Producers Sales Organization

Producers Sales Organization (PSO; on its final years PSO Productions, Inc.) was an independent motion picture production and sales company founded in 1977.^[1] Initiated by Mark Damon, an actor-turned-producer,^[1] PSO mostly handled foreign sales of independent films. It was initially a partnership between Damon, producer Sandy Howard, and Richard St. Johns, who worked for Arthur Guinness Son & Co. At one point, it was a subsidiary of Guinness.^[2] In its final years of existence, PSO briefly became a full-fledged production company. In November 1984, PSO merged with film financing firm The Delphi Companies; the resulting company, PSO-Delphi, forged a domestic theatrical distribution deal with TriStar Pictures and a home video distribution deal with CBS/Fox Video.^[3]

Despite releasing many successful films, PSO ran into financial problems and was forced into bankruptcy in 1986, effectively ending the company.^[4] Many of its employees were soon hired by Vestron Pictures to run a new foreign sales unit dubbed Producers Distribution Organization, later renamed Interaccess Film Distribution, Inc.^[5][6][7]

A year after PSO ended, Damon founded a new company, with Peter Guber and Jon Peters, called Vision International.^[1]

A majority of the PSO library would ultimately end up with Lionsgate, and then Icon International (originally founded by Mel Gibson).

Films[]

Among the most notable films PSO represented or financed include:

• Matilda (1978)^[8]
• The Wanderers (1979)^[9]
• A Change of Seasons (1980)^[10]
• Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)^[9]
• The Final Countdown (1981)^[11]
• Das Boot (1981)
• An American Werewolf in London (1981)
• Dead and Buried (1981)
• Endless Love (1981)
• Young Doctors in Love (1982)
• Heidi's Song (1982)^[12]
• Cujo (1983)^[13]
• The Day After (1983)^[14]
• Fire and Ice (1983)
• Never Say Never Again (1983)^[13]
• The Outsiders (1983)^[13]
• Silkwood (1983)^[13]
• La Traviata (1983)
• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)^[15]
• The Defective Detective (1984)
• The NeverEnding Story (1984)
• Once Upon a Time in America (1984)^[13]
• Prizzi's Honor (1985)
• Heavenly Bodies (1985)
• The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986)
• 8 Million Ways to Die (1986)
• 9½ Weeks (1986)^[16]
• Short Circuit (1986)
• Flight of the Navigator (1986)

References[]

Further reading[]

• Mark Damon; Linda Schreyer (2008). From Cowboy to Mogul to Monster: The Neverending Story of Film Pioneer Mark Damon. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

External links[]

• Producers Sales Organization at IMDb