awesome holiday parties.
Cons
Salary - Paramount typically paid lower than average salaries, however, i believe that has been changed since i left. Nonetheless, we worked long hours on salary and were never properly compensated for it other than ordering dinner. In this economic and job anemic environment, maybe you can do that, but back when i was there and the grass was still green, it was a pain to deal with.
Financially, paramount, maybe this is systematic to the entire industry, but was a struggling company. With revenues not as large as before and large conglomerates trying to shed wasteful investments, you can be rest assured they're going to start cutting at the studios.
In the age of a downward economy, companies have a captive audience of employees who are staying put in their roles and producing the work required. Volumes of predictions have been made that speculate the quantity of employees who will turn the tide in search of new opportunities. The focus on the issue of employee retention is paramount to employers who want to have continuity of talent value especially of high performers. So doing this work well begs the question of what do employees want?
The default thinking of management on the topics is to offer earned discretionary bonuses to high performers. Research from McKinsey’s Quarterly has shown that money is the most expensive way to motivate people. Moreover companies that try to link their retention intentions to compensation found that it rarely enhances “stay” motivation to the extent desired. Its value is effective only in the short term. High performers may appreciate bonuses tied to their doing their jobs well, but it falls within a natural expectation of reward for the effort. These studies have indicated that retention affinity equals perception minus expectation.
So looking at the equation of retention even further, what do employees expect from an employer to motivate them to stay? First of all, a one-size-fits-all retention plan is usually unsuccessful in persuading a diverse group of key employees to stay. Instead, companies should tailor retention approaches to the mind-sets and motivations of specific employees. Studies have continuously pointed to the value of recognition as the top motivator for employees, so much so, they will search out companies that offer the most of it for them. Praise from one’s manager, attention from leaders, frequent promotions, opportunities to lead projects, and chances to join fast-track management programs are some frequently used approaches that offer great reception from many employees. The chance to network with the senior staff members and develop leadership skills during the execution of an organization large initiative can signal to high-potential employees that they have a promising future in the organization.
Grey also broke up the famous UIP international distribution company, the most successful international film distributor in history, after a 25-year partnership with Universal Studios and has started up a new international group. As a consequence Paramount fell from #1 in the international markets to the lowest ranked major studio in 2006 but recovered in 2007 if the DreamWorks films, acquired by Paramount but still distributed internationally by Universal, are included in Paramount's market share. UIP still does business in smaller markets.
Grey also launched a Digital Entertainment division to take advantage of emerging digital distribution technologies. This led to Paramount becoming the second movie studio to sign a deal with Apple Inc. to sell its films through the iTunes store. They also signed an exclusive agreement with the failed HD DVD consortium and subsequently gave up the guarantees they had received and will now release in the Blu-ray format.
Also, in 2007, Paramount sold another one of its "heritage" units, Famous Music, to Sony/ATV Music Publishing (best known for publishing many songs by The Beatles, and for being co-owned by Michael Jackson), ending a nearly-eight decade run as a division of Paramount, being the studio's music publishing arm since the period when the entire company went by the name "Famous Players." An additional legacy unit, Famous Players Theaters (Canada) was sold in 2006 to its competitor Cineplex Odeon Corporation. These theaters had been in the company since the days of silent movie. When the 1954 Paramount Consent Decree forced divestiture by the studios, it did not apply outside the US so Paramount kept its Canadian theater subsidiary.